Florida-based label Elestial Sound has teamed up with creative collective She/Folk to host GAZE, a two-day music, art, and film festival this weekend in Gainesville. The event is being organized as a celebration of underrepresented artists, with a focus on ” women-identified, non-binary, trans feminine, trans and cis women creatives and organizers.” Elestial Sound have also curated a double cassette compilation to ride along, A Thousand Tones, with tracks from 40 different artists (many of which will be performing at the festival), ranging from glitched-out jazz to futuristic dancefloor bangers to ambient noise explorations. The first single from the compilation, “Scorpion,” comes from Melbourne-based electronic producer Ok Sure. The track starts with unassuming percussion, gradually building until a clap starts the party off, bringing in squelchy acid house vibes and catchy layered rhythms; you get a breather about halfway through before the beat comes back, stinger in full force. Instantly fun but still nuanced, it’s a track that you want to play again as soon as it’s ended. - Liz Pavlovic, Decoder Magazine Hearing an artist on a record gives the listener a certain power. Here I am in this moment of time and space. Interpret anything about me through this lens, the artist begs. Then comes the live show. The audience gazes into the performer’s face, weaving together their projections and perceptions of the artist with reality, whatever that is. GAZE is a two-day festival of live music, visual art, installations and film that seeks to address the way we think about identity and perception in art. Held Jan. 21-22 at Curia at 2029 NW 6th St., Gaze is a celebration of artists whose identities are underrepresented in music, visual art and film. That means non-binary, transfeminine, women-identified, trans and cis women creators and organizers. Festival organizer, She/Folk co-founder and curator Nico Mazza, 27, says GAZE emphasizes diversity and inclusiveness at a time when they’re needed most. It’s only a happy accident that the festival coincides with the inauguration ceremonies of the 45th president and the subsequent Women’s March on Washington. “Coming from a place of privilege, we have the opportunity to encourage compassion for the many diverse voices and experiences showcased throughout the festival,” Mazza said. “In this political and social climate, it’s more important now than ever for artists to organize and create safe spaces for others to share their voices and work.” Festival organizer Natasha Home, 32, is a music curator, artist representative and board member for Elestial Sound, Gainesville’s cooperatively run record label and art collective. Live music at GAZE will be provided by “A Thousand Tones,” a 40-track, double-cassette of music Home gathered from women-identified musicians around the world. House, ambient, jazz, contemporary classical, hip-hop, disco and folk styles weave together in the cassette to tell a story about composition, intersectionality and perspective. “A lot of these artists are both musical and visual artists, and when you listen to the music, you will hear a kind of embroidery, a harmony of material in the sounds, that relates to the visual art exhibition,” she says. Held in Gallery Protocol, “The Way You Look At Me” will feature illustrations, embroidery, paintings, fiber sculpture and video by artists from India, the Czech Republic, Canada and the United States. Mazza said this exhibition will explore how small acts can have great meaning. GAZE will also have art installations. Curia will be dotted with installations from local artists like Melissa Hebin. Miami’s Rosemarie Romero will open up shop with Porn Nail$, a mobile nail salon that addresses themes of female sexuality, class and race using B-movie camp and Miami kitsch aesthetics. Pallavi Sen will create an immersive installation inside the Superfun! Site. Elestial Sound marketing manager and festival organizer Lynna Durst, 23, has created an installation capturing the isolation that can accompany creativity. Durst will perform music from inside a physical mound made of reflective Mylar film; the audience will see a distorted, illusory image of the artist. “It’s an exploration of the acute introspection that follows uninhibited self-expression,” she said. “The Mylar produces a hard, distorted image of my performance, which will bring into question the potential for unreality, deception and growth when questioning yourself in creation.” A decorated, retired International Harvester school bus will be converted into an intimate cinema bus, showcasing experimental short films curated by Vanessa Reigosa. A workshop series on Sunday afternoon will cover healing through sound, voice techniques, observation, critical thinking and automatic writing. A panel discussion focusing on identity and perception will feature many of the festival’s artists and will be moderated by Roz Crews, an artist-in-residence studying social practice at Portland State University. Home said festivals like GAZE can create highly personalized yet communal experiences where innovation is born. “It’s not like being in the theatre, and the lights turn down, and it’s expected that everyone gets the same experience. We’re introducing performance artists to craft artists, musicians to visual artists, people who may want to collaborate on future projects. And we’re giving people the opportunity to connect with someone on a more personal level after seeing their art,” she said. “Festivals are ideal for cultivating expression. New ideas will come together here.” - Tyler Francischine, The Fine Print It’s no secret Elestial Sound likes and appreciates the finer things in compilations, but A Thousand Tones blows all prior out of the patriarchal water. Thanks to Natasha Home (a.k.a. Sunmoonstar)’s curation, the forty (FORTY) track compilation hosts new music created by cis women, trans women, trans feminine and non-binary of all ages from all around the world! From Japan to the UK back East to Russia. From the US to Uruguay across the Atlantic to Egypt. Its anti-hegemonic message of “perspective, composition, and intersectionality within underground and DIY music culture” and the persons who warm every corner with light have built A Thousand Tones into one of the brightest lights of 2017. All forty tracks are available for $7 and are included in the purchase of the double cassette, silky A Thousand Tones enamel pin, and the full-color zine consisting of art from those featured on the compilation. - Monet Maker, Tiny Mix Tapes