THE PRESENT (Gang Gang Dance / Animal Collective)

The Present is the new music project of legendary New York musician and
producer Rusty Santos (Panda Bear ‘Person Pitch’, Born Ruffians ‘Red
Yellow & Blue’, Animal Collective ‘Sung Tongs’). Described by one band
who worked with him as a hyper boy genius, Rusty has always fixed his
attention on producing music that is experimentally rich whilst remaining
accessible. By attempting to create music that arises unconsciously
through improvisation, The Present’s debut album ‘World I See’ hauls this
ethos over its shoulders as it tramples on musical boundaries and
preconceptions, whilst leaving an album that is still capable of relating
musically and emotionally to a wide audience.
After many years and variant modes of collaboration, Rusty formed
together with Mina and Jesse who bring a plethora of extra dimensions to
the sound of The Present. Mina’s background in classical piano and the
love of japanese traditional songs meets at intense and imaginative levels
with the expressive attitude of the band, whilst the long standing musical
partnership between Jesse and Rusty, which began when they were in high
school together, provides the cemented sound giving the songs one voice
and the band the sound of a single instrument.

Though the instruments on ‘World I See’ aren’t necessarily new(the basic
elements are piano, guitar and drums), guided by intuition the band
attempt to make timeless music by using the most minimalist methods in
innovative new ways. The result of capturing and developing these sounds
is the beautifully elegant yet emotionally powerful sound of The Present.
“When I listen to the sounds and the songs the name and the webs of
connections and opposites remain. I can hear light and dark high and low
happy and sad synthetic and organic and on and on like that forever and
that’s a compliment to the production and the technique I would say.
Most of all I like how I feel when I listen to the music.” - Panda Bear

http://www.myspace.com/thepresentnewyork

MONDAY DEC 8TH
RETRO BAR
£6 on the door
8PM