The OneBeat Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Sickness Diary - an exploration of chronic illness and disability justice with interdisciplinary artist Anna RG

In this seventh episode of Season 2, Kyla-Rose speaks with artist Anna RG, about her navigation of chronic illness, since contracting COVID in the early days of the pandemic. 

Anna, who lives currently in Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, spent the first chapter of her musical life in communities of Appalachian folk musics, a fiddler, banjo player, and researcher – her duo with ballad singer Elizabeth LaPrelle combined the old songs with storytelling and puppetry. Their collaboration is rooted in a research process, time in archives with old folk song recordings, and interviews with descendents of the singers. The duo’s final album together, The Invisible Comes to Us, drew from songs in field recordings made of European-descended singers in Vermont (land of Abenaki), where Anna grew up. The record, of increasingly experimental arrangements of the ballads, was released on Smithsonian Folkways, and dubbed “A radical expansion of what folk songs are supposed to do,” by The New Yorker.

This conversation took place two years into Anna’s ongoing journey into another community and world, of illness and disability – and a new set of questions about the role of music, and a new awareness about the systemic ways that sick and disabled artists are not as supported as they could be. 

The conversation moves through themes of the particulars of sick grief and experiences of isolation, the challenges and fears uncovered in adapting to a new life, and new musical practice. We speak more broadly, Anna processing her growing understanding of the role of ableism both internal and systemic, and how it shapes possibilities in music performance, practice and education. Inspired by experiences in traditional music, we talk about ideas of music specifically created for the sick, fantasies of bedside concerts, and sick folks as listeners and makers. 

Midway, we follow a short fever dream into one of Anna’s bed-day fantasies, about a center that houses the histories of sick musicians, and dispatches singers to your bed or window. 

Produced and Edited by Kyla-Rose Smith and Anna RG

Mixed by Zubin Hensler

Executive Producers: Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: Anna RG & Sick Center actors Weston Olenecki, Lucia Reissig, Lauren Tosswill, Holly MacDonald, Leticia Ayala, Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm, Nyokabi Kariuki, Daniel Neumann 

A full playlist of songs found in this episode can be found on the Found Sound Nation Youtube

Texts & artists mentioned during this episode: 

• CARE WORK by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
• You Are Not Entitled To Our Deaths: COVID, Abled Supremacy & Interdependence by Mia Mingus
• Carolyn Lazard
• Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

 In this sixth episode of Season 2 we take a deep dive into the musical vaults of OneBeat, spanning over 10 years, and guided by the voice and reflections of Johannesburg-based intergalactic kwaai-diva Umlilo. We visit music created over the last 11-years of OneBeat, spanning programs in the United States, the Balkans, Istanbul, Turkey and Beirut, Lebanon. We hear from some of the artists involved in making this incredible collaborative work about the processes that brought them together, and we explore music as a living archive.  

Produced and Edited by Umlilo, Connie Fu, Luisa Puterman and Kyla-Rose Smith

Executive Producers Elena-Moon Park, Jeremy Thal and Kyla-Rose Smith

Final edit and mix by Jeremy Thal 

Featuring Umlilo, Elenna Canlas, Paulo Sartori, Billy Dean Thomas, Barbara Barbara Majnarić, Tatiana Lopez, Muhammad Dawjee, Juliano Abramovay, Marta Kolega and Lyn Rye 

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

This month we visit Accra, Ghana for a conversation with the multifaceted artist Poetra Asantewa. Poetra is so many things: A spoken word artist. A vocalist. An organizer. A feminist. A builder of community. Poetra has a vision -- a vision for creating a better future, through literature, art and community; for archiving and reshaping our past through storytelling, creative expression and conversation; for telling and retelling our stories so that we can see and hear a fuller picture and realize the potential in ourselves. 

There is so much we could discuss with Poetra -- she is a published poet, an accomplished spoken word performer, a composer, a vocalist, a writer, an organizer. She founded her own publication, Tampered Press, to provide a platform for other artists and writers in West Africa and beyond. She launched a non-profit and annual residency program for women creatives in Ghana called Black Girls Glow, to foster collaborations among women artists and explore ways that art can build community. Through all of this work, she is actively building infrastructures in her community to help artists thrive, and is inspiring artists all around her to grow and build as well. And she has a vision for something even greater.  

Produced and Edited by Nyokabi Kariũki and Elena Moon Park

Additional Story Editing by Charlotte Gartenberg 

Mixed by Zubin Hensler

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: Poetra Asantewa & Ria Boss

A full playlist of music featured on this episode can be found here

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

In this fourth episode of the OneBeat Podcast, we travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and speak to composer, theremin player, and self-proclaimed time traveler through sound, Ng Chor Guan. We first got to know Guan as an artist who loves to think about and work with technology, and is in fact optimistic about the potential of technology to bring humans closer together, not further apart. In this charming conversation with Guan, we learn that underlying Guan’s inquiry into technology is a deep curiosity and love for the infinite possibilities of the human imagination. Our conversation flows from his childhood experiences mimicking sounds from cartoons to his fascination with the theremin, to his outlook on non-linear time, space travel, and the importance of dreams. Guan is more than curious about humans and our interactions with the world -- he is optimistic about it, fascinated by it. He conveys a refreshing childlike wonder and joy when he speaks, which is reflected in his music, his art, and his interactions with people. In this episode we also hear from theremin player extraordinaire Rob Schwimmer about the history of the instrument, and from film producer Santhosh Daniel, who shares with us a touching memory about Guan and the theremin. 

