Listening to music in an isolated space is always a transporting experience. Details and frequencies that are often lost in conventional set ups can be more easily experienced at close range. TONIK have introduced a new concept for live performances which enables an entire audience to become part of the music in just this way.

By introducing headphones for each individual audience member with personal volume control a concert by TONIK is a very new and revolutionary concept. It provides a detailed and very personal atmosphere. However because of the very ‘live’ environment and highly detailed microphone transmission one is actually more part of the whole event than ever before. People are literally in control of their own sound. If you like it loud you can turn up your volume and down for more sensitive listeners.

Tonik use professional closed back wireless AKG headphones.

TONIK is an integrated visual and auditory experience, created by the combined talents of Jann Krynauw, Ronan Skillen. Its centrepiece is the musical partnership between Jann and Ronan - just the two of them, but the sound they make transcends the mathematical limitations of one plus one, even in a live performance.

Jann is a keyboard connoisseur, with a fondness for the nostalgic strains of the Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer and accordion, but he is no stranger to modern keyboard sounds, nor to the piano.

Ronan is possibly unique among modern musicians in being able to play tabla and didgeridoo at the same time, surrounding them with a rich tapestry of other percussion instruments from east, west, north and south - a hybrid kit if ever there was one. At any given moment in a live performance you are likely to be hearing a wide range of these instrumental possibilities. The duo has expanded, but is still playing live, the multiple textures looped and layered in real time by Jann's electronic wizardry. These effects, however, are never allowed to become ends in themselves, but are handled with deft artistic tact to provide subtle embellishments to the essentially acoustic feel of the music. Such use of state-of-the-art technology enables rich musical configurations to be built up before your very ears. By turns narrative, illustrative and abstract, they have been crafted in direct response to the music. All this together makes for a rich and uplifting auditory and visual experience. A 'Tonik', in fact.

Tonik is the product of a musical friendship. Originally Jann and Ronan got together simply to jam and have fun. Jann has an attraction for particular cadences and the atmospheres of certain chordal relationships, and so the two of them set about exploring this musical terrain. Jann brought his large collection of different keyboards and electronic know-how to the party, while Ronan brought the didge and his considerable knowledge of the tabla language (learnt in India from a master) together with his delight in constantly adding to the range of percussive sounds he can make. Before long, Jann was producing more complex chord changes and expanding his improvisation skills, while Ronan was introducing unusual rhythms and time signatures, with the result that a new music started to take shape. They were no longer just having fun hiding away from the rat-race inside their favourite musical textures.

The tunes began to tell stories, while the loops and samples became essential and specific colours of these musical narratives. Anyone who heard the private recordings made of them wanted to hear more, and so the idea of an album was born. This was recorded in typical Jann style in a mountain cottage near Barrydale, where the two musicians spent a week, surrounded by high quality equipment, cooking up the musical medicine that has become Tonik. The resulting album, Visitor's Book, has been very well received and went on to win a SAMA (South African Music Award) as Best Instrumental Album of 2009.

Born in Johannesburg, I spent the greater part of my childhood in Piet Retief a small town in Mpumalanga. I completed my classical music education in piano extramurally and in 1998 was faced with the decision of whether to go full-time into music or not. I however decided on a business course at Stellenbosch, reasoning that I needed some form of financial security. I completed my Actuarial Science honours degree in 2002.

I relocated to Cape Town in 2003 to commence my full-time employment at a life insurance company. I find great pleasure in the work I do, my colleagues, the cultures, and the intellectual challenges. Having said this, the piano will always be my first passion.

It is here in Cape Town where my passion for music has intensified. I love the diversity in this city. Drumming nights with Europeans and Kenyans. Funk sessions with Argentinians. Jazz festivals attended by the locals accompanied by their whole families. Didgeridoo and Tabla sessions in a forest just outside Cape Town. It’s exciting! There is an immeasurable amount of talent out there which one just needs to discover. Being exposed to new music is a confirmation of something shared between myself and its creator, an overlap of sentiments, if you will.

One of the qualities of music that attracted me is its seemingly mystical ability to foster the everyday experience of life and transfigure it, give it beauty. I listen to music everyday and some of the artists I really admire are Brad Mehldau, Esbjorn Svensson, Keith Jarret, Michel Camilo, Regina Carter, Dave Brubeck, Tord Gustavsen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Radiohead and as the root of it all, JS Bach. I experience some element of timelessness with these artists.

I reckon when it comes to expressing oneself via music, one needs to get back to the rudiments. Sit down and do your Hanon stuff! For example, listen to Keith Jarret’s Koln Concert, he detached himself from any preconceived ideas on music, went on stage, improvised and recorded a true masterpiece which is probably one of his most well-known recordings. Take it easy, listen to everything you can, play what you like to play, never give up and one day you will be the best player you personally know.

Ronan’s musical career started age ten with 7 years of classical French horn training in Germany. He was then introduced to the Australian Didgeridoo by master drummer, Emmanuel Gomado from Ghana which sparked many new avenues and collaborations. After much self teaching and musical travels Ronan was fortunate to meet a great Tabla maestro. Having been passionate about percussion and always keen on the Tabla this new chapter couldn’t have come too soon.

Ronan began playing Tabla in 2002. His teacher, Ustad Akram Khan is India’s master of a very rich and intricately technical north Indian style known as the Ajarara Gharana. As a disciple continuous learning is the focus and Ronan regularly visits India to further his studies. Major influences like Shakti and Trilok Gurtu have led to exploring a fusion of tabla, percussion and didgeridoo within one context by means of a hybrid percussion kit designed by Ronan. This has become part of his permanent set-up and demonstrates a rich textural variety as well as an intriguing versatility.

Ronan has featured his sound in genres across the board from classical through rock, folk, electro, jazz, world music and hip hop. Ronan has performed in S.A., Europe and India and has featured on many recordings and film scores. He currently lives in Cape Town S.A. where he regularly performs live and teaches.

Some noteworthy collaborations include recent performances with Johnny Clegg, Ricardo Garcia from Spain, Jazzart, Freshlyground,Cherif Sisokho from Senegal, Monique Hellenberg and Hilton Schilder. Ronan has recorded music on albums for release with: Babu, Rus Nerwich, Mantras 4 Modern Man, Chris Tokalon, Starkravingsane, Lisa Bauer, Moreira Project Vol 2, LP Show, Cabins in the Forest, Hot Water, Amanda Tiffin, Melanie Scholtz, Tonik, Grassroots to name a few.

This gig will be silent in that every audience member will get their own pair of headphones to listen to us playing live. For more info on the venue goto [www.luckybeantree.co.za]

Date: Sunday, 1 August 2010
Time: 19:30
Address: No. 16, 7th street, Mellville, Johannesburg (click here for directions)
Cover: R180 includes dinner and show - booking essential as seats are limited
Bookings: email Conway [here] or call 011 482 5572

This gig will be silent in that every audience member will get their own pair of headphones to listen to us playing live. For more info on the venue goto [www.africanswiss.com]

Date: Monday, 2 August 2010
Time: 18:30
Address: African Swiss is in Broederstroom on the R512 above Pecanwood. (click here for a map)
Cover: R80
Bookings: [email] Mike here or call him at 083 476 0507.

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