⏩ Chris Cutler is a musician, composer, and theorist redefining the possibilities of noise in sound art and experimental music, exploring the potential of unconventional sounds and improvisation, interview in NOISE is the Message.

──────────
🎚️ Signal Flow =⏩⫸
──────────

█ ONTHISROUTE: CHIRS CUTLER, Sound Art, Improvisation, and the Aesthetics of Noise, interview at NOISE is the Message.

👉 Chris Cutler: improvisation and sound art

🖖🏽 Programe Notes

«Just LISTEN, make sense after all…»

—| CHRIS CUTLER

The Last One.
It wasn’t easy to have a conversation with Cutler. In 2023, he was on a (permanent) tour, and as time goes by, everything starts to take its toll. Between September and October of that year, we exchanged emails to invite him to talk about his creative processes, and we managed to agree on a date in November. However, when the day came, we spent an hour waiting, but the conversation never happened. When we followed up, something unexpected had occurred: the machine failed. Not only did his alarm fail to beep, but Chris also forgot about the interview.

We rescheduled for December 14, and this time, we made it to safe harbor.
Without hesitation, Cutler spoke with us intensely for two hours. Gerardo and Franco, adhering faithfully to our style guide and team role division, posed open-ended questions, leaving space for follow-ups. The artist gave us a deep conversation that can be appreciated in its entirety in this second part, which concludes a journey we started 15 years ago and that, naturally, has reached its end.

It’s worth noting the context: just over a year earlier, when we were conducting this conversation, Argentina was transitioning to a new government. Today, a year later, we can observe the progression of the crisis. As we discussed with Chris at one point, these interviews often take months to edit, as his work is approached from multiple angles—technical, sonic, artistic, and literary. This is why this conversation feels as though it just happened—not because of its general terms, but because of the specific ones that affect us organically and politically as societies, regardless of the miles of ocean separating us.

You can listen to the first part of the interview here.

🐚 Thank you, Mr Cutler.

💻 About our PROCESS

Technically, editing Cutler’s interview was straightforward and did not require too many precise cuts. He speaks very clearly and slowly due to his hearing issues, although his voice grows softer over time. Despite this, he retains the humour that defines him, which is evident throughout the interview. Certain recording challenges led us to reconsider incorporating some questions or intermissions while making technical adjustments. That December day seemed like everything was bound to go wrong, but in the end, it didn’t.

To improve certain aspects of the recording, we processed the voices using equalizers, reducers, and expanders. We also added some effects to give the “text” greater body, making it not only more pleasant but also more engaging. Although, without a doubt, Cutler’s jokes take all the credit.

Regarding the technique, we followed our usual process: the interview was recorded via Meet using OBS with separate audio channels. The first edit and audio leveling were done in Ableton Live, followed by transcoding and further editing with Oceanaudio for Windows. Finally, we worked on composition, mixing, and mastering for platforms using Ableton Live 11.
The music used includes material from Roulette TV and a recording from Radio Futuro, owned by Gerardo and shared on Archive.org.

🖤 Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy it.

📣 Thus, we release a new NOISE of the 2024 cycle.
📝 Research, production and editing work carried out by Gerardo Figueroa Rodríguez 🇨🇱 and Franco Falistoco 🇦🇷 between December 2023 and December 2024.