AIS Interview with RaeDawn Phoenix (Rae's Youtube channel)
AIS: When do you first start making music ?
RaeDawn: When I was 4 years old...I began with the violin
AIS: Whats the your objective of your music if you have one ?
RaeDawn: To make the world a better place / spreading good vibes...I'm also a filmmaker...now when I create songs...the are always accompanied by a film/video
AIS: When did you and Angelbert start working together ?
RaeDawn: Around 2003 maybe 2004
AIS: Angelbert told me that you translated the book of Geneses into bell tones could you elaborate on that project?
RaeDawn: Yup.....I was playing that book at a show we did together...each letter was assigned a note...so I just typed what I saw using the keyboard..and every letter became a note...sometimes I would play multiple letters at once as a chord like the word "and" for instance..
2002: Angelbert Metoyer and RaeDawn Phoenix would start their sound experiment/project Sonic Storm/Sonic Graffiti. This project would lead to a strong creative relationship between the two.
2003: Music Marking/Making Music a group show curated by Joseph Deebs at the Paul Rodgers Gallery in New York is where Rae Dawn Phoenix and Angelbert Metoyer would introduce their Sonic Graffiti/Sonic Storm sound installation to the art world. Rae too the book of Genesis and translated the words into bell tones over the course of 3 days.
Angelbert is also featured on the track "Like is this Ghetto"
2008: Rae would release a track called "Sasoon-Prom Night " Angelbert would contribute by having drawings from a show in 2003 called " Dark Energy Splitting the Universe Exhibition at the Paul Rodgers Gallery.
2008: Rae and Angelbert exhibited the Sonic Graffitti Installation at the Volta Art Fair, New York City, New York
March, 2011: The Sound of Color (Synsthesia) was a series of new sound and visual experiments led by Metoyer and Phoenix for the Mckinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC in Dallas,Texas) below is a video excerpt from those experiments . In the Synsthesia video experiments, Dawn would use different elements of Sound sometimes accompanied by different musicians, while Metoyer would add visual stimulation. As Metoyer paints and draws onto the canvas, Dawn would play tones using different synthesizers that would correspond to the colors, marks and movements, Meotyer used in his time memory, moment, equations as paintings . Each color in his palette was linked to a particular whole note with the use of the color black representing all of the half notes( the black keys). Metoyer's upward and downward movements would prompt a change in volume and his left to right movements will change the octave of a particular note moving from bass to treble clef. ( Courtesy of AIS)
In this particular part of "Synthesia" Dawn is accompanied by Rosalyn Story, classical violinist & Laura Lee Brott. View the full documentary "The Sound of Color (Synthesia)" video experiments on IAOI's you tube channel iaoinetwork
Decemeber 2011: Angelbert and Rae take the Sonic Graffiti installation to Miami Art Basel.
Here is a few clips from the installing process.
2012: Sonic Graffiti would be installed at the Contemporary Arts Museum - Houston, Texas. As a guerrilla sound/art installation. Metoyer installed a small CD player out of sight form the naked eye that would play clips of various sounds and the audio of speeches spliced together by Dawn and Metoyer. Stimulating the ears of the passers by and the patrons attending the museum.