2:00pm | By day, Jorge Martin is a mild mannered medical researcher but, at night, he transforms into a well respected sound artist. He performed in November with famed singer/artist Anna Homler at Let Them Eat LACMA, presented by the art collective Fallen Fruit and, until a few years ago, was one half of the acclaimed duo, Spastic Colon.
He, and poet Liz Gonzalez, will be performing at Sipology Village tomorrow evening from 7:30 – 8:30. I asked him how he first began his sonic explorations.
Jorge: I first got into experimental music in college. It first started with jam sessions in a garage with a couple of High School friends, where we tried to recreate Devo songs. During this time, we started listening to Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten, Butthole Surfers, and other weird music. Prior to that, for me, it was strictly baroque and classical music.
During the garage years, one of my friends, Erik Hoffman and I started making really crazy loud noise. I just used a guitar and amp and Erik had a sampler and some other gadgets. We called ourselves Spastic Colon, and Erik put out a cassette on his 1st label called Pinch A Loaf.
Sander: Your exposure to baroque and classical music came from your parents?
Jorge: Yes. My mom started giving me piano lesson when I was 5. Then, after a few years, I started formal training with a piano teacher. In the 4th grade, I started studying the clarinet. With that came with a ton of music theory and history. What’s weird is that I didn’t like any music written prior to 1820. I didn’t like the romantic period, and could not tolerate anything contemporary. Now I love the stuff.
Sander: Do you think of your work as musical, as pure sound/noise, or a mix of the two?
Jorge: Neither. It’s an experiment. I never know beforehand what will happen. The end product may be musical, and/or pure sound/noise. But I see it as a composition. Even though the output is a bunch of sound, I see it as a collection of sine wave resonating and and interfering with each other. I’ve found out that my brain has to deconstuct everything into it’s basic subunit for me to understand anything. Because of this, I have trouble seeing the big picture.
Sander: Can you talk, a bit, about collaboration. For example, in your performance on Saturday you’ll be working with poet Liz Gonzalez. What does collaboration bring to what you do?
Jorge: For me, it’s another sound source that I can use to incorporate to the soundscape that is being produced. At the same time, it’s a source of nervousness. With liz, her words will have a meaning and mood, in which I need to provide an appropriate sound/energy. The problem is that I’m busy trying to control sounds that are random and usually out of control.
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Sipology Village is located at 448 East Broadway. Parking is available on the street, and in the City lot on the North West corner of Broadway and Elm. LVXEdge.com presents new art shows at Sipology Village every month, with opening receptions on every 2nd Saturday. In January, celebrated cellist Carter Dewberry will be performing.