White out! Tony Herrington calls time on the monoculture that is the experimental sound and music industry
July 2020
A black square
The Wire publisher asks: What is wrong with this industry? Why is it such a monoculture? What is wrong with the white people who run it, work in it, report on it, study in it?
One of the true bastions of white hegemony in the arts is the industry that has developed around the matrix of experimental music, sound art, electronic composition, field recordings, drones, ambient, noise, etc, etc, you know the stuff I’m talking about, as apart from anything else, it fills significant amounts of column inches in The Wire every month.
Over the years I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been presented with another label catalogue, festival programme, book, residency, workshop, conference, academic course, magazine article, online column that purports to deal in these particular areas of cultural activity and had cause to roll my eyes and think, why are there only white musicians, composers, performers, theorists being included here? Where the hell is everyone else?
One reason this kind of thing sticks in the throat is because the white people involved in these areas of cultural activity, whether they be label runners, festival programmers, academics, curators, critics, etc, consider themselves to be progressive, inclusive, woke even. They think they are at the cutting edge of contemporary sound and music. They wrap themselves and their fantasies in rhetoric which claims they are engaged in politicised artistic activity, and having profound philosophical thoughts about the place of sound and music in society. They would not regard themselves as smug, self-satisfied, complacent, deluded, exclusionary, racist.
They wouldn’t be worth bothering with if the industry they control wasn’t so powerful and influential in terms of deciding what kind of artists get to release or present music, or be talked about, under these banners of experimental, art, composition, etc. They would be irrelevant if this industry hadn’t asserted itself to the point where it has come to dominate the so called intellectual high ground when it comes to discoursing on matters of sound and music, and used that status to shore up swathes of money and prestige, from funding for festivals, residencies and commissions to academic tenure, publishing deals and media coverage.
This industry’s definition of what constitutes experimental sound and music is so middlebrow, so mediocre, so narrow, so dull. So white. And this kind of blinkered attitude extends to the discourses that are bolted onto the actual stuff itself, which is to say the bogus intellectualism which lends this industry its credibility.
Two days ago I was privy to a programme announcement from a prestigious European festival that purports to present “some of the most important electronic music composers making work today”, “that intends to explore the notions of presence/absence and to discuss the implications of pandemic on the contemporary electronic music and sound art universe and its real biological, social and economic implications”, that will run “workshops… that explore the universe of electronic and electroacoustic music”.
Is it necessary to point out that the demographic of this festival, its musicians, composers and theorists is 100% white, and that the programme invokes concepts of presence/absence with absolutely no irony whatsoever, or that its discussion of the “real biological, social and economic implications” of a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted black and Asian people excludes any such people from the conversation?
The next day I receive word of another European festival that promises to present “a wide variety of innovative multi-genre music for string instruments, ranging from contemporary to experimental to freely improvised, that transcends genre boundaries, uniting international artists from diverse musical backgrounds”.
Of the 20 or so composers and performers presented at this genre transcending, international, diverse festival all but one is European and white. Are black or other non-white musicians not composing and performing such music, and have they not been doing so for millennia?
A couple of days earlier I’d received an email about a forthcoming book, published by one of world’s premier academic publishers, which purports to be yet another philosophical treatise about noise. (Alongside ‘silence’ and ‘listening’, ‘noise’ is one of the favourite universal cultural-philosophical concepts invoked by this industry, again without any apparent irony.)
According to the blurb, this book contains 16 chapters examining “how noise offers a way of thinking about critical resistance, disruptive creativity, the unexpected, the dissonant, the unfamiliar. It reaches beyond experimental music and considers noise as an idea and practice within a wide range of frameworks including social, ecological, and philosophical perspectives. It introduces the ways in which the disruptive implications of noise impact our ways of thinking, acting and organising in the world, and applies it to 21st century concerns and today's technological ecology.”
How many of those 16 chapters deal with all that stuff in relation to non-white people? One. And even that has a hand-wringing apologetic question mark appended to it: “Is there Black Noise?”
