Eric Mingus & Catherine Sikora Mingus w/ Stop Motion Orchestra, Sleeping Beast & brekekekexkoaxkoax
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Nothing Is Sacred, Interference Fest, Antumbra Intermedia Events & Installations presents Eric Mingus & Catherine Sikora Mingus with Stop Motion Orchestra, Sleeping Beast & brekekexkexkoaxkoax on Sunday, November 1st at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard in East Austin.
Supported in part by an Elevate Grant of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment, this show is brought to you courtesy of Antumbra Intermedia Events & Installations, Nothing Is Sacred and Interference Fest. ASL translation will be available for the Deaf and DeafBlind communities.
Sunday, November 1st, 2026
Kenny Dorham’s Backyard
(1106 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702)
Doors at 7 p.m.
Music at 7:30 p.m.
Catherine Sikora and Eric Mingus create music that lives in the bones and breath—where improvisation becomes language, and sound becomes a vessel for history, place, and presence.
Catherine Sikora is a tenor and soprano saxophonist, composer, and improviser whose playing carries the deep imprint of natural landscapes and sonic exploration. From the moment she first heard the wind singing through a metal gate as a child, she has been captivated by the magic of resonant air. Her devotion to the saxophone is both spiritual and fiercely disciplined, informed by years of study, practice, and international performance. With sixteen albums as leader or co-leader, Sikora’s work spans collaborations with artists such as Susan Alcorn, Brian Chase, and Ursel Schlicht. She is a member of the soprano saxophone quartet Chaos Theory (led by Sam Newsome) and the improvising trio Eris 136199. Her music has been featured on BBC’s Freeness, Free Jazz Blog, and festivals including Jazz em Agosto (Lisbon), Vision Festival (NYC), Documenta 15 (Germany), and the Adelaide Festival of the Arts.
Eric Mingus is a vocalist, composer, poet, and multi-instrumentalist whose career defies categorization. With a voice that can move from thunder to lullaby, and a creative lineage rooted in the legacy of Black American music, Mingus works at the intersection of jazz, blues, punk, poetry, and performance art. He has collaborated with artists including Howard Johnson, Elliott Sharp, Hubert Sumlin and Levon Helm, while developing his own multidisciplinary works such as The Mill—an ongoing project that explores ancestral memory, survival, and storytelling in the Great Smoky Mountains. In October 2025, the title track of this project, ‘The Mill (Grinds My Bones) was released as a duo with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Eric leads the Sacred Routes Vocal Ensemble, using words and melody to trace the roots of our human connection. In addition to private coaching of musicians, Eric teaches at The New School, has lectured at Berklee, Harvard, UC Irvine, the Banlieues Blues Jazz festival (Paris, France) and the In Situ Arts Society (Bonn, Germany). He taught vocal improvisation classes and a Charles Mingus workshop at London’s Community Music House.
As a duo, Sikora and Mingus build landscapes in real time—improvised dialogues where breath, voice, and instrument move together through terrain that is sometimes ecstatic, sometimes aching, always alive. Their work reflects their distinct cultural lineages—Ireland and the Black American South—and honors both the intimacy of collaboration and the expansiveness of improvisation.
Stop Motion Orchestra formed in 2013 and quickly got to work recording their debut, Instant Everything! (2014 Egg Helmet Records), a collection of cartoonish prog mini epics drawing equally from early Zappa instrumentals, ‘70s synth rock, and post punk. After some line-up shuffling and a brief hiatus, the band resurfaced with a new aesthetic and a new line-up featuring several virtuoso players from Austin’s fertile rock scene. On Lightworks (2018 Knock’Em Dead / Megaphone Records) the band presents a more organic sound, drawing on influences including Henry Cow, Magma, Haniwa-Chan, and Picchio Dal Pozzo, as well as traditional music from Eastern Europe and South Asia. The current lineup (expanded to add bassoon and vibraphone) recently recorded a new album that will be out sometime in 2027.
Mohadev – Electric Guitar. Mohadev is a guitarist, composer and producer active in a variety of forms of creative music. Stop Motion Orchestra has been his primary creative outlet since its formation in 2013.
Alden Doyle – Violin. Alden Doyle started playing violin in Kindergarten. After studying at UT, he has performed in a variety of styles including classical, bluegrass, rock, and experimental. He also works professionally designing algorithms for audio signal processing.
