Photo by Sean O'Connell
ULTRAVIOLET
Ultraviolet is a groovy experimental music project that employs acoustic drums, electric bass, electric guitars (including the tap-style U10 Touch Guitar), and pretty much a spaceship-worth of effects pedals and gadgets. Drinking from an ever-flowing, far-reaching and seamlessly shifting river of influences, Ultraviolet’s sound has been “hard to pigeonhole”. Their collective interests in spontaneous composition presents a palette of ever evolving musical ideas unique to each performance. Formed in the Comox Valley, within the unceded territory of the Kómoks, Ei’ksan and Pentlatch peoples, the trio consists of Oscar Robles Diaz (guitars), Brittany Bowman (bass), and Beau Stocker (drums). Each an accomplished musician in their own right, these three come from fairly different backgrounds both geographically and musically speaking. Their respective paths have taken them to different corners of the world and permitted them to share their original music with international audiences. As a result, their combined touring curriculum boasts performance experience in Latin America, Asia, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada.
"The wonderfully tight and inventive trio Ultaviolet had the discerning audience at the Sunshine Music Festival in qathet (formerly Powell River) smiling and grooving to their eclectic experimental sound"
- Robert Mackle (Artistic Director, Sunshine Music Festival)
"The Ultraviolet trio's creative talents push the boundaries of modern Jazz and electronic music into a dreamworld...their originality harkens back to the creative enchantment of Keith Jarrett and the electronic virtuosity of Pat Metheny"
- Genevieve Huchulak (President, Georgia Straight Jazz Society)
"Ultraviolet is equal parts mysterious, groovy and spacey. They will take you on an unpredictable sonic journey, equally appealing to your head and feet. This trio is refreshingly creative"
- Kip Luce (Bop City Records)
Brittany Bowman - Bass & Vocals
Brittany Christina Bowman was born and raised on Vancouver Island where she has studied bass with jazz greats Ken Lister and Lee Ellefson. As fate would have it, her music career took flight when she ventured to Mexico in 2007 and met Oscar. With Oscar, she began collaborating creatively and in life, touring throughout the Mexican republic, making fresh waves in an already well-established world-beat, jazz-fusion scene, appearing at such festivals as the Mazunte Jazz Festival, Oaxaca, and Festival de las Playas, in Mexico City. Since moving back to her home country, she has co-founded various music projects with Oscar - Café Olé, Zandhunga, Luzna, Fractal, Azucena Flamenco (to name a few). In 2012, with Zandhunga, she and Oscar toured Taiwan, and presented original music. Developing her singing voice has been a relatively recent yet incredibly fulfilling endeavour, and she is a proud student of the Almerian-born Flamenco singer, Maria Jose Perez Rodriguez.
Oscar Robles Diaz - Guitars
Oscar Robles is a versatile musician. Originally from Mexico City, he is currently based on Vancouver Island, Canada.
He has toured in South America, North America, and Asia. His studies in music began on the acoustic guitar at a young age, and from there he went on to study classical guitar at Mexicos's National Autonomous University (UNAM). As a teenager, he gravitated toward progressive rock and numerous other forms of music.
Though he had long been experimenting with tapping techniques on electric guitars and alternative ways of tuning them, he made the leap to a touch-style instrument in 2008 when he acquired a Chapman Stick. Since 2021, he has been composing and performing on the U10 Touch Guitar, both as a soloist and with his trio - Ultraviolet.
As a solo act, he is known for his live improvisations and use of various effects and loop pedals to layer and create soundscapes. As a member of Ultraviolet, Oscar has been performing on the U10 in festivals and venues throughout West Coast Canada, presenting the group’s original compositions.
Beau Stocker - Drums
Beau Stocker, originally from Toronto Ontario, recently moved to the Comox Valley BC from North Yorkshire England. He is a drum kit performer, educator, and researcher with interests in experimental music and cultural translation. His performance career began in Southern Ontario where an abundance of music style varieties and cultures sparked inspiration for study of music at Humber College and York University in Toronto. The desire to further his musical voice with the drum kit sent him to live and explore the cultures of East Africa, settling in Sudan and then eventually returning to the west to conduct doctoral research at the University of York in North Yorkshire, England. His music tour experiences include Europe, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and current drum kit research includes the adaptation of acoustic instrument sound exploration with electronic applications and devices.
