My first ever contribution to the Disquiet Junto Project, the goal being to record a piece of sound that expresses the local climate this time of the year, wherever I live.

I happen to live in Sydney now, and this time of the year is spring, which already gets very hot and sunburn sunny, but as with all Sydney weather, it is very unstable and changes very often. In a matter of hours, you can have a lethal sun followed by a swift storm and then inconsistent rain at 29ºC.

My way to turn this instability into a piece of sound has been probably a bit obvious, but regardless, I assigned a specific sound / passage to a weather event and then told a story of instability, where one event leads to another while a 3rd or 4th one happens behind the scenes. 

Can you guess what sound belongs to what weather phenomenon? :)

(Picture taken by instagram.com/nuuncreates, cloudy sky from the quarantine station)

With a chance of... [disquiet0258]

“Max was pondering the important issue of how petrogylphs differed from hieroglyphs when the radio halted its roll at the very far end of the electronic dial. After a brief silence, the weak signal transmitted indistinct sounds, like whispers, intermingled with an odd chanting that faded in and out like a spectral dirge. Intrigued by this strange combination, and hoping for a broadcast of a lonely Indian powwow, Max turned up the volume, but the higher it went, the softer the voice and chant became, going silent. There was no apparent signal, but the radio scan was still stopped, locked in on something.”

This excerpt is from "Transmission", by T.E. Grau, a story about a mysterious radio station. This excerpt is also the base of the edition 0259 of the Disquiet Junto project (http://disquiet.com/2016/12/15/junto-0259/), the goal being to render the text in sound.

As you probably have guessed, this is my take. I imagined Max turning on the radio, trying to find something interesting, back and forth with the dial, until stumbling upon something that shouldn't be there...

(Photo credit: nillamaria via photopin: www.flickr.com/photos/68442394@N07/22775320008)

Aquí [disquiet0259]

Short musical clip to soundtrack another obscure animation from the amazing videographer and computer wizard Danraebru (https://www.instagram.com/danraebru/).

You can see the complete montage (animation by Danraebru, audio track by Subespai) here: https://youtu.be/DWVrQvNyxK8

Wicked children

My first contribution to the beautiful Naviar Haiku initiative (http://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku/) and a return to my ambient urges, the need to make music that is beautiful and calm in order to cope with how much ordinary life affects me.

A short video of the creative process behind this track can be found at https://www.instagram.com/p/BUyvpnXhHXX/

Moonlit (naviarhaiku178)

"Arriving on the farm ---
the open arms
of the scarecrow"

Haiku by Kwaku Feni Adow, image by Jez Timms, idea by @naviar-records.

The Open Arms Of The Scarecrow (naviarhaiku183)

Available on tape and digital, this album contains two tracks and 15 minutes of ambient noise, recreating two mundane scenes of unexpected silence where the technology that surrounds us creeps up to break the silence, silence over silence, becoming deafening.

Stream / download / buy: https://chemical-imbalance.bandcamp.com/album/subespai-a-deafening-silence

A deafening silence

A Deafening Silence - Album Preview

"On August the 18th in 1976, at a location, the coordinates of which have remained a secret to this day, known only to those who possess the highest levels of security clearance, an event occurred, which by its very nature shocked those who survived and the nation's leaders to their very core. The ramifications of this event reverberate to this day in countless ways, the public completely unaware, having never been informed." 

This is the backstory of "Base", a full length collaboration between Doxylamine (Mark Hall) and Subespai, released in cassette and digital by Sydney's rule-breaking label Eupcaccia Records. 

Recorded and produced in late 2017, "Base" is a faux soundtrack to an event that didn't happen, broken down into 5 acts of noise, dark ambient and eerie soundscaping, full of glitches and surprises under the concrete walls of sound.

(Featured song: #3 - Intelligence Anomaly)

Base

"Base" by Subespai & Doxylamine (album taste)

Always fun to participate in the Disquiet Junto challenges, this one was called "Casting drones" and consisted in using chance operations to make drone music, as inspired by John Cage and his concept of time brackets. 

My setup for this was my electronic Kalimba with a freeze pedal to create the sustained notes, with a ring modulator in the mix for extra ebbs and flows, in a bit of a noisy workflow, for improved lo-fi-ness.

More info about this week's challenge here: https://disquiet.com/2018/12/20/disquiet-junto-project-0364-casting-drones/

3/3 - 2/2 - 2/4 (disquiet0364)

Track composed specifically for the 2019 edition of the Radiophrenia festival in Glasgow, and aired on May 13th, 2019 (http://radiophrenia.scot/may-13th/).