Answer: yes there is! And if this industry ever stepped out from its ivory tower (and what an appropriate shade that is) and expanded its circumscribed notions of what constitutes noise, it might hear it.
To anyone who is half awake and has been watching this industry develop over the last two decades none of this will come as a surprise. What is most depressing about these three instances is that they are absolutely typical of the industry as a whole. But in the current climate, after all the supposed soul searching that has gone on in arts and cultural sectors around the world regarding this exact thing, to see it continue unabated is bewildering.
For this particular cultural sector, it seems Black Tuesday was immediately followed by Business As Usual Wednesday.
No black or other non-white musicians will be surprised by this. They have come to expect being ignored by this industry as a matter of course, because of course such musicians don't make experimental music or sound art, they are not avant garde composers. They are ethnic entertainers; they play jazz or ragas or make hiphop or grime or reggaeton or kuduro or chicha, etc etc etc. But now I’ve mentioned them, why does this industry never consider such musics to be experimental or art anyway? (And if they do, why do they relegate them to the night time margins of their programmes, or ghettoise them on specialist sub-labels?) Moreover, why are the individuals who make it never involved in the philosophical discussions that surround such questions as what is experimental, what is art, or the place of sound and music in society? Might they not have urgent and new ideas and experiences to add to these debates? Might their presence not enrich and expand them?
What is wrong with this industry? Why is it such a monoculture? What is wrong with the white people who run it, work in it, report on it, study in it? Why do they exclude anyone who doesn’t look or sound like them from their definition of what constitutes experimental music, noise, sound art? What are they afraid of?
The answer to that should be as plain as the look on your face.
This industry does not have to continue to be part of the problem. On the contrary, it is in a powerful position to be part of the solution. Wake up! The world of experimental sound and music is more vast and expansive than you know.
Otherwise, it is high time the whole damn edifice was torn down, dragged through the streets, and dumped headlong into the nearest body of water.
Tony Herrington is the publisher of The Wire.
Comments
Good job guys, can't wait for the next WIRE article calling time out on the monoculture that is Rap and RnB
middleclassmusicjournalist
They'll first need to be able to explain away the popularity and commercial success of Eminem, Iggy Azealia, Aitch, Machine Gun Kelly, Mac Miller, Robin Thicke, Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, MC Serch, Kid Rock, Macklemore, Logic, Yelawolf, Post Malone, Asher Roth, Paul Wall, Everlast/House of Pain, The Streets.
Nathanael Jones
What about all the Japanese noise artists such as Masonna, Merzbow, Ryoji Ikeda, Keiji Haino, KK Null, Otomo Yoshihide? I wouldn't describe any of them as white and yet on numerous occasions, The Wire has informed me that these guys have been incredibly influential in the development of 'noise music'. What about Dalek, the hip hop outfit from New Jersey, whose sound is laced with huge dollops of noise? What about Wajid Yaseen who once recorded under the moniker 2ndGen and is now an experimental composer in his own right (www.wajidyaseen.com)? How about Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was recording film soundtracks when I was still at school and is still working now as hard as ever? I would agree that alot of people who work in the field of drone/ambient/noise/whatever are
white, but they are by no means ALL white. I'm sure that there are many other people who could add to the names I have listed above who, incidentally, are ALL represented in my CD collection.
The Black Chicken
Thanks for the lecture Tony. I can see why the writing in The Wire has become so sanctimonious and "woke" in the last number of years, if this is the tone that is being set from the top down. I really can do without the constant "woke" lectures from the endless parade of box-ticking writers in The Wire.
I guess, for example, I'm not allowed to like Jon Hassell's music anymore, because, according to Daniel Spicer, "it's hard not to cringe at some of the assumptions implicit in his terminology." So basically, Jon Hassell isn't politically-correct enough for some Wire writers anymore. M'kay. Too bad there aren't any Jon Hassell statues we can yank down!
