NEWS
Interview and feature in Plastic Mag
plasticmag.co.uk/2024/02/interview-nnja-riot-drops-new-record/
plasticmag.co.uk/2024/02/interview-nnja-riot-drops-new-record/
Interview with NNJA RIOT on Hello Goodbye Show Resonance FM
(from 37:18 minutes into the show but the whole show)
(from 37:18 minutes into the show but the whole show)
Sun 13 Music Blog - Interview
"The new Nnja Riot dispatch, Violet Fields, sees McKendrick finding a happy medium, with a series of tracks that feel bleary-eyed, perceptibly dark, and oddly psychedelic, oscillating between the dark corners of the warehouse and open fields to watch the sunrise.
There’s a rawness to Violet Fields and it stems from a vitality of scouring the grimiest corners of DIY culture. Hailing from New Zealand and now based in London"
https://sun-13.com/2024/02/15/nnja-riot-interview-there-is-a-shamanic-quality-to-my-music/
"The new Nnja Riot dispatch, Violet Fields, sees McKendrick finding a happy medium, with a series of tracks that feel bleary-eyed, perceptibly dark, and oddly psychedelic, oscillating between the dark corners of the warehouse and open fields to watch the sunrise.
There’s a rawness to Violet Fields and it stems from a vitality of scouring the grimiest corners of DIY culture. Hailing from New Zealand and now based in London"
https://sun-13.com/2024/02/15/nnja-riot-interview-there-is-a-shamanic-quality-to-my-music/
Review of "Violet Fields" on Fighting Boredom
https://www.fighting-boredom.co.uk/album-review/schubmodul-hr-giger-counter-curve-nnja-riot-album-reviews
"Captivating and otherworldy, unsettling and evocative, ethereal and hypnotic" some nice words about my album from Simon Edwards on Loose Canon - "Violet Fields" on 6TR Radio.
My new studio album is available for pre-order from Cruel Nature Records on 2nd February 2024.
https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/violet-fields
Using her skills as a songwriter and her love for noise she has crafted seven new tracks which hint at the shamanistic disharmony inherent in human evolution, the futility of war and the disconcerting horror of current global events. She explores these themes amongst disparate and poetic lyrics where she conveys her own feelings of being a human struggling to make sense of a fast changing world intent on its own destruction. As if a scholar of sound she records her memoirs through beats, field recordings, noises, rhythms of the city and nature. As if viewing the contemporary world through the eyes of an alien she observes and dismantles, then rebuilds through the fullness of sound, creating a story that can only be told within the realm of music.
Sometimes the beats whirl and confuse like a tumultuous tornado turning in on themselves and at other times they are clear and defined pulsating with intent and clarity. Like huge storm clouds the sound is thick with fog as if driven by the forces of nature only to transform into a clear sky waiting for the next verse. Sometimes they seem to summon the gods with hypnotic force and other times they are lost in the mayhem.
At its nucleus lies a shamanistic yearning—an aspiration to forge an alternative trajectory, and to smash at the doors, make an uproar of noise, to shout, sing, speak in tongues or whisper and use whatever instruments are needed as weapons to battle on the wasteland of the Violet Fields.
She recorded this album using the infamous Octatrack as a base instrument to create song compositions and then she made overdubs with various instruments like the guitar for a fuzzy distorted noise, synths for some of the melodies, vocals and sometimes vocoders, and the violin which she uses to make whale-like noises and abstractions. Also included in the mix are the Chernobylizer and Fort Processor which are both psycho-geographic synths which she has co-designed.
https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/violet-fields
Using her skills as a songwriter and her love for noise she has crafted seven new tracks which hint at the shamanistic disharmony inherent in human evolution, the futility of war and the disconcerting horror of current global events. She explores these themes amongst disparate and poetic lyrics where she conveys her own feelings of being a human struggling to make sense of a fast changing world intent on its own destruction. As if a scholar of sound she records her memoirs through beats, field recordings, noises, rhythms of the city and nature. As if viewing the contemporary world through the eyes of an alien she observes and dismantles, then rebuilds through the fullness of sound, creating a story that can only be told within the realm of music.
Sometimes the beats whirl and confuse like a tumultuous tornado turning in on themselves and at other times they are clear and defined pulsating with intent and clarity. Like huge storm clouds the sound is thick with fog as if driven by the forces of nature only to transform into a clear sky waiting for the next verse. Sometimes they seem to summon the gods with hypnotic force and other times they are lost in the mayhem.
