"Hey, what is that noise?"
"This room is so noisy."
"I canít think with all that noise."
"Good neighbors keep their noise to themselves."

By Melissa Sunderland (melissasmusic@comcast.net)

These are a few fine examples of the word "noise" used in our everyday life. But how would you react if I said that noise is music? You may have heard it before if you've come across the artist and composer John Cage. He's stretched the limits in the classical, western-art tradition music world so far as to what can be defined as music. He wrote a piece entitled 4:33 or four minutes and thirty-three seconds, that is essentially a silent song.

Now, wait. How can a silent piece be associated with the concept of noise as music? Well, in that piece Cage prints the title of his piece in a music program. The audience waits patiently for the artist to come on stage and then for her to begin the piece. The pianist sits down, sets her music on the stand, and then nothing happens. Then something does. The audience waits some more. Shuffling begins. You hear humming from the air vents above. A kid next to you leans over and asks his mommy "what is going on?" His mom shushes him back. And for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, whatever happens in that room, WITHOUT pre-composed "music" being played, Cage's innovative piece is performed.

Some people liked it. Some people didn't. But I don't think that was the point. Cage was trying to stretch the limit to what people can consider music. Nowadays, this type of avant-garde music is being called noise music or noise-core. It's not main-stream, but it's out there. And people are trying to get it out to audiences.

Here in the conservative south, in good ol' Richmond, VA, we have an organization solely devoted to bringing the community this type of music the kind that wouldn't have been heard otherwise. It's simply called 804Noise.

On the group's website they describe themselves as a collective of artists & enthusiasts dedicated to making the Richmond community more receptive to experimental, noise, and avant-garde art/ideas. By networking with other experimental communities and artists we hope to make it easier for experimental events to take place in Richmond and other surrounding areas.

I caught up with one of the main developers of 804Noise, Kenny, and was able to set up an online interview to get to the bottom of what exactly this "noise" thing is, and to see what the group is about.

What is 804Noise and how did it come about in Richmond? I know that this organization is an off-shoot of an earlier (area code) noise group. What are the groups and how did they get started? Who was instrumental in doing so?

Yes, the concept of (area code) noise was an off shoot of the Philadelphia collective 215noise which probably had no intention of it becoming the east coast (so far) phenomena that it is.

804Noise began with Kelly Nourse (Harm Stryker), Sean Damon (Wispy from 215noise) and myself. Kelly and I had been organizing shows with a friend a few years before and it just wasn't working out. We felt like there needed to be a little more to shows than just setting them up. When Wispy moved to Richmond from Philly, we tossed around the idea of 804Noise and what we'd like to see it develop into.

The idea was to create or influence a network of experimental communities based on the area codes of individual cities. These communities would provide local artists and enthusiast with the tools for building a strong and healthy experimental community. From the beginning it was important that it be open so that new voices and ideas would keep the concept from stagnating. These communities would also provide touring artists with a much better chance of reaching the people they hoped to reach at shows instead of playing to dead ears in loud hole-in-the-walls. Some noise, however, is better suited in those environments.

Were there any groups like this before 804 in Richmond?

There was a collective in Richmond a little before my involvement with experimental music called Richmond Underground Experimental (RUE) who put out a more experimental drum and bass compilation featuring Richmond artists like ENE & Robert Guess of Malacoda, Crux, & Lurker. ENE is still an active player in the present experimental community.

There is another group who organizes events on their own as well as collaborates with 804Noise sometimes called Broadcastatic (www.broadcastatic.com). Their most active project is Ting Ting Jahe, a noise group based around improvised laptop, dissected turn tables, broken toys, plunder phonics, etc. Broadcastatic also organizes a lot of really great events with artists from New England and Europe who may have never come to Richmond otherwise. Some of the more recent artists they've brought here are Gen Ken Montgomery, Jazzkammer, & Howard Stelzer.

How do you think 804Noise is similar or different to other organizations working within the same genre? I mean, are there any other types of groups out that cater to a similar type of mission and/or music/art?

I think there are other groups out there with some what of a similar motivation to 804Noise, but they don't necessarily deal with experimental media in particular. While we (Harm Stryker) were on tour we played a great event in Detroit, MI organized by this collective called Upside Down Culture who put on art events and organize community awareness campaigns. They really loved the concept of 804Noise and helped us spread the word in Detroit by putting on this really awesome multi media event with shadow puppets, abstract film, break-core to an almost panic inducing strobe light, and musical performances provided by my band and the band we were on tour with called To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie.

What is "noise" music to you? Avant-garde music? Experimental music?

"Noise" for me is not something I wish to define. No offense, but I hate this question.

Assuming that most people have slightly different definitions of what "noise" is, how do you deal with the variations of these definitions within the collective?

We haven't exactly gone so far as to define what constitutes for experimental art as a collective. If someone is interested in performing with 804Noise or organizing with us they usually send us a demonstration of the music/artwork/film/etc., and if an event organizer within the collective is interested, they will contact them. There is a good amount of ground covered between us, but there is always something we haven't been exposed to, and sometimes we'll take chances.

Has there ever been an artist or musician that you feel doesn't belong within your group?

Yeah there have been a few and they've usually realized quite quickly that it's not the right medium for them. It's usually been the type of artist who thought that 804Noise would help further their musical "career".

In the description of 804Noise from its website, you say that this is a "collective of experimental artists, enthusiasts, and political organizers dedicated to making the Richmond community more receptive to experimental, noise, and avant-garde art/ideas." From that statement I have a few questions:

How many active artists and musicians would you say you have within the group?

