Seoul-based electronic producer CIFIKA returns to SXSW

Seoul-based electronic producer CIFIKA returns to SXSW

SXSW 3/14 at Central Presbyterian Church [10:00pm] HYDROVOX 2.0 CIFIKA / HYDROVOX installation performance  Installation runs 8:00pm-12:00am - free/open to the public 3/15 at Empire Garage [7:30pm] SXSW Music Opening Party SXSW Platinum, Music Badges & Artist Wristbands only 3/18 at 3TEN [9:05pm] JADED Official SXSW Showcase  w/ CHAI / Luna Li / Shelheil / MEYY / Cartel Madras 3/19 at Austin Convention Center / Ballroom D [12:45pm] Michelle Zauner [Japanese Breakfast] SXSW Keynote Prelude Set HYDROVOX 2.0 is a collaborative installation between CIFIKA and lighting designer Alex Griff which explores the application of small-scale projection mapping in live visuals. Influenced by the aesthetics found in industrial technology used to explore the boundaries of physics, the installation was designed as a theatrical “portal” with the intent to transport an audience to an alternate world; scored by CIFIKA with visuals by Insula Plantis. Since the release of her debut LP Hana (2021), CIFIKA has been exploring processes of combining her audio and visual work into one unified experience. Using technology to create links between sound and light, visuals are generated and modulated by reactionary changes to the imputed audio, resulting in a unique performance each time. Taking influence from electronic music, choral composition, and theatrical production, CIFIKA challenges the ideas of traditional topline, digital sampling, and working with alternative formats of scale to widen the sonic range of upcoming work. HYDROVOX 2.0 can be experienced on Monday, March 14th between 8:00pm-12:00am at Central Presbyterian Church. CIFIKA performs at 10:00pm

About CIFIKA:      Every popular movement in music has both a rush of acts ready to jump on a trend and typically, a polarizing underground that exists explicitly to counter it. This is the case everywhere, and South Korea, where K-Pop dominates, is no different. Seoul-based electronic producer CIFIKA is a rare example of an artist who isn’t chasing fame, or pushing it away. She lives in the space in between, embracing both pop and the avant in a way that any musician would envy.     Her ambient vocal experimentations were used in the Men’s Fall-Winter 2021 Louis Vuitton campaign and runway show (with House Ambassadors BTS). Boiler Room tapped her for a conceptual video performance series with Maison Valentino. She’s scored a robot/human choreographed work for the Korean National Contemporary Dance Company and has been invited to conceptualize, create and soundtrack an installation piece for ISM Berlin’s acclaimed Hexadome project (alongside Thom Yorke, Brian Eno, Suzanne Ciani, and Holly Herndon), proving her to be as comfortable with the highbrow as she is in the club.    As a collaborator, CIFIKA has worked with a diverse range of artists ranging from ambient/IDM, to UK garage, hip-hop, and R&B including Lusine (Ghostly International), Girl Ultra, Flava D, Hyukoh, Crush, Woo Won-jae, and Dress.     Romy (The xx) came across ‘Waterfall’ from CIFIKA’s HANA at the end of 2020, quickly adding it to her Emotional Music To Dance To playlist; it's become one of her favourite songs since. So much, that The xx singer/guitarist felt compelled to invite her to remix her debut single, ‘Lifetime’, which would ultimately and with CIFIKA re-working the song into a new form, fully recomposed and re-tracked.    Having already sparked a flurry of interest outside of Korea, via performances at SXSW, ADE, Reeperbahn, and with a handful of buzz-generating club shows, CIFIKA now looks to bring her sound and vision to the rest of the world.