Ergo Phizmiz presents "UOEIA" * the histories of yodelling around the world

Event information

UK mini-tour October 2013

18th LIVERPOOL Mellomello
19th WHITBY Musicport
21st GLASGOW The Old Hairdresser's
22nd LONDON The Old Dentist's (33 Chatsworth Road)

A production of DePlayer, based on books by Bart Plantenga.

Yodelling: the crack in the human voice when pushed to its limit, the plaintive wail of man against mountains. From the Pygmy tribes in the jungles of Africa, to the mountains of Switzerland, or the plains of the Wild West, to frantic Persian ululations and yelps, yodelling is a worldwide phenomenon that betrays its perceived image as a benchmark of kitsch.

In “UOEIA: Favola in Jodel”, Ergo Phizmiz presents the history of yodelling through music, masks, puppetry, collage, and animation. Based on the books “Yodel in Hi-Fi” and “Yodel-Ay-Eee-Ooo” by Bart Plantenga, and performed by Swiss Family Phizmiz, UOEIA invites you through time and culture, yodelling from cavemen to the modern age.

"A truly charming production that does display the mystery & wonder of this most extreme & eccentric of vocals that allow us like chant or mantra access to other realms of existence" - bart plantenga, author of "Yodel-Ay-Ee-Ooo" and "Yodel in Hi-Fi"

Ergo Phizmiz is one of the most prolific artists in the world. Over the past 13 years he has created a body of work of hundreds of hours across theatre, songwriting, text, electronic music, collage exhibitions, installations, opera, video, and radioplays that has constantly defied categorisation and been performed or broadcast all over the world.

His work has included "The Faust Cycle" (a 15 hour audio adventure); "M: 1000 Year Mix" (a collage spanning a millennium), the unique operas "Gala", "Gargantua", "The Mourning Show", "UOEIA" and "Fulcanelli's Shoes"; the songwriting albums "Things to Do and Make" and "Eleven Songs"; his cover-versions of music by Beyonce, the Velvet Underground, Aphex Twin, and the Pet Shop Boys; and award-winning radioplays "Disappearing Boxes", "Conversations With Birds", "Paul Klee, a Balloon, the Moon, Music and Me", and "Boojum".

Places that have presented Ergo Phizmiz's work include BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 3, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Tete a Tete: The Opera Festival, Deutschlandradiokultur, Channel 4 television, WDR3, DePlayer, Soundart Radio, WFMU, Resonance FM, Sonic Arts Network, the Royal Festival Hall, and Tate Modern. Record labels that have released his music include Care in the Community Recordings, UpItUp Records, Touch, Illegal Art, Headphonica, Soleilmoon, and Populista.

Ergo has been a prominent figure in the Creative Commons music world for almost ten years, and has given away vast troves of his work online, which has become very popular with video-makers internationally (Youtube alone now features over 1500 videos with Ergo Phizmiz music). He has also composed film and television scores for Vicki Bennett / People Like Us, Christian Marclay, and Frankie Boyle.