At its nucleus lies a shamanistic yearning—an aspiration to forge an alternative trajectory, and to smash at the doors, make an uproar of noise, to shout, sing, speak in tongues or whisper and use whatever instruments are needed as weapons to battle on the wasteland of the Violet Fields.
She recorded this album using the infamous Octatrack as a base instrument to create song compositions and then she made overdubs with various instruments like the guitar for a fuzzy distorted noise, synths for some of the melodies, vocals and sometimes vocoders, and the violin which she uses to make whale-like noises and abstractions. Also included in the mix are the Chernobylizer and Fort Processor which are both psycho-geographic synths which she has co-designed.
REVIEWS
A Psycho-Social Experiment Event Review by Loose Lips.
In what was both a musical and performative act, Nnja Riot’s ritualistic method made use of light and kinetic devices. Using a collection of DIY synths, such as light sensors within a jar triggered by an LED toy, The female artist first set a ‘base’ of bubbling distortion before chanting through a microphone. The movement and tone of the distortion acted like an extreme sort of vocoder that made Nnja’s voice sound at once demonic, and at other times ethereal. This performance was the most sonically-varied. Albeit painful to my ears, the listening experience gave me an insight I’d not thought about before.
In most musical compositions and genres, the musician writes the hooks for a track and implements them effectively. Then, we, the audience, learn, anticipate and enjoy those hooks through the structure of the music. But with this performance, I felt myself enjoying the fleeting moments. Unable to anticipate them, beautiful sounds would appear, hinting at melodic hooks or powerful bass lines just long enough to appreciate before quickly returning back to chaos.
Between each performance was a time to discuss and explore what had been presented. Nnja invited people to look at her equipment and described what they did. Demystifying the creative process is now a common theme in the arts. Maybe as we head towards an automated world, understanding the breadth of creativity that people can engage with may be helpful to a positive ‘post-work’ future. "
Full review here:
http://loose-lips.co.uk/blog/queer-noise-a-psycho-social-experiment
"The dark cube resonates for STEEP 12 as Lisa McKendrick begins on electric guitar. Her array of pedals at her feet, she crouches and turns knobs and presses switches, conjuring a swirling cloud of grey sound. McKendrick plays and moans through electric currents, twisting life out of what’s hidden inside the small boxes. What will happen, she thinks, if I turn this a little more. Can I surprise myself? If she surprises herself, she stays alive, in the moment, changing the world for herself with electronic noise. She wears the red headdress she has made herself, a symbol that is has stepped into the shamanic space in which she can communicate with and invite into the present, those ghosts, spirits, and unseen that hover over the shoulder, shut out from the conscious communication of ordinary conversational moments." - The Sunday Tribune
RADIO FREE MIDWICH
" First up is Nnja Riot, an evocative name that’s summoning up kick-ass thoughts in my little head. My curiosity is repaid with some very bright and shiny semi-improvised songs, kick-ass for sure but without the shuriken to the forehead. In fact this Ninja’s more likely to rustle up a milkshake with their hidden Nutribullet than threaten painful revenge.
As dense as LA smog, as furious as a dropped ice-cream; this brief disc houses the most eccentric electric bongos that I’ve heard in a long time. The amazing bongo is err…bongo-ing all over the place as the sound of the electronics (from the Pepsi generation) are splashed in rainbow patterns.
Twisting through the slippery sheen of processed guitar and keyboards Nnja Riot does an unexpected nod to the goof-poetry of Adam Bohman as instructions are read out (for super glue or something) in a sing-song voice underwired with a hint of menace.
I’m rubbing my temples at ‘Velcrow Hook’, a more guitar-laden piece until the jigsaw snaps into place and I’m minded of the much-missed Spacemen 3 and the slow build of their indie-hit ‘Revolution’.
It’s all well dandy, and dare I say it… a refreshing Spring listen. "
https://radiofreemidwich.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/caramac-decisions-joe-murray-on-nnja-riot-and-nephew/
In what was both a musical and performative act, Nnja Riot’s ritualistic method made use of light and kinetic devices. Using a collection of DIY synths, such as light sensors within a jar triggered by an LED toy, The female artist first set a ‘base’ of bubbling distortion before chanting through a microphone. The movement and tone of the distortion acted like an extreme sort of vocoder that made Nnja’s voice sound at once demonic, and at other times ethereal. This performance was the most sonically-varied. Albeit painful to my ears, the listening experience gave me an insight I’d not thought about before.
