LOUIS & BEBE

A live electronic and noise music installation and performance for 2 performers, piano, voice, guitar,
a 30 kilo bell, electronics, light and art objects - premiere 2009

LOUIS & BEBE are a maverick musical couple. Joanna Dudley is a long time music theatre performer and diva of Javanese pop and the Berlin based Dirk Dresselhaus (aka Schneider TM) has one famed foot in the electro pop scene and the other firmly planted in the world of improvised noise. Together they are LOUIS & BEBE. Whether as brother and sister, evil twins, or fated lovers, they are two sides of the same coin. A particular focus in LOUIS & BEBE is the creation and death of a sound, and the parallel life of the soul. Memory itself transforms into another character in this story.

LOUIS & BEBE is a journey in 3 chapters, from childhood- The Landing (Reaching for the Red Star Sky), through to the abundant beauty of life in full bloom- The Garden (Portraits of a Zoomorphic Couple) and finally death- The Graveyard (A Night with Two Moons). From human to animal and animal to vegetable, the life lines of LOUIS & BEBE are punctuated by the ringing of bells, the calling of birds and accompanied by their own sound track of song, pop & noise.

Each chapter features 3 original songs, totaling 9 across the entire work. Joanna Dudley's vocal range is showcased in extraordinary breadth, spanning from whispers to screams and from classical elegance to experimental noise. Accompanying her, Schneider™ on guitar and electronics samples and manipulates sounds live, adding an otherworldly layer to the music.

Rufus Didwiszus, Joanna Dudley's main collaborator, created the set installation for LOUIS & BEBE as well as directed the work and Jens Sethzman light installations wre created specifically for this piece. Through sound and imagery, LOUIS & BEBE's world delves into the intriguing interplay of life and death, sound and soul.

LOUIS & BEBE was premiered in Berlin in the old ballroom, The Sophiensaele, and has beeen performed at Kulturehuset in Stockholm and at the Dark MOFO festival with MONA- Musuem of Old and New Art in Tasmania, Australia.