BIO
“The streets are full of admirable craftsmen, but so few practical dreamers.”
- Man Ray
Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, curator, producer and interdisciplinary artist. He is predominantly associated with post-minimalist, drone and ambient music and has been exploring textural electronics for over half a decade.
Irisarri’s recorded output captures an essential vision of floating tones, deep pulsing bass and textured Gaussian curves. His use of ostinato phrases taps into minimalist ideals, whilst his use of atmospheric layers of reverb suggests a more cinematic quality. In all, Irisarri’s compositions are deeply emotive and epic to the point of being symphonic. His work is widely published in over a dozen labels around the globe, including respected labels like Morr Music, Touch, Room40, Ghostly International, and Miasmah.
“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)
Irisarri travels frequently to perform live throughout Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East. Highlights include concerts at Barcelona’s Sónar Festival, Detroit’s Movement: DEMF, Montreal’s MUTEK, Krakow’s Unsound Festival, and London’s OpenFrame. Aside from electronic music festivals, Irisarri has presented his works at multidisciplinary arts events, including Milan’s prestigious MITO SettembreMusica festival and Israel Festival in Jerusalem.
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, Irisarri curates and produces advance sound and interdisciplinary art events, thus helping create a hub for contemporary art proposals in the city. In 2011, he started the Substrata Festival, a three-day intimate event focusing on varying perspectives of scale though the use of sound, composition and visuals - an international showcase featuring accomplished artists working in the cutting edge where structural abstraction meets physical dynamics.
“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)
Irisarri has collaborated live or in the studio with an assortment of like-minded artists: Benoît Pioulard, Biosphere, Fennesz, Lillevan, Pantha Du Prince, Echospace, Lawrence English, Grouper, Loscil, Marsen Jules, Keith Kenniff (Goldmund/Helios), Andrea Belfi, Simon Scott, Lusine, Lissom, Solvent, Svarte Greiner, Tiny Vipers, and Marcus Fjellström.
“Irisarri embodies the hybrid genre…the new kind of composer, who exists in an undifferentiated welter of pop, techno, and classical.” - Pitchfork (USA)
Photo taken in Brussels by Julie Calbert
