STOMACHS

STOMACHS squeak honk clank clunk buzz rattle drone groan bellow and befriend. Their practice draws on diverse backgrounds in free jazz, improvisation, heavy music, and noise. The result is a freely improvised music that dances between massive drones, delicate percussive gestures, and luminous, slippery noises. It might make you feel interesting feelings!

STOMACHS is Mabel Kwan (synth), Carol Genetti (voice/electronics), Bill Harris (drums), and Nick Meryhew (trombone/no-input mixer). Their work has been presented at Elastic Arts, Compound Yellow, Marmalade, and the 2025 Chicago Jazz Fest.

Nick Meryhew is an experimental musician, arts educator, improviser, and passionate home cook. Their work explores the elasticity of time and the absurdity of the mundane through a sculptural approach to found sound. Their work has been presented at Tritriangle, No Nation, MCA Chicago, the Neo-Futurists, Babycastles (NYC), Mirrorlab (Minneapolis), Experimental Sound Studio, and Roman Susan, among others. They currently perform solo and with Tallulah Bankheist, Heavy Tiny, Paradise Complete, and as a sound designer with Runaway Labs Theater. They run a silly net label called Hambag.

Carol Genetti is a Chicago-based vocalist whose work encompasses sound and visual art media. Her palette is primordial, existing in a space where “language” and “music” have yet to be formulated into familiar cultural patterns. Genetti’s aesthetic is one of raw power, yet also delicate and subtle. She likes to combine various devices with her vocal performance as she “refracts and abrades her wordless vocals with electronics” (Bill Meyer, The Wire). She has performed with many improvising musicians, including Jack Wright, Eric Leonardson, Peter Maunu, Olivia Block and many others. Most recent recordings include a duet with Claire Rousay "Live at Elastic Arts" (Astral Spirits) and a collaborative release with visual artist Gwyneth Zeleny Anderson “Chyme" (Suppedaneum).

Mabel Kwan is a pianist and performer of experimental music. Her self-produced work is a meditation on sound, contradictions, and our perceptions of what is familiar or strange. She plays with STOMACHS, Honestly Same, Em Spel, the Jason Roebke Quartet, the Christopher Dammann Sextet, Kwan/Pauly/Shaw trio and Ensemble Dal Niente on keys, accordion, and synths. She frequently collaborates with dancer and choreographer Ayako Kato, and pianist Sharon Udoh. Mabel is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Bill Harris is a percussionist, improviser, and audio engineer in Chicago. He also operates and produces for Amalgam, a Chicago-based label and collective, and co-operates Chicago recording studio and performance space Marmalade. Bill is a prominent Chicago-based percussionist, improviser, audio engineer, and curator working in areas of improvisation, jazz, noise, rock, and bluegrass. Presented both nationally and internationally, Bill's work focuses on a number of dedicated groups, ad hoc groups, and solo work, with over three decades of studying, practicing, and creating music.