Another topic spawned by listening Harsh Truths podcast... There was interview of Jim Haras of Deterge, PTM, Fusty Cunt etc. Already from spring 2017. It is good and also quite amusing interview. Often interviewee has merely role of saying "sure", between the swift paced monologues that Jim has for hour and half. Not a complaint. Exact opposite actually. I am quire surprised how articulate all people are in interviews I have listened thus far. Clear, zero hesitation talk from all.
https://harshtruthspodcast.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/episode-4-deterge/
So, in the topic you get to hear man started his interests in rough & heavy music, at age of... 13? And already making noise at very very early age. Nowadays you often hear about all music scene getting old. People who start doing stuff, are often at 20's or 30's. It is hard to make conclusions when there is no actual data, but to me it often seems that people who've been into noise since very early age, are a bit different from those who casually enter "scene" at older age? Most often, there seems to be element that they made noise, before they knew there was a "noise scene". Or noise as form of published sound.
Starting my published noise works at age of 15, at that time, did not seem anything unusual. Now, when I try to think where are 15 year old Finnish noise guys (or international), I am not sure how many and where. Answer is probably that not on www forums, and keeping distance to old farts? Not doing the same thing, that was done in 80's and 90's.
Of course most creations of those times, the makers themselves consider embarrassing at best.
Yet this remains quite interesting thing. If the generation before internet, who sort of "invented noise by themselves" as a youngsters over and over again, are somehow different from what breeds from situation where adults try out things where infrastructure, tools of making and network is existing and obvious?
Total Mom who has 2 tapes on No Rent is 16 years old apparently- good crude harsh noise!
Admittedly I got into noise in my mid-twenties, but after more than a decade of metal/punk/hardcore and entry level weirdo music like Tom Waits. I'm lucky to have met someone (at work, no less!) who guided my tastes towards contemporary Finnish stuff and old Italian stuff which shaped my tastes.
Definitely unusual for people to get into Noise before reaching 20. I guess styles like Black Metal, Hardcore, Punk / RAC and such are the starting point in Teenage years and Noise opens up once philosophical and sonic paths have been pursued for some time. At least that is my observation. Maybe thats one reason why most people don't "quit" Noise like they do with Punk or Metal.
Would actually be interesting to see more teens in Noise.
This is a bit of a re-tread of something I once wrote elsewhere in this forum, but-
I would guess I got into this kinda shit around the age of 13 or 14. No internet but plenty of college radio. There were three college stations in Toronto (CKLN, CIUT, CHRY), plus a show on local TV (City TV) and a regular weirdo show on national public radio (CBC). And other college stations I occasionally encountered (CKUT, Montreal). So no internet but plenty of sources, not to mention the various shops in town. My assumption, perhaps needless to say, was that there were plenty of people all over the place making weird sounds, an assumption that I'd say was later quite plainly borne out.
I remember reading that Eliane Radigue was inspired on hearing Pierre Schaeffer on French public radio. In the 50s. So obviously it would be difficult for me to understate the importance of public and/or college radio. And equally difficult to imagine people who grew up watching movies like 2001 A Space Odyssey would imagine themselves as having invented jack squat. At the very least subconsciously there would have to have already been plenty of fodder (as in fully formed and realized fodder) for the creative juices.
I remember recording distorted sounds from a cheap Bontempi keyboard I played through the microphone of a Fisher Price karaoke radio with the volume turned to the max on my Fisher Price tape recorder (the same that's on my profile pic) when I was about 7 or 8 years old. And I would also walk around with the tape recorder on and record everything and listen to it afterwards. Those tapes are sadly loooong gone but at that time, I only knew of stuff like ACDC or Led Zeppelin and only wanted to listen to agressive textures. I had no idea such music already existed until I turned 17 or 18 but this was pre Internet days. My parents just thought I was weird...
Obviously, I don't think that it counts so much but had I known someone back then who would have made me realise making atrocious sounds and dumb field recordings was actually worth listening to for some people, I would have sent the recordings to Frank Goshit or something haha.
Quote from: Bloated Slutbag on October 07, 2019, 11:57:05 AM
And equally difficult to imagine people who grew up watching movies like 2001 A Space Odyssey would imagine themselves as having invented jack squat. At the very least subconsciously there would have to have already been plenty of fodder (as in fully formed and realized fodder) for the creative juices.
