{"id":5428,"date":"2010-09-10T13:03:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T13:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/andy-sykora-i-disappear\/"},"modified":"2010-09-10T13:03:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T13:03:00","slug":"andy-sykora-i-disappear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/andy-sykora-i-disappear","title":{"rendered":"Andy Sykora: I Disappear"},"content":{"rendered":"

1:40pm |<\/strong> Andy Sykora is a sound artist, percussionist, and improvisor.  He’ll be performing with Steuart Liebig tomorrow at Sipology<\/a>, located on the corner of Broadway & Linden.  This free show, which will run from 7:30 – 8:30, is in conjunction with the opening of ‘Warning: The Wire is Wet,’ featuring art by Jeremy West, Edward Frausto, and Gabe Larson, and curated by Sumako of LVXEdge<\/a>. 
 
I started our conversation by asking him what he does.
 
Andy<\/strong>: Free improv using gongs, metal percussion, electronics, etc.<\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: Did you have a “traditional” percussion background?<\/em>
 
Andy<\/strong>: Yes, I studied with an 18 year old Peirce College student who was very traditional.  I learned basic drum rudiments and was encouraged to play all styles and feels.<\/p>\n

Before age 12 I played with tape recorders and reel to reels a lot and was always listening to sounds, like laughter.  I kept a collection of people’s laughs in my head. Over the years I have used tapes, minidiscs, micro cassettes and such in performance, and around the house.  Not so much to document, but as sketchs for ideas that I never really have. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: Do you find yourself going to specific places again and again just to capture particular environments?<\/em>
 
Andy<\/strong>: More often just to listen. When I discovered [John] Cage<\/a> I thought, “that’s odd! He’s from LA like me, and he is more interested in listening than in writing music.”  I did listen and sometimes record people in the same place many times, like Bebop Reords & Fine Art, a great store\/gallery\/hang out in Reseda in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: I find myself drawn to large indoor spaces, like malls, that have a certain kind of dense acoustic environment that seems to blur distictions.<\/em>
 
Andy<\/strong>: I know the attraction. I enjoy hearing sounds without strong context, that move between music, noise, and conversation.<\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: Let’s talk about the improvisational aspect of your work.  Can you talk a bit about how that works?<\/em>
 
Andy<\/strong>: I approach the making of sounds as that: making sound.  I dont think of musical ideas, or try to express my feelings.  Back to Cage; let sounds be themselves.  I simply pull or twist them out a bit.<\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: But, when performing with someone else, what is it that engages you.  For example, Steuart Liebig is very musical.  <\/em>
 
Andy<\/strong>: Yes, a musician will have training in their minds, and habits, and it can help relaxation to come and let basic understanding begin but, after a short time, its nice to leave training and visit the novice’s mind, or play what you dont know.  I am looking forward to playing with Steuart. He reaches out very well.<\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: Fred Frith once described improv as a kind of play.  Do you feel that sense of childline wonder when you’re performing?<\/em>
 
Andy<\/strong>: If i am paying attention to the interplay of sounds and instruments, I dont feel anything. That is to say I disappear and all that’s left is music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sound artist, percussionist, and improvisor Andy Sykora is performing tomorrow evening at 7:30 with legendary bassist Steuart Liebig at Sipology on Broadway and Linden. In this interview, Andy speaks about listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5428"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=5428"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}