DOX @ The Hot Tin Hop Fest

DOX is a duo with Swiss keyboardist Oli Kuster and UK saxophonist Dee Byrne with

special guest Swiss drummer Xavier Kaeser. DOX merges jazz with modular electronics to

create fractured ambient landscapes, free improvisation, and glitch-laden beats. The trio

will visit material from their new album 'Drowned Circuits' using it as a springboard for

sonic exploration - colouring inside and outside the lines.

Dee Byrne - alto sax/effects

Oli Kuster - modular synth/keyboard

Xavier Kaeser - drums

efpirecords.bandcamp.com

7 track album

deebyrnemusic.com

Photo by Simon Shaw Swiss keyboardist Oli Kuster and UK saxophonist Dee Byrne have a long history of creative partnership, from their work in the UK/Swiss ensemble MoonMot&…

'... intense, risk-taking, unpredictable, and restless, attempting to bring modern jazz back

to the dance floors. It demands a full surrender, and clearly blurs the distinction between

jazz, free improvisation, and electronic music.' Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts

'Seven pieces of improvised music that are both adventurous and accessible, the balance

between improvisation and structure continues to fascinate.' The Jazz Mann ★★★★

'The trio of saxophonist Dee Byrne, synthesizer player Oli Kuster, and drummer Xavier

Kaeser apply an avant-garde ethos to a modern post-post-bop sound.' Dave Sumner,

Best Jazz on Bandcamp Nov 2025

‘I love the way they patiently let every texture breathe’ Soweto Kinch, Round Midnight,

BBC Radio 3

Swiss keyboardist Oli Kuster and UK saxophonist Dee Byrne have long explored the fringes of

jazz and improvised music, blurring and breaking down genre boundaries in a variety of contexts.

First meeting within the Swiss/UK combo MoonMot, they expanded their collaboration as

Motherboard Pinball alongside Swiss guitarist Cyrill Ferrari, releasing their eponymous debut

album in 2021 and follow-up Algorithmic Quotidian in 2022, both on Efpi Records. Their new duo

project DOX pushes their work even further into uncharted territory, merging jazz and improvisa-

tion with modular electronics to create fractured ambient landscapes and glitch-laden beats. This

fresh chapter in their work begins with innovative new album Drowned Circuits alongside exciting

young Berlin-based Swiss drummer Xavier Kaeser.

Rooted in a strong ethos of celebrating spontaneous composition, the album is entirely improvised,

with its many memorable hooks, melodies, beats, and chord sequences all emerging organically in

the moment. The music welcomes groove, melody, and pop hooks whilst also leaning into atonality,

chaos, and sonic experimentation. For Byrne, “it reflects the balance we’re always chasing in our

practice: between structured and free, electronic and acoustic, spontaneous and refined. Working

in this way allows us to draw from every corner of our musical interests and bring them into one

space.”

Nothing was off-limits in the sessions, including full-on anthems. The result is a collision of avant-

garde energy with free improvisation and electronic excitement; atonality rubbing shoulders with

lush major 7 chords, scrambling saxophone lines cutting through dance beats; composition and

free improvisation meeting on equal footing. “It works because we fully surrender to the music”,

says Byrne. “We let it lead us, rather than us trying to control it.”

Kuster first began experimenting with modular synths during the pandemic, laying down raw, dissonant tracks that would form the backbone of the duo’s sound. Motherboard Pinball was the result of lockdown-enforced remote collaboration with Byrne and Ferrari, whose contributions created a unique sonic world of textural depth and fluid improvisation which developed even further once in-person meetings became possible. DOX continues this evolution of Kuster and Byrne’s curiosity by establishing a vehicle for future projects with a variety of guest collaborators, with Kaeser the first. Kaeser joining the fold gave a new energy to Kuster and Byrne’s collaboration, with live drums complementing the intricate patterns and textures coming from the synths. Kuster also used these sessions to experiment with playing live keyboard over prepared material from his past solo explorations, continuing an idea initially developed for Motherboard Pinball live shows. As he explains, “working in this way created this beautiful tension between structure and improvisation, giving us platforms to launch from. It’s a kind of living collage of past and present ideas coming together in real time.”

Oli Kuster is a Swiss pianist, keyboardist and composer based in Bern, primarily working within the field of

tension between jazz and electronic music. His various projects include jazz combos, electro-pop collaborations, music for film, and solo modular synth experiments. He is also an on- and off member of Switzerland’s most iconic rock bands, Züri West. olikuster.ch

Dee Byrne is a UK-based saxophonist, composer and improviser working at the forefront of contemporary jazz, avant-garde, and free improvisation. Her music blends acoustic and electronic elements in collaborative settings across the UK and Europe including her own avant-jazz sextet Outlines, Swiss/UK ensembles MoonMot and DOX, and pan-European projects Ydivide and Deemer. deebyrnemusic.com

Xavier Kaeser is a Swiss drummer and composer based between Bern and Berlin. Refining his craft under the guidance of Dejan Terzic, Julian Sartorius, Jim Black, and Jeff Ballard amongst others, he has since performed in a variety of projects at many high-profile festivals and stages across Europe. https://www.instagram.com/xavier___nelson/

Based in Manchester and run by Beats & Pieces Big Band leader Ben Cottrell, Efpi is both an independent record label and an umbrella organisation working to promote the activities of an emerging generation of musicians working across all areas of contemporary jazz, improvised and experimental music. Formed in 2009 by Ben alongside fellow Manchester musicians Sam Andreae and Anton Hunter to bring together their various projects under a single banner, Efpi quickly expanded from its Manchester roots and now works closely with an ever growing number of musicians living and working across Europe. Other Efpi artists include Beats & Pieces Big Band, Let Spin, Johnny Hunter, Anna Chandler-King, Angle Shades, and Oli Kuster/Dee Byrne.

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