Produced and Edited by Elena Moon Park + Charlotte Gartenberg

Production Assistant: Nyokabi Kariũki

Mixed by Zubin Hensler

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: 

Ng Chor Guan

Rob Schwimmer

Santhosh Daniel

A full playlist of music featured on this episode can be found here

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

In this third episode of the OneBeat Podcast we travel to Bogotá, Colombia and speak to the powerhouse musician and feminist activist Daniela Serna. Daniela is a percussionist, cultural producer and founding member of the celebrated pan-Latin band LADAMA. Dani takes us on her musical journey from being a shy girl with a bell, to traveling to the pacific coast of Colombia and immersing herself in the music of that region, and now being an activist and spokesperson for underrepresented musical communities in her country, particularly Afro-Colombian women. In this journey, she finds her own voice as a musician, and as a woman, and then creates spaces for others to do the same. We talk about the festival and podcast she founded - Totona Power - and the magic and feminist power infused in the word totona - which is Venezuelan slang for vagina. We also talk to celebrated music journalist and writer Betto Arcos, who gives some background on the incredible cultural wealth of Colombian music. 

Produced and Edited by Kyla-Rose Smith + Charlotte Gartenberg

Production Assistant: Nyokabi Kariũki

Mixed by Zubin Hensler

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: 

Daniela Serna 

Betto Arcos

A full playlist of music featured on this episode can be found here

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

“How do we bridge the gap between protesters and the artists? How do we bring this all into one consolidated effort?”

In the OneBeat Podcast’s second episode, we connect with 2019 OneBeat Fellow Justin Harrington (a.k.a Demeanor); a 23-year old banjo-playing rapper from Greensboro, North Carolina. The conversation follows his journey into the seemingly separate worlds of old-time music and hip hop, and he breaks down a range of diverse musical influences spanning from the African Akonting to Kendrick Lamar. The episode charts the course of Justin’s growth as an artist and organizer, diving into the impact that the Black Lives Matter Movement has had on Harrington’s life and work; inspiring him to launch a protest music festival in the summer of 2020, and subsequently, his own nonprofit organization, Haus of Lacks. 

Produced and Edited by Jeremy Thal & Nyokabi Kariuki

Mixed by Jeremy Thal & Zubin Hensler

Additional Story Editing by Charlotte Gartenberg 

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: Justin Harrington and Savannah Leigh Thorne 

Music by Demeanor 

Additional music: 

“Sweatpants” by Childish Gambino

“Overcomer” by Royce Da 5’9 Ft. Westside Gunn

“The Blacker The Berry” by Kendrick Lamar

“Fast Lane” by Bad Meets Evil

Find a full playlist here.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

In this debut episode of the OneBeat Podcast we introduce listeners to the people who make OneBeat possible from the U.S State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, to the founders of Brooklyn-based arts organization Found Sound Nation, and the many incredible musicians who have participated in OneBeat and form a growing global network spread out over 52 countries around the world. 

We talk about the mission that drives this project, and the underlying questions of this work - can music make a difference to our communities and in our societies? How do we create networks and drive conversations where artists and their work can inform global policy? How can creative collaboration and cultural exchange contribute to more democratic and equitable societies? 

Produced and Edited by Kyla-Rose Smith  + Charlotte Gartenberg

Production Assistance by Nyokabi Kariũki

Mixed by Zubin Hensler

Executive Producers - Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: 

Christopher Marianetti 

Ricardo Nigaglioni

Elena Moon Park

Jeremy Thal

Julia Gomez-Nelson

The voices of OneBeat alumni Natalia Kunitskaya, Rayhan Sudrajat, Paulo Sartori, Nina Marie Fernando, Rapasa Otieno, Andrea Hojos, Blessing Chimanga, Daniel French, Amel Zen, Darbuka Siva, Iskander Dridri,  Nonku Phiri, Pavithra Chari, Barry Likumahuwa, Alex Asher,  Hope Masike and Anna Roberts Gevalt.

All music produced by Found Sound Nation - find a full playlist here.

Additional music: 

Freshlyground - Doo Be Doo

Louis Armstrong  & His All-Stars - Live  in East Berlin March 22nd 1965

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

“It's also like, uh, some kind of a devil loop, because it's exactly a hundred years ago that there were those philosophers' boats that the Soviet authorities just threw out of the country. People like intellectuals, cultural people, artists, film directors… And now it's like a hundred years later and people are fleeing in the same directions. You know, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia.”