There are a number of people within the group that are active in different ways, but the core group of organizers consist of 5 people who are interested in making sure that the group is always moving forward and will be a fixture in Richmond for years to come.

Are most of them musicians?

Most people involved are musicians but there are a growing number of people getting involved that are enthusiasts who just want to share there love for noise and experimental art and contribute anyway they can.

How do you incorporate the visual artists? Not having been exposed to any of that from the 804Noise events that I have attended, I'm curious as to what the visual artists are like. I would assume its some type of avant-garde art.

A lot of the times the visuals come with the music, but we also have a lot of graphic designers volunteering their skills at producing fliers for 804Noise events, we try to encourage artists to try things they've never tried before with 804Noise fliers.

Some experimental artists like to provide visuals that they've created especially for their performances, you'll probably see a lot of that at this year's festival in October. In addition to several sculpture/kinetic art installations at last year's fest, there was a film installation consisting of three 16mm projectors fixed with looped film. On September 10th, there is going to be a show with Projexorcism from North Carolina & local experimental film producer Pat Doyen.

Projexorcism uses four 16mm projectors that hang from a light pole by hooks, with reflective cdr's attached to the lenses of the projectors. He shows film that he's collected over the years that usually follow a certain theme. He swings the projectors and turns them on and off so that images project all around the room on a panoramic screen and the sound goes in an out. He samples the projectors and the film and manipulates all that with a Rhodes organ for accompaniment. Itís really amazing, and as much as I try I donít think I can actually put how amazing it is in words.

I'd also think that this would be where you incorporate the political activism that you describe. How much political influence does the group and the artists you promote and represent have?

The political activism within the collective is pretty limited to the artists themselves. I feel that experimental music in of itself is a pretty radical concept, but we donít require that any of the artists involved be overtly political. Harm Stryker tends to be pretty direct about its political activism but outside of the social connotations of 804Noise there really isnít any defined political influence.

How does that compare to other (area code) noise groups? Are you pleased with the increase of members since 804ís inception?

A lot of the other (area code) noise groups are just starting out and developing their legs and I believe itís really important to let these cities develop on their own. The only thing I think is required to organize an (area code) noise collective is to always keep it open to the community.

I feel the success of 804Noise is owed to the collective's dedication to keeping the community open and making sure that people understand what that means.

Having been a formal organization for four years what do you see as the next step for 804?

We'd really like to lock down a venue and home base where we can regularly host events, and provide the community with a place where resources are readily available--resources like screen printing, books on experimental music, an info and music shop, and perhaps more things we havenít though of yet.

We've already moved forward with 804Noise Records, a record label that caters to publishing music and perhaps other forms of media from Virginia with a focus on Richmond experimental community. We hope that develops into something that will make the community stronger.

What would you like to say about the upcoming 804Noise fest?

This yearís 804Noise Festival is going to be a two day event at Art Works in downtown Richmond/Manchester. The first day, Saturday, October 2nd, 2004, will be focusing on a series of free workshops about Circuit Bending, Programming VST Plug-Ins, Waveform Interference Patterns, & Community vs. Scene.

The second day, Sunday, October 3rd, 2004, is going to be a full days event (11:00am - 10:00pm) of experimental music & film from 19 artists, mostly from Virginia with a few out of town artists like Projexorcism, Gen Ken Montgomery, SC:ALL, Birds of Tin, & Jabber Wocky.

Tickets are going to be available at Chop Suey Books & Exile in Richmond for $6 dollars, and if you wait till the day of the festival, they will be $8 dollars at the door. All the proceeds from the door will go to the Richmond Independent Media Center (www.richmond.indymedia.org). More information about the festival can be found at www.804Noise.org.

Tell me a little about your compilation cd and the 804Noise Label. The reviews have been good thus far. Do you feel that it has been a successful first attempt for the label?

I think it's been a great success. Weíre all really happy with how everything has turned out so far. Now, it's pretty much about following up the first two releases with more strong releases and developing some kind of distribution.

The 804Noise record label was created to further Richmondís influence in the experimental realm to a more international level. We wanted to make sure that Richmond artists could have a proper point to which they can develop some sort of success. All the proceeds from releases are put right back into 804Noise to fund future projects.

What would you say to people who have no experience with ìnoiseî music?

Kelly once said in previous interview that "...noise is a logical step in the evolution of intelligent anger."

I recently attended one of your Ice Cream Socials at the TT Lounge. It seems like a very open, fun, atmosphere for listening to a huge variety of music. How do the people who play the music decide what is appropriate?

It's pretty much up to who ever is playing the music. We put out a pretty vague rule of the week being for experimental, noise and avant-garde music, and itís really a loaded topic to try and define what is and isnít any of those things. I think a lot of the people who attend and play music know what isnít appropriate and those who come for the wrong reasons donít usually return. Some problems just weed themselves out.

I brought a friend to one of the socials. Heís a traditional composer and a recent graduate of VCU with a degree in composition. While, as a friend, I know he is very open to "new" music, but he didnít seem to like the music played there. He viewed it as random noises and not "real music." Now I paraphrased his reaction, but I wonder how you would respond to such a comment. Do you run into that often?

What can you say? Iíd suggest he keep attending some of the events, because sometimes you have to give things a little more time and some nights are always better than others. Noise wouldnít be what it is if it was easy to listen to.