---

Unlike contemporary media, radiophonic transmissions and their traditional mechanisms accommodate for mistakes and imperfection as part the regular experience. Things like misdialling, bad reception, crooked radio antennas, physical location of the listener... all played a part in the listening experience you are going to get.

This design flaw led to accidents; sometimes and often, happy accidents like discovering a cool unknown radio station or track. Other times, and luckily less often, these accidents were not so happy, and we'd stumble upon something that was not for us, something potentially dangerous, something hinting an alternate reality we had never considered... The resulting ominous feeling heavily contrasted with the safety and anonymity provided by radio listening itself.

This track aims to recreate the path down to a not so happy accident, in a world that has moved forward and eradicated that possibility.

We were not the intended recipients of this message (Radiophrenia 2019)

"Works For Loudspeakers" is an initiative from Sonorous Circle, an Australasian outlet for “adventurous music, art & emancipatory general awareness”. 

WFLS is a quarterly listening party showcasing emerging and established composers, with regular open calls to musicians and producers to participate by contributing a track. 

Listening parties occur throughout the beautiful Aotearoa (New Zealand), in which attendees are invited to exercise close listening in a friendly environment.

"Red skies" is my contribution to WFLS no. 18, the Summer #19 batch, made with a tone generator, a toy recorder, a toy synth and field recordings. Hope you enjoy it.

Red Skies (WFLS18)

Innumerable stars
Looks like floated algae
In my mind
---
Returning to the Naviar Haiku challenge after a long while, as well as testing new gear: this track is entirely made with the Organelle, with added effects to process and loop the sounds, then mixed on a cassette 4-track recorder for extra warmth. 

Hope you like it!
---
Naviar Haiku challenge #307: https://www.naviarrecords.com/2019/11/20/naviarhaiku307-innumerable-stars/
Poem: Iida Dakotsu
Picture: Cristian Palmer (https://unsplash.com/@cristianpalmer)

Innumerable (naviarhaiku307)

bitter winter wind
ends there —
sound of the sea
---
My contribution to edition 309 of the weekly Naviar Haiku challenge, driven by the amazing Naviar Records.
Organelle and effects processed on dictaphone then recorded onto a 4-track, with field recordings on top.

Hope you like it!
---
Naviar Haiku challenge #309: https://www.naviarrecords.com/2019/12/04/naviarhaiku309-bitter-winter-wind/
Poem: Ikenishi Gonsui
Picture: Jaleel Akbash (https://unsplash.com/@jaleel_akbash)

Ends (naviarhaiku309)

One push of the door, a single step
And the corridor seems to stretch
As far as the eye can see.
---
My contribution to edition 310 of the weekly Naviar Haiku challenge, driven by the amazing Naviar Records.
More organelle and effects processed on dictaphone then recorded onto a 4-track, with field recordings on top.

Hope you like it!
---
Naviar Haiku challenge #310: https://www.naviarrecords.com/2019/12/11/naviarhaiku310-one-push-of-the-door-a-single-step/
Poem: Takuboku Ishikawa
Picture: Mukund Nair https://unsplash.com/@m_k_nd

Corridor (naviarhaiku310)

frozen trough
I cup the warm breath
of my horse
---
My response to this week's Naviar Haiku challenge, informed by the hot summer we are having down here in Sydney, Australia.

Enjoy!
---
Naviar Haiku challenge #312: https://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/189860392413/naviarhaiku312-frozen-trough
Poem: Debbie Strange (http://debbiemstrange.blogspot.com)
Picture: Jonathan Knepper (https://unsplash.com/@jknepp)

Warm (naviarhaiku312)

Originally composed for the 2020 edition of the Australasian Computer Music Conference, 'City Circles' is a 28 minute piece that furthers my research on loops as a main musical currency, as well as the exploration of urban sounds and scenery, also present in 2018's "A deafening silence". 

Available from chemical imbalance in CDR and digital: https://chemical-imbalance.bandcamp.com/album/subespai-city-circles

Composed by Subespai (Mauri Edo).
Artwork & layout by Josh Paton.
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Matthew Syres.
Performed @ Alpha House Gallery in Erskineville, Gadigal Land. Sovereignty was never ceded.

City Circles (excerpt)

Subespai is Mauri Edo, a Sydney-based sound artist working with found sound, repetition and volume to explore and express complex thoughts and ideas on existence, society and the individual.

subespai

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