Errhead^CA/QC

Wrapped in analog warmth and intriguing nostalgia, Errhead's ambient dub techno sound comes interlocked with sample-based polyrhythms and a collage of film visuals, at once personal and cerebral, real and fantastical.

By the age of 13, Airick was remixing his folk-musician dad's albums and playing in psych-rock Spiral Beach with his brother. Driven to experiment with sampling and audio collage, he began electronic glitch-pop project Doldrums with an audiovideo collage of VHS tapes from his childhood. A series of videos and 7” singles followed. Doldrums' debut EP, Empire Sound, emerged shortly afterward, setting the tone for the project: glitchy electronic sequencing and noise-like dusty samples embedded in hypnotic pop structures, with Woodhead's high-pitched vocals woven through it all. His later albums tweak melodies into digital noise and back again over fervent basslines and lyrics that thread the line between intimate and analytical. 2017's Esc moved closer to industrial techno textures and noise, and features Montréal acts Pelada, Odil Myrtil and Valeda as well as Mike Simonetti, Pharmakon, Yves Tumor and frequent Woodhead collaborator Guy Dallas. As a three-person band, Doldrums has toured with Grimes, Crystal Castles and Purity Ring, appeared on Boiler Room TV and played festivals including Primavera. Taking sampling into more ambient, space-expanding territory, Woodhead created the Errhead alias for his live analog hardware sets—performances inspired by dub techno and deviant electronic fancies of wildly textured tracks with polyrhythmic percussion and a balmy, melodic architecture of synths and sampling.

At MUTEK, Errhead whips up a hypnotically kinetic atmosphere accompanied by live video collages of 35mm and 16mm film, at once nostalgic for a lost past and looking into a futuristic sci-fi dreamscape.