1:40pm | Andy Sykora is a sound artist, percussionist, and improvisor.  He’ll be performing with Steuart Liebig tomorrow at Sipology, 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. 
 
I started our conversation by asking him what he does.
 
Andy: Free improv using gongs, metal percussion, electronics, etc.

Sander: Did you have a “traditional” percussion background?
 
Andy: 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.

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.

Sander: Do you find yourself going to specific places again and again just to capture particular environments?
 
Andy: More often just to listen. When I discovered [John] Cage 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.

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

Sander: Let’s talk about the improvisational aspect of your work.  Can you talk a bit about how that works?
 
Andy: 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.

Sander: But, when performing with someone else, what is it that engages you.  For example, Steuart Liebig is very musical. 
 
Andy: 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.

Sander: Fred Frith once described improv as a kind of play.  Do you feel that sense of childline wonder when you’re performing?
 
Andy: 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.