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KALLELSE #14 – YAO BOBBY X SIMON GRAB (TG/CH), BRITT VAN DEN BOOGARD (NL), NOVA VARNRABLE (NO)

The second edition of the spring 2025 season of Kallelse, a concert series exploring the possibilities of electronic music as a live performance art. This time with a sculptural microphone performance by Nova Varnrable, a wearable rotating instrument by Britt van den Boogard and the noise-rap collaboration Yao Bobby x Simon Grab.

The artists introduce themselves as follows:

NOVA VARNRABLE

Nova Varnrable’s songs roam through a myriad of sounds, ranging from techno, soul and experimentalism. Waving together percussion, samples, live-instruments and vocals through a disparate collage of electronic production. In this visceral practice, Nova unravels their own experiences to ultimately unite the fragmented pieces of themselves— communicating their own duality and creating meaning to a state that once felt meaningless. “It’s my love for both the abnormal and the classic, a seeking towards an ephemeral state relieved of all expectations,” says Nova.

 

BRITT VAN DEN BOOGARD

Britt van den Boogaard is a multi-sensory instrument builder and performer. A fine line between is a multisensory choreography featuring a wearable instrument that serves as an extension of the body. By merging physical phenomena like spring reverb and resonance modes, the ‘Monospring’ generates intricate and ever-evolving harmonics. Instead of the body simply operating the instrument, they form a symbiotic relationship. Listening to what the system generates and waiting for incidental sounds to play with. Listening to the unpredictable behavior of the instrument by using instability as a tool for improvisation. For me, playing acts as a form of stimming, a way to navigate the delicate balance between overstimulation and under-stimulation, a state that I often find elusive. While stimming is primarily recognized as a coping mechanism for ADHD and autistic people, the challenge of overstimulation affects us all. In a world increasingly saturated with stimuli that demand our attention, which has become a trading strategy, stimming offers a way to regain control over our attention and foster connection between mind and body.

 

YAO BOBBY x SIMON GRAB

Pan-African rap and noise sound system music. The Togolese Rapper and political activist Yao Bobby collaborates with Swiss noisemakerSimon Grab. An intense sound battle between energetic rhymes fired into a dark sound world of raw electronic bass pulsations with a dubby punk attitude, produced on analog feedback electronics. A very raw and improvised form of live experimental hip hop -‚Freeform Rap and Noise’.
In their unique sound world, each bring a totally singular style & attitude to create a kind of next generation free form rap, noise & synthetic rhythm concoction coaxed out of improvised feedback signals and dynamic microphone control. Yao’s lyrics (in his mother tongue Ewé, french and also partly in english) deal with the current injustices in Africa and the problems ofthe colonial aftermath of the west & its remaining grip on the continent. Whether you are able to understand each lyric or not, the unstoppable flow, the versatile dynamic range, and the emotions in the frequencies (both voice and electronics) convey life-force & a sense of resistance.
A raw, honest attitude and forward momentum that is unmistakeable in its intent to crush borders sonically, socially, and politically.

Kallelse is made possible with support from Malmö Stad and Kulturrådet