Drone and Groove — By a Sky + Matthew Jacobson

Information

Double bill solo sets by Matthew Jacobson and Nathan Sherman from By a Sky, incorporating drone, amplifiers, grooves and glitch.

Having added synth work to his voice as a creative music drummer and improviser over the last five years – notably with new music flute/drums duo SlapBang, Swiss-based improv trio hyperlynx and multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Anna Mieke – Jacobson is now utilising this expanded palette to develop work as a solo artist.

BY A SKY is a new performance project centred around a core duo of Nathan Sherman (amplified viola, electronics, percussion) and Garrett Sholdice (keyboard, electronics). The duo draw on their backgrounds in classical and contemporary classical music and their shared enthusiasm for drone metal and immersive, highly focussed sonic experiences. Their original material is characterised by extremes of dynamic: the delicate and intimate co-existing with the violent and abrasive. Spacious and cathartic, these soundscapes are sometimes haunted by the ghosts of older music.

Matthew Jacobson:As well as composing for and performing/recording with his own groups ReDiviDeR and Insufficient Funs, Matthew also co-leads Roamer, a quartet of Ireland's most internationally recognised improvisers and performs regularly at home and abroad with Anna Mieke; UMBRA; Clang Sayne; Berri; Ensemble Ériu; SlapBang; Origin Story; BigSpoon; AERIE (DE); hyperlynx (CH); Fireplace Dragon (US) and Ms Mercy (UK) among others.

He received a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2013 to spend a nine-month period in New York developing compositional and improvisational skills. He was also selected as Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown’s inaugural Musician-in-Residence in October 2015.

He received a BA in Jazz Performance at Newpark Music Centre, Dublin, an MA in Music Performance from Lucerne University, Switzerland and completed a practice-based PhD at Ulster University, exploring improvisational approaches to motivic compositions.

Nathan Sherman: Dublin-based violist Nathan Sherman is a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Royal Academy of Music and Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya. Nathan enjoys a versatile music career ranging from early music to heavy metal performing as member of Lumière Quartet, Stone Drawn Circles and experimental duo By a Sky. As Artistic Director/violist of Ficino Ensemble he has performed a vast amount of chamber music and has recorded 3 albums. His solo album The Gentle Erasure of Time, released in 2025 on Métier Records is a "showcase for Sherman's formidable skill; his beautiful tone colour and acrobatic virtuosity.''