They Are SwitchFocus

by clorenz1 | May 16, 2006 at 01:09 pm

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Over the weekend I drove down to Seattle. Any journey has a
few obstacles like Home Land Security, Everett traffic, Seattle
traffic, and pay parking, but it was all worth it because we danced the
night away to the pulsating funk of SwithFocus…

American Fun Fact - Did you know? If you cross the United
States/Canadian border with an American passport, but your partner has
a European passport you will be asked to pull over and proceed into the
Customs office. In addition your partner will be finger printed,
and have his or her eyes scanned. No, this is not some strange
science fiction story. It is merely the reality of life under
Home Land Security. We found ourselves in a large line, and paid
the six-dollar non-negotiable Visitor Visa fee. All and all it
took around an hour and a half to cross an invisible line. Good
Times!

Once inside the safe confines of Seattle there was little left to do on
such an amazingly sunny day but head to the U District for some used
books, and a uniquely fused vegan buffet: a splash of Mediterranean
with some Latin flair.

Realizing that the heat was rising in the city, dwindling daylight, we
headed over to Fremont for happy hour at the always-hospitable
Dubliner. There we caught a cool breeze, the last seconds of the
Cavs game as they knocked off Detroit, and of course a few pints of
Oregon's finest. All of this proved a nice break before heading
into the heart of the city, located at the Market where we found
directions to the:

4th Annual Interdimensional Art Movement.

I have seen SwitchFocus
three times before this trip, and each show has been unique in its
place as well as its atmosphere. When I joined them on the
streets of Vancouver the dynamic duo of Mico Mali and Alex Meu (Go to
the site for Bio Info and so much more - www. switchfocus.com) had
brought bare feet to the summer streets as their unique blend of funk,
and fast paced beats surged the crowd into a heap of movement.

This show in Seattle was no different. Along Pike street in
Capitol Hill is a studio, splendid space made for music that played
host to the Art Movement. The space is home to OSEAO, which is an independent on-line radio station.

That night the studio was lined with artwork, exploding with color, and
created by artists from all over the world. After exploring this space
completely and enjoying the dynamic creativity of the many artists who
joined the crowd it was around 1am that SwitchFocus
took hold of the stage. Dressed in long white lab coats these two
engineers of sound brought the entire vibe to another level. The
main floor was now soaring with flying dreadlocks, skirts, and all
hands were in the air. A few voyeurs were still safely sipping their
wine, but most were moving, breaking down with the beat as the switch
doctors worked their magic. If you were lucky enough to catch a
glimpse of what SwitchFocus
uses as a switchboard you were blown away by the capacity for which
these two musicians have created sound from scratch, the switches are
their own creation.