Erewhon Calling : Experimental Sound in New Zealand

by Bruce Russell (Editor)

Erewhon Calling is a survey of how a bunch of antipodean misfits and malcontents have forged new ways and new reasons to make noise, here at the end of the earth. Edited by Bruce Russell (the Dead C.), in association with Richard Francis and Zoe Drayton; the aim of this volume is to survey the full range of ‘non-standard’ audio practices in contemporary NZ culture. The book’s remit runs from the borders of composed art music, through improvised noise, to deconstructed ‘rock’n pop filth’; and every genre, every scene, every permutation of unconventional audio practice in-between.

The aim is not to be comprehensive (there is literally too much vitality and diversity for any book!). The hope is to ‘throw a good handful of gravel into the pool’. While not every eel will have been hit, the surface will have been rippled from shore to shore, which is more than anyone else has even attempted before. Erewhon Calling makes room for many voices, allowing multiple and possibly conflicting voices and points of view. A range of artists and informed commentators mainly tell their own stories, describe their own work, and outline their own goals in working on the fringes of audio culture. The readers of this important new source book will be able to discern their own meanings and make their own connections from this thought-provoking and unique publication.

Text / page works by Branden W. Joseph, Phil Dadson, Bruce Russell, Michael Morley, Byron Coley, Alastair Galbraith, Empirical, White Saucer, Clayton Noone, Andrew Clifford, Jeff Henderson, Daniel Beban and Nell Thomas, Su Ballard, Jon Bywater, Dan Vallor, Clinton Watkins, Witcyst, Andrew Scott, Campbell Kneale and Antony Milton, Vitamin S, Jon Dale, Mark Williams, Nathan Thompson, Beth Dawson, Sean O’Reilly, Kraus, Sean Kerr, Peter Stapleton, Stephen Clover, Dugal McKinnon, Omit, Peter Wright, Jo Burzynska, Ian-John Hutchinson, Kim Pieters, Paul Winstanley, Gentle Persuasion, Zoe Drayton, Simon Cuming, Stevie Kaye, Rachel Shearer, Richard Francis, Rosy Parlane, Kiran Dass, None Gallery, Zita Joyce.

Genres: Music

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Bruce Russell (born 1960) is a New Zealand experimental musician and writer.

He is a founding member and guitarist of the noise rock trio The Dead C and the free noise combo A Handful of Dust (with Alastair Galbraith). He has released solo albums featuring guitar and tape manipulation, and has contributed articles to British music magazine The Wire.

He established the Xpressway record label, which was active from 1985 until the early 1990s, releasing mostly cassettes and a few records. Russell then founded the Corpus Hermeticum record label. Xpressway released only music by New Zealanders, usually song-based. Corpus Hermeticum releases, in contrast, may feature New Zealand or international artists, and they eschew song forms in favor of free-form, experimental, usually improvised sounds.