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Solo Album: A Thousand Tiny Mutinies
March 05, 2024

I’m very happy announce the release of my new album, a thousand tiny mutinies for solo contrabass guitar and artefacts, via Nice Music label. It was recorded and mixed with Timothy Harvey, mastered by Magnus Lindberg, cover design by Design Rows, with an accompanying essay by Andrew Goodman.

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#solo
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You Can’t See Speed
Dec 23, 2024

On 4 April 2025, Tina Stefanou’s solo exhibition at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) will open in Narrm/Melbourne. I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Tina on many projects and artworks — some that will feature in this exhibition. I’m having huge amounts of fun making the sounds for her major film/sculpture/installation, You Can’t See Speed.

You can find the exhibition details here: https://acca.melbourne/exhibition/tina-stefanou-you-cant-see-speed/

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#studiorecording
#liveperformance
#installation
#creativedevelopment

Tina Stefanou, You Can’t See Speed (still) 2025.

Guewel / Senegal
December 22, 2024

In Jan-Feb of 2024, I travelled to Senegal to collaborate with Lamine Sonko on his interdisciplinary theatre work Guewel. After several weeks of development — many days of which were interrupted by civil unrest and the blocking of streets, and the internet (!) — we premiered the work-in-progress at the Daniel Sorana National Theatre of Senegal. It's been an immense pleasure to connect with Lamine and his family in Dakar, and I'm certain there will be more to come!

Here’s a track from 2023 called Taamo, which features in the theatre work in an altered form (I played upright bass on this):

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#creativedevelopment
#liveperformance
#dance

2024 MSA Conference
December 01, 2024

Here’s a LINK to my abstract for a paper I presented at the 47th National Conference of the Musicological Society of Australia 2024, titled THE HORROR OF THE AVANT-GARDE(S) - composing with an ethics of affirmation.

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#contrabassguitar#writing
#composition
#theory

Solo Set at New North
October 03, 2024

Thanks to the New North crew in Naarm/Melbourne for this footage from a concert at Brunswick Mechanics Institute, back in December 2023. This was my second-ever solo performance and it’s very nice to have it beautifully recorded by Theo Carbo and filmed/edited by Callum G’Froerer.

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#liveperformance #solo #contrabassguitar #composition #video

Soundtrack and Premiere: Left Write Hook
August 08, 2024

In 2023, I created the soundtrack for the feature-length documentary film Left Write Hook. The film, directed by Shannon Owen, is a heart-wrenching but ultimately empowering story about survivors of child sexual abuse. It was an incredible opportunity to use my musical skills to amplify the voices of survivors, and I am so happy to have played a small part in telling their stories. The soundtrack was made entirely with acoustic instruments, with the help of Constantine Stefanou (guitar) and Maria Moles (drums/percussion), and additional engineering by Timothy Harvey.

The film is premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival on 14 August 2024 at ACMI, with additional screenings around Victoria throughout August.

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#soundtrack #composition #studiorecording #film

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
June 24, 2024

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of developing and recording two new orchestral works with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2024-25 Australian Composer's School. Under the mentorship of Matthew Hindson, Maria Grenfell, and conductor Luke Dollman, we spent the week developing, experimenting and recording at Federation Hall, nipaluna/Hobart.

<mutinies>, is an orchestral adaptation of a solo contrabass guitar work that I released in early 2024 titled, a thousand tiny mutinies. This work is part of an ongoing project of translating my solo bass practice across other bodies, instruments, and ensembles.

The orchestral version draws its narrative thread from 1829 Cyprus Mutiny at Recherche Bay, where convicts took control of the brig Cyprus, and set sail. The mutineers passed through New Zealand and the Chatham Islands before landing in the hostile Japanese waters, and on to China where the Cyprus was abandoned. The mutineers found their way back to London, where two of them were hanged — the last men to be hanged for piracy in Britain. The infamous captain, William Swallow and one other, were returned to Hobart.

Links to the work can be found here:
SCORE // AUDIO

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#composition
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The Horror of the Avant-Garde(s)
February 16, 2024

“…a gutsy, complicated, and occasionally overwrought experience that engaged all the senses.” — Limelight Magazine

THE HORROR OF THE AVANT-GARDE(S) [2023] is a concerto for piano, percussion, and large ensemble, which premiered at two performances on August 17 at Alpha60 Chapter House in Narrm/Melbourne.

The work featured international guests Marc Hannaford on piano and Satoshi Takeishi on percussion, joined by an incredible ensemble comprising Laila Engle, Luke Carbon, Jasper Ly, Phoebe Green, Anna Pokorny, Callum G'Froerer, Louise Devenish, Benjamin Anderson, Melina van Leeuwen, Sophia Kirsanova, myself on my contrabass guitar, under the baton of conductor Elliott Gyger.

The night was art directed by Tina Stefanou, including words by Diego Ramirez, performances by Yumi Umiumare, Tina Stefanou, Young Voices of Melbourne conducted by Mark O’Leary, and culinary horrors by Long Prawn.

I wrote an article about the work that featured in Resonate Magazine (Australian Music Centre) and was also republished in The Music Trust e-zine; and was also interviewed by CutCommon Magazine.

A review of the event can be found at Limelight Magazine (behind a paywall), and republished on the reviewer’s website.

Karl Brandstater and Verena Franz beautifully filmed the performances - video and album release coming in 2025.

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#composition
#liveperformance
#video
#score
#studiorecording
#contrabassguitar

Joseph Franklin

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