33

Booking Agent : Giorgio Salmoiraghi

In the vibrant musical landscape of Berlin, the enigmatic duo known as “33” has emerged as a groundbreaking force, pushing the boundaries of sonic experimentation and collaboration. Founded by its core-members, visual artist and experimental musician Alexander Iezzi and performance artist and composer Billy Bultheel, 33 stands at the forefront of innovation with their album “33–69”. The genesis of 33 was rooted in a desire to redefine collaboration. Iezzi and Bultheel envisioned a space where diverse artists, including musicians, videographers, visual artists, and web developers, could creatively engage with one another. This collective approach gave birth to a unique musical entity that resonates with machine gun techno, bone-chilling industrial tones, and operatic voices, crafting experimental pop songs that transport listeners to another realm.

The collaborative spirit of 33 extends beyond the duo, involving a constellation of talented musicians such as Ivan Cheng, Steve Katona, NAKED, Patrick Belaga, and Dylan Kerr. Together, they subvert traditional musical practices, treating music as a sculptural form, carving shapes from an archive of fragments.

In an insightful interview with 032c, Iezzi and Bultheel delve into their philosophy of collaboration, decentralizing power relations, and embracing the fluidity of creative partnerships. The band’s approach is akin to a changing constellation, where different formations can occur in various contexts, fostering an evolving and dynamic musical journey. The debut album, “33–69,” exemplifies this collaborative ethos. Featuring a broad array of artists, each track becomes a canvas where individual expressions meld into a cohesive sonic experience. From countertenor arias turned pop songs to Latin lyrics about wild nights under bridges, 33 explores the vast spectrum of musical possibilities.

Performing in actual churches, such as the Nieuwe Kerk for the Rewire Festival in The Hague, becomes a quasi-cathartic experience for 33. The echoes of their songs through the vaults and crevices of these sacred spaces elevate the band’s sonic exploration to a spiritual level. As 33 continues to evolve and work on their second album, their journey remains a testament to the power of collaboration, the fluidity of creativity, and the transformative potential of music as a sculptural phenomenon. In the ever-expanding universe of 33, the boundaries of sound are not limitations but invitations to explore new realms of artistic expression.

Alexander Iezzi is an artist, filmmaker and musician living in Berlin. His practice is based on the transformation of materials into scenes, figures, sound, and moving images, in order to attain the surreal. Iezzi collects these materials, sounds, and music (sometimes also protagonists, such as his colleagues or stuffed animals) and redeploys them in order to question the typical forms of perception in psychology, identity, and politics. Iezzi’s work moves between sculptural installations, video, radio and live performance. He received his MFA from the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam. In recent years he has exhibited solo or in collaboration with other artists at KW, Berlin; Halle Für Kunst Steiermark, Graz; MOMA, New York; Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam; Galerija Močvara, Zagreb; and Galleri Syster, Luleå. As well as his work as a visual artist, Iezzi has composed music for or performed in Staatsoper, Berlin; Magasin CNAC, Grenoble; Sophiensaele, Berlin; Overgaden, Copenhagen; Tanz Quartier, Vienna – for artists such as Cassie August Jørgensen, Ivan Cheng, Judith Foerster, and more.

Billy John Bultheel lives and works in between Berlin and Brussels. Bultheel’s work as an experimental composer and performance artist bridges contemporary composition with techniques and traditions of European Medieval and Renaissance polyphonic music. His music explores performance and installations, often site-specific, leaving the constraints of the concert hall behind in order to find new territory for musical experiences. The musicians become performers, moving through sound tropes, interacting with architecture, sculpture and custom-made instruments. Amongst his works are ‘The Thief’s Journal’ for Atonal (Berlin 2023), ‘Workers in Song’ in collaboration with the artist James Richards at Wiels (Brussels 2023), Mt. Analogue at Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection (Paris, 2023), ‘Athens Songs I-IV’ at the 7th Athens Biennial (Athens 2021), UNTER in collaboration with Tanya Viviana Abelson for the Schinkel Pavilion (Berlin 2021), ‘Songs for the Contract’ (folia.app 2021), ‘The Minutes of Olomouc’ at PAF (Olomouc, CZ 2020), ‘When Doves Cry’ at the Schinkel Pavillon (Berlin, 2019). In 2012 Bultheel started a 7-year long collaboration with the German performance artist Anne Imhof, working as a performer and composer in Imhof’s early performances, movies and installation. In the later years he composed music for Imhof’s exhibition-as-opera Angst (2016), Faust (2017) and Sex (2019). Faust was presented at the German Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennial and was awarded with the Golden Lion for best national participation. The music for Faust and Sex have been released on LP on the German record label, PAN.

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