Still it would be a bit willfully ignorant of me not to acknowledge the distinctions to be realized more specifically in the fields of (harsh) noise and pe. For me evidently at one level it would all, all of it, have to be part and parcel of the same whole shebang. But looking at Hijokaidain, who trace their inspirations to LAFMS but who have also suggested that they felt they were onto something of a completely different order. And of course, I do feel at some level that they were quite right in that feeling. And have no doubt often celebrated my er convictions along those lines.
Man I've totally blown this post.
Quote from: Euro Trash Bazooka on October 07, 2019, 12:19:34 PM
I remember recording distorted sounds from a cheap Bontempi keyboard I played through the microphone of a Fisher Price
Ohhh shit. Fisher Price. Damn that needs to be acknowledged as a major inspiration. I remember my cousin and I recording one of those baby rolling balls...which sounds like gamelan. And for that matter other cousins and I fucking around with other Fisher Price kit. Those fat plastic records. All that stupid shit kids do when they get their hands on a tape recorder.
Yeah, fuck college radio. It's all down to Fisher Price.
Didn't The Residents record a whole album with Fisher Price toys?
Yes, Fisher Price music stuff ruled my world. And that Sony Walkman for kids through which you can see the mechanics inside. I still use it all the time and it never died on me after many years of crazy abuse. That stuff must be be 30 years old nowadays, it still plays loops like a charm.
In this time of Ginger Baker's passing I remember a documentary about experimental music I saw at 12 which featured him, Neubauten and a bunch of others. I remember he seemed very angry. If anyone knows where to find that I'll be eternally in their gratitude.
I've always been fascinated by sound in general- I was classically trained for 10 years in piano, starting at the age of 6. During these musically developmental years, I would always try to pull weird shit with my piano instructors.. "You're making noise, not music!". Out in public, I would always be drawn to sounds that involved the clanking of heavy machinery, distorted buzzing, whirring/droning, etc. Any strange sound I could get out of an object, was a simple pleasure.
In high school, when an ex-gf bought me a MIDI controller, after I expressed interest in making electronic music, I started messing with noise via soft synths. I would never listen to noise, only make it. The closest thing might have been the IDM I was listening to. At the time, I knew there was a noise scene out there and I was familiar by name with some bands, but I never really bothered to explore that until a few years ago.
My relationship to noise had been entirely personal up until I decided to started to attentively listen to classic acts, which was spurred by being traded a tape that I had no idea would be Power Electronics until I received it. And now I keep up with some of the newer stuff. Sometimes I feel embarrassed that I was late in the game for listening, but better late than never!
When I got my first electric guitar, amp, and distortion pedal around age 12 or 13 I quickly discovered audio sources other than guitar can be put through a distortion pedal. I had some cheap keyboards and mics and things like that. Eventually got a mixer and discovered you could make feedback loops, none of this produced anything that you would want to listen to though and it would be years later I actually discovered noise music as a "thing." Just "Experiments" In a vacuum without context of related music usually does not usually produce desirable results imo
Quote from: vomitgore on October 07, 2019, 11:21:30 AM
Definitely unusual for people to get into Noise before reaching 20. I guess styles like Black Metal, Hardcore, Punk / RAC and such are the starting point in Teenage years and Noise opens up once philosophical and sonic paths have been pursued for some time. At least that is my observation. Maybe thats one reason why most people don't "quit" Noise like they do with Punk or Metal.
Would actually be interesting to see more teens in Noise.
As someone who is 19 and has been seriously exploring noise for about a year now, I must say that your comment pretty much maps out how I got here perfectly. I have always been of the opinion that people are able to appreciate more extreme music only after having been introduced to it through some other, more accessible medium. It's really easy to go from the typical "starter" black metal bands to more underground stuff, after all. I remember when I first listened to noise, I didn't really get it until after I had gotten deeper into other extreme forms of music.
somewhere i think i have some tapes recorded when i was 16-17.
first noisy show when i was 17 i think. But i was involved is lofty situations in between to Einsturzende neubauten and Crass.
