AQUIACONVERSE is PAUL STEVEN RAY- e. guitar,laptop,electronics
THERESA ROSAS- piano, moog, electronics
NINE NINE is PAUL STEVEN RAY - e. guitar, laptop, moog, electronics, voice/ELI FOUNTAIN,TOMAS FUJIWARA -drums/JOSH SCOTT - bass guitar/HA-YANG KIM- Cello
Influences
Miles Davis, John Cage, Jimi Hendrix, AACM, Sun Ra, King Crimson,
Chemical Bros., New York City soundscape, Black Rock Coaltion.
Paul Steven Ray has been composing and performing various mutations of electronic-ritual music for over 20 years. He arrived in NYC in 1981 and has been heard in experimental venues such as Issue Project Room, The Knitting Factory, TONIC, MonkeyTown and festivals such as the Noise Festival at the Ontological Theater, the International Electro-Acoustic Festival, Cosmoson, Ivy Salon Paris, CERF Festival , New York Jazz Festival and the NORTH RIVER MUSIC SERIES. He has collaborated with such artists as Theresa Rosas, Bora Yoon, Oblaat, Pheeroan Ak Laff, Vernon Reid, Nate Wooley, Cyro Baptista, Yuko Fujiyama, Val-Inc., Ha-Yang Kim, Eli Fontaine, Julian Thayer and Susie Ibarra. He holds a B.A. in music and dance of the African diaspora from Indiana University and a M.M. in composition from Brooklyn College. Ray has studied composition with Amnon Wolman and John Eaton. His compositions for other media include work created for Laura Staton Dance ( Judson Movement Research Series) and the score for Sikay Tang’s Phrases/s Lesson 5 . In recent years, Ray has taken up the camera to create multimedia work and video art such as Lotus B.’s Haiku Dream for 4 channel video and live music. In 2006, Paul Steven Ray and Theresa Rosas formed the experimental duet, Aquiaconverse which is now based in Berlin as well as Brooklyn. His experimental opera, SALLY DISTANCE, for Soprano, e. guitar,laptop,live electronics, and video was premiered in 2007 at Galapagos Arts Space and featured Bora Yoon. His listener activated sound environments are outdoor installations designed for an ultra-sensitive sonic experience for the “listener-performer”. He received the 2004 John Cage award for experimental composition. He is curator of the experimental concert series, PSYCHELOUNGE.
