Konrad Kinard

"I was born a Texan. I was born into the Cold War. I was born the year Sputnik circled the earth and shattered the peace in my home. On his ham radio, my father listened in awe and horror to the beeps transmitted from the satellite in space.

WAR IS FAMILY is one of the latest projects from the artist, where Konrad reflects on his boyhood, growing up in Texas, surrounded and affected by the nuclear discourse in the media.

This evening will be an intimate spoken word and music performance. Guest artists include Michael Bardon on cello and Taro Kinard on keyboard and vocals. Additionally, one to two mystery guests will join the show. Afterwards, we will spend the evening celebrating the Holiday Season with random songs and forced sing-alongs.

 

Review of the show HERE

Konrad Kinard hales from Texas, worked and lived in New York, London, Berlin, and now Leeds. He has worked with Rhys Chatham, Arthur Russell, La La La Human Steps, Bettina Koester ( Malaria), Fiona Templeton, Glenn Branca, Slash Orchestra, Zero Ping, and the Woodentops. He assisted the  Belorussian duo, Naviband , for the English release of Girl In White. As well, he has created Sexiland, a Berlin dance club in the '90s, and in the 2000s, Stranded In Neverland ( SIN Bar) Performance Space, also in Berlin. In London, he presented Bisplitters and The Butterfly Lounge.

Michael Bardon is a Northern Irish bassist/cellist/composer/improviser born in 1986 and based in Leeds, UK. He has worked with a variety of musicians from different disciplines and backgrounds, including Shatner's Bassoon, Keeley Forsyth, Matthew Bourne, Dave Kane, Tipping Point, James Mainwaring, Sean Noonan's Pavees Dance, Hiby/Bardon/Hession trio, Jaktar, Hassan Erraji, Craig Scott's Lobotomy and Nat Birchall Quintet.

Michael is a founding member and joint composer of Shatner's Bassoon, a group of five composers/improvisers who have gained considerable reputation around the UK for their unorthodox approach to making music together. The group has been featured twice on BBC Jazz on 3.

Michael's performance interests lie in pairing both the electronic sonorities of electric bass, DIY effects pedals and synthesisers with a more traditional acoustic set-up of double bass and cello.

For the performance of War Is Family, he will be playing processed cello, possibly more.

Taro Kinard is a London-born keyboardist and singer. He has just released his first EP, Ragged, on Inicinerate Media. In 2024, he appeared  on The Piano, which can be seen on You Tube. He has also appeared as an actor in 'Merry-Go-Round, a short film about the Boer Wars in Zimbabwe ( Rhodesia). He attended the Leeds Conservatoire Saturday program, where he met some of the musicians that he works with today, forming his new band, which will be in the clubs soon. In War Is Family he is featured as the 10 year old boy in several of the songs. In this live performance, he will be performing on keyboard and singing, though, being 18, his voice is no longer that of a boy.

Mystery Guests, by definition, shall remain so.