How to go
What: AudioBody
When: 7 p.m. Friday, April 1
Where: Fairfield Community Arts Center, 411 Wessel Drive, Fairfield
Admission: $10 for adults, $7 for children 12 and younger. For tickets, call (513)-867-5348 or go online to www.fairfield-city.org/tickets.
More info: www.fairfield-city.org/events and www.AudioBody.com
AudioBody, a duo comprised of brothers Jason Tardy and Matt Tardy, will bring a one-of-a-kind performance that incorporates juggling, music, contortion, comedy, kaleidoscopic LED strobes and more to the Fairfield Community Arts Center next Friday, April 1.
We caught up with co-creator Jason Tardy by telephone. He offered insight on the group and what they do.
Q: Tell us about AudioBody?
A: "We are brothers. We have been performing physical comedy, juggling and a lot of the different circus arts-like balancing and contortion for almost 22 years now. About seven years ago, we decided to form AudioBody. We had always written the music for our shows. But, instead of just writing music for the show, we decided to use our skills as performers to play the music, and that's how the whole idea for AudioBody came about. When we decided to play the music, we thought using technology would be the best way to do it, because it would give us a lot more freedom. We basically had a brainstorming session and said, 'What weird and creative ways can we play music?' And we came up with a giant drum set, and we kept going from there."
Q: Can you talk about the drum set?
A: "We've gone through a couple different versions, but this new drum set is about 15-feet wide, and it's a big 'V.' … It's the biggest piece in the show. The way it works is we have 20 bungie cords, and each bungie cord has a wire attached to it. The drum set has a spring coming off of it, and when you hit the bungie cord, that wire on the bungie cord touches the spring and makes an electrical connection, and that's basically like any other electronic drum. It sends a signal to a computer, or processor, and in our case, we have our laptop set up, and we can have any sound we want on there. Now, it also has lighting bars attached to it that we built, so we can have it change color, flash or have it do anything we want."
Q: How did you guys master your skills — the music as well as some of the different things you do?
A: "We grew up in small town in Maine, and we were in a talent show. We met a local performing artist named Michael Miclon. He saw us on stage, and he thought we had a great ability to be on stage, and not be afraid to get out there and be funny. He trained us in juggling, balancing and things like that. The contortion is just something my brother is born with."
Q: Where are some of the places you’ve performed?
A: "AudioBody has been on 'America's Got Talent,' performed at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, on Disney Cruise Lines, as well as, at The White House in Washington, D.C., three times. We've also been on other television shows like 'CBS Sunday Morning,' 'Inside Edition' and '(Late Night With) David Letterman.' "
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