MUTEKLIVE121 - Christian Carrière

Christian Carrière (CA)
Friday June 3, 2016 - Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MAC)
Mastered by Pheek.

WHO: Montréal composer Christian Carrière
STYLE: Improvised soundscapes, tuned feedback, singing circuitry
LATEST WORK: Singing Circuits Vol. 1 (2016), Wood Stacks (2015)
LABELS: Self-released
MORE: Montréal-based art collective Mere Phantoms commissioned Singing Circuits as a soundtrack for their shadow installation at the 2013 Istanbul Biennial.

In music permeated by such sonic and compositional variety and passages of electrified melody it's startling that Christian Carrière uses no samplers, computers, drum machines, synthesizers or sequencers to make his circuits sing the way they do. Made entirely of live improvisation with a no-input console, he fashions feedback into hypnotic rhythmic layers and tunes the frequencies into fluid and affecting refrains.

Originally from Ottawa, Carrière has been feeding a mixing board back into itself, making it his instrument, for more than a decade. It was while working as a TV broadcast sound engineer that he first imagined the console as a performative device, in part inspired by the work of Brian Eno. A member of artist collective CRUM (Centre de recherche urbaine de Montréal) and experimental Montréal group Interceiving, Carrière has been joined by percussion, bass, keyboards and other instruments to create an experimental "almost pop." But he has also interpreted the music of Arvo Pärt by harnessing, looping and re-pitching the mixer’s signal in real-time, creating a gorgeous melange of sacred music and sound design. Carrière has released several albums, scored independent films and created sound art installations for gallery and museum projects.

This is an excerpt of his performance at MUTEK 2016.