Electro Swing Extravaganza!

Open Space for Arts & Community proudly presents our first-ever Electro Swing Extravaganza, featuring Portland’s Sepiatonic and Seattle’s Good Co, in a fabulous evening of dancing to Electro Swing and Original Live Music - all with a twist of Vaudeville!

As the US’s one and only Electro Swing Band, Good Co recently debuted their first album, Electro Swing for the Masses. Pounding dance beats are mixed with gypsy jazz guitar riffs, samples from the past turned on their head along with a live horn section blowing down the house.  

 While Good Co is not a Steampunk band specifically, its model of Electro Swing fits with the ideals of Steampunk fans by incorporating retro sound samples, specifically those from the swing and jazz eras, into a modern context. Electro Swing started as a sparse few offerings on albums based in other genres. The style grew in popularity as some artists began to model the majority of their offerings on jazz and swing samples.

Electro Swing is more popular in Europe, and Good Co is the only practicing Electro Swing band in the United States. Founder Carey Rayburn explains: “Sampling laws are less restrictive in Europe, so it’s easier for artists to use those samples in their music. One of our goals for the US is to not only build our band’s popularity, but also to make more people aware of Electro Swing here in the States; to bring Electro Swing over here. It’s the kind of music that, once people discover it, they find that they love it.”

Singer Sasha Nollman describes the music as “Cab Calloway meets Daft Punk.” This description reflects Electro Swing’s combination of American jazz music with electronic sounds to create what Rayburn calls “life-affirming music.” Their shows are described as high-energy, with a strong element of crowd interaction. Rayburn clarifies that the music is not old-fashioned: “As soon as you hear the music you see that it’s really modern music with some retro references and materials.” A sample of Electro Swing can be found through the free album offered here.

Sharing the bill with Good Co is the fabulous Sepiatonic. Emerging from the emerald twilight of Portland, Oregon, Sepiatonic is a vaudeville-inspired dance and music experience. Sometimes theatrical show, sometimes wild dance party, Sepiatonic brings innovative, original audio and visual entertainment unlike any other act. They inject vintage class into today’s electronic music, and put a bumpin’ booty party into a vaudeville experience. Dance acts, antics, and theatrics help distribute joy everywhere Sepiatonic ventures.

Sepiatonic features Karolina Lux, one of the West coast’s premier belly-esque fusion belly dance artists. She has taught and performed at festivals and events across the country and combines musical and theatrical skills with dance to push the limits of her performance art. Anthony Meade is an innovative song-writer and trombone player, performing frequently with March Fourth Marching Band, Saloon Ensemble, and a number of other jubilant musical projects. His songs have been played across the country and even on Cruise Ships out on the ocean. eZel is a Portland-based songwriter, drummer, bassist, DJ, and electronic music producer. He has created beats for a number of groups ranging from hip-hop to jazz. Eric Stern is artistic director and founder of the internationally acclaimed Eastern European and vaudeville ensemble, Vagabond Opera. He has brought opera to the context of more intimate performance art, and combined it with elements of Balkan, klezmer, and Arabic music.

Sunday, December 14 at 7pm
Tickets $12 in Advance and $15 at the Door. Open Space 18870 103rd Avenue SW, Vashon,