Mariam Rezaei

Mariam Rezaei is a multi-award winning composer, turntablist, writer and performer. She previously led experimental arts project TOPH, TUSK FRINGE and TUSK NORTH, and is Artistic Director of TUSK Festival, based in Newcastle and Gateshead (tuskmusic.org). On November 10th 2022, she received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation #AwardsForArtists, in recognition of her contribution to music composition. Her music has recently been described as ‘ genuinely ground-breaking’ (London Jazz News 2022) and ‘high-velocity sonic surrealism’ (4* The Guardian 2022). Recent releases include 'SADTITZZ', 'SKEEN' , ‘Veil’, a collaboration with Stephen Bishop on TUSK Editions/Opal Tapes, ’SISTER’ with soprano Alya Al-Sultani, and TECHNOPOWER on Tusk Editions.


Mariam presents a podcast on contemporary turntablism called ‘These Are The Breaks…’ and is guest DJ on’ Radical Scotland’ by Stewart Smith, both on repeater-radio.com. ‘BOWN’, the third album in the triptych ‘BLUD : SKEEN : BOWN,’ is due for release, 2023.


Recent notable works include; ‘This World Which Is Made Of Women’ 2022 BBC Radio 3, ‘SADTITZZZ' LCMF 2022, BBC Radio 3 After Dark Festival, April 2022, Tusk North April 2022. ‘The Sound of Hate’, EKKO Festival, Nov 2021. ‘We Are Not Finished’ with Fevered Sleep, Nov 2021. ‘Wolf’s Tail : II’ for Archipel Festival, April 2021. ‘Paradoxes’, West Den Haag, Jan 2021. Duos with Cath Tyler and Stephen Bishop for TUSK VIRTUAL 2020 and BBC Radio 3 Late Stages, Oct and Nov 2020. BBC Radio Freeness ’SKEEN’, July 2020. ‘AGENCY-SKEEN’, AMPLIFY 2020. ‘The 42 Mirrors of Narcissus’ TUSK Festival 2019. ‘Wolf’s Tail’ HCMF 2019. ’TOP///‘ at Tectonics Mosaic/Cresc. Festival 2018, Wiesbaden, for Ilan Volkov, and Ensemble Modern.

Turntable Trio

Mariam Rezaei, Maria Chavez, Victoria Shen

Front cover of Wire Magazine, April 2023.  A power trio in New Turntablism.
Superscript

Counterflows / REWIRE 2023

New trio are co-commissioned for April 2023

'the world premiere of new work by three radical and key artists in new turntablism – Mariam Rezaei, Maria Chavez and Victoria Shen – commissioned by Counterflows and Rewire (The Hague). Bringing together their wildly different approaches to their instrument, including idiosyncratic instrument builds and modifications, they will show that New Turntablism is beyond technique, genre or compositional theory; it’s about the unknown.'

"Receiving this award is truly an honour. Given the esteemed list of previous awardees, this award also serves as recognition for the turntable and its many achievements. The generous support of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation will allow me to invest time, dreams, and new experiments into my turntable compositions. It is a gift of space and support at a critical time in my career, where like many other artists, I am rebuilding my portfolio amidst the impact of the pandemic."

Mariam Rezaei, in response to receiving the Paul Hamlyn Foundation 'Awards For Artists', 2022

Weblink to full web article




'Mariam Rezaei is a mind-blowing English turntablist, and her practice bridges the ruff mix and hip-hop technique, loud and industrial music, free improvisation, dense bumblebees - in short, everything that constitutes the corpus of well-identified musical experiments from the past seventies years. …And that's the slam: noise, fury, crossfader mastery and scratch abuse, DMC World DJ Championships style, without being too much, with insane improvisational finesse and excessive ease….

...Layers of laments are superimposed for an epic and very sober finale, which ends just like that, without warning. I think that's what I like best about Mariam Rezaei: this way of being musically right at the junction between "too much" and "just enough", of implementing a paradoxically very tight maximalism, sometimes so much that it is austere, but never boring. And it is obvious that in concert, everything takes on an additional dimension, that of the musical gesture.'

Löic Ponceau - Musique Journal, France.

Full Article Here

She done it

Recent Press

'SADTITZZZ' at LCMF 2022,
The Guardian ****
"Then turntablist Mariam Rezaei, in her set, relished pummelling the debris of familiar melodic hooks and chords into a delirious mad-dash of high-velocity sonic surrealism."

https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/20/exhausted-and-hysterical-review-london-contemporary-music-festival-roscoe-mitchell


'SADTITZZZ' at LCMF 2022
London Jazz News " ..while extreme turntablista, Mariam Rezaei, pushed out an ultra intense, angry-face emoji, rapid-fire collage of sound layers and febrile, tactile interventions resolutely defying description - genuinely ground-breaking"

https://londonjazznews.com/2022/06/24/roscoe-mitchell-at-woolwich-works-lcmf/



Wire Magazine, 470, April 2023
Cover Feature by Emily Bick
'...Mariam Rezaei is one of the most technically adept and creatively daring artists to use the turntable as a musical instrument.'

https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/



tusk festival 2019

in conversation :

with Derek Walmsley, Wire Magazine


TOPH

FORMERLY, THE OLD POLICE HOUSE IN GATESHEAD
CHIEF OF TOPH PROJECT, MAKING DIY AND GOOD STUFF HAPPEN IN THE NE AND WEB ALLIES WITH ADAM DENTON AND MARK WARDLAW
TWITCH.TV/THEOLDPOLICEHOUSE

CONTACT email and social media

oldpolicehousegateshead@gmail.com