For me it's a combination of
* playing in a grindnoise band so you get to know other freaks
* older friends in bands turning me into Cold Meat Industries and other Industrial stuff (Test Dept, etc)
* going from buying Yacopsae, Rot and Agathocles releases to buying the Bastard Noise/Unseen Noise Death 7" and going into the Napalmed, Bizarre Uproar rabbithole
at age 15/16
I think perhaps a lot of people are too self conscious to put something online/out at an earlier age currently ? Back in the day nobody cared about that or getting validation from my experience so they put out tons of shit.
Quote from: Euro Trash Bazooka on October 07, 2019, 12:19:34 PMAnd I would also walk around with the tape recorder on and record everything and listen to it afterwards. Those tapes are sadly loooong gone but at that time
Aged around 10 or so a friend and I made a recording by taping a shoebox taperecorder to a skateboard and rolling it down a hill. Also used to enjoy putting sellotape over the internal mic and recording the sound of ripping it off. gonna try that one again come to think of it :D
i'm sure i still have at least one childhood random recordings tape, I must find.
I'm 40 now and put out my first tape (a split with Crank Sturgeon) at age 16. My output since has been sporadic and not necessarily better than the teenage wonder years.
Quote from: Cementimental on October 10, 2019, 05:28:11 PM
Quote from: Euro Trash Bazooka on October 07, 2019, 12:19:34 PMAnd I would also walk around with the tape recorder on and record everything and listen to it afterwards. Those tapes are sadly loooong gone but at that time
Aged around 10 or so a friend and I made a recording by taping a shoebox taperecorder to a skateboard and rolling it down a hill. Also used to enjoy putting sellotape over the internal mic and recording the sound of ripping it off. gonna try that one again come to think of it :D
i'm sure i still have at least one childhood random recordings tape, I must find.
You sure do need to find it for us to hear it!!
My 4 year old son started a band with our 2 year old. Both on drums and singing, I recorded a few of their "sessions". Hope to use them one day!
There is also HAQ123 who play death metal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2XPTNl5DdI
I think I was already 19 (1994) when I finally discovered Noise. Before that it was Punk, some Metal, Noise Rock and various other music, but I always felt that I wanted something "more intense". Back then I knew nothing about Noise or Industrial. Some mentions of Throbbing Gristle here and there in the magazines I read, but without the chance to actually listen to it. I then came across an article about a project called Merzbow and from the description this seemed to be the thing I was looking for. But it was impossible to get those records anywhere near the area I live. I investigated further though, and tried to remember the names of some of the projects. And then, when I first went to London the end of the same year, I grabbed as many records I could afford - Merzbow, TG, Whitehouse, SPK,... and it was some kind of revelation. Happy memories. Enthusiasm hasn't stopped since then. On the contrary!
Edit: On the topic of making Noise by myself - one or two years before 1994, I borrowed a guitar from a friend and recorded some tapes experimenting with feedback. Also messing with radio sounds/shortwave. As said, back then I didn't even know something like Noise existed. I was just making and recording the sounds I found pleasure in listening to. Recorded very few since then, because I'm absolutely talentless, haha. So most of all, I'm a fan.
This isn't pre-internet but I met Malware in 2013, when he was at the age of 14. We did a show in Cleveland, at a bar, and he played first, was accompanied by a parent and left promptly after. I've seen three sets by him and they've all been "game-changing" levels of wicked. He's done a collaboration with Dwid Hellion, and at the time, he referred to him as a "mentor" for what it's worth. He's still active but I forgot what he changed his name to. https://www.discogs.com/artist/2215334-Malware
If anyone knows, please fill me in!
I think part of it also is that, at least in Chicago, the proliferation of ALL-AGES venues really dwindled after the 90s. I guess it had to do with sharper liquor laws.
I discovered/"invented" just like anyone else at a young age. I messed with playskool turntables and cassette recorders, etc. I had two boom boxes with auxilliary mics and did various tapes based on the distance of sounds being reproduced. I remember not knowing what a mixer was or how DJs do DJ sets, so I assumed that they cut pieces of tape and spliced them, so naturally I tried to do my own DJ sets by cutting up tapes, and the result was more enjoyable than successful. I think I was 10 years old when I did that. In general, I started trying to make recorded music at age 18, and was a miserable failure at it, to the degree that I enjoyed the mess I'd made more (on acid especially). And that was pre-internet. As a result, I feel like I can tell when people have gotten into it after first hearing everyone else, especially when they come into it with a sort of metalhead mentality ("I've got to have all the expensive gear"). To me, I am more stimulated by people with crazy ideas for sound.
