Nikolai Galen

Nikolai Galen

Nikolai Galen is an artist and green activist, also known as an alter ego of Nick Hobbs, Brit living in Istanbul since 2003. Nick Hobbs is music organiser and the founder of Charmenkomusic organisation and artist agency with the headquarters in Istanbul. Most of Nikolai Galen's artistic projects are related to experimental music, dance and theatre. He gives classes of improvised dance and yoga, and co-leads a green activists' hiking group Hiking Istanbul.

Music

Nikolai Galen released so far 11 albums with various bands and artists and 3 solo albums. Currently his main musical interests are extended vocal techniques in improvisation and Anatolian folk music. His musical journey started in his teens with the discovery of Captain Beefheart (and later blues, Tim Buckley, Henry Cow, Pere Ubu, and The Fall amongst many others) who remains inspiration and ideal for his work. His first singing gig was in his late twenties with the Swedish avant-rock band Kropparna. Later he joined the British band The Shrubs (1985-1987) and around that time he started taking voice lessons on bel-canto and natural-voice lessons with Angela Caine and later with Venice Manley. Free-voice lessons with Richard Roberts and the Roy Hart Theatre and Panthéâtre shaped his voice and performance. Then followed the period of singing with two other British bands, Mecca and Infidel, both of which toured the former Soviet Union where he met his former wife Lena Chebotaryova aka Angel Sadko. Before divorcing, they produced together a musical album "In our Bedroom". While working with Angel Sadko he started free-improvising with his voice and over the years it became his main artistic expression. From various solo and collaborative musical and theatrical projects based around improvisation and comprovisation, Nikolai Galen recorded several albums of music and speech - notably Emmanuel Vigeland, Hoca Nasreddin, Black Paintings and Raining Spiderlings. In the orchestral work "Black Mirror" composed by the Estonian composer Toivo Tulev, Nikolai Galen performed as solo singer based on a text written by himself. Lately, Black Mirror is performed by the Hoca Nasreddin Trio; members Şevket Akıncı, Nikolai Galen & Serkan Şener.

His latest solo album of musicalised poems about war Raining Spiderling: Luna rising is going to be published in the summer of 2025.

Discography

The Shrubs

Mecca released two albums, "Carbon" (1992 © Voice of Shade) and "Mysteries of Allah" (1994 © Voice of Shade); members Kevin Taylor (guitar / drum programming / keyboards), Nikolai Galen (voice), Suba Sa (bass), T. Daniel Howard (drums), John Etkin-Bell (producer)

Galen Sadko' "In our bedroom" (2003 © Voice of Shade) Angel Sadko (voice) & Nikolai Galen (voice)

Black Paintings "Screams and silence" (2007 © Voice of Shade); members Tim Hodgkinson (clarinets), Ken Hyder (drums, percussion and voice), Nikolai Galen (voice)

Hoca Nasreddin released an improvised album "A headful of birds" (2015 © Voice of Shade); members Kevin Davis (cello), Turgut Erçetin (electric guitar), Nikolai Galen (voice) & Robert Reigle (tenor saxophone)

Eis Ten Polin - one of the representatives of Anatolian blues, released album "Wild Flowers of Anatolia / Anadolu'nun kır çiçekleri (2015 © Voice of Shade / Noise of Shade); members Murat Ertel (divan saz, bağlama, cura, Macedonian tamboura), Gökçe Gürcay (drums, percussion and body percussion), Nikolai Galen (voice)

Solo albums

"Emanuel Vigeland", (2005 © Voice of Shade) - montage of solo free-vocal improvisations

"Songs from the Low Land" (2019 © Voice of Shade) - a cappella arrangement of Jacques Brel's songs with Galen's own English translations and interpretation. The project developed from the concert "In Search of the Spirit of Jacques Brel" Galen curated for the Malta Festival of Music and Theatre in Poznan in 2010.

Raining Spiderling "Luna rising" (2025 © Voice of Shade / Noise of Shade)

Theater

Nikolai Galen worked off and on as an actor, mostly for Panthéâtre, and has written and directed various theatre plays.

