Pulp Presents: Walt McClements, Gregg Kowalsky, & Varsity Tuba Quartet

Walt McClements is an accordionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Los Angeles. His solo compositions focus on processed accordion, creating patient and emotional meditations that nod to drone and ambient music. His debut record, “A Hole in the Fence” was released in 2021 on American Dreams, and utilized a minimal palette of accordions processed through pedals to create glacial soundscapes and odes to hidden worlds. On his latest record, and first for Western Vinyl, “On a Painted Ocean”, he expands his sonic tools to include lush synths, droning pipe organs, and spirited horns, creating a vibrant journey from solitary stillness to community exuberance. The record also follows last year’s “Rain on the Road”, a collaborative album with harpist Mary Lattimore, released on Thrill Jockey.

Prior to releasing music under his own name, McClements had been a touring member of Weyes Blood, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Dark Dark Dark, as well as leading New Orleans art-punk brass ensemble Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship? and one man band Lonesome Leash.
Gregg Kowalsky was r aised in South Florida and trained at Mills College under Fred Frith and Pauline Oliveros, Kowalsky first came to prominence during the mid-2000s as a member of the thriving experimental music scene in the Bay Area, issuing a series of stunning albums on imprints like Kranky and Root Strata and contributing to a reinvigoration of American made Minimalist and electroacoustic music. In an addition to composing solo works, pieces for large ensembles, film soundtracks, dance performances, and site-specific installations over the past twenty years, during the 2010s Kowalsky concentrated his energies as one half of the critically acclaimed duo Date Palms, performing extensively and releasing three hypnotic albums, including 2011’s Honey Devash on Mexican Summer.

The Varsity Tuba Quartet is an award-winning tuba-euphonium ensemble from the University of Florida, featuring graduate and undergraduate musicians. Known for their bold, resonant sound, Varsity champions new music, including works that explore improvisation and silence.
The ensemble regularly performs across the United States, presenting both innovative chamber music and commissioned works by emerging composers, including those from historically marginalized communities. Varsity embraces a mission of expanding the tuba-euphonium repertoire through inclusive and creative collaborations, bringing energetic and immersive performances to audiences of all kinds.
Hedy Starratt is a new media video artist whose work exists at the intersection of the handmade and the digital. Drawing on both analog and electronic techniques, she transforms everyday household objects into richly textural visual elements, layering them with prerecorded video and digital manipulation to produce projections that are at once vibrant and deeply serene.

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