Leila Henley – Saxophones, Flute. Leila Louise Henley is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist specializing in saxophone, flute, and various other aerophones to the delight and amusement of other humans (and the distinct displeasure of certain dogs). Past projects include the bands Churchwood, The Invincible Czars, Go: Organic Orchestra (Austin chapter), Poon (all-female Ween tribute), and Sweetmeat and the musicals Speeding Motorcycle at Zach Scott Theater and Cabaret at St. Edward’s University. In addition to Stop Motion Orchestra she currently performs with Andrew Nolte Band, Fontanelles TX, and Super Creeps (David Bowie tribute).
Joëlle Simone Morales – Bassoon. Joelle Morales (Wagner) earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, MA. While studying as a classical bassoonist, she was also accepted into NEC’s Contemporary Improvisation Department. While her primary passion lies in experimental music, Joelle firmly believes that a solid foundation in classical fundamentals is essential for every musical style.
Carolyn Trowbridge – Vibraphone. is an energetic, multifaceted artist and educator. A frequent Austin Music Awards-nominee, Trowbridge has recorded, collaborated and performed with several well-known artists including Grammy contenders Black Pumas, Adrian Quesada, Graham Reynolds, and local favorites Alex Coke & Carl Michel Sextet, VAMP, Simon Says, and many more. Along with performing in several Austin based bands, she composes for and leads her own jazz quintet.
brekekekexkoaxkoax produces music and sound art in Austin, Texas. Some of this music as been released on labels such has eh?/Public Eyesore, Cohort, DotDotDot, RRR, Beta-Lactum Ring, and others.
Since 1996, some of Austin's most exceptional and creative artists have joined Josh Ronsen in varied performances and recordings.
“Sleeping Beast is an engaging, amorphous dialogue between three patient and well-journeyed improvisors. There is a unique, abstract chemistry between Danny Kamins, Thomas Helton, and Lisa Cameron that never ceases to engage and invent.
Houston-based Kamins, here on alto saxophone and contra-alto clarinet, has had an especially prolific output as of late, and Sleeping Beast marks the twelfth catalog entry for his online imprint, Musical Eschatology. A fellow Houstonian, Helton is renowned not only for his wide vocabulary on upright bass but also as a composer, conceptualist, and bandleader. Cameron is a veteran Austin-based drummer and percussionist working across multiple scenes with an approach that combines sound art, free jazz, free improvisation, noise, ambient, psych rock and beyond. All three players have previously collaborated, but Sleeping Beast marks their first release as a designated unit.” - Max Kutner All About Jazz Media
Supported in part by an Elevate Grant of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment, this show is brought to you courtesy of Antumbra Intermedia Events & Installations, Nothing Is Sacred and Interference Fest. ASL translation will be available for the Deaf and DeafBlind communities.
Sunday, November 1st, 2026
Kenny Dorham’s Backyard
(1106 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702)
Doors at 7 p.m.
Music at 7:30 p.m.
Catherine Sikora and Eric Mingus create music that lives in the bones and breath—where improvisation becomes language, and sound becomes a vessel for history, place, and presence.
Catherine Sikora is a tenor and soprano saxophonist, composer, and improviser whose playing carries the deep imprint of natural landscapes and sonic exploration. From the moment she first heard the wind singing through a metal gate as a child, she has been captivated by the magic of resonant air. Her devotion to the saxophone is both spiritual and fiercely disciplined, informed by years of study, practice, and international performance. With sixteen albums as leader or co-leader, Sikora’s work spans collaborations with artists such as Susan Alcorn, Brian Chase, and Ursel Schlicht. She is a member of the soprano saxophone quartet Chaos Theory (led by Sam Newsome) and the improvising trio Eris 136199. Her music has been featured on BBC’s Freeness, Free Jazz Blog, and festivals including Jazz em Agosto (Lisbon), Vision Festival (NYC), Documenta 15 (Germany), and the Adelaide Festival of the Arts.
Eric Mingus is a vocalist, composer, poet, and multi-instrumentalist whose career defies categorization. With a voice that can move from thunder to lullaby, and a creative lineage rooted in the legacy of Black American music, Mingus works at the intersection of jazz, blues, punk, poetry, and performance art. He has collaborated with artists including Howard Johnson, Elliott Sharp, Hubert Sumlin and Levon Helm, while developing his own multidisciplinary works such as The Mill—an ongoing project that explores ancestral memory, survival, and storytelling in the Great Smoky Mountains. In October 2025, the title track of this project, ‘The Mill (Grinds My Bones) was released as a duo with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Eric leads the Sacred Routes Vocal Ensemble, using words and melody to trace the roots of our human connection. In addition to private coaching of musicians, Eric teaches at The New School, has lectured at Berklee, Harvard, UC Irvine, the Banlieues Blues Jazz festival (Paris, France) and the In Situ Arts Society (Bonn, Germany). He taught vocal improvisation classes and a Charles Mingus workshop at London’s Community Music House.