As far as Tony goes, he might want to work on his logic. At the start of his rant, he bemoans the fact that there are so few black artists found in experimental music, sound art, electronic composition, field recordings, drones, etc. Then towards the end of his rant he states "They have come to expect being ignored by this industry as a matter of course, because such musicians don't make experimental music or sound art, they are not avant garde composers. They are ethnic entertainers; they play jazz or ragas or make hiphop or grime or reggaeton or kuduro or chicha, etc etc etc."
Er, so maybe there aren't many black musique concrete artists storming the gates of
the GRM and demanding their work be released on labels that specialize in musique concrete, for example? Could it be, (gasp), that there simply aren't that many black artists interested in releasing musique concrete, for example? Gasp again! It must be something to do with the inherent racism within musique concrete circles! Gasp yet again! My my the whole thing is intolerable! Let's tear the whole thing down and toss it into "the nearest body of water" as Tony suggests we do! All together now! Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!
On a serious note, I much preferred the writing in The Wire in the 90s, when it focused on music, and not box-ticking political correctness. And this is coming from someone on the left who's never voted conservative or right-wing in his whole life. I can simply do without smug lectures from Wire writers and some of their featured artists.
J. Wayne
While I 100% agree with what you are saying here, where is the self-reflection about how much publications like The Wire have contributed to the current state of affairs?
M Azevedo
White people everywhere must stop experimenting with sound until the Department of Utopia gives them the go ahead (that department itself being staffed by mostly white people looking for merit and validation because they need some father's approval).
Applications for clearance to resume being creative can be found on any social media platform or news media platform that traditionally marginalized representation of oppressed people but is now making noise so as to escape holding itself transparently accountable and being a true model to others rather than just another performative spectacle.
Stopmakingmusic!
It would also be nice to see the word "women" or "woman" (or non-binary, etc.) in this article since it's about 10 to 1 in the scene. And that's just the audience. Ask yourselves why this is the case. Bringing more inclusivity is more than a box to check off, learning about others and letting them take the mic, which requires intersectionality, LGBT and yaknow, other races, and cultures. And so what if there are a few "big name" musicians that have women? It is rare to see a woman even invited to jam. Women are treated very much like eye candy to this day, people from other cultures are "novel". Inclusivity means a lot more than just calling out the whiteness. I've seen black women play experimental music online but not in venues, not invited to jam, not in the experimental scene, venues, shows. White bros stick with white bros. Look in the mirror, guys, and ask the question again. It's "your scene" so who are you forgetting to invite?
There’s a difference between experimental hip hop/jazz/etc. as to experimental music that works with a fusion of hip hop/jazz/etc. With this, it seems that, whilst there is a void of non-white musicians occupying an experimentalist sound, we would be glad to uphold any race who would both participate and respect the art itself (also working to get their own names establish as compared to being virtue signaled) such as the ever so popular MC RIDE of Deathgrips. Though it seems to be that instead of experimental music being only white, the artists don’t establish race in the first place as the few non-white musicians - such as the aforementioned MC RIDE - seem to be putting focus on the art instead of the inclusivity as it’s a sound that is much rather sought than propagated.
Dear editor, if you write an article of complaint it would be more appropriate if you did the NAMES of the festivals and the labels to which you refer otherwise your article is only fried air.
Best
michele
a subscriber
michele
Jesus fucking christ, white people—occupying the reactionary ball pit that is a 'comments section'as usual—clearly can not just accept this as a blatant problem, and must continue with the tragic rhetoric of 'what about this example'etc. in the vast sea of shit that is produced by the inherently racist, sexist 'scene' that Tony is criticising.
Michael S
“Is there Black Noise?
Answer: yes there is!”
You wouldn’t know it from reading this article though. You managed to go twenty paragraphs without naming ONE SINGLE BLACK ARTIST. Maybe you’re as much a part of the problem, bruh?
