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Noise

Greg Headley - 2002 unfinished noise project.mp3 (5.6mb)

In early 2002 I made some preliminary recordings toward a noise music project I was planning. I had just released Similis, a disc of quiet minimal electronics, and wanted to switch gears. It's always that way for me; as soon as I finish a recording I feel burned out and don't want to work with the same sounds I've just been using. I didn't really decide to abandon the noise music idea. My sketches did not yield much interesting material, and I realized it was going to take longer than I thought. I bought Pro Tools around the same time too and started on some other music that eventually became an upcoming CD release.

It's not nearly as easy as it seems to make noise music, and it takes tremendous energy to record for even a couple of hours. I could make complete feedback overload chaos and just sit there and let the tape roll, so to speak. But there's nothing interesting in that. It's a funny thing to talk about good noise vs. bad noise. Having listened to a fair amount of noise though, I believe there is a difference. Some purists will say there should not be an attempt to compose when working with noise. The desire to build some structure was part of what derailed me. Even when the sounds were at their most frantic I wanted to have a sense of cohesion. Whether it's really there or not, I hear an internal logic to the noise music I like. The Merzbow album "1930" is one of my favorites. It's plenty noisy for sure, but there's also a skilled hand at work. And I've heard enough Merzbow to know. The totally insane quantity of music that Merzbow, among others, releases puts me off doing noise myself too. It's not something I can dabble in like a dilettante. Much like improvisation, noise is a serious commitment. You have to live and breathe it daily.