June 26-28 · Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo, BC)
Margins of Sound Society respectfully acknowledges that MOS26 takes place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, and within the broader territories of the Coast Salish Peoples. We are grateful to gather, listen, and share sound on these lands and waters.
LIVE PERFORMERS
WORKSHOPS
MODERN BIOLOGY
generative synthesis, interactive listening, biosonification
Modern Biology is the project of Vancouver-based musician and biologist Tarun Nayar, whose immersive performances explore the relationships between sound, ecology, improvisation, and attentive listening.
Using modular synthesis, handmade electronic instruments, plant bioelectricity, electromagnetic activity, and environmental vibration as compositional material, Nayar creates evolving sound environments shaped by the conditions of a specific place and moment in time. Influenced by a lifelong background in Indian classical music and raga, his performances unfold through resonance, texture, and slow transformation.
At MOS26, Modern Biology presents both a live performance and Field Trip — an outdoor participatory listening experience exploring connection, presence, and the hidden musicality of the natural world.
Photo: Hannah Paye
HANNAH EPPERSON
avant-pop, experimental folk,
neo-classical
With roots stretching between the American Southwest and Canada’s Pacific coast, Hannah Epperson creates immersive music that moves fluidly between avant-pop, contemporary composition, folk traditions, and experimental performance.
Using violin, voice, looping, and rhythmic improvisation, Epperson builds emotionally rich performances that are at once intimate, playful, and transportive. Her work draws from a wide range of musical and artistic influences, weaving layered vocal textures, cinematic atmosphere, and unconventional song structures into deeply personal listening experiences.
Epperson has collaborated and performed with artists including Fleet Foxes, Julianna Barwick, Ry X, and Shane Koyczan, and has appeared across folk, experimental, jazz, and contemporary arts festivals internationally.
KUMA
ambient, experimental, deep immersion
Bristol-born and Vancouver-based, Kuma is a longtime producer, DJ, curator, and radio host whose work bridges ambient music, sound system culture, and experimental bass music.
A foundational figure in the early development of Canadian dubstep and a key presence in Vancouver’s electronic underground for more than two decades, Kuma’s output spans immersive beatless compositions, rhythmic electronic experimentations, and deeply atmospheric sound design. His work has appeared on labels including Frosti, Soundtracking the Void, Waxing Crescent Records, and Fallen Moon Recordings.
Beyond production, Kuma is also known for his longstanding community and curatorial work through Art Of Beatz on CFRO, Pan Ambient, Forward Sound, and The Konspiracy Group.
Ora Cogan (solo)
Experimental, folk, atmospheric fiddle
Nanaimo-based Ora Cogan is a songwriter and musician whose work blends traditional songcraft, experimental composition, psychedelic atmosphere, and gothic folk textures. Known for her singular voice and cinematic approach to arrangement, Cogan’s music evokes intimacy, tension, and dreamlike spaciousness.
For MOS26, Cogan will present an intimate and exploratory performance expected to weave voice, fiddle, and atmospheric textures into a deeply personal listening experience.
i+eo live. Credit: MUTEK | Nahnah
i+eo
ambient, techno, bass, live audiovisual
i+eo is an audiovisual and leftfield DJ duo comprised of IHA and ephemeral objects. Their sound traverses ambient, techno, bass, dubstep, and broken rhythms, guided by curiosity, play, and mystery. They create immersive, otherworldly performances that unfold as sites of transformation and reflection.
Through evolving soundscapes and vivid, morphing abstract visuals live-mixed from generative processes and real-world footage, they construct speculative worlds that exist somewhere between memory and futurity.
Rooted in the West Coast of Canada’s underground electronic music scene and shaped by their shared experience as queer Southeast Asian diaspora, i+eo’s work explores identity, fiction, and imagined futures. Following their selection for MUTEK’s inaugural Incubator program (2024), i+eo premiered Portals at MUTEK Montréal (2025).
At MOS26, i+eo will deliver an immersive live audiovisual performance, while IHA and ephemeral objects will also both perform standalone late night DJ sets.
› Instagram: Tsimka; Michael Red› Bandcamp› Soundcloud: Tsimka; Michael Red› Resident Advisor: Michael RedTsimka & Michael Red @ The Fox, Vancouver (2025)
TSIMKA & MICHAEL RED
ambient, dub, soundscape,
experimental song
Tsimka & Michael Red create immersive music shaped by field recordings, live processing, voice, percussion, and deep listening practices rooted in Tla-o-qui-aht ƛaʔuukwiʔatḥ,ḥ homelands.
Blending recordings of native species and environmental sounds gathered on Tla-o-qui-aht ƛaʔuukwiʔatḥ,ḥ territory with dub-informed atmospheres and evolving electronic textures, the project moves between song, improvisation, soundscape, and ritual-like listening experience. Tsimka sings and speaks in both English and Tla-o-qui-aht ƛaʔuukwiʔatḥ,ḥ language, drawing from cultural teachings, kinship, resilience, and connection to place.
