Drone Assembly

One can liken Tilburg-based trio DRONE ASSEMBLY as much to an ongoing science expedition as a musical project. Standing over an impressive assortment of instruments and gear, the members coalesce until becoming – in their own words – a “living organism”; synths, looping stations, effect pedals are combined with organic percussion, acoustic instruments and vocals in a probing, conversational way. Indeed, each performance by Drone Assembly is a completely unique sensory experience.

Over the five years since the project’s beginnings, Drone Assembly have performed in all kinds of unusual settings. And in doing so, they defy conventional hierarchies between performer and listener. For example, they once did a show inside of a greenhouse, and performed at the Hall of Fame in front of  a sleeping audience.  Though each show comes from a level of  improvisation, Drone Assembly use the impressive collection of sounds and textures at their fingertips with utmost care and conviction. The result is music that ebbs and flows along the emotional beat of the moment, veering from soft mellow passages, hypnotic swells to resonant walls of noise.

– Jasper Willems