I started releasing when i was 15, since then i've deleted most of it but it still happened. Now at 17 i'm still creating and releasing some
This is always a fun discussion. I definitely had that moment when I was 16 where I realized that I had been making some really horrendous noisy shit as a bad joke before I was actually told by a friend to listen to Merzbow, and Fushitsusha, as well as my first experiences with Anal Cunt, 7MON, etc.
It took a few months for it to all sink in, and then it made sense. Eventually it becomes odd when people say they don't get noise, or free jazz, or dark ambient, because it's like riding a bicycle for you once no structure can surprise you.
I stopped caring about releasing any of my stuff years ago (was also a bad alcoholic during this time), or trading, or really talking to anyone about noise. I just do shit in my own time when it comes forth, and largely keep it to myself. Honestly, I get more out of reading the forum about what influences people's sounds than in necessarily needing to hear the shit these days. The philosophy, and the range of thoughts that people are having I think is what keeps me interested, otherwise I could just forget about noise or music completely.
I also have maybe 1 or 2 of my old recordings from 10-15 years ago on a random burned CD somewhere. I don't have a physical copy of anything that I personally released. Just any newer recordings that happen from time to time. Maybe I'll do some compilation tape in 5 years or something. Enough about me though.
Unearthing ancient filez, found childhood Super Studio Session songs :D A lot of these consist simply of changing the demo song instruments to rooster, explosion, heavy metal guitar etc
(https://i.imgur.com/rY9Bztb.png)
Quote from: vomitgore on October 07, 2019, 11:21:30 AMDefinitely unusual for people to get into Noise before reaching 20. I guess styles like Black Metal, Hardcore, Punk / RAC and such are the starting point in Teenage years and Noise opens up once philosophical and sonic paths have been pursued for some time. At least that is my observation. Maybe thats one reason why most people don't "quit" Noise like they do with Punk or Metal.
Would actually be interesting to see more teens in Noise.
My first experience with noise was when I was 17 years old working at a movie theater, high school job! I had a really cool manager/boss who worked there too and hired me and he was into all kinds of cool 70s 80s cult horror cinema and shits, which I was too at this age, but in the backroom he'd always be playing The Grey Wolves and I remember it was the album Catholic Priests Fuck Children and it was probably the CDr at this time, which was roughly around 2000-2001. By the way, that's a title you never forget, haha but I remember at that age I wasn't into it in the least bit, it was interesting, but I thought why would anyone want to hear this all the time? It wasn't until my mid 30's that I came closer into PE/Noise and then it became an immediate obsession. I think noise is a genre that is more appealing to men in their 30s perhaps, because by 30 if your a music maniac and you've discovered everything else, noise can be like that last final frontier in some respects. I'm glad I had that opportunity back when I was 17 to at least hear The Grey Wolves when my manager was counting the all of the tills at the end of the the shift . At least I had an idea that music like this existed back then.
Quote from: Cranial Blast on December 07, 2023, 05:02:59 AMI think noise is a genre that is more appealing to men in their 30s perhaps, because by 30 if your a music maniac and you've discovered everything else, noise can be like that last final frontier in some respects.
It is curious thing, that currently in Finland, we can see this happening. Several people are now active at noise, seem to be people who have had some interest in noise, or knew its existence, but never were die-hard noise guys, and suddenly, it is not anomaly, but repeating pattern that seemingly new noise artist is someone at their 40s! Some finally find noise that has aesthetics they prefer, instead of instant turn-offs. Some just have now finally supply of noise albums. Something you didn't have back in the day. People to discuss with, get recommendations etc. Plus at certain age, you may even have the money to buy things. I am not sure, but I have gut feeling that instead of youngsters, noise does lure the older people to join. (I wrote about it more in SI website "Noise - youth culture?" -piece)
got my first noise/industrial tapes through a goth girl's younger brother. I didn't know what I was listening to since there were no labels nor titles, but loved it a lot. I understood what it was after getting some random zines in a package from soa record label and later around when I was 18 via helter skelter distribution who was selling manson and serial killer related stuff and at the same time I saw some gigs of Italian noise /industrial projects and in 1993 whitehouse in Italy... that changed everything for me