Melanie Ó Dubhshláine : Urban Animals

A journey through the city at night, and into the dawn, with all its excitement, mystery and danger, seen through the eyes and ears of the creatures that inhabit it...

Melanie Ó Dubhshláine presents a suite of short musical works themed around the different wild animals to be found in the Leeds urban area. Digitally manipulated animal calls will collide with the noise of the man-made environment to create several distinct pieces in a contemporary homage to the Carnival of the Animals.

Attracted by easy access to food and warmth, some species have chosen to increasingly make their homes alongside man in the cities. Wildlife has changed its behaviour and voices to adapt to life in urban environments. Researchers found that songbirds had raised the pitch and tempo of their song to make it audible above the rumble of traffic. Since the 1960s, fox calls are increasingly a part of the soundtrack of living in a city.

Using field recordings gathered in and around Leeds, plus electronic instruments, working alongside local live performers and vocalists, with striking visuals created to accompany the music, Ó Dubhshláine will take the audience through an alternative vision of the nighttime landscape of Leeds.

Many thanks for the assistance and advice of West Yorkshire Bat Group, The Conservation Trust at Skelton Grange and Chris Hassell at Leeds University

Music:Leeds' Launchpad Commission is funded using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England as well as Leeds City Council, Leeds2023, PRS Foundation and Leeds International Festival.

About the artist

In a fifteen-year musical career, Melanie Ó Dubhshláine has performed and composed music based in the noise, electronic, experimental and psychedelic rock genres.

Her solo work takes the form of two projects. Ocelocelot is concerned with using vibrations and waveforms from found sound to create undulating soundscapes, whilst Melanie Ó Dubhshláine focuses more on electronic composition. Her background in visual arts leads her to introduce visual elements into her performances. An overriding theme of her work is using unusual instrumentation to extend human expressive capabilities and give voice to previously unheard sounds.

As a member of Ashtray Navigations with Phil Todd, she has performed at All Tomorrow's Parties, Supernormal Festival, Tusk Festival, Swn Festival in Cardiff as well as shows in the UK, Europe and USA. Ashtray Navigations have curated multimedia events at Leeds International Film Festival and Glasgow International Arts Festival.

She has collaborated with other artists including Neil Campbell, Damo Suzuki, Bridget Hayden, Uton, John Moloney (Sunburned Hand of the Man) and MV & EE.

About Leeds International Festival

Leeds International Festival is the UK’s leading metropolitan festival of new ideas and innovation. Fully funded by LeedsBID (Business Improvement District), it launched in 2017 working with the city’s creative sector to turn the ambition of a cultural festival of this size for the city into a reality.

L19 will be divided into a CORE programme and an OFF programme. CORE will gather world-leading creators, innovators and thought-leaders to disseminate the most pioneering new thoughts and discuss the world of tomorrow. The OFF programme meanwhile offers up an international platform to up-and-coming and underground voices, showcasing and amplifying creativity and diversity and curating a vibrant and experimental programme of citywide fringe events.

https://leedsinternationalfestival.com/

About Music:Leeds

Music:Leeds is a not-for-profit organisation established to act as a single, centralised point of contact that will coordinate activity to support, promote, develop and grow music-based activity within the city across any level, medium, genre or pathway.

Music:Leeds Launchpad provides the opportunity for emerging artists in the Leeds and West Yorkshire area to benefit from industry advice, mentoring, creative development, performance opportunities, recording and public releases of their music. It is funded by Leeds City Council, Leeds 2023, PRS Foundation's Talent Development Partnership and with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England

https://www.musicleeds.com/