FIONA SOE PAING

Artist Information

Biography

Scottish/Burmese electronica producer and vocalist Fiona Soe Paing performs a mesmerising "live cinema" show, with surreal visuals from animation artist Zennor Alexander.
Audio releases have included a track sung in Burmese, on an international "Sound of the World" compilation by BBC DJ Charlie Gillett, and self-released tracks have had radio support from the BBC (Mary Ann Hobbs, Vic Galloway, Charlie Gillett,) BBC 6 Music (Tom Robinson) and Amazing Radio (Ruth Barnes, Gill Mills, Mark Ryan)

"NO MAN'S LAND" is a unique live cinema performance - a hypnotic combination of surreal abstract animations, electronica soundtrack and live vocals, creating a mesmerizing cinematic experience.


THE PERFORMANCE has been presented in cinema, theatre and gallery spaces in the UK and New Zealand, the show in the Auckland Fringe Festival 2009 rated by the NZ Herald as one of the festival highlights. Starting with a minimal electronica track with vocals in Burmese, the live show twists and turns through pulsating slabs of whispered electronica,bent out of shape blues ballads and haunting cinematic soundscapes.

THE ANIMATIONS, using a combination of 3D graphics, photography, and experimental digital painting, have been
screened on The Arts Channel on Sky TV New Zealand, and at film festivals internationally, including the London Independent film festival 2010.

Fiona recently received support from Creative Scotland to make new work for performance, and incorporates this new work into her live shows.

Instrumentation

Fiona Soe Paing - producer/vocalist -
wayward synths, bleeps, beats, loops, textural atmospherics , ghost strings, voice.

Zennor Alexander- animation artist-
toy train, jumping rabbit, melting moons, exploding eggs, lynchian lollipop people, screaming bone men, and additional music production

Discography

LATEST RELEASE - "Songs From No Man's Land'
4 track EP available as a "set your own price" download at bandcamp.com. from July 4th, 2010

AIRPLAY - TELEVISION

SKY TV, NZ, 2009 -
The Arts Channel

FOX CHANNEL ITALY, 2008-
NatGeo Music Video Channel

TV NZ, 2009 -
Asia Downunder,
documentary feature

AUDIO RELEASES
'DEEP SONG" - single- released on iTunes Sept 2009.

"DEEP SONG" remix on the album "Eclipse" by Optimus Gryme, 2009

"TUE SAHM HAI" Optimus Grime Remix (single)
September 2008.Appears NZ Fashion Week promo
compilation album through Loop recordings.

"TAMIN SAH PADE"
Released on the "Sound Of The World 2007" compilation by BBC DJ Charlie Gillett. Released July 2007 On Warner .

RADIO AIRPLAY -

BBC RADIO ONE- Vic Galloway, Feb 2010

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND - Mary Ann Kennedy Show, Feb 2010

BBC RADIO 3 -
World On 3

BBC WORLD SERVICE-
Sound Of The World"

BBC 6 MUSIC -
Tom Robinson Show

CHANNEL 4 RADIO -
Tom Ravenscroft podcast

Official Website

http://www.colliderscope.com

Links

• Facebook
• Last.fm
• Twitter
• Bandcamp

Audio

• DEEP SONG
  Listen  
• TAH STIN KOH MPOR
  Listen  
• THAYN TYHA HAI
  Listen  
• TAMIN SAH PADE
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Other lyrics

Video

03 Tamin Sah Pade

No Man's Land - Teaser

Photo Gallery

Press

• some of the most beautiful live music I have heard in ages... [+ Show ]
  

  Next up was Fiona Soe Paing with a spellbinding set of electronic soundscapes and eerie, haunting vo...Next up was Fiona Soe Paing with a spellbinding set of electronic soundscapes and eerie, haunting vocals. The closest comparison I could make would be of Fever Ray although Paing stamped her own identity all over her set and accompanied by animation from Zennor Alexander she held the audience rapt throughout and our appreciation was apparent in the level of applause she received. Definitely one to watch this was some of the most beautiful live music I have heard for ages and definitely worth checking out in depth.IMES, MAY 2012

