By Liquid Music blog contributor Patrick Marschke

*Liquid Music Graphic and Logo by* *Andrew Jerabek* *from the 15.16 season*

A few weeks ago our friends at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum asked us to curate a playlist for their communal gathering areas in their beautiful riverside building in Winona, Minnesota. The collaboration felt like an immediate fit, and not just because of the serendipity of our names (a museum featuring the art of water partnering with a series called Liquid Music feels stranger than fiction). Below the surface of the obvious mnemonic connection, it became clear that the impetus for our collaboration seems to have more to do with MMAM’s mission to “push the boundaries of what marine art can be,” an idea that’s closely tied to the essence of Liquid Music.

*MMAM’s atrium, where you can currently hear our Liquid Playlist.*

As any person who has tried to put together the perfect playlist for a friend or crush can tell you, it is a subtle art and can be deceptively challenging. Early in the process Liquid Music’s founder and curator Kate Nordstrum pointed out that the challenge of creating a water-themed playlist is not so different from curating a special project series within an orchestral institution: “It’s not about simply ‘fitting in’ to the constraints, but actually embracing them — using the unique parameters as a way to pull yourself out of preconceived notions. It has always been something that I actively seek out, and often results in surprising and novel ideas and opportunities.” After all: a Liquid is a fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a constant volume independent of pressure… (thanks Wikipedia).

At the core of any great music series or playlist is a story. As Kate and I embarked on the work to put together a collection of marine-inspired music for MMAM, we realized that there was an important question to answer before its story would become clear: What is Liquid Music?

Back in 2017 I skirted around actually answering this question in an introduction to an interview with Kate about the origins of Liquid Music:

“‘Liquid Music’ has become its own adjective, especially for longtime followers of the series. You’ve probably caught yourself listening to something and thinking ‘this would be perfect for Liquid Music’ or maybe been caught with a lack of words when describing the series to a friend who has somehow remained unfamiliar. Perhaps you have discovered an artist and have watched their career flourish since. Each year the definition of ‘Liquid Music’ gets refined but no less familiar and useful.”

Avoiding answering the question is easy to do: Liquid Music can feel as slippery as its name implies. While I think everything I said there still holds up, I don’t think that this description really “defines” anything. 5 years later, I think I am ready to try again. So what are the specific components of Liquid Music that make it Liquid Music?

THE SYMBOLIC

If we are going to truly boil it down to the symbolic “Liquid Music” is simply a name for a concert series. It happens to be a very good name. So good I found that I never even thought to question it — upon first hearing about the series it just made sense. Maybe you had a similar experience.

Eventually, I thought to ask about the origins of the name: It emerged from an intense conversation and visioning session with Kate and composer and frequent LM collaborator William Brittelle. Most importantly, after a quick online search, they were surprised to discover that the phrase hadn’t been used yet and the domain was miraculously available. And thus it came to be. The names’ origins feel quaint in an age where brand development is a billion-dollar industry. It is one of many right-time-right-place scenarios that seem almost predestined in hindsight, but it also speaks to the need for a forward-thinking music series like Liquid Music in the early 2010s.

Another important side of the semiotics of Liquid Music is its graphic identity. The series has had a distinct and sophisticated visual aesthetic from the outset. From the seasonal brochures, digital presence, and thoughtfully staged shows, Kate has been uncompromising in making sure that the look and feel of everything Liquid Music were and are as deliberate and refined as the work being presented.

Designer Andrew Jerabek has been integral to the look and feel of both print and digital assets along with developing the original Liquid Music logo. His detailed and tactile graphics aesthetically unified each season’s diverse set of projects, providing a subtle and necessary coherence throughout. The visceral and organic infrared photography GMUNK was utilized for the 17/18 season. In early 2020, longtime LM friend and collaborator Andrea Hyde refreshed the logo and look of Liquid Music for the new decade.

*Liquid Music Director, Curator, & Executive Producer Kate Nordstrum*

THE CURATION

Coordinating all of these collaborative aesthetic efforts is, of course, the curator herself: Kate Nordstrum. She is the visionary, the aspirational leader, and the true believer. It would be easy to say that Kate and her curation IS the series, but she would be the first to acknowledge that Liquid Music is in many ways a collaborative platform. Curation is putting a spotlight on artists, seeing the potential they might not quite see, and providing a context for that potential to flourish into something greater than anyone expected.

An underappreciated component of the curatorial process is helping others see that potential, which is made even more difficult when a project has yet to come into existence. There is a heroic effort that goes into every Liquid Music project description. The core motivating factor behind this is to serve that latent potential, even for projects in their most nascent form. Writing about music is hard: if it was easy to articulate the meaning of a work with words, then musicians probably wouldn’t have resorted to music in the first place. Liquid Music has always sought to provide a space to do the messy work of finding the words for the transcendent work of our featured artists.

A key space for this work has been the Liquid Music blog. I essentially learned how to write in this space, and am constantly flattered that my work is featured alongside incredible writers like Trever Hagen, Katie Hare, and Nick Lanser (to name a few) along with essays by and interviews with the countless unsurprisingly articulate Liquid Music artistic collaborators. In going through the archives as we prepared for our playlist duties I found an essay from MPR Classical Host Steve Seel that says in 40 words what it has taken me 1043 (so far), along with Liquid Language deserving of its own MMAM didactic:

“...And so, nothing is solid where the true experimenters of music work; ideas flow and crash into each other like waves, effortlessly. They shift their shape eternally depending on their ‘containers.’ The only constant in Liquid Music is motion. Fluidity.” — Steve Seel from his 2015 Liquid Music blog What Makes For Truly “Rebellious” Art?

*Steve Seel interviewing composer William Brittelle*

THE MUSIC

*From Liquid Music’s “Bedroom Community and Friends” show at the American Swedish Institute, a previous collaboration between LM and MMAM’s new Executive Director* *Scott Pollock*

As Steve so eloquently captured above, Liquid Music is the music — specifically the music of the boundary-defying featured artists. Their work challenges and transcends classification, striving for that which is just beyond, reaching into the unknown, and often arriving somewhere completely unexpected. But this music wouldn’t mean much without the dedicated audience that so graciously receives it. And it wouldn’t be possible without the venues, partners, donors, advocates, friends, families, interns, funders, sponsors, and countless other individuals — they all are integral to making Liquid Music what it is.

Liquid Music will continue to embrace its boundless fluidity. What better way to celebrate than with a Liquid Playlist!

Included are key LM Alumni and longtime friends of the series such as Nico Muhly (a pivotal player in Kate’s proto-Liquid Music endeavors at The Southern Theater), Helado Negro, Minneapolis-based Poliça, Saul Williams, Angélica Negrón, and many more!

Share any music you think deserves to be included on our Liquid Playlist on socials! Find a text version of the full track list here.

To hear the playlist in its intended setting, stop by The Minnesota Marine Art Museum sometime soon! And give them a follow if you’d like to hear about their upcoming exhibitions and events:

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