Kristine Leschper

Kristine Leschper

Kristine Leschper is an interdisciplinary artist working in sound, text, image, and performance. Her work positions itself around the spectacle of the human condition, deeply interested in questions of meaning-making, womanhood, socio-ecological systems, and the wielding of power. Her personal philosophies around music-making approach the sonic landscape as an object with shape, dimension and weight. She has presented over 250 live performances across the US, UK, and Europe.Leschper’s The Opening, Or Closing Of A Door, due March 4 via ANTI/Epitaph, is a paean to the sensory world. It’s the first Leschper has released under her given name, having retired the moniker Mothers after eight years of performing and releasing music under it. Though both projects are guided by Leschper’s idiosyncratic approach to songwriting, they couldn’t sound more different. While Mothers drew inspiration from the stark, skeletal sounds of post-punk and contemporary folk, Leschper’s new work is practically baroque, integrating an array of synthesizers, strings, woodwinds, and over a dozen percussive instruments.

Nina Ryser

Nina Ryser was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and has been based in Philadelphia, PA since 2015. Her interest in songwriting and DIY home recording started when she was 7 years old with piano lessons and a Fisher Price tape recorder, and led to her path in contemporary classical composition for a variety of instruments and ensembles, including the American Symphony Orchestra, which performed her 10-minute piece written for chamber orchestra at Bard College’s Fisher Center in 2015. Nina received her BA in Music Composition at Bard College where she studied contemporary-classical composition and electronic music. She also hung out a lot in the film building, where she discovered her love for green screen animation. Nina has played in many bands, including Palberta – an art-punk/pop trio of 10 years that has released 8 full-length records and several EPs which have received reviews by the New York Times, NPR Music, Rollingstone, and Pitchfork; they have toured prolifically across the US and Canada, and opened for Bikini Kill and Deerhoof. Nina's self-titled, pop-leaning solo project consists of lush synth compositions accompanied by vocals and electronics. She has toured with her solo project throughout the east coast and the south, and has opened for The Space Lady and Kikagaku Moyo. Her latest album, Paths of Color, is her sixth solo album: “In line with her past few releases, Paths of Color is characteristic Nina Ryser: dreamy, wonky, synth-based art-pop that’s bubbly, edgy, sweet, and dark all at once; with elements of post-punk, art rock, and free jazz. But on Paths, Ryser has honed her home recording and mixing skills and refined her home studio set-up, making it her most polished-sounding work yet. But she’s maintained that homemade vibe, as well as the freedom of childhood expression that is so crucial to her sound. Her background in contemporary classical music serves to hold it all together in a taut, designful balance.” (Leah Mandel, Cowgirl Records.) As a teacher, Nina has worked with children ages 2-13, ranging from private lessons and group classes in drums, piano and songwriting, to workshops on building sound sculpture and contact microphones. Nina is currently working on her seventh full-length solo album, as well as a synth-based film score for her friend's feature length sci-fi film, to be released in 2023.

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