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Phonophani

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love comes shining over the mountainslove comes shining over the mountains by Information , Phonophani , Düplo , A Threatened Logical Unit , Arne Nordheim , Monolight , Deathprod , Plirk, et al.
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Genetic EngineeringGenetic Engineering by Phonophani

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profiles

Phonophani is multi-instrumentalist and digital electronics expert Espen Sommer Eide. Born in 1972 in Oslo, Sommer Eide has been playing music in one form or another since childhood; for the last decade his priority has been computer music. In 1998 he released his first album, called just "Phonophani" on the Biophon label run by Geir Jenssen (aka Biosphere). This was followed by "some minor releases on vinyl" (to quote Sommer Eide) and the Rune Grammofon album "Red Shift Swing" in the duo Alog, with Dag-Are Haugan. "Red Shift Swing" was well received by the press, with Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet hailing it as "a beautiful chill-out treat, mixing post-rock, jazz, techno, and classical minimalism." Both Alog and Phonophani were also heard on the Rune electro-acoustic anthology "Love Comes Shining Over The Mountains".

Where Phonophani's debut was perhaps more "ambient" in character, combining acoustic instruments with atmospheric electronics, "Genetic Engineering" has a different goal. Espen Sommer Eide explains the project's theoretical background:

"As the title suggests, I'm interested in the possibilities of gene manipulation. The genetic sciences wouldn't exist without the emergence of computers, and likewise electronic music is usually dependent upon the digitalisation of music achieved by computers, as in the case of samples.

"The word 'genetic' means 'of, or concerning, origin', and there is a parallel between the aversion that a lot of people have toward 'modifying God's creation' genetically and the aversion many feel towards sample-based music - the idea that it's simply stolen music, or music that's been tampered with." The philosophically-inclined Sommer Eide (he holds a master's degree in the science) challenges this conventional thinking and seeks to show that the means used to mask "original" sources can also be artistic. "These hiding techniques are mostly effects, but I try to make them become music themselves. These techniques are 'genetic engineering'."

It is also Sommer Eide's intention to be "violently emotional" in his work, "to overshadow the synthetic nature of the constructions. The result is not 'ambient'. "It has a much more concrete, in-your-face, cut-ups aesthetic than my previous work." No arctic landscapes then, this time? "No it's more like the jungle on [H.G. Wells'] Island of Dr Moreau." That it is to say, full of invented, exotic monsters - genetically engineered.

On Espen Sommer Eide's work-methods: "The most time-consuming part is programming the tools needed. Sometimes I can use programmes other people have made and try and make them glitch, and get results that weren't described in the manual. But more and more I find myself using effects and software that I design myself. It's like building your own instrument. You make the programme shape whatever sample you put into it. Of course, the raw material must also be good to get a good result, but if the programme is well-made it can turn almost everything into gold." Sommer Eide draws an analogy with a skilled jazz saxophonist, continually refashioning standard songs.

"Playing live I project the computer screen, to show the audience what my programme does. So concerts are, in part, a displaying of the instrument, and partly trying to make the music so compelling that they forget to look at the screen."