DMSA Feature: Greta Carroll

Posted on by Johanna Bramli
This month, we speak to Manchester-born Greta Carroll who goes by the artist name CURRENTMOODGIRL.
Three words that describe you as a creative person?
GC: Curious, theatrical, visual
When did you start working with sound and music?
GC: I was around 16 when I started playing on Garage Band, using loop pedals, and making weird music that I showed to no one; I thought what came naturally to me was strange and I was a little ashamed so I started to explore other avenues to fulfil my needs in a more expectable way.
I went into jazz singing in jazz clubs around Manchester from 17 to 20.
But I ended up back to making strange industrial sounds and songs after this when introduced to Ableton around 21 and haven’t looked back.
In what ways has the DMSA course supported or helped you to develop into who you are today creatively and professionally?
GC: I have learnt a lot about things I was always curious about and found a greater depth in knowledge in them this year. 
I’m dyslexic so have never dared to think i was good enough to understand the history behind sound and the science but the course has invited me with no prejudice to learn what I desire. 
I’ve been more open to new ideas and learnt new ways of how to record sounds of electricity which i have always been curious about.
Can you tell us a few words about CURRENTMOODGIRL?
GC: CURRENTMOODGIRL is my artist name, the project has been going for around 3 years now and the main ideas behind it is the many different moods and emotions I feel intensely. Music helps me to say how I feel. 
Performance is one of the main and strongest parts of this project being on stage where I can really show people what my sounds are about.
The music is mainly industrial but can be floaty at points, it’s a bit of a pull and push of soft and hard. My vocals are quite dramatic as well, I would call it industrial melancholy pop.
What are your plans for the near future?
GC: I want to carry on learning more and capturing my ideas that are in my head, get better at mixing my strange sounds and recording, try out new software and learn more on the modular synth.
I want to built songs and soundtracks in different ways expand my knowledge on artists from the past and present.
I would like to build my performances up more theatrical with stage lighting visual ideas and interesting props, or instruments made by me that I can physically use on stage to captivate the audience more.
I want to record underwater pieces; there’s lots of things i want to do – the possibilities are endless and I’m open to everything.
Find her work here:
https://www.facebook.com/CURRENTMOODGIRL/
https://thequietus.com/articles/30760-currentmoodgirl-interview

DMSA Feature: Josh Bell

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

We caught up with BA and MA DMSA alumnus Josh Bell who just released his MA Final Project: ‘End of Play EP’ under the name BUL_i.

Three words that describe you as a creative person?

JB: Noisey, Experimental, Visceral

When did you start working with sound and music?

JB: I started playing guitar when I was quite young, this usually involved strumming along to Van Morrison at family events. I probably learnt most of what I know about guitar chords from an Oasis (I know) song book owned by my Dad. Music was very much a communal thing in my family and usually involved some form of singalong.

In what ways has the DMSA course supported or helped you to develop into who you are today creatively and professionally?

JB: DMSA gave me the opportunity to explore sound both theoretically and practically in a more visceral and textural way. I moved away from a practice developed solely dedicated to harmony and rhythm to one that explored noise and textural objects to express ideas as a whole. My massive shift in practice is the use and manipulation of audio especially with samplers which has completely transformed the way I create music.

Can you tell us a few words about ‘END OF PLAY’?

JB: END OF PLAY EP is a Noisey and Passionate scream into the void combining themes of Socialism, Alienation and Desperation into a response of my life and circumstances over the last 2 years during and after the pandemic. It’s primarily an anti-authoritarian piece one that is fearful of the rise of fascism in the west and trying to make sense of our current political climate

 

What are your plans for the near future?

JB: I have submitted my work to a few small festivals and gigs and am attempting to get it promoted on the radio. I also am starting work as a technician at an audio rental warehouse.

for the EP: https://bul-i.neocities.org/
follow @joshbellsound on instagram
You can catch Josh live at Altered Images Festival

DMSA Feature: Anthea Clarke

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

Going by the moniker ‘I Am Fya’, Anthea who is about to start on her final year of the DMSA course, is a performer and experimental artist who uses field recordings layered with her voice and bold beats. We’re talking to her this month about her work including her recently ACE funded project ‘Heavy Flow’.

Three words that describe you as a creative person?