In most musical compositions and genres, the musician writes the hooks for a track and implements them effectively. Then, we, the audience, learn, anticipate and enjoy those hooks through the structure of the music. But with this performance, I felt myself enjoying the fleeting moments. Unable to anticipate them, beautiful sounds would appear, hinting at melodic hooks or powerful bass lines just long enough to appreciate before quickly returning back to chaos.
Between each performance was a time to discuss and explore what had been presented. Nnja invited people to look at her equipment and described what they did. Demystifying the creative process is now a common theme in the arts. Maybe as we head towards an automated world, understanding the breadth of creativity that people can engage with may be helpful to a positive ‘post-work’ future. "
Full review here:
http://loose-lips.co.uk/blog/queer-noise-a-psycho-social-experiment
"The dark cube resonates for STEEP 12 as Lisa McKendrick begins on electric guitar. Her array of pedals at her feet, she crouches and turns knobs and presses switches, conjuring a swirling cloud of grey sound. McKendrick plays and moans through electric currents, twisting life out of what’s hidden inside the small boxes. What will happen, she thinks, if I turn this a little more. Can I surprise myself? If she surprises herself, she stays alive, in the moment, changing the world for herself with electronic noise. She wears the red headdress she has made herself, a symbol that is has stepped into the shamanic space in which she can communicate with and invite into the present, those ghosts, spirits, and unseen that hover over the shoulder, shut out from the conscious communication of ordinary conversational moments." - The Sunday Tribune
RADIO FREE MIDWICH
" First up is Nnja Riot, an evocative name that’s summoning up kick-ass thoughts in my little head. My curiosity is repaid with some very bright and shiny semi-improvised songs, kick-ass for sure but without the shuriken to the forehead. In fact this Ninja’s more likely to rustle up a milkshake with their hidden Nutribullet than threaten painful revenge.
As dense as LA smog, as furious as a dropped ice-cream; this brief disc houses the most eccentric electric bongos that I’ve heard in a long time. The amazing bongo is err…bongo-ing all over the place as the sound of the electronics (from the Pepsi generation) are splashed in rainbow patterns.
Twisting through the slippery sheen of processed guitar and keyboards Nnja Riot does an unexpected nod to the goof-poetry of Adam Bohman as instructions are read out (for super glue or something) in a sing-song voice underwired with a hint of menace.
I’m rubbing my temples at ‘Velcrow Hook’, a more guitar-laden piece until the jigsaw snaps into place and I’m minded of the much-missed Spacemen 3 and the slow build of their indie-hit ‘Revolution’.
It’s all well dandy, and dare I say it… a refreshing Spring listen. "
https://radiofreemidwich.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/caramac-decisions-joe-murray-on-nnja-riot-and-nephew/
PODCASTS/ARTICLES/
COMPILATIONS
featuring Nnja Riot
Nnja Riot live on Bad Punk, Resonance FM. Performing live.
Hosted by Johny Brown
Hosted by Johny Brown
Nnja Riot at Piksel Festival, Bergen, Norway, November 2019
https://19.piksel.no/2019/11/22/limit-of-the-off-limit/
https://19.piksel.no/2019/11/22/limit-of-the-off-limit/
Nnja Riot featured in Music Tech magazine
https://www.musictech.net/features/electronic-music-creators-who-are-inspired-by-video-games/
https://www.musictech.net/features/electronic-music-creators-who-are-inspired-by-video-games/
Nnja Riot (Lisa McKendrick) on Resonance FM Hello Goodbye Show featuring violin experimental track.
rhellogoodbyeshow.com/2019/04/21/podnplay-20-04-19-ft-jackie-charles-cowboy-flying-saucer-lisa-mckendrick-jasmine-pender/
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-hello-goodbye-show-20th-april-2019/
rhellogoodbyeshow.com/2019/04/21/podnplay-20-04-19-ft-jackie-charles-cowboy-flying-saucer-lisa-mckendrick-jasmine-pender/
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-hello-goodbye-show-20th-april-2019/
A review in The Sunday Tribine on Nnja Riot performance at St Mary's Tower.
https://www.thesundaytribune.com/2019/05/26/the-fertile-power-of-the-orphan-tower
https://www.thesundaytribune.com/2019/05/26/the-fertile-power-of-the-orphan-tower
Artist residency article featuring Nnja Riot
https://www.artlyst.com/features/passaggiatina-2019-mefitis-year-jude-cowan-montague/
https://www.artlyst.com/features/passaggiatina-2019-mefitis-year-jude-cowan-montague/