As the longstanding musical collaboration that brings Sia Ahmad and Evan Dorrian together, Spartak have released numerous collections of tweakers rock, jazz abstraction and minimal electronics under the on labels such as Low Point and New Weird Australia since 2007. Over the years, they have performed around the Australian continent and South/Eastern Asia alongside such disparate artists such as My Disco, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Mark Pritchard and Gold Panda, highlighting their genre-agnostic attitude across a number of musical settings.

Known respectively for their solo practice and work with acclaimed outfit Tangents, Spartak-music is built upon free-flowing improvisation, using machines and live instrumentation to create a singular wall of sound. Though they have slowed down the frequency of their performances, this performance is the beginning of a handful of performances across the continent to celebrate their 20th year as a musical partnership, conjuring their unique sound within the beautiful setting of The Church.

"Spartak square their evocation of a sense of place with an almost equally potent sense of displacement, where structures are likely to collapse unexpectedly and reform into unfamiliar shapes" — The Wire

"Spartak have always been among the most skilful underground players in blurring the lines between drone, guitar music and electronics/edits. Saddling them with a post-rock tag is doing them something of a disservice, given that Spartak take a much more deconstructionist route to sound." — The Quietus

About Sia Ahmad
With a rich and extensive background in Australian music, Sia Ahmad has been creating idiosyncratic sounds over the last decade and more. Using guitar, keyboard, voice and electronics, she works both as singer/composer and improviser, when performing solo, as Shoeb Ahmad, as well as collaborative projects.⁠ She has released a diverse range of original music while also working on sound design for dance/theatre, installation pieces and contemporary chamber composition, inspired by 20th-century avant-classical works, Indian raga form and minimalist electronic music.⁠ Her latest release, Breather Loops, was released in February 2022 on US label Atlantic Rhythms. She has performed throughout Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and South Eastern Asia as a solo artist, and with acclaimed groups such as Sensaround, Spartak, Tangents and the Australian Art Orchestra.

About Evan Dorrian
Evan Dorrian is an Australian drummer, percussionist and composer whose work moves between jazz, post-rock, improvisation, experimental music and electronics. Known for a highly responsive and textural approach to rhythm, he explores the possibilities of deconstructed rhythm, extended technique and compositional possibilities, treating drum kit, percussion and occasionally voice as both a rhythmic foundation and a source of colour, contrast and melodic possibility.

A founding member of Tangents and once of Pollen Trio (with Austin Benjamin and early mentor Miroslav Bukovsky), these projects and other collaborations reflect a breadth of work between acoustic and electronic music, performing many notable festivals such as WOMADelaide, Vivid Sydney and Dark Mofo alongside touring across Southeast Asia and the UK.