Syrhea Conaway isn’t a DJ, and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis isn’t a dance club. Yet Conaway — in the guise guide of her solo project, Syna So Pro — is CAM’s new DJ-in-residence. That means she’ll perform a two-hour set at the museum for every First Friday event this year, beginning Feb. 1.
The gig presents an unprecedented challenge for the musician. She’ll fill her sets with instrumental pieces she’s writing in response to the art on display at the museum, beginning with Christine Corday’s cosmic-minded sculpture collection “Relative Points.” Each First Friday, Syna So Pro will perform a series of long-form compositions woven together into unbroken sets. She describes the project as a collaboration with the artwork, and she’ll continue to write new songs as the museum changes its collection in the spring and fall.
Her latest creative turn follows a few years in which she concentrated on building songs from vocal loops, painstakingly stacking the loops upon each other to create a web of music. In this Cut & Paste podcast, Conaway explains how that compositional technique had become a limitation, and why quitting her day job opened up a new universe of possibilities.
Look for new Cut & Paste podcasts every few weeks on our website. You can also find all previous podcasts focusing on a diverse collection of visual and performing artists here.
The podcast is sponsored by JEMA Architects, Planners and Designers.
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