Throat Pleats

Post-human fantasies fulfilled through vacuum cleaners

Throat Pleats is a collaboration between Niki Johnson and Solomon Frank. Their animalistic duologue manifests itself as a series of physically choreographed musical role-plays; carnal vignettes that explore intimate animal impulses. The ensemble explores shifting power dynamics, as two queer people, navigating an intimate platonic relationship offstage, the work becomes a metaphor for subverting and reflecting preconceived gender roles. They perform on deformed clarinets, vacuum cleaners, watering cans, drums and cymbals. The music, animalistic in quality, uses nature as a muse to explore instinctual impulses and dethroning humans as supreme musical beings, instead expanding notions of musicality into the more than human. Throat Pleats launched their debut album in 2021 and have been active in developing their practice across the Australian live art scene.

Throat Pleats have performed at Liveworks 2020 (Carriageworks), as part of the Dots + Loops program 2021 (Brisbane), with Ensemble Offspring 2022 (Sydney), at Cementa 2022 (Kandos), at Canberra International Music Festival 2022.

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