AC: Honest Badass Explorer

When did you start working with sound and music?

AC: Oh, it feels like a million years ago! I was always writing little poems and songs when I was a kid. I would listen to the radio and record stuff randomly on my cassette recorder. Bits of songs and talking, adverts etc. Then I would re-record bits onto another tape and make these weird little soundscapes. I was sampling but I had no idea what sampling was at that time, I wish I’d kept those tapes. I always knew I would end up singing, which I did for many years over other people’s beats before attempting to make my own beats around 15 years ago. I was gifted a little Zoom drum machine which gave me so much freedom to express, and I’ve been making music with machines ever since.

 

In what ways has the DMSA course supported or helped you to develop into who you are today creatively and professionally?

AC: The course has been everything I hoped it would be. I applied for uni during one of the early lockdowns. In the first few weeks, I was making the odd beat and singing a little but that eventually stopped. I was spending a lot of time on my own & my motivation to create art dwindled. I also had quite heavy personal problems and I was getting intoxicated daily. I had a moment of clarity where I thought “yo, you are not living up to your full potential”. I felt that although I had achieved lots of amazing things and had awesome opportunities in my life I was once again, stuck in a rut. Having all that time to think made me reassess everything, I did an online search and found this course. It sounded right up my street. I am self-taught and I had been producing my own music for quite some time, but I really wanted to up my game and try new things, get a bit weirder and more experimental. I figured I would be the oldest student on the course, which I am but it felt like a now or never situation. I had some anxiety about academia, so I always told myself that I wasn’t smart enough or, ‘too this’, or ‘not enough of that’ for university. The pandemic really made me realise that I was holding myself back, so I put my fears aside and it turns out I’m quite good at it! The course gave me the confidence to free myself up a bit. The structure, assignments and deadlines are also good for me because I’m ADHD gang and I can procrastinate and become overwhelmed at the thought of getting on with stuff. I have a lot of respect for the tutors who have been incredibly supportive. And the other students are bunch of legends, I have new friends who I would never have met otherwise, I’m grateful for the new connections and the support. It has been positive for me in many ways. This course saved me actually. It sounds dramatic but it’s true.

 

 

Can you tell us a few words about your recent project ‘Heavy Flow’?

AC: I sing professionally and I was on tour with another artist, we stayed in a brand new 5 star Hilton Hotel in Edinburgh. I was on my period and this huge ass building did not have any sanitary products. I was so upset, I cried at the reception. The staff (all women) didn’t help and acted like I was asking for some crazy thing they’d never heard of, it was weird. That night I announced to a band mate, “right, I’m gunna write a banger about periods because this ting is not a dirty secret” and started writing Heavy Flow that same night. I was angry, like…..can we normalise talking about this thing that half the population experience once a month?  It’s not an angry song though, it celebrates what our bodies can do and speaks of our connection to ancestors, the earth and nature.

So that’s how the project started, there’s only one song about periods though lol but one song led to another, and I made a kind of epic (as yet unreleased) album. I recently received arts council funding to develop a Heavy flow live show, which I have made a start on. But I need more funding to make it a reality so keep everything crossed for me.

What are your plans for the near future? 

AC: While I was in Barbados, caring for my parents during the various lockdowns I recorded a lot of sounds on my phone.  I used household objects as instruments, secretly recorded my family or friends speaking or singing, documented tons of environmental sounds, nature, birds, noisey a&e waiting rooms and noisey car rides. The first songs that I made from these sounds were created for uni assignments while I was doing my first year of uni online. The songs are really special to me as they document the development of my new direction. The songs are so different to what I was doing before uni.

I am joining forces with Rosehill Records who will be releasing this project which is now called Homeland.  I’ve never worked with a label before. I’ve been performing in their venue in Brighton for years, and they are all like family to me now so I’m really excited to see what we can achieve together.

 

I will also be releasing some merch, t-shirts and vinyl, and as I make clothing, and I’ll be designing and making some super special one-off pieces.

I’m itching to do some collaborations so I’m plotting this with a couple of talented souls.  And just do lots more gigs, continue evolving as a human and as an artist and keep making cool shit basically. Oh, and smash the shit out my final year at uni.

