Annie O, our East Village music maven, is always bringing the best international up-and-coming acts to The Standard, East Village's Penthouse for The Annie O Music Series.
This past Sunday, February 19th, musical forces Laurie Anderson, Alex Silva, Rubin Kodheli, Hal Willner, Nina Hoss, and Lafcadio Cass came together for one night only (as a band titled An Evening of Music and Words) to make sweet, sweet musical magic in the Penthouse. Annie O spoke with German producer Alex Silva about how the night went in his eyes (and to his ears).
This past Sunday, February 19th, musical forces Laurie Anderson, Alex Silva, Rubin Kodheli, Hal Willner, Nina Hoss, and Lafcadio Cass came together for one night only (as a band titled An Evening of Music and Words) to make sweet, sweet musical magic in the Penthouse. Annie O spoke with German producer Alex Silva about how the night went in his eyes (and to his ears).
ANNIE O: How did the idea of Music and Words come about?
ALEX SILVA: Many conversations between us all about the current situation in the USA and somehow wanting to participate in an act of positivity and reflection from the general feeling we all have now.
Can you tell us a bit about your band members for that night? And about yourself?
Well, clearly I don't have to explain the wonderful Laurie Anderson. The rest of us—Hal, Lafcadio, Rubin, Nina, and myself—are all very individual people. We are a collection of record producers, musicians, performers, actors and writers. We became a band for that night and agonized over band names for quite a while. In the end, we went with the title An Evening of Music and Words. Myself, I'm a musician and record producer and have worked with many
bands and on film soundtracks. This was my first outing as a composer.
Would you consider this set up as a one-off performance, and did it have a special meaning to it?
Hopefully it will be the first of many collaborations. First and foremost, it was a celebration of newfound friends and wanting to do something creative with our combined energy. I would say we are all like-minded people, so there were no rules regarding the choices any of us made as individuals for the show, and I loved that. No matter how far apart some of the concepts seemed, they matched beautifully.
Where you and your fellow musicians/artists happy with the outcome of the show as part of The Annie O Music Series in the Penthouse of The Standard, East Village? We were very honored to have all of you, and the feedback has been tremendous.
That's very nice to hear. I think I can safely say we were all really happy with the outcome. It was really great that you and The Standard were so enthusiastic and put such trust in this evening to make it happen. We were as surprised as the audience, and there were excited flurries of texts between us all for a couple of days after!
ALEX SILVA: Many conversations between us all about the current situation in the USA and somehow wanting to participate in an act of positivity and reflection from the general feeling we all have now.
Can you tell us a bit about your band members for that night? And about yourself?
Well, clearly I don't have to explain the wonderful Laurie Anderson. The rest of us—Hal, Lafcadio, Rubin, Nina, and myself—are all very individual people. We are a collection of record producers, musicians, performers, actors and writers. We became a band for that night and agonized over band names for quite a while. In the end, we went with the title An Evening of Music and Words. Myself, I'm a musician and record producer and have worked with many
bands and on film soundtracks. This was my first outing as a composer.
Would you consider this set up as a one-off performance, and did it have a special meaning to it?
Hopefully it will be the first of many collaborations. First and foremost, it was a celebration of newfound friends and wanting to do something creative with our combined energy. I would say we are all like-minded people, so there were no rules regarding the choices any of us made as individuals for the show, and I loved that. No matter how far apart some of the concepts seemed, they matched beautifully.
Where you and your fellow musicians/artists happy with the outcome of the show as part of The Annie O Music Series in the Penthouse of The Standard, East Village? We were very honored to have all of you, and the feedback has been tremendous.
That's very nice to hear. I think I can safely say we were all really happy with the outcome. It was really great that you and The Standard were so enthusiastic and put such trust in this evening to make it happen. We were as surprised as the audience, and there were excited flurries of texts between us all for a couple of days after!
Lead photo by Anton Corbijn
