How Would I Know // by SPAM collective

SPAM is an improvisational experimental music collective that originated at the University of Aristotle in Thessaloniki. The collective was founded and is currently curated by Danae Stefanou, who is a composer, researcher, and performer working at AUTH. Although the composition of the collective is constantly changing, its essence and purpose remain the same over the years, which is to explore and cultivate experimental sound art through various artistic practices. These practices include collective improvisation, DIY instrument making and application, creation of graphic and textual scores, and their application in music, discussions, field events, sound walks, active listening meditations inspired by the ideas of Pauline Oliveros and her colleagues. In 2022, I had the honor of working with and being part of this collective. Together, we created and released a DIY zine of graphic and text scores. Additionally, we worked on the collective piece "how would I know τι να κανω", which is currently available on Bandcamp.

σ.π.Α.Μ.* is pronounced "spam". It is an acronym. It stands for Experimental and Improvised Music Ensembles. So now you know.

In January 2023, σπΑΜ* sat around a table, and worked on the production of a zero-skills zine. The zine contained printouts and handwritten fragments of scores by group members, documenting private and shared thoughts gathered during a typically dystopian autumn and winter in Thessaloniki, Greece. After the end of the meeting, it was laid out, printed and xeroxed using only the scant & broken university resources available at the School of Music Studies, Thermi Campus, AUTH. This one-track album consists of a single, short audio piece. The piece is an audio document of that meeting, the making of our first Spamzine. It is also the only online documentation of Spamzine's existence. Spamzine itself is not to be found digitally. Copies have been making their way across the world, exchanging hands in the form of gifts, subjecting themselves to all kinds of reprints and modifications, and finding themselves waiting in the most unlikely locations, until a friendly stranger picks them up and decides to perform them. Should you find a copy, please make music with it. Please keep the zine physical-only, and don't digitize / don't upload anywhere in its entirety. But feel free to send us your zine performances, or just say hi. The zine is in Greek, but also partly in English, because τι να κανουμε.

credits:

Τrack includes σ.π.Α.Μ.* χειμώνας 2022 - σ.π.Α.Μ.* winter 2022:

released January 30, 2023