Returning from their West Coast tour, Seattle’s somesurprises layers dream pop vocals over celestial guitars, synths, and samples, and Portland’s Ilyas Ahmed radiates cosmic solo guitar compositions. Morgan Henderson, best known as a member of Blood Brothers and Fleet Foxes, opens the night.
somesurprises is the Seattle-based band led by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Natasha El-Sergany. Born in Letterkenny, Ireland, and raised in the north of England before moving to Florida at age ten, El-Sergany eventually found home in the evergreen mist of the Pacific Northwest. What began as a bedroom project focused on spectral balladry and late-night exploration has since evolved into an enigmatic collaboration with synthesist and guitarist Josh Medina. Since 2017, the duo has created a unique blend of reverb drenched folk, motorik dream pop and drone rock.
Ilyas Ahmed has been a stalwart of American underground music for over two decades across genre-defying solo and collaborative recordings with such musicians as Liz Harris, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, and most recently Pete Swanson (Yellow Swans). He has two new solo recordings along with a debut with Swanson forthcoming this year.
Morgan Henderson is a Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as a member of the bands Blood Brothers and Fleet Foxes. Current projects include writing and recording music for film and television and performing regularly with the groups J.R.C.G., OC-EN and Seven Colors.