• Radar Scotsman preview [+ Show ]
  

  Now we're not ones to label ourselves as lazy types, but undertaking a massive audio-visual show d... Now we're not ones to label ourselves as lazy types, but undertaking a
  massive audio-visual show does seem like twice the work.
  Some people have talents in too many areas to be confined to just making great music. These people are definitely artists, rather than mere musicians. Fiona Soe Paing is one of these people.
  Annoying isn't it? Some of us struggle to tie our shoelaces most Sunday mornings, while others are out collaborating on multimedia projects. And how many of them have made up their own language for purely artistic purposes?
  Described in the promotional material as "skeletal, off-world electronica, surreal projected animation and live vocals", Soe Paing's upcoming two-night showcase at The Arches in Glasgow has been helped by funding from Creative Scotland and is set to wow audiences with its celestial charm.
  "Someone once told me it was like the sounds of a distant planet trying to make contact with Earth - I thought that was quite apt", she tells us as we meet to discuss her upcoming show.
  On the issue of the various languages she uses in her music, Soe Paing says: "Whenever I tried to sing lyrics in English, I kept slipping into a fake American accent, which I thought was really naff. A Scottish accent sounded contrived too, as I don't have a strong Scottish accent having spent most of my life away. What fitted best were the made-up sounds, which I initially recorded just as dummy lyrics."
  Now based in Turriff in rural Aberdeenshire, Soe Paing spent time in New Zealand, where she collaborated with animation artist Zen Borg and began to experiment with combining music and a strong visual element, which had other advantages, given her style.
  "As most of the songs are not in any understandable 'language', the visuals help to fill in any gaps that would normally be the role of the lyrics, to create a fully-rounded impressionistic feel and a more immersive cinematic experience," she explains.
  There are of course drawbacks to having such an unconventional approach to her music. Most bands just need a good back line and a decent PA system and they are happy to play anywhere - it's a lot more difficult to find a venue which can do justice to such an immersive audio-visual experience.
  This is why her upcoming shows - which are part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art - are so important in getting across her sound and vision. It needs a special venue to do it justice. The Arches promises to be that venue.
  
  
  

• Beatiful electronica, beats, visuals and vocals [+ Show ]
  

  Aberdeen-based Fiona Soe Paing’s beautiful electronica, beats, visuals and vocals have been register...Aberdeen-based Fiona Soe Paing’s beautiful electronica, beats, visuals and vocals have been registering ever-louder on radars across the country of late, so this chance to catch her in her hometown is very welcome indeed. Listen to her single ‘Deep Song’ here and see why the buzz is entirely justified.

• ...her voice is quite stunning..." [+ Show ]
  

  "...sounded amazing....in a live setting, her voice is quite stunning...a very powerful live perform..."...sounded amazing....in a live setting, her voice is quite stunning...a very powerful live performance..."

• '...a future national anthem"
  

  "... a future "national anthem", we reckon...a brilliant track!"

• "Stylish, elegant and sinister" [+ Show ]
  

  Moving music 4:00AM Thursday Feb 26, 2009 By Scott Kara You could call what music-animation du... Moving music
  4:00AM Thursday Feb 26, 2009
  By Scott Kara
  
  You could call what music-animation duo Colliderscope do "live cinema". Or, laughs singer, musician and beat maker Fiona Soe Paing, another description would be "deconstructed karaoke".
  
  "With me singing live, with the visuals, that's what you do in karaoke isn't it?" she laughs again.
  
  To be fair, Colliderscope's show, No Man's Land, which Soe Paing and animation artist Zennor Alexander will perform as part of Auckland Fringe at the Basement on March 8 and 15, is far more stylish, elegant, and sinister than your average karaoke joint.
  