 

Anthea will be releasing ‘Homelands’ on Rose Hill Records

The first single Consciousness is out on 30/9/22

Single Launch Party at the Rosehill on Friday 30th September / 7pm / free entry (but ticketed)

https://iamfya.com/

https://www.instagram.com/iamfyamusic/

 

DMSA Feature: Afred Isaac

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

Alfred Isaac has just graduated from our course with his incredible record and performance ‘When You Stormed My Castle’ which won him the 2022 Ithaca Prize. We catch up with him about his plans to release his debut album and other endeavours.

DMSA: Three words that describe you as a creative person?

AI: Instinctual, Solitary, Haphazard 

DMSA: When did you start working with sound and music?

AI: I started playing my first instrument, the violin, when I was a kid. I continued to pick up and play various instruments such as guitar and piano but when it came to practicing I always enjoyed writing my own melodies or songs more than working on my set grade pieces. I had always struggled and disliked working on computers and I had no idea how to record or produce until I was 19.  At 19 I lived with a few DJ’s and producers and quickly realised that my frustration of only being able to write songs on guitar and never fully realise them was due to me not using a computer, DAW and audio interface. After purchasing the items I required my true career and path in music started to take shape. 

DMSA: In what ways has the DMSA course supported or helped you to develop into who you are today creatively and professionally?

DMSA was not the first University course I attended. When joining the course I found it to be incredibly different to what I had previously experienced, there were unlimited avenues to navigate down and no restrictions on how I tackled them. The free and open attributes of the course and tutors is exactly what I needed and my previous course had lacked this. I went into DMSA very doubtful of what I wanted to do in music, my faith in my songwriting had diminished and I joined the course looking for other paths I could take. During the first two years I went down those paths with the set modules, finding interest in many different areas within the music industry. In my final year all this knowledge and guidance from the tutors took me back to having confidence in my songwriting but now with a wider knowledge and range of skills than I had previously had and with a new sense to experiment and push the boundaries of my chosen field. Being in a classroom of students who may become Sound Artists, Engineers, Producers, Composers, Songwriters or all of the above gave me perspective and knowledge that, I believe, is uncontested and purely a product of the course’s nature to allow the student to take any or all paths with no prejudice to them. 

DMSA allowed me to develop myself into who I am as a creative and professional today becoming a performer, songwriter and producer. 

DMSA: Can you tell us a few words about When You Stormed My Castle?

AI: “When You Stormed My Castle” is my first ever album that I have created. The album was created in my final year at Uni and involves a mixture of electronic and live instruments that accompany my vocals and lyrics with an emphasis on how the voice interacts with synthesizers. The lyrics are based on self growth, relationships and conflict that stem from my perspective of trying to understand the people close to me. At first an album was all that would have been achieved but with some convincing from my tutor Johanna, it turned into a performance. The performance is an impactful solo show using lighting projections created by fellow students Stephen Samaniego and Wolfgang Dubieniec. I am playing multiple instruments during the performance and singing as well.

The first single “Truths” is out 29/8/2022.

The album will be out at the end of 2022/early 2023.

DMSA: What are your plans for the near future? 

AI: I am moving to London to pursue my career as a solo artist and will be booking gigs and events where I can perform my album and gain a stronger following. During this time I will be mixing, mastering and self releasing singles from my album with the first, “Truths” coming out on the 29th of August 2022. The album will be released at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023 and will be accompanied by a limited run of merchandise and physical platforms. I will also be continuing to mix and master for current and new clients, trying to always improve and obtain the vision for their own music.

Contact;

alfred@alfredisaac.com

www.alfredisaac.com

@alfred_isaaac

Sisters with Transistors: Q&A Jo Hutton

Posted on by Stephen Mallinder

 

A big thank you to everyone who attended the Welcome Week screen of the film.

On behalf of DMSA a big thank you also to Jo Hutton who generously contributed to a Q&A about her involvement in the film, her personal practice, role at the BBC and her research into the significant women who shaped electronic music.

 

The broadcasts and follow up call out Jo mentioned are detailed in the links below:

Maida Vale recording at the weekend is with this group:

http://www.an-assembly.com/LCMF-2017

For this show:
I’ll let you know the date when I do…
Radiophrenia has an open call for submissions atm in case any of the students want to submit anything.