As a duo, Sikora and Mingus build landscapes in real time—improvised dialogues where breath, voice, and instrument move together through terrain that is sometimes ecstatic, sometimes aching, always alive. Their work reflects their distinct cultural lineages—Ireland and the Black American South—and honors both the intimacy of collaboration and the expansiveness of improvisation.
Stop Motion Orchestra formed in 2013 and quickly got to work recording their debut, Instant Everything! (2014 Egg Helmet Records), a collection of cartoonish prog mini epics drawing equally from early Zappa instrumentals, ‘70s synth rock, and post punk. After some line-up shuffling and a brief hiatus, the band resurfaced with a new aesthetic and a new line-up featuring several virtuoso players from Austin’s fertile rock scene. On Lightworks (2018 Knock’Em Dead / Megaphone Records) the band presents a more organic sound, drawing on influences including Henry Cow, Magma, Haniwa-Chan, and Picchio Dal Pozzo, as well as traditional music from Eastern Europe and South Asia. The current lineup (expanded to add bassoon and vibraphone) recently recorded a new album that will be out sometime in 2027.
Mohadev – Electric Guitar. Mohadev is a guitarist, composer and producer active in a variety of forms of creative music. Stop Motion Orchestra has been his primary creative outlet since its formation in 2013.
Alden Doyle – Violin. Alden Doyle started playing violin in Kindergarten. After studying at UT, he has performed in a variety of styles including classical, bluegrass, rock, and experimental. He also works professionally designing algorithms for audio signal processing.
Leila Henley – Saxophones, Flute. Leila Louise Henley is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist specializing in saxophone, flute, and various other aerophones to the delight and amusement of other humans (and the distinct displeasure of certain dogs). Past projects include the bands Churchwood, The Invincible Czars, Go: Organic Orchestra (Austin chapter), Poon (all-female Ween tribute), and Sweetmeat and the musicals Speeding Motorcycle at Zach Scott Theater and Cabaret at St. Edward’s University. In addition to Stop Motion Orchestra she currently performs with Andrew Nolte Band, Fontanelles TX, and Super Creeps (David Bowie tribute).
Joëlle Simone Morales – Bassoon. Joelle Morales (Wagner) earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, MA. While studying as a classical bassoonist, she was also accepted into NEC’s Contemporary Improvisation Department. While her primary passion lies in experimental music, Joelle firmly believes that a solid foundation in classical fundamentals is essential for every musical style.
Carolyn Trowbridge – Vibraphone. is an energetic, multifaceted artist and educator. A frequent Austin Music Awards-nominee, Trowbridge has recorded, collaborated and performed with several well-known artists including Grammy contenders Black Pumas, Adrian Quesada, Graham Reynolds, and local favorites Alex Coke & Carl Michel Sextet, VAMP, Simon Says, and many more. Along with performing in several Austin based bands, she composes for and leads her own jazz quintet.
brekekekexkoaxkoax produces music and sound art in Austin, Texas. Some of this music as been released on labels such has eh?/Public Eyesore, Cohort, DotDotDot, RRR, Beta-Lactum Ring, and others.
Since 1996, some of Austin's most exceptional and creative artists have joined Josh Ronsen in varied performances and recordings.
“Sleeping Beast is an engaging, amorphous dialogue between three patient and well-journeyed improvisors. There is a unique, abstract chemistry between Danny Kamins, Thomas Helton, and Lisa Cameron that never ceases to engage and invent.
Houston-based Kamins, here on alto saxophone and contra-alto clarinet, has had an especially prolific output as of late, and Sleeping Beast marks the twelfth catalog entry for his online imprint, Musical Eschatology. A fellow Houstonian, Helton is renowned not only for his wide vocabulary on upright bass but also as a composer, conceptualist, and bandleader. Cameron is a veteran Austin-based drummer and percussionist working across multiple scenes with an approach that combines sound art, free jazz, free improvisation, noise, ambient, psych rock and beyond. All three players have previously collaborated, but Sleeping Beast marks their first release as a designated unit.” - Max Kutner All About Jazz Media
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Where is it happening?
Kenny Dorham's Backyard, 1106 E 11th St,Austin,TX,United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherTara Devi
