Galya Bisengalieva – EP Two

Galya uses acoustic techniques as well as electronic manipulation that distort and push the instrument in radical new ways. ‘EP TWO’, the sister of ‘EP ONE’ explores the themes of both effeminate mythology and alien landscape.

Track 1 ‘Zohra’ was written by Shiva Feshareki. It combines her cutting-edge turntablism techniques with Galya’s effortless fluidity of interpretation. The compositional process started with Shiva leading an exercise for Galya based on a series of expansions, with a focus on the physicality and resonance of sound. This violin material became the heart of the composition, or the “Zohra”. Zohra is the name of Shiva’s mother, and translates to Venus in the Farsi language. The violin material performed and extended by Galya was then used to create dubplates for the sonic manipulations, creating a duet between violin and turntables.

Track 2 ‘Umay’ was written by Galya. Umay is the goddess of the earth and fertility in Tengriism, the ancient religion of the Mongolian and Hunnic empires. Umay resembles the earth-mother goddesses found in various other world religions. She is a protector of women and children and associated with the sun. Called ‘Yellow Maiden’ she is depicted as having sixty golden tresses, like the sun’s rays. Galya created 60 layers of electronically manipulated violin drone and virtuosic passages, as well as recording the Shankobyz, (a reed-based traditional Kazakh instrument) which was sampled and chopped to create an otherworldly drum machine.

Track 3 ‘Claycorn’ was written by CHAINES. If you were in an alien forest inhabited by fantastical claymation beasts, birds and insects, CHAINES imagines it might sound something like this. It was inspired by the animation of award-winning Czech game developer Amanita Design and their fantastical cast of character. Galya’s violin is put through multiple effects to the point where it is completely unrecognizable – including a wah-wah effect.