Eli Gras (born 28 January 1971) is a Spanish composer, multi-instrumentalist, illustrator, photographer, writer, and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

. She is the founder of La Olla Expréss, which is a combination of multimedia publishing company and cultural association. She has also collaborated on several children's books and animation films, produced special effects for cinema and advertising, and promoted cultural projects and events.

Biography

Gras was born into a large family in the

Gràcia Gràcia (), meaning "grace" (in English), is a district of the Mediterranean city of Barcelona, in the northeastern autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It comprises the ''barris'' (neighborhoods) of Vila de Gràcia, Vallcarca i els Pe ...

neighborhood of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain. She was a founding member of the experimental group Etnia (1982–1989) with Juzz S. Ubach, Alain Wergifosse, and Florenci Salesas. Throughout the 1980s, she played with musicians from other fields and genres, including

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

, and others. In the 1990s, she started performing her first solo concerts while continuing to expand her scope of collaborations. In the mid-1990s, she co-founded the Obmuz Trio with Quico Samsó and Alain Wergifosse. In 2002, she founded La Olla Expréss, a cultural association created to publish books and CDs in atypical formats. Gras has also participated in European experimental music festivals such as Worldtronics, Imaxinasons, Jardines Éfemeros, , Blurred Edges,

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

, and NoNoLogic, the last of which she founded in 2007, and for which she is currently director and coordinator. From 2012 to 2016, Gras held several performances at various locations in Spain, France, and The Netherlands, as well as participating in CCCB's Drap-Art-13 festival.

Musical style

Gras's music consists of combining improvisation with composed and structured themes, both instrumental and sung, with an emphasis on words and melodies of strong emotional character. She uses unconventional instruments such as toys, prepared guitars, and other artifacts, as well as conventional instruments such as electric bass, small electronic keyboards, and flutes.

Literature and other disciplines

Gras has enjoyed poetry, writing, and other artistic media since childhood. In 1998 she self-published (republished in 2002 by La Olla Expréss) ''Cuentos de la Olla Expréss,'' her first compilation of short stories.That volume was followed by ''Mis queridos objetos y otras poeprosas'' (La Olla Expréss, 2002) and ''Sin espejos'' (La Olla Expréss, 2006). She has made appearances in collective readings with the poet and musician Cèlia Sànchez-Mústich. She has also been a radio presenter on the "Mans I mànigues" section of the Cabaret Electric program, hosted by . Other artistic fields she has worked in include graphic design, illustration, packaging, and photography.

Works

Apart from her solo work, Eli Gras is a former member of several groups such as

Solo works

* 2002 – ''Baranda'' LP (La Olla Expréss, Barcelona) * 2016 – ''Xylotheque'' LP (La Olla Expréss, Barcelona) * 2018 – ''Grass Velvet'' LP (Esc. Rec. Netherlands) * 2018 – ''Tasmanian Robinet'' EP (La Olla Expréss, Barcelona) * 2019 – ''Museum of the Dry Bugs'' Cassette tape + special object (Gagarin Records,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

)

Motor Combo

* 2003 – ''El avión'' Single (La Olla Expréss, Barcelona) * 2012 – ''Polo'' LP (La Olla Expréss, Barcelona)

Collaborations

* 1998 – ''Obmuz Band'' (Dude Tapes, Barcelona). * 1999 – ''Deep Gray Organics'' (Alain Wergifosse, Geometrik Records, Madrid). * 2009 – ''Baby Elephant Walk'' (Ego Twister Records,

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

). * 2010 – ''Calixto'', song for ''Ego Twister Party Ruiners.'' * 2010 – ''Calixto'', song for ''Music for Toys 3'' (Ego Twister Records,

). * 2013 – Yan Lemonnier (Ego Twister Records, Angers). * 2013 – Reedición de Obmuz Band (Dude Tapes, Barcelona). * 2014 – ''Crek-Walters-Gras-Caicedo''. Juan Matos Capote. (El Generador). * 2015 – Duplicat (Pelayo Arrizabala & Eli Gras) (La Olla Expréss, Barcelona). * 2015 – ''Sound and Visual Walk'' (Circular Strings Sequencer).

Books

* 2006 – ''Cuentos de La Olla Expréss'' (La Olla Expréss) * 2013 – ''Queridos Objetos y Otras Poeprosas'' (La Olla Expréss) * 2013 – ''Sin Espejos'' (La Olla Expréss)

Performances, Residences

* 2012 – ''l'oscil·lar'' and ''Saló Sonor'', at Associació Priorat Centre d'Art (

Priorat Priorat () is a comarca (county) in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The region is named due to the monastery of Scala Dei which held many properties and the capital is now the town of Falset. Economy The central part of the comarca, ''Pr ...

, Spain) * 2014 – ''Saló Sonor'', with Mar Morey, at L'Estruch Centre D'art" (

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

, Spain) * 2015 – ''Peeled Piano'', at Champs des Possibles, (Ferme de la Mhotte, France) * 2015 – ''De Perifeer'', at (

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) * 2016 – ''Xylotheque'' at

WORM Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

(

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

'','' the Netherlands)'''' * 2016 – Conference at

Universidad de Jaén Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

(

Jaén Jaén may refer to: Places Peru *Jaén Province, Peru, a province in Cajamarca Region, Peru ** Jaén District, one of twelve districts of the province Jaén in Peru ***Jaén, Peru, a city in Peru, capital of the Jaén Province Philippines * Jaen ...

, Spain) * 2016 – ''Furniture Talk!'' at ELISAVA (

, Spain)

References

External links

Official website of Eli Gras

La Olla Expréss discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gras, Eli 1971 births Living people Experimental musicians Spanish electronic musicians Spanish women musicians Musicians from Barcelona