Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Articulate. Noise.

Q: "What's your relationship with sound?"
A: "Complicated"

That says a mouthful. I've been interested in "noise" since I started recording and have mixed in what I call "sound sculptures" in almost every project of mine from ambient to beat driven tracks to full on harsh ... well, noise.  I started this blog to exorcise what is it about sound that drives me and explore further. Whether it's recording, performing, or simply going nuts in the studio for an hour and then turning everything off and going about my day sound and noise is always just around the corner. 

For those who are not familiar with Power Electronics, Noise, Dark Ambient or whatever related label or genre it evokes NY artist Pharmakon breaks it down in this excellent interview:





Her latest full length album is available on Sacred Bones Records:




For my part I'm still chipping away at my current sound/Noise project:




And occasionally I revisit sounds I made over twenty years ago*:


Or just sit down and record what instrument is up and running in the studio at the moment: 






"Noise" music, like music itself doesn't know genres or boundaries. It can be emotional, visceral, cerebral, or simply beautiful. There are no limits and the best of it refuses to be one thing at a time. It is complicated but for some equally rewarding. 



Bang and scrape on. 



* Being me I can never resist making something as unmarketable as possible. The last track on this Power Electronics or "noise" ep is a soft, quiet, piano based melodic composition. If you make it through the first three you end up there. I'll leave it to the listener to decide if that's a good thing or not.