One of the noteworthy characteristics of noise as an artform (or anti-artform, depending on your point of view) is how extraordinarily diverse it is in terms of approaches, equipment, methodologies, philosophies, and motivations. Similarly, pathways and entry points into noise are as numerous as there are practitioners and fans. There is no single correct way into noise.
In this dozen or so articles, I will share my own musical path, a path which is probably rather atypical for your average noise aficionado. It will be broadly chronological, but at some points I will combine related artists together that I may have come across in different periods, in order to give a bit more cohesion to the narrative. I will include YouTube videos to highlight some of the artists and pieces of music that have been formative for me along the way, both as a listener and as a musician.
As I think about how I ended up in noisedom, I would summarise that some of the key elements of noise that appeal to me are:
1) the intense sounds themselves of course,
2) the unique and distinctive sound collages and unpredictable forms of noise compositions/improvisations, and
3) the individual non-conformist creative mindset of noise-makers.
Or maybe I’ll alliterate: I like noise (generalisation; there is noise I like and noise I don’t like) because it’s
INTENSE,
IMAGINATIVE,
IDIOSYNCRATIC, and
ICONOCLASTIC!
The seeds of these elements (and I could add a few more but these will do for now) sprung up for me in soils totally unrelated to noise, but it is in noise that they culminate in a uniquely exciting way…
So here’s where we’re going, and I plan to post these parts in fairly quick succession over the coming few weeks [I’m writing this intro at the end of Oct 2020]:
part 1: Evocation / Origins – Classical Music and Instrumental Rock
part 2: Expansion / Aggression – Hard Rock and Heavy Metal
part 3: Expertise / Virtuosity – Shred Guitar and Progressive Metal
part 4: Exploration / Complexity – Space Rock
part 5: Electronics / Rhythm – Jungle/Drum’n’Bass, Techno, Psybient
part 6: Eclectic / Horizons – Fusion, World Music, Thrash Metal
part 7: Endeavour / Creativity – My bands and solo recordings
part 8: Extremity / Unlimited – Noise and Harsh Noise
part 9: Experimentation / Scene – Live Noise
part 10: Equipment / Community – Modular Synths
part 11: EPs / Vision – My new noise recordings
part 12: Eulogy / Recommendation – My favourite noise albums
The Word on Noise 