I n t e r a k t i o n s - L a b o r

 

John Richards

(Great Britain)

 

John Richards explores performing with self-made instruments and the creation of interactive environments. He has worked with many leading improvisers and musicians in the field of live electronics, and is a founder member of the groups kREEPA and Sand (Soul Jazz Records). He has also regularly collaborated with Nic Bullen as Black Galaxy and kREEPA. In 2002, his work with kREEPA helped initiate the OIK project at STEIM, Amsterdam, that involved the hacking of commercially available hardware to create economic musical interfaces. He has released numerous pieces in various guises on Gabriel Prokofiev’s nonclassical label including a work for piano and electronics performed by GéNIA with re-mixes by Vex’d and Max De Wardener amongst others. He has also worked with Tim Wright as sevenlegspider developing systems for live performance, installations, and music for Japanese choreographer Saburo Teshigawara.

Since 2003, John Richards has been exploring the idea of Dirty Electronics that focuses on face-to-face shared experiences, ritual, gesture, touch and social interaction, as well as directing the Dirty Electronics Ensemble. The group have performed specially commissioned pieces by Merzbow, Pauline Oliveros, Howard Skempton (founder member of the Scratch Orchestra), Gabriel Prokofiev and Nicholas Bullen (ex-Napalm Death and Scorn). Other notable collaborations include working with Rolf Gehlhaar (original Stockhausen group), Chris Carter from Throbbing Gristle, Keith Rowe and STEIM (Amsterdam). As Dirty Electronics he has explored the intersection between artwork and printed circuit board and has created various artworks/circuit boards. In 2011, Dirty Electronics collaborated with graphic designer Adrian Shaughnessy to create a specially commissioned hand-held synth for Mute Records. Workshops and performances with Dirty Electronics have taken place internationally including: the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre (London), Bent Festival (Los Angeles), Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) (Germany), Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) (London), Supersonic Festival (Birmingham), FutureEverything (Manchester), Tokyo University of the Arts (Japan), University of the Arts (Berlin), and IRCAM (Paris).

John Richards has written numerous articles on hybridity, post-digital theory and dirty electronics. He completed a doctorate in electroacoustic composition at the University of York in 2002, and he is currently part of the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre at De Montfort University, Leicester. Since 1990, he has also taught improvisation at Dartington International Summer School, and has been a visiting lecturer in the School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University.

website:http://www.jsrichards.com/

Dirty Electronics: www.dirtyelectronics.org