Sunatirene ( sún-ah-chur-ráin) is the electronic-acoustic solo project of Baltimore based musician and performance artist Sydney Spann. Drawing from musique concrete, folk music, and pop motifs, she uses field recordings, archival samples, strings, and her voice as soundscaping and storytelling tools. Props and projections are symbols that contribute to her narrative.
Trepanning was recorded almost two years ago and represents stage one in the growth process of Sunatirene- an evolving alter ego. In this stage, she is a hybrid breed of witch. She's from the sea, but also from southern swamps, from oceanic mangroves, from Scotch moors and marshlands, tropical tundra, from the brine lakes and subterranean rivers' banks. Trepanning is an aural interpretation of those colliding environments and paradoxical imaginary biomes. Collaging found samples with field recordings, adopted folk songs set to rewritten melodies, and stream-of-consciousness turned into lyrical passages to navigate through shifting soundscapes are all forms of research.