Martin Bisi made a video for "Mermaid Queen" (watch), touring this spring
Martin Bisi, the legendary NYC producer who’s been making records out of BC Studio in Brooklyn since the 70s and has worked with Sonic Youth, Swans, Brian Eno, Herbie Hancock, John Zorn, Helmet, Unsane and many, many others, released his last solo album, Ex Nihilo back in 2014. Now we’re premiering a brand new video for the song “The Mermaid Queen.” About the song, Bisi says:
The song grew from one time at the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, which I’m a fan of. It was a second date with someone I was very into. And I guess my brain was mixing up all the fantastic Mermaids with her. Mermaids are a classic myth, repackaged in Coney Island, and a contemporary Brooklyn archetype. The director of the video, Edie Fuchs, wanted to personalize the Mermaids, make them real, and also bring me down from the clouds.
The video features Bisi, decked out in red glasses and a large hat, singing with a number of mermaids in various dark locations. Eventually he ends up covered in blood. It’s well worth a watch (the song is pretty great as well), and you can check it out below.
Bisi is touring the US and Europe in 2016, including a co-headlining US run with Tidal Channel. He commented on the genesis of that tour:
The tour started because poet Billy Cancel had a reading in Nashville, and my bandmate Genevieve Kammel Morris has a duo project with him, Tidal Channel. So that was the impetus, to play at Drkmttr in Nashville, right next to the reading. I was going to keep it simple but what started as one show escalated into a bigger East Coast run as my drummer Dom Cipolla, also of Torres and Phantom Family Halo, hopped on board. So we upped it from there and we are carving a nice path down South!
After that run, Bisi will be playing two solo headlining dates in NYC, at Alphaville on May 13 and Shea Stadium on May 26. Tickets for those shows will be available.
All tour dates are listed, along with the new music video and a stream Ex Nihilo, below.
Martin Bisi — 2016 Tour Dates
Apr 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie w/ Tidal Channel
Apr 8 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Nightlight w/ Tidal Channel
Apr 9 – Durham, NC @ Duke University, Brickside Festival (matinee) w/ Tidal Channel
Apr 9 – Asheville, NC @ Static Age Records w/ Chandra Shukla of Psychic TV w/ Tidal Channel
Apr 10 – Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr w/ Tidal Channel
Apr 11 – Arlington, VA @ Galaxy Hut w/ Tidal Channel
Apr 19 – Zurich, CH @ Rote Fabrik + Sound and Chaos documentary screening
Apr 20 – Geneva, CH @ Urgence Disk
Apr 22 – Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4
Apr 23 – Ghent, BE @ Cinema Off Off + Sound and Chaos documentary screening
Apr 24 – Ghent, BE @ Cinema Off Off + Sound and Chaos documentary screening
Apr 26 – Grenoble, FR @ Cinema Juliet Berto + Sound and Chaos documentary screening
Apr 27 – Paris, FR @ Detail
Apr 28 – Lisbon, PT @ Lounge + Sound and Chaos documentary screening
May 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville
May 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium
