From Scratch group members (from left) Adrian Croucher, Darryn Harkness, Phil Dadson (founder), Shane Currey and Chris O'Connor are to perform at Gisborne's War Memorial Theatre in September. Photo / Paul Buxton
From Scratch group members (from left) Adrian Croucher, Darryn Harkness, Phil Dadson (founder), Shane Currey and Chris O'Connor are to perform at Gisborne's War Memorial Theatre in September. Photo / Paul Buxton
Aotearoa’s “most avant-garde chamber music ensemble”, From Scratch, are coming to Gisborne’s War Memorial Theatre next month.
With original instruments created from “found” materials such as PVC pipes, From Scratchperform a multimedia programme combining film and music.
The group were founded in 1974 by musician and artist Phil Dadsonand celebrated 50 years in 2024.
Their programme will feature three short art films and Dadson’s original composition Song for Unsung Heroes, which celebrates people who have achieved greatness in their own way without being recognised by popular culture.
The films include Black Moon, by Teresa Peters, which pulls the viewer into an abstract world of slowly morphing Rorschach imagery; Metroplex, by Greg Bennett, an animated dystopian view of the human condition; and Arcs & Sparks, a montage by Dadson described as “a wry and slightly sinister take on the elementary laws of physics and breath”.
For half a century, From Scratch have created performances “where sound, image and invention collide”.
Avant-garde chamber music ensemble From Scratch are known for playing a range of DIY instruments made from industrial and "found" materials. Photo / Paul Buxton
They have performed locally and at prestigious festivals internationally, including the Paris Art Biennale, New York New Music Festival and SoundWatch Festival in Tokyo.
They are widely known for their inventive DIY instruments, having built many of their original instruments from industrial and found materials.
The best-known ones are the large racks of acoustic PVC pipe instruments shaped like giant panpipes, which sound a little like bass guitars and electronica.
Other instruments such as their sprong and nundrum use threaded rods and steel springs in unexpected ways.
From Scratch's Adrian Croucher plays the PVC slap-tubes percussion instrument.
“Our hope is to immerse the audience in a rich and engaging journey, with an ingredient of magic in the mix of sound and image, so they walk away with an overall feeling of wonder and rhythmic euphoria,” Dadson said.
As part of the Chamber Music of New Zealand series, From Scratch start a seven-venue national tour in Auckland on September 11, followed by shows in Gisborne (September 13), New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Dunedin and Christchurch.
The group will also present tailored performances for people with disabilities in Auckland and Christchurch through Chamber Music NZ’s community engagement programmes.
Called “touch tours”, these performances will give audiences the opportunity to interact with the musicians and their instruments.
