Ni Moya
Ni Moya
Following a long-held tradition in electronic music, the project by the name of Ni Moya is a one-man operation. John Vagenas started out a life of artistic creation when he entered the Film Department of the School of Fine Arts in Thessaloniki, where he later wrote and directed «Warp», a '30s surrealistic horror film, engulfed in the teachings of David Lynch, Andrei Tarkovsky and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Shortly after, he co-founded the psychedelic rock band Naxatras, assuming the bass guitar/lead vocals duties and proceeding in the following decade to make an acclaimed career in the psych rock scene, with 3 fully analogue recorded albums and an ever increasing number of tours throughout Europe and Australia. Ni Moya as a project came to life around the same period, when deep experimentation with music-making software triggered something creative, soon to be followed by the love for analogue synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, sequencers and the decision to compose with hardware equipment. The first solid ideas led to the build-up of the four tracks that shaped the 'Ni Moya' album. A variety of influences marks the identity Ni Moya, from Aphex Twin's IDM and the psychedelia of Shpongle, to Brian Eno's ambient, GAS's atmospheric techno and Psykovsky's experimental psytrance, without taking out of context elements of traditional psychedelic rock and jazz. The better half of Ni Moya's creative purpose is the setting of the forthcoming live performances, which will showcase the material's full potential and will be taking place not only in regular venues, but, also, in non-conventional spaces, like art galleries, exhibitions, in accordance with artistic installations and will explore the adventurous nature of the tunes, through extensive improvisation and out-of-the-box perspective. Visuals will also be a vital part of each performance, in the form of edited bits from experimental, dadaist and surrealist films and animation, original film shots and various intertwined collaborative appearances by actors and dancers, in costumes or body paint. The whole project feels like it will be served properly when the sole denominator, the one thing that will be consistent, is the absolute variation of every performance being different than all the others.