Wack Messiah
some of the comments in response to this help illustrate some of the problems. Such un 'experimental' thinking, so conventional, so predictable.
There are lots of issues on the various scenes; sexism / misogyny, bullying, white bias, transphobia, homophobia, racism, ableism & whilst The Wire does better than most music publications on gender (though female cover artists are still only a fraction of the total) and covering some aspects of music of non-white origin, there is still a long way to go. Perhaps the magazine needs to bring in some of the voices that scenes exclude. Start picking apart the boys clubs that still run the show in so many areas and are overwhelmingly white. Don't support exclusion by reflecting it. Search out the voices challenging these problems & often being shunned for doing so. Perhaps be less respectful of some of the problematic musicians simply because of the 'separate the music from the musician' thing that whilst one way to see things often actively keeps the conversation from progressing.
but, this article is good to see. It'd be good to see more on the other problems.
Jez riley French
The LMC (London Musicians' Collective, kids - dated, huh?) festivals from 1990 onwards for 15-odd years - now almost entirely invisible on the internet and almost entirely erased from memory and history (certainly as any kind of model, evidently, and hardly ever mentioned in its home-town journal of record The Wire as remotely significant) - featured i.a. as I recall Marshall Allen, Dr Das, Ben Patterson, Butch Morris, Pat Thomas, Ikue Mori, Sainkho Namtchalak, Francine Luce, Otomo Yoshihide, Yamatsuka Eye, Simon King, Apache 61, Miya Masaoka, Sharif Sehnaoui, Sachiko M., DJ Spooky, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Dennis Rudge, Xper.Xr, etc. Why has the subsequent and current generation of curators (a role itself indicative of a problematic gravitational pull towards rigid orthodoxy) been incapable of following through on LMC's pluralism? Or is it largely down to musicians, typically forming ad hoc ensembles of their like-minded and like-skinned pals? Looking forward to answers in the next edition, Tony!
Ye Olde Farte
Dear Tony,
I was wondering if you could do a follow up commentary naming the artists, theorists, musicians, composers, performers you mean here -
I'm sure many readers would love to be able to check out all the underrated, underrepresented people you're talking about!
Cheers
If the Wire solution is to replace any critical sense and perspective with polically correct commonplaces - as exemplified by the review of Angelique Kidjo's Remain in Light - I'm sorry but I fee that is a worse solution (in being objectifying) than the issues that wants to address.
W.Rovere
These comments are disappointing but again, not surprising, and in many ways, just proving the point.
Maybe take a minute to investigate why you feel defensive about an issue that is patently and evidently true––that BIPOC aren't given adequate representation in the field of expanded music reflective of the number of artists, composers, and performers who make it. Look at any lineup. Listen to what POC (and many other white artists agree) are saying. Just listen, yeah?
To all of you listing every artist of color you can think of as some sort of counterpoint to the reality of the situation, I can't help but overlay the analogy "I'm not racist, I have Black friends!" on top of what you write.
Yeah, ye old fart and a few others seem spot-on.
Invite the voices of the people who are excluded. Because do you really think that you're not participants and more privileged by being a part of this publication?
I had a friend who was a minority music reviewer (favorite band: Priests) and she was told by male "peers" she would never make it into a "real" magazine like the Wire, and she should pursue music writing more as a hobby than a career. This was by a guy at a publication (much more lowly and local than the Wire) who then moved up and got the editorial position she was vying for. She was a good writer, had a ton of connections, great taste in music, etc.
TL:DR Invite some women to write for your magazine. Invite black writer. Invite people of color.
You are overlooking a ton of musicians and then you lament it as if you're not in charge of your own magazine. Not a good look.
Thanks for stepping up and pointing it out. I know 1000s of Black experimental artists, and we just have little interest in being under the microscope in white spaces that do not affirm nor attempt to identify with us as a whole.
Uzi
It's very important that experimental music spaces are open and inclusive. But it's also true that interest in niche subjects will not always perfectly reflect the diversity of society at large. The world is complex and there is far more to us than just our identities.
