Unnatural Ways, Curt Oren, Chris Childs

Unnatural Ways Unnatural Ways is the main project of Brooklyn-based guitarist Ava Mendoza. The group was originally formed in early 2012 in her longtime home of Oakland, CA as a trio with west coast musicians Dominique Leone- keys and Nick Tamburro (Dead Science)- drums. The trio toured steadily in the U.S. and Europe before Mendoza relocated to NY in 2013. Soon after the move, she reformed the group with NY musicians, and the new lineup toured in the U.S., Canada and Europe surrounding performances at the 2014 Victoriaville Festival in Canada and the 2014 Moers Festival in Germany. The current trio of Mendoza- guitar, vox / Tim Dahl (Lydia Lunch, Child Abuse, Yusef Lateef)- bass /Max Jaffe (Normal Love, Killer Bob) has developed a highly personal sound; sharp, heavy, and psychedelic. Drawing from complex rock, avant jazz and warped blues music, the players push the boundaries of their own vocabularies and of the written music to put on powerful and unpredictable live shows. The self-titled Unnatural Ways full-length LP will be issued in Feb. 2015 by the New Atlantis label (William Hooker, Microwaves, Elliott Sharp). A full-length CD release by the new lineup on John Zorn’s Tzadik label is slated for late 2015. Curt Oren My music uses circular breathing in order to create melodic loops which I then build upon to create expansive sound environments and develop further into song structures. I have opened for and played with many national touring acts including Calvin Johnson, Tatsuya Nakatani, and Wolf Eyes. I was selected as part of the initial lineup for the Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City and Little Village Magazine from Iowa City describes my music as “immediate and intimate.” Chris Childs A solo marimba set from the Faun and a Pan Flute member.