The Pantheatre productions in which Nikolai Galen took part: "Nero", "La Planque Aux Anges", "Shadow Boxing", "Stealing The Show" and "Pandora's Box".

The solo performance piece "God Is A Shareholder" about contemporary Russia premiered at the New York Knitting Factory in 1998., and was broadcasted in a live radio version on Resonance FM in London in 2002. It was written and performed by Nikolai Galen.

"Pandora's Box", the text about love and power (performed in Britain during 2000. and 2001.), written and performed by Nikolai Galen.

"Shut Your Eyes" is a theatre play written by Nikolai Galen. Over a cycle of twelve scenes a couple live out their amorous relationship in various states of temporal, spatial and emotional disconnection. Theatre collaborators: much of the mise-en-scène was developed by Nikolai Galen (doubling as actor) together with director Nikola Zavicic & actress Dragana Alfirevic in Prague during July 2004., reworked with co-directors Caterina Perazzi and Natalie Schaevers and actress Maryline Guitton, with additional voice coaching from Linda Wise in Paris, Malérargues & Sarajevo over various sessions during 2007. and 2008. The premiere took place at La Magnaneraie, Centre Artistique Roy Hart, Malérargues, France on 11.7.2007. Maryline Guitton resigned from the production in February 2009., and Caterina Perazzi took over as actress with Natalie Schaevers directing the additional development of the production.

"Sinning After Roy Hart", a series of solo improvised movement & voice performances dedicated to Roy Hart, Nikolai Galen's teacher of extended vocal technique

"move.voice" a living dramaturgy for two performers exploring the relationship between voice-speech and movement-dance improvised by Nikolai Galen and Evren Erbatur. Later it evolved into a solo performance by Nikolai Galen.

"Brain" was written and directed by Nikolai Galen, translated by Alice Roland, devised by Nikolai Galen and the company, with training by Faroque Khan, Haim Issacs & Natalie Schaevers. The play premiered at the Roy Hart Theatre in Malérargues, France, in August 2010.The players are: the British actor & martial-artist Faroque Khan, the French street performer Julie Canadas, the French singer Marion Rampal and the French dancer, actress and director Natalie Schaevers.

"Lovebed" is a duet for Agnès Tuvache & Nikolai Galen, written by Nikolai Galen during 2011. It was performed in English & French (translated by Alice Roland) in Istanbul on June 16th, 2011. and in Malèrargues on August 15th, 2011.

"Hitler (rejoice for we are absolved)" - A radio play made by Noise of Shade (Nikolai Galen (voices) and Dolf Planteijdt (soundwork) at the Worm studio in Rotterdam 29.10-3.11.2012. with additional work at the Koeienverhuur Mobile in Amsterdam. Based on a play text by Nikolai Galen which includes both invented and quoted texts.

Film

Shut Your Eyes (2009 © Voice of Shade) - a stage-to-film adaptation from the same name theatre play, is Nikolai Galen's directorial debut. The film that falls under the genres of underground, artistic, experimental love drama, was made in four weeks during the summer of 2008. at the attic of Galen's house. It is loosely based on the play directed by Caterina Perazzi and Natalie Schaevers performed by Maryline Guitton and Nikolai Galen in English and French. In the film, stormy couple is portrayed by actors Sean Lewis and Caterina Perazzi, who were for a while a couple in a real life and came back together to make a film. Through twelve scenes, audience follows naked couple in a room reserved for their private rituals, where, try as they might, they couldn't avoid falling into their old behavioural traps. Other credits: directed and written by Nikolai Galen, filmed by Hanna Husberg, sound recorded by Etienne Pesterbe, director assisted and actors coached by Natalie Schaevers, edited by Hanna Husberg and Nikolai Galen. Film won several awards on interantional film festivals: Accolade Film Festival - Award of merit (09/2009), Kixote Indie Film Fest - Best Actress & Best Actor Awards (05/2010), New York International Independent Film and Video Festival - Best International Experimental Feature Award (06/2010), Portobello Film Festival (09/2010)

References

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