Their performances continuously evolve through live manipulation, looping, and recycled recordings from previous improvisations and collaborations.
COLLIDING CANYONS
psychedelic, live electronics,
instrumental rock
Colliding Canyons is a psychedelic instrumental rock group from Nanaimo, B.C. A permanent fixture of Nanaimo's independent arts and music community, the group is celebrating 13 years with their new album 'Do It Again.' Recorded at The Chamber Studio by Juno award winning producer Rob The Viking, 'Do It Again' is a mind-melting experience and an exciting follow up to their 2023 LP 'Collapse The Chronosphere.'
Known for their mesmerizing live performances, Colliding Canyons blend traditional rock instrumentation with modern electronics in an effort to explore the more esoteric aspects of sound. With an ever evolving line up, the group is currently anchored by multi-instrumentalists William Hills, Arlen Brown, and Arlen Thompson. With deep roots in the community, the group is thrilled to be a part of Nanaimo's inaugural Margins of Sound Festival.
At MOS26, Colliding Canyons will be joined by special guest MJ McGregor (Truth).
A "...genre-bending supergroup whose pulsing instrumentals can simultaneously form the centre of a raucous party and serve as a dreamy background soundtrack." - The Discourse
kraKIN
ecological hip hop, biosonification, experimental bass, audiovisual
kraKIN is a more-than-human hip hop collaboration bringing together Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist Ruby Singh, the amphibious intellect of Dr. Michael Datura (aka professah exile), and a boom-bap menagerie of West Coast plants, amphibians, fungi, and environmental soundscapes.
Built from field recordings gathered across western Canadian biomes, kraKIN transforms the bioelectric activity of plants, fungi, and other living systems into musical information — weaving together ecological textures, heavy rhythms, and speculative sonic storytelling. The project moves fluidly between hip hop, sound art, ecology, and immersive audiovisual performance, exploring interconnection, perception, and our relationship with the living world.
Through biosonification, layered sampling, and place-based composition, kraKIN creates vivid sonic environments that blur boundaries between species, soundscape, and rhythm.
Prince Shima
Cinematic electronic, experimental AV narrative composition
Prince Shima is a 3rd-generation Japanese Canadian multi-instrumentalist based on Vancouver Island. His music explores otherness by blending analog and digital instrumentation to create lush otherworldly compositions.
Shima’s visual and sonic stories explore memory, identity, displacement, ecology, and the emotional textures of place.
This summer he will debut a multi-piece called "Camossung - Sawatobi-Ishi," a score that accompanies a public art installation for the Gorge-Esquimalt Pavillion in Victoria, created by visual artists Marianne Nicolson and Cindy Mochizuki. "Camossung - Sawatobi-Ishi" memorializes the shared and lost histories of the displaced Japanese-Canadians and Lekwungen people. The MOS26 performance will feature original animations from Mochizuki.
Schema Drift
Experimental, immersive audiovisual,
techno, ambient
Schema Drift is the collaborative project of Alyssa and Bronwyn, long-time friends whose practice emerges from a shared foundation in electronic music, interactive art, and an inquiry into the relationship between technology, environment, and human perception.
Bronwyn brings a DJ’s sensibility for hypnotic polyrhythms, temporal flow, and expansive spatial sound. A programmer by trade, Bronwyn’s relationship to code and systems thinking underpins a fascination with repetition, modulation, and the latent complexity of seemingly minimal structures.
With a background in architecture, Alyssa approaches visual practice through structure, geometry, and spatial logic, crafting generative, real-time visuals that oscillate between schematic rigor and organic emergence.
Together, Schema Drift composes dub-inflected, techno-oriented ambient soundscapes and immersive visual fields that pair dark, technical aesthetics with biophilic and spatial subject matter. Through sensori-spatial environments of sound and light, Schema Drift invites audiences to inhabit spaces where structure and intuition, code and ecology, co-exist and continuously reshape one another.
Pesewa at Active / Passive Vol. 5
Pesewa
experimental afro-futurism,
electroacoustic
Owing his experimental Ghanaian folk sound to a rich musical inheritance and an ear for afro-futurism, Pesewa synthesizes a deeply-rooted yet original sound.
Combining traditional string and wind instruments with electronic ambience, drum machines, and vocals, his improvisational live sets inspire both movement and contemplation.
Ida Diana Maidstone
ambient pop, dance
Nanaimo-based Ida Diana Maidstone (Hush Pup, New Age Dolls) crafts angelic fantasy pop that blends a love of ambient and dance music. Swirling synths, ethereal vocals, found sounds, and hyper beats create a world that feels both experimental and sugary.
