Artist’s Statement

I am a huge fan of John Cage’s groundbreaking work in music, and had a strong desire to create something that, at least by him, would be considered music. Having spent years participating and loving orchestra and big band pieces, I tried to emulate the layered and rich approach to try to make something the had a range of dynamics and textures, trying to use gentle crescendos and percussive noises to elicit the feeling of an orchestrated ”song.” I was afraid that a rhythmic component would make something that could conventionally be named music, but was inspired by the humble leaky faucet. There’s a certain plodding rhythm to them, but they are far from music due to their unpredictability— washing machines also were an inspiration of the not-quite-rhythmic sound I tried to emulate. Knowing how aggravating these noises can be, I decided to go all in, using heavy distortion on already unlikeable noises like snoring and eating to create a piece that captures the mounting frustration that comes from a recurring arrhythmic noise.

I think, however, much of this frustration doesn’t translate as well as I would like. Despite heavy modification and layering much of the ”rhythm“ is overshadowed by other elements, overall detracting from the piece as a whole. I also think that a shorter buildup would’ve served the piece better, or, at the very least, would’ve made it less boring.