HAARLEM March 2003

Nic says:
My absolute favourite show I've played so far! I was in Holland, and was enjoying a nice drink with Edward in the sun at one of those lovely outdoor cafes...when Edward tells me he's going to do a book reading in a glass traffic island. Next thing I know I'm making my way to to the original Haarlem for an AMAZING experience. Moments I will always remember: the lights of the cars splitting around us as we played...Phil and I finding and expanding the same note at the same time - beautiful resonance...and at the end, Edward taking my whisky glass and heading out into the audience while Phil and I continued to play. I looked up to see a grinning Edward holding a very red lipstick stained glass. There is a picture somewhere...

Edward says:
A nice town in the west of Holland and the strangest LPD related show in nearly 30 years of performing.
The venue was LITERALLY a toilet, well…..it had been once.
Constructed from glass this place wasn't technically a building, it was a transparent cubicle on a traffic island.
Performers on the night were EK, The Silverman and Nicoletta Stephanz. As the trio played, the transparent walls often gave the impression that a bus was about to plough into the stage - thankfully those big yellow monsters always managed to swerve away at the last moment.
It was a small place. Only 25 tickets were made available - all in advance.
The sound equipment was from the Stone Age, yet after quite some sound enhancement this recording sounds inappropriately decent.
Most of the set was improvised too, so expect plenty of surprises.
Thanks to Nicoletta who captured the performance, Ray Steeg who engineered and Peter Bruyn who organised this unforgettable event.

*****

Nicoletta Stephanz is a composer, musician, and recording artist. Nicoletta creates sensory environments with her voice, electronic and traditional instruments, and through treating found objects, combining sound with aromatherapy, live film, and fengshui. She has performed and recorded with a variety of musicians and artists including Gong, Daevid Allen, Edward Ka-spel/The Legendary Pink Dots, The Damned, Galactic, and members of Acid Mothers Temple. As a solo artist she usually performs as Coven of One.

Nicoletta has a profound love for voice and theremin.

She was invited to give demonstrations of her unique instrumentation at Moogfest in North Carolina and Leon Theremin's workshop in Moscow.

She has built some of her instruments, including her theremin, which is one of the world's first electronic instruments. Nicoletta has toured around the world, playing large music festivals, museums, intimate rooms, glass traffic islands, film festivals, and art festivals...with classical orchestras, funk groups, prog rock bands, electronic bands, experimental ensembles, and solo.

Nicoletta has performed with bands including:

The Legendary Pink Dots/Edward Ka-Spel solo
Gong
Daevid Allen
University of Errors
Galactic
The Damned
Nik Turner (Hawkwind)
Kangaroo Moon/Mark Robson
Cotton Casino of Acid Mothers Temple
Sacred Geometry
Dead Voices on Air
Not Breathing
Drummstick
Ego Likeness
Stroking the Tail of the Bird
Lana/Soriah
Lydia Kavina (Leon Theremin's grand-niece)
member of MidAtlantic Noise Fest and ArtBeat
invited to 1st International Theremin Festival in Portland, Maine
gave demo at 1st Moog Theremin Festival and at Leon Theremin's workshop in Moscow
Carlos Martins/Augustus
Pixound - John Lennon's drummer
Tussle
Turas

"Nic is one of the most creative people I know." - Bob Moog

"Thank god we had a REAL thereminist!" - Wendy Carlos

"Nic quite simply has a potent effect on everybody she encounters. My favourite thereminist Nicoletta Stephanz has performed with Gong & on the most recent UNIVERSITY OF ERRORS CD. She has a wide range of electronic talents & a magnificent voice & these qualities melt together effortlessly..." - Daevid Allen (Gong/Soft Machine)

"The North-American musician Nicoletta Stephanz, also known under the moniker of Coven of One, is considered one of the top 3 theremin players in the world and has toured supporting Edward Ka-Spel." - Intuitive Music

"..Stephanz' dark side, with wailing theremins, rumbling textures and gloomy vocals." - François Couture, All-Music Guide

"an amazing world class master thereminist" - The Old Library of Marshall, NC

"a space-age Amazon warrior on the Theremin" - Martin Hutchinson, The Bolton News

"She's the sexiest thereminist I've ever seen!" - Giorgio Gomelsky (first manager of the Rolling Stones who made them famous, and producer of many great musicians, including the Yardbirds, Clapton, Magma, Soft Machine, Gong, and Bill Laswell)

All life is Music. All life is Vibration.