biography

More of a conceptual idea than a band, 3how was born out of collaborations between musicians and artists in a pursuit of sounds that are beautiful and fresh, transcending the barriers of genre. 3how was first discussed and planned by Amith Narayan and Stephen Black in Singapore in 2008. It was initially meant to be part musical performance, part performance art and part cabaret. On any given night, the idea was for a temporary collective of artists, musicians and enthusiastic individuals to meet and spend time developing ideas from scratch that would later be performed. The emphasis was to find moments of creativity rather than creating a complete and polished piece. 3how is to be always dynamic and extremely versatile with a revolving cast of contributors and collaborators. After about four years of creating different 3how events, it was decided that a formalized structure would allow musicians and artists to better understand 3how, with the goal of duplicating 3hows worldwide. The 3how Manifesto was then created during the summer of 2012, based on contributions from other collaborators. As of October 2012, current 3how collaborators include Amith Narayan, Stephen Black, Wilson Goh, Justin Bannister, Siva Saravanan and Curtis King. Past collaborators include Mel Aranata (Philippines), Bani Hayikal (Singapore), Banyari Band (a travelling gypsy band from Japan), Dave Daranjo (USA), Roman Tarasov (Russia/Singapore), John Banta (USA), Terence Lau (Singapore) and several others from different parts of the world.

the 3how manifesto

A 3how event aims to create situations in which music and art can be created within a supportive environment, where improvised ideas can be developed freely and spontaneously

3how is not a band; it is a revolving group of contributors and co-collaborators

Every performance should have at least one non-musical member (for e.g. dancer, artist, belly dancer, pyrotechnician)

Each performance is to be unique; no piece should ever be repeated in the same style

Every performance should feature songs/compositions either created impromptu on the spot or within 48 hours of such performance

Each musician should play more than one instrument during each performance

Each musician and performer should have a turn to initiate and develop a musical piece

Covers of songs are allowed, but such a Cover song shall be reinterpreted in a way thats never been done before and without rehearsals (for example, covering a song impromto which a few collaborators dont know should be a simple 3how exercise.) This is a growing list of rules which might change from time to time

history
The first 3how event was held on December 23, 2008 in an unused printers office. Surrounded by office furniture and printing machines, Amith Narayan was first joined by singer Wilson Goh and then by the Banyari band. The Banyari band is a group of travelling Japanese musical gypsies. Stephen Black had discovered them playing on the street earlier that day and invited them to join the session. The session lasted until dawn and featured improvisations on guitar, ukulele, mouth harp, percussion instruments of various types and a Mohan Veena and words were sung in Japanese, English and even Sanskrit. Watch the Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4sNb-TYyps Every 3how performance since then has been unique in terms of personnel and location. Venues have included restaurants, abandoned buildings, book shops and clothing warehouses. In 2010 and 2011, 3how performed at the Lit Up Festivals, presenting a combination of spoken word and music in 2010 and in 2011 premiering a rock opera called Big Homer. Big Homer, based on a book by Stephen Black, was also performed at Singapores Substation, as part of the Singapore Night Festival in 2011. In addition to Amith Narayan, personnel have included Bani Haykal (clarinet and maui xaphoon), Mel Arenata (nose flutes and noise generators), John Banta-Windsor (flute), Valerie Wee (vocals), Jun (video art) and the Wiing Liu Py Dance Group. A 3how recording session occurred on June 22, 2011 at the SAE studios in Singapore where Amith Narayan, Wilson Goh, Bani Haykal and Curtis King not only met as a group for the first time, they began recording live with no preparation. The resulting Riverwalk Session, a collection of 14 compositions, nearly all of which are on-the-spot improvisations. This album was released in July 2012. Listen to this: http://www.facebook.com/3howriverwalksession/app_2405167945

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