So we can now look forward to seeing Pat Thomas on the cover soon?
Helen Petts
I doubt I have anything really original to add but -
[1] Can we have actually names to check for ourselves? You're probably right but there's so much righteous hot air masquerading as fact blown across the media nowadays it would be nice to be able to do a bit of digging on our own. And who knows, maybe drop a letter to the people involved and start some dialogue?
[2]You're the Captain of The Wire so in a really strong position to start influencing the discussion! I look forward to the black noise (how ever defined) specials in future editions....
Drummer
virtue signalling here. The Wires one of the whitest publications out.
I hope to see some serious change after this
this thread is essential reading for anyone frustrated by the whiteness of the "experimental" music scene
https://twitter.com/OfficialIMKA/status/1273648537969004546?s=20
richarda
Good start. Somebody needed to write this. But agreeing with previous posts-- take some responsibility for your own publication's failures over decades. Share power meaningfully with Black and POC artists, writers, institutions, and commit to concrete changes.
PureToast
It would have been a good article had it been written after realising that you perpetuate the same thing in your magazine.
Pepe
https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/collateral-damage_tony-herrington-on-the-soul-of-electronic-dance-music-29686
The aim of the database is to let people know that alternative electronic, sound art, experimental and noise music also exist in Asia and Africa
http://syrphe.com/african&asian_database.htm
https://syrphe.bandcamp.com/album/alternate-african-reality-electronic-electroacoustic-and-experimental-music-from-africa-and-the-diaspora
Noticed someone wrote about Syrphe, could easily be C-drík himself... Well done anyway.
Syrphe's anthology of Indonesian noise (Pekak! Indonesian Noise 1995-2015. 20 Years Of Experimental Music From Indonesia) is one of such few attempts to document a fully independent musical scene that is not related to Europe or the West in general.
That album, for example, only contains one track from a foreigner (Ldgu, who's Italian).
What are we talking about here tho? It's clear that less lucky scenes, very far away, or just brand-new scenes, maybe with only recent and decent access to a faster and reliable internet connection are starting to catch people's attention. Philippines have amazing artists but I can't say I often read about Filipino musicians here. It is also true that if you don't witness those scenes with your very eyes, it'll be hard to find anything written anywhere... Unless you follow some local folk's blog or instagram page, which means u really have to be a good digger.
Why though we need to find discrepancies between musics and musicians? These things are only created by these god-like curators and labels and academics.
Can't we agree on the fact that we should focus more on the common effects/affects music gives us as a whole human race?
If Senyawa, for example, use noise and metal to compose their music, two clearly non-Indonesian musical traditions, who gives half a shit? Their Javanese-noise infused music is astonishing.
Could it be the fact that Europeans, Japanese, Americans... Can afford to go to fancy Universities and then can get into the very elitist world of the arts?Museums/vernissage/installations/residencies/blablabla? A never-ending and specular reiteration of the world they live in? Fact is that you need to be curious if you wanna find new paths and should avoid waiting for some music critic to show you the way. I think these kind of problems are really just inside the head of those who never get their hands in the dirt
As Mr. Herrington provides zero examples of neither the whites he's talking about nor the POC he claims are ignored, completely overlooks gender and is of course either willingly or unwillingly blind to his own publication being a glaring manifestation of what he vapidly whines about, the whole thing reads as vapid, sanctimonious virtue signalling
Avi Pitchon
Wow. Just wow.
Nina Power
How the hell do you dare write such an article as a white cis male without holding yourself accountable? The wire gets to decide what gets booked before festivals do. Hold yourself accountable before policing others! You’re a white male jfc! smdh
« Otherwise, it is high time the whole damn edifice was torn down, dragged through the streets, and dumped headlong into the nearest body of water."
It's time to destroy the editorial office and rebuild it.
CR
Great article. solid points. too bad the commenters here are so fragile.
this article is 100% correct.
Peter Woods
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