After making an intriguing debut in 2023, the Art Gallery of NSW is bringing back its pioneering new music series this winter to push the limits of sound and live performance. Volume is fronted by four visionary headline artists in 2024, and this line-up has us saying "Mama, I’m a millionaire" – because Mr Ice Cool himself André 3000 is heading to the Gallery with New Blue Sun Live (Sat, Jul 20 + Sun, Jul 21), an Australian-exclusive performance of the hip-hop titan’s new experimental instrumental jazz project.
So what is the vibe of Volume?
You might recall that the first Volume festival last year was headlined by Grammy-winning artist Solange (yes, she of the Beyoncé bloodline), who played three sold-out performances in the Tank. Solange’s performances in the low-lit, pillar-filled space leaned into a tranquil “sound bath” vibe, which was a bit confusing for the ticket holders who didn’t read the fine print and rocked up expecting a pop concert. We advise you not to make the same mistake and show up expecting a rap showdown from André 3000, who will be accompanied by a phenomenal group of American jazz and new-age musicians for his considerably chilled out new sound.
Beyond the top tickets, Volume's free program packs in Aboriginal country music icons; internationally-renowned experimentalists; and the world-premiere of a new installation work by multidisciplinary artist Jonathan Zawada and the Sydney-raised, one-man-international-electronic-music-hit-maker himself, Flume, which is taking over the Art Gallery’s iconic underground Tank (a former WWII oil tank that is now a breathtaking art and performance space).
Taking over the Art Gallery from July 5–21, and including evening and daytime programming, Volume will showcase work by more than 30 local and international artists in six programs that are free to the public, cultivating deep exploration and dialogue between diverse musical perspectives. Read on for our program round up!
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Volume's headliners & ticketed events
Alongside André 3000, you can also catch sets from American art rock trailblazer and founding member of Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon (Thu, Jul 18 + Fri, Jul 19); multiple ARIA Award-winning Ghanaian-Australian artist Genesis Owusu (Fri, Jul 5 + Sat, Jul 6) will channel post-punk, post-rap and R’n’B with his notoriously buzzy live performance style; and LA-based, ARIA-winning Zimbabwean-Australian singer-songwriter and rapper Tkay Maidza (Sat, Jul 13) will have you wrapped up in ‘Cashmere’ and asking ‘Where Is My Mind?’
Tickets for these events range from $80–$150. You can check out the ticketed program and snap up tickets over here.
Fiery free events at Volume
Titled 'Every dull moment (EDM)', Jonathan Zawada and Flume's site-specific work has been created for the Tank, which will be brought to life with sonics, heady projections and mesmeric lighting and lasers. The immersive installation takes inspiration from Zawada and Flume’s shared history of performing and creating visual imagery together at EDM festivals around the world. The work shifts between a series of 10-to-90-second sequences that are randomised and never repeating, accompanied by new musical compositions from Flume. The work will be open to visit daily from July 7–21 (and yes, admission is free).
On opening weekend, the Tank will reverberate with cutting-edge experimental pop and electronic drone for Future tilt – a one-off free afternoon of live music on Saturday, July 6, from 1–4pm. Kombumerri artist Salllvage will set the tone via his mutated field recordings from 2023’s Lastwave EP; Ballina-based electronic experimentalist Lydian Dunbar will present a new set filled with beat-synced ambience; and Sydney’s DeepFaith, following their recent US tour supporting Genesis Owusu, will fuse the past, present and the future into a layered kaleidoscope of sonics and projections.
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Coinciding with NAIDOC Week, a huge (free) one-night-only celebration of Aboriginal country music will play across both gallery buildings (Weds, July 10). Blak Country will platform today’s icons and rising stars of Aboriginal Australian country music – including Roger Knox, Kyla-Belle Roberts, Loren Ryan, Frank Yamma, Jarrod Hickling and Kathryn Kelly – and celebrate the tradition of Aboriginal country music as a means of connection, truth-telling and catharsis. (Blak Country will also premiere a specially made playlist comprising songs recorded as part of the Songbirds project, compiled by AGNSW's assistant First Nations curator and Volume co-curator Liam Keenan.)
Several of the world’s leading experimental musicians working across ambient, neo-classical and electronic forms will converge on the Gallery for Extasis, an evening of exceptional artistic innovation (Weds, July 17) curated by composer and artist Lawrence English (Room40). Extasis is an elevation of the abstract and the boundary-pushing, activating the Art Gallery with exploratory sonic approaches by artists such as experimental music legend Jim O'Rourke (US) performing live in Sydney for the first time ever with Eiko Ishibashi (JP), Hand to Earth (AU), Carl Stone (US/JP), Keiji Haino (JP), Nyokabi Kariũki (KE), Chihei Hatkeyama (JP), Gail Priest (AU) and Madeline Cocolas (AU).
Meanwhile, on weekends during Volume, the Art Gallery will host musicians from the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown for Play on, play again, play forever, a special series of 30-minute live performances responding to artworks in the Gallery’s collection. This series is an extension of the AGNSW's longstanding partnership with the Asylum Seekers Centre, creating access and opportunity for asylum seekers who are passionate about music and its connection to art. Daytime visitors to the Art Gallery will also experience Threshold, a new music program devised in collaboration with Longform Editions, the internationally renowned, Sydney-based online "gallery for listening".
Volume will be presented from July 5–21 in both of the Art Gallery of NSW’s recently renamed buildings: Naala Badu (the north building) and Naala Nura (the south building).
In addition to the seven ticketed performances, a wider program of free events will be announced soon. Find out more at volume.sydney.
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