Even Earlier
I have always been just as curious about sound as I have been about music. In my teens I heard Song of the Youth by Karlheinz Stockhausen. I had no idea music could be like that, but I was completely receptive to it. I took a Contemporary Music Course in college and I was never the same. We listened to, and analyzed, classic twentieth century pieces, such as Einstein on the Beach by Phillip Glass, Music For Airports by Brian Eno, Black Angels by George Crumb, and although I was a dedicated student of jazz and improvised music, I loved this stuff! Improvisational music has always been my main focus, but I mention these experiences to illustrate how that language has been pushed and pulled and cross pollinated through the years. That being said, it had been a while since something had really turned my ear on its head, so to speak, as did contemporary electronica and it’s many offshoots. And it was about to happen again..
The Sounds of Industry
Devin and some of my other colleagues got me listening to industrial music. Specifically, the music of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. I had been listening to his catalogue, Pretty Hate Machine, The Fragile and all the classic stuff from early in his career, I liked it, but I was slow to catch on. Then in 2007 Nine Inch Nails released Year Zero. I was completely blown away! Several listens in headphones and my compositional voice was going to evolve to incorporate some of these darker, grittier, analogue noisescapes . Every artist has those moments in their creative life when they hear something and it is going become part of what they do…hopefully in their own way. This was the last time it happened for me. My jazz friends knew that I had wide listening habits, but I know that they didn’t quite get my fascination. Since Year Zero, Trent Reznor, has put out several critically acclaimed albums, game scores, film soundtracks and won an Academy Award. I think they now understand where I was coming from.