Sense An Audio Journey

[Cupe]

Like a child who demands only food they have enjoyed previously, the listener whose hearing has regressed can respond only to a repetition of what they had heard before..

Have you ever been out in a club and wondered if anyone is actually listening to the music? Dancing along? Sure. Talking over the top? Always plenty of that. But really listening to the song being played? In the world of electronic music, it seems to be a luxury reserved for home-listening techno nerds and their audiophile-approved headphones and lavish soundsystems. Even the term IDM, or ‘intelligent dance music’, has fallen out of favour and seems to hark back to ‘90s experimental electronica like Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada. Replace that initial ‘I’ with an ‘E’ for ‘electronic’ and you have the homogenised, watered-down mess that dominates our airwaves.

True appreciators of electronica generally have to tide themselves over with occasional well-curated events. Happily, there’s one just around the corner, and what a treat it’s shaping up to be.

Called simply SENSE, it’s an afternoon and evening ‘spanning multiple artforms, from piano to poetry to electronica’, says event manager David Caffery. ‘We’re converting a contemporary gallery with natural light and gardens into a concert venue – the bar, food, surround sound system, projectors and installations are all designed specifically for the event.’

Event co-producer Yohan Iddawela says a lot of the inspiration behind the event came from a previous event called Synthesis he helped organise at Transit Bar last year. ‘We really wanted to focus on providing a communal experience at a nightclub. Most nightclubs are quite sterile and alienating – the music is usually overwhelmingly loud, and people are so loaded on amphetamines that it becomes quite an individualistic and isolating experience.

‘The main objective of Sense is to subvert and reconfigure traditional dance music events,’ continues Iddawela. ‘There appears to be an absence of any underlying logic or thought process in relation to why these events are put on, let alone their aesthetic dimensions or the way they are structured.’

It’s not often that chatting to the event organisers yields insight just as fascinating as that of the artists themselves. But, on the other hand, when said organisers claim ‘a bunch of dead philosophers’ as their primary inspiration, you know it’s going to be a well thought-out production. Iddawela explains, ‘Whilst Dave is really into his post-subjectivist philosophy, I think I’ve been influenced to some extent by Theodor Adorno’s aesthetic philosophy and musicology. The commercialisation of dance music has encouraged a greater range of homogenous, standardised music geared towards to the masses. Adorno talks about how this may lead to a “regression of listening”; like a child who demands only food they have enjoyed previously, the listener whose hearing has regressed can respond only to a repetition of what they had heard before. And what Sense is really trying to do is reach out and support those artists who are doing something new and different.’

Caffery agrees. ‘It's about getting some really quality music that a lot of people don't see in Canberra. Max Cooper hasn't played here before. Hypnagog's only played here in the city [in a club environment]. If he’s not playing in a club, he’s generally playing at a festival out in the bush somewhere. I think a lot of people are interested to see a more ‘urban’ take on some of the music he’s playing, without it being in a club setting. So it will definitely give a different context. [Cooper] as well is someone who has proven time and time again that he can play much more than just club music.’

‘More than just club music’ is a bit of an understatement. As one of the most versatile producers in electronic music today, the Australian-born, UK-based Cooper is known for his deft balance between melody and glitch. He’s equally skilled as a remixer, having applied his singular touch to everything from Hot Chip to Portishead, as well as avant-garde types such as Michael Nyman and Nils Frahm.

Although Cooper is the event headliner, he’ll be playing in the afternoon – giving him the chance to play a less dancefloor-focused set, explains Caffery. Instead, closing the night will be psychedelic sound-sorceror Hypnagog, aka Felix Greenlees. He’s a well-known and well-loved figure in the outdoor electronic festival scene, performing as both Hypnagog and the more psytrance-focused Terrafractyl.

‘I loved goa and psytrance from the moment I heard it,’ remembers Greenlees. ‘But when I tried to write it, I discovered there is a real skill in writing music that propels you to move, and they are quite different skills to the ones required to write music for the head. Generally though, I strive to try and find a balance. I’ve always wanted to make music that you can sit down, close your eyes and listen to, but then in another time and place maybe it will make you want to jump around and dance.’

Greenless says a more traditional musical upbringing enabled him to bridge the gap between psytrance and Tchaikovsky. ‘My classical music background gave me a great head start when it came to writing music to tickle the brain. Actually, it’s pretty much integral to the way I write music. When I don’t feel like [writing music] I spend a lot of time improvising what I would call classical music, as well as jazz, on the piano in my studio. This is where I come up with many of my melodic ideas. But then again, I also find good classical music to be the most psychedelic of all!’

Aside from the musical side of the event, other artforms such as poetry and visual art will be represented. In addition to various art installations in the gallery, Caffery says, there’s will also be live visual collaboration between a VJ and sculptor/painter. ‘They’ve developed a project using broken instruments, glass and other objects which are moved around on a board and filmed. The VJ runs symmetry and other effects over the footage and streams it live to the screens and projectors. The effect is a moving, pulsing kaleidoscope of these objects, and both artists will be clearly viewable in order to show the making of the visuals. It’s a nice fusion of handmade and electronic.’

In another example of this fusion, Greenlees says he plans to bring his homemade modular analogue synthesiser along for the event. ‘I’ve only ever used a few times in a live set,’ he explains, ‘but it can add some really amazing sounds. Also, I don’t often get a chance to play three-hour sets. This really allows you to do some storytelling with your music, as well as playing more experimental music. At my usual sets and gigs, the focus is nearly entirely on the dancefloor and the reactions that are created there. Of course I love doing this, but I also have plenty of music that I’ve really written to create a headspace of certain feelings and emotions, rather than just propel you to dance. I think this will be a perfect opportunity to play this kind of music.’ From bmamag.com