  The idea for the show comes from Soe Paing's mixed-race background of Scottish and Burmese descent. "It stemmed from the idea of not having a culture around me because obviously I didn't have the Burmese background growing up in Scotland and it explores the ideas around that - of culture and identity. That no man's land - the place in between places - resonated with me," she says.
  
  Colliderscope blurs more than just cultural boundaries with her mix of obscure electronica, minimal beats, and exotic voice merging seamlessly with Alexander's animated visuals to evolve into a multi-media art work. "And these days it's so much easier to mix all those things up," says Alexander. "And the term live cinema is something that perhaps wasn't common five years ago so it is definitely a blurring of boundaries and genres."
  
  Since the pair did their first show at the Waiheke Island cinema in the middle of last year, things have taken off with plans to release their DVD album No Man's Land in May.
  
  A track like the spooky and mysterious Behrot is akin to Mezzanine-era Massive Attack, and strong melodies also come through in the music, too, which Soe Paing says probably comes from her Celtic heritage.
  
  As well as singing in English and Burmese she has come up with an invented language - written down it looks like a cross between Sanskrit and Arabic - because she felt uncomfortable singing in a Scottish accent or "slipping so easily into an American pop [music] drawl". "I just thought I'll make something up and see what it sounds like, and originally the intention was to use them as dummy lyrics, but they ended up sounding good," she laughs.
  
  And for Alexander, collecting vision is often just as random. The other day they recorded a Christian duo - "they looked like an Amish couple but it turned out they were from Australia" - doing hymns on the banjo.
  
  "That's how we get a lot of ideas, from being playful," says Soe Paing.
  
  "And exploring," adds Alexander.
  
  Scott Kara

• "stunningly lush, pulsing slab of whispered electronica" [+ Show ]
  

  "The opening track is a stunningly lush, pulsing slab of whispered electronic instruments and a nagg..."The opening track is a stunningly lush, pulsing slab of whispered electronic instruments and a nagging multi tracked vocal, that follows you around for days. A hint of the enormous potential here.... a performer with the potential for an enormous future in the fascinating area where roots music meets modern sounds"

• "...seduces, scares and embraces you all at once..." [+ Show ]
  

  A new talent, and what a voice she's got too! Seduces, scares and embraces you all at once. Set for ...A new talent, and what a voice she's got too! Seduces, scares and embraces you all at once. Set for greatness!
  Pete Yak

• "...stunning vocal abilities..." [+ Show ]
  

  Fiona makes full use of her stunning vocal abilities to create a sound that could easily be mistaken...Fiona makes full use of her stunning vocal abilities to create a sound that could easily be mistaken as an electronica instrument. This match up of (wo)man and machine is one great collaboration

• "Really cool...and weird!"
  

  Feedback on initial demo from Catskills Records, Brighton UK.

• "...outrageously beautiful..." [+ Show ]
  

  I thought your track (Thayn Thya Hai) was outrageously beautiful...feedback from A&R at London's Gra...I thought your track (Thayn Thya Hai) was outrageously beautiful...feedback from A&R at London's Grand Central records.

• '...hybrid, going on mutant..." [+ Show ]
  

  Many of the 33 tracks here feature displaced artists (Ethiopians in Amsterdam, a West African from M...Many of the 33 tracks here feature displaced artists (Ethiopians in Amsterdam, a West African from Mallorca) and music that is hybrid going on mutant - the avant-garde sounds of Fiona Soe Paing's 'No Man's Land' are a case in point.
  
  (On the "Sound Of The World 2007" compilation album by Charlie Gillett)

Setlist

Live set - 40 minutes

Projected animations, electronica soundtrack mixed with live vocals performance - live cinema style!
Set list
1. Tamin Sah Pade
2. Sto Thaya Deen
3. Tah Stin Koh Mpor
4. Piece of You
5. Swamp Blues
6. Thayn Thya Hai
7, Behrot
8. Tue Sahm Hai
9. Winter's Day
10. Deep Song

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

TECHNICAL SPECS-FIONA SOE PAING/NO MAN'S LAND

Calendar