“"Irisarri builds elegantly decaying, chiaroscuro mosaics that seethe with electronic processing” - PITCHFORK (USA)

Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist musician, electronic music producer, interdisciplinary artist and curator living in New York.

Originally based in Seattle, Irisarri creates ambient, drone, modern classical and post-minimalist music. His recordings heavily utilize field recordings, bowed guitars, piano, strings, and electronics, creating dense clouds of blurry, hypnotic sound that often have a mournful, elegiac quality. His use of ostinato phrases taps into minimalist ideals while atmospheric layers of effects suggests a more cinematic quality in his productions. In all, Irisarri’s compositions are deeply emotive and epic to the point of being symphonic.

“Irisarri uses his guitar as a strings-like symphonic element to generate atmospheric masses…like an ambient symphony recording that’s been rescued from attic entombment after half a century.” - Textura (CA)

His works are widely published, made available through respected and influential labels like Ghostly International, Miasmah, Morr Music, ROOM40, and Touch.

As a producer, he’s had remixes commissioned by The Naked And Famous, School of Seven Bells, Pantha Du Prince, Biosphere, Lusine, Arovane, Christina Vantzou, Echospace, and many other artists. 

As a touring artist, Irisarri travels frequently to perform live throughout the world. Some career highlights include concerts at Milan’s prestigious MITO SettembreMusica, Barcelona’s Sónar, Rotterdam’s Dutch Electronic Arts Festival, Montreal’s MUTEK, The Hague’s TodaysArt Festival and Krakow’s Unsound. His live concerts at museums, churches, synagogues, and other non-traditional performance spaces explore the physicality of sound. Combining an array of heavy metal amplifiers, multiple speakers, bass synthesizers, notebook computer, guitars, electronics, and lights, Irisarri decontextualize the audience’s relationship to the venue, creating an immersive, otherworldly environment described by listeners as “emotionally cleansing.”

“Irisarri creates spontaneous atmospheres using “elements” of his albums, not merely replicating them part for part with an audience…All of these elements are carefully put together in an almost classical vein and never feel forced, in fact, the atmosphere is so engrossing that it creates a sense of memory loss, which lends credence to Irisarri’s sound sculpting abilities to create a live set both complex in structure but with enough atmosphere to not draw attention to its mechanics.  The sonic palette Irisarri works with during these performances proves that he is not a one trick pony” - Foxy Digitalis (USA)

Back home in Seattle, he started the Substrata Festival: an intimate event focusing on varying perspectives of scale though the use of sound, composition and visuals. The festival ran for five years (including a one-off edition in London), culminating in 2015.

“Substrata 1.1 was the inaugural edition of a concerted effort by curator and creative director, Rafael Anton Irisarri, to bring noise, subtlety and aural immersion to the forefront. Featuring an international lineup of artists who defy any concrete classification, the two performance days were an engrossing dedication to musical detail and sounds often overlooked.” - Resident Advisor (UK)

Aside from producing his own works, Irisarri is a prolific audio engineer, having worked with dozens of experimental, electronic, and indie musicians (either live or at his Black Knoll Studio). Over the years, these have included: Benoît Pioulard, Beacon, Biosphere, Carl Hultgren (of Windy & Carl), Evan Caminiti (of Barn Owl), Fennesz, Grouper, Heathered Pearls, Julia Kent, Keith Kenniff (of Goldmund/Helios), Koen Holtkamp (of Mountains), Lawrence English, Leandro Fresco, Lillevan, Loscil, Lusine, Markus Guentner, Marsen Jules, Matisyahu, Noveller, Pantha Du Prince, Scanner, Simon Scott (of Slowdive), Steve Hauschildt (of Emeralds), Svarte Greiner, Telekinesis, Mike Vainio, Tiny Vipers, and Xeno & Oaklander.

Photo by The Attempted Theft Of Millions (2013)

Live photo by Anastasia Zuravishbili (2016)