After years immersed in Toronto’s DIY scene, Ida has returned to Vancouver Island, where she’s become part of Nanaimo’s weird and wonderful musical underground.
Photo by Cayleigh Borsboom
Samantha Letourneau
Psychedelic improv, ambient
Samantha Letourneau is an interdisciplinary sound and movement artist based on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Working with flute, synthesizers, and voice, she creates psychedelic, texture-driven sonic environments that drift between ritual, improvisation, and dream-state performance.
Samantha studied flute at Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, where she collaborated with composer Dody Satya on Asmat Dream — an electronic project built from tape-looped crickets, fragmented vocal samples, and synthesizer manipulation.
A frequently featured artist in the region, she will be collaborating with Piu at MOS26.
Piu
ambient, raga fusion, experimental soundscape
Priyanka Chakrabarti (Piu) is a musician, composer, and producer blending ambient soundscapes, hard-hitting synths, raga-inspired vocals, and global rhythms. Rooted in Indian classical training and drawn to experimental electronic music, her work weaves tactile synth textures, field recordings, and genre-fluid compositions that invite reflection, release, and deep listening.
Piu has released several singles and the EP Illusion (2024), with her debut full-length album arriving in Summer 2026. She has performed at major Canadian electronic music festivals including MUTEK Montréal and collaborates with artists across genres and continents. She is also co-founder of Margins of Sound Society in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.
PhaseBloom
ambient, experimental electronic, generative
PhaseBloom is the experimental solo project of Nanaimo-based artist Josh Rudolph, exploring perception, memory, chance encounter, and slow transformation through evolving layers of sound, modulation, and found audio.
Built from independent layers continuously in flux, PhaseBloom performances embrace the beauty of fleeting alignment. Harmonics, texture, repetition, and environmental recordings gradually coalesce into brief moments of clarity and emotional resonance before dissolving back into abstraction.
WORKSHOP: Intro to TouchDesigner
real-time visuals, audiovisual performance, creative coding
*Capacity is limited to 25 seats to ensure a hands-on learning environment. Reserve your space on our ticket page.
Join audiovisual artists Alyssa Haas (cy.matic) and Greg Borreson for a hands-on introduction to TouchDesigner, one of the leading tools for real-time visual performance, projection, and interactive media.
Over three hours, participants will explore audio-reactive visuals, generative techniques, video manipulation, control mapping, and the fundamentals of live audiovisual performance. Attendees will receive demo files, example patches, and resources to continue learning after the workshop. No prior experience is required.
Requirements: Participants should bring a laptop capable of running the latest non-commercial version of TouchDesigner. Additional preparation details will be provided to registered attendees.
Alyssa Haas (cy.matic) & Greg Borreson are active members of the TouchDesigner YVR community and have taught workshops for organizations including Inter/face Festival and the Salt Spring Arts Council. Alyssa is one half of the audiovisual duo Schema Drift and teaches real-time visualization at the University of Calgary, while Greg brings a background in programming, game development, and technical creative practice.
WORKSHOP: Polyphonic Garden
field recording, acoustic ecology, biosonification
Join interdisciplinary artist Ruby Singh for an immersive listening workshop exploring field recording, biosonification, acoustic ecology, and interspecies communication as pathways toward deeper connection with the living world.
Through guided listening exercises and hands-on demonstrations, participants will encounter a variety of recording tools and techniques, including hydrophones, contact microphones, handheld field recorders, and plant biosonification devices. Together, we’ll explore how sound can reveal hidden dimensions of ecosystems and foster new relationships with plants, fungi, water, and the environments we inhabit.
Open to artists, musicians, environmentalists, and curious beginners alike, Polyphonic Garden encourages experimentation, attention, and expanded ways of listening. Participants are welcome to bring headphones, field recorders, or smartphones if they wish to engage more directly with the workshop activities.
WORKSHOP:
Movement Meditation
Facilitated by LEAF Society’s Samantha Letourneau
As the morning light filters in and the land awakens, this class offers a gentle return to yourself through breath, intuitive movement, and mindful presence.
This is not a class to perfect anything. It is a space to listen. To soften. To move beyond the noise and reconnect with the quiet wisdom beneath it.
Together, we will explore slow, mindful movement, moments of reflection, and the simple practice of being fully here. In a culture that celebrates constant motion, choosing to pause can be a profound act of self-care, and a quiet form of resistance.
Come as you are. Stretch. Sway. Breathe. Rest. Leave feeling grounded, open-hearted, and connected to yourself, to the community around you, and to the day ahead.
No experience necessary. All bodies, all abilities, all ways of moving are welcome.
Support
Margins of Sound 2026 is supported in part by the City of Nanaimo.
Additional production support provided by Long & McQuade.
Community support and giveaway contributions provided by Nightlife Electronics and Hullo Ferries.
More partners to be announced — we welcome support, get in touch.