In this fifth episode of Season 2 we return to a conversation about the ongoing war in Ukraine, this time with accomplished Russian composer Marina Sobyanina. For more than a decade she has lived in Bern, Switzerland. Her work contains and fuses a wide range of genres including contemporary classical music, experimental jazz, and sound design. She composes for chamber ensembles, large orchestra, film, and theater. Marina has long been a vocal opponent of Putin, and her opposition to his regime only increased when Russia invaded Ukraine last February. In this interview she talks about what it means to be a Russian artist who opposes Putin and the current war in Ukraine.

Marina grew up in the town of Sarov, which is famous for its nuclear research facility. For more than a decade Marina has lived in Bern, Switzerland. Her work contains and fuses a wide range of genres including contemporary classical music, experimental jazz, and sound design. She composes for chamber ensembles, large orchestra, film, and theater. As her bio puts it, her music “morphs between delicate soundscapes, saturated polystylistic blocks and tricky rhythmical structures.”

And while her music is not overtly political, Marina has long been a vocal opponent of Putin, and her opposition to the Putin government only increased when Russia invaded Ukraine last February. In this interview she talks about what it means to be a Russian artist in the current context of global politics.

In this interview, conducted last April, Marina speaks with OneBeat co-founder Jeremy Thal. Due to her busy schedule, the best time Marina could find to do this interview was in the car outside of her 3-year-old son’s pre-school. We hope you enjoy this interview, and Marina’s insights into art and life amidst the tumult of history.

We are sensitive to the fact that we’re releasing this a year after the war began — there is a very reasonable argument that we should not foreground Russian voices in a time of Russian aggression, and another argument that anti-war Russian voices are needed now more than ever. At OneBeat we are committed to keeping an open and respectful dialogue, and understanding that within our alumni there are many differences of political opinions. So we decided to include Marina’s Interview in this season’s podcast, to provide a look at how one compassionate and thoughtful Russian musician is navigating these terrifying times

Produced and Edited by Jeremy Thal

Mixed by Jeremy Thal and Mitya Burmistov 

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: Marina Sobyanina 

Music heard in this episode: 

1. "Ai Bozha" by JAZZATOR
2. "Laughter No.2" for Ensemble Proton, CH (contemporary classical)
3. "Blood Wedding" - excerpt from F.G.Lorka´s theatre play (music for theatre)
4. "Peter the Clown" by JAZZATOR (avant-pop, jazz)
5. "The Very Same Munchhausen" excerpt from a theatre play (music for theatre)
6. "Das Testo" (dough in germ.) - for Ensemble Paul Klee, CH (contemporary classical)
7. "Say goodbye to Mermaid" by SBOKU (folk-jazz, cabaret)
8. “Tableaux Vivants”, excerpt from a theatre play, valse with war sirens (music for theatre)
9. Cradle song from F.G. Lorka's "Blood wedding" (music for theatre)

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

“It's only the tangible objects that are being returned to their places, but these intangible [sounds], or like the ephemera, how would one return it? [...] You can give them back to the people.”

In the final part of a diptych series guided by Kenyan composer and FSN collaborator Nyokabi Kariũki, we meet KMRU, one of the leading ambient electronic artists in the world today. The conversation traces KMRU’s journey from how place influenced his music-making, into the way ethics have shaped his field recording practice, and finally, his 2022 project ‘Temporary Stored’. With this album and research project, the sound artist attempts to bring sound back into the conversation around the restitution of art objects back to Africa, which has been a growing topic in the world of museums and archives in recent years. “Sound, too, was a looted object,” KMRU says. This leads Nyokabi to pose the question, “what spaces are right to record? What spaces are better left alone?”

The interview between the two Kenyan sound artists, Nyokabi Kariũki and KMRU, offers a powerful second glance of some of the exciting things bubbling up in the Kenyan music scene; and it shines a light on how sound is an important part of how Africans understand their relationship to place, heritage, and life. 

Listen to our Youtube playlist of music heard across both episodes on sounds from Kenya.

Produced and Edited by Nyokabi Kariũki and Jeremy Thal

Mixed by Jeremy Thal

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: Joseph Kamaru (aka KMRU)

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

“What role does sound play when it comes to archiving our history, and our culture? Can sound tell us things about our past that other forms of archiving cannot?” 

Kenyan composer and Found Sound Nation  collaborator Nyokabi Kariũki investigates these questions through the lens of Kenyan musicians and music-lovers who work with sound and music to share, archive and even foretell the stories of their culture. In this first episode of two parts, we hear from Jimmy Rugami, a vinyl dealer who has collected thousands of African vinyl records and sells them in the bustling Kenyatta Market; DJ Raph, one of the pioneers of the Nairobi underground electronic scene, whose futurist vision led him to start a digital archive of field recordings of Nairobi taken over the years. Lastly, OneBeat 2013 alumna Kasiva Mutua shares the work she’s done as both a solo musician and the founder of MOTRA music, challenging taboos around who can be the keepers, or preservers, of traditional culture. 

The episode includes vibrant music spanning across decades, from Kenyan household names in the 80s, to some of the present day music bridging folk traditions and technology to create new visions of the future.  Check out the accompanying Youtube playlist here!

Produced and Edited by Nyokabi Kariũki and Jeremy Thal

Mixed by Jeremy Thal

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: Jimmy Rugami, DJ Raph, and Kasiva Mutua 

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.