The City is Full of Noises: Meet Jimantronic

27 February 2023

Artist Jimantronic tells us more about his passion for electronic music ahead of The City is Full of Noises

Running throughout March, The City is Full of Noises is a celebration of electronic music, inspired by Coventry-born pioneer Delia Derbyshire, including performances, workshops, a makers' market, networking and more. 

Included on the programme are Modular Mondays - a series of drop-in, pop-up performances taking place in our gallery spaces from 12-3pm every week. Among the local artists featured is Jimantronic, who will be peforming on Monday 20 March. Ahead of his set, he told us more about his work and what to expect from the event. 

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your music?

Born and raised in Birmingham, I grew up on a heady mix of indie, grunge, hip hop & jungle, but discovering the world of the Oscillate club and those classic Warp Records electronic artists in the 90s had a big effect on me and will always hold a dear place in my heart.

Music creation for me is a form of meditation and a therapy. In the next year I would like to work out how to help more people experience the therapeutic joy of creating their own music electronically.

What attracted you to electronic music and made you decide to start making music with modular synths?

Aside from those formative years enjoying the musical creations of Aphex Twin, Autechre, Higher Intelligence Agency and friends I'm a bit of a techy geek and definitely enjoy the experimenting and puzzle solving side of electronic music creation. I appreciate any system where you are free to create without restrictions so I found modular synths particularly appealing.

How easy is it to pick up and learn to make music with modular synths?

I don't think it's ever been easier! There are so many wonderful tutorials, great information available and people willing and happy to help these days. I would caution that because it's so open-ended and free-form it's quite easy to get lost or overwhelmed with modular if you don't have a clear intention of the type of sounds you want to make or system you want to build. I would definitely recommend taking it slowly and fully exploring what gear you have before introducing more.

Can you tell us about your performance as part of The City is Full of noises 2023?

I'm fascinated by the interplay between electronic and organic sounds. Finding melody and rhythm in every-day sounds and in showing how electronically synthesized sounds can also be fragile and organic. My modular synth is like a big effects unit, processing, tweaking and reacting to whatever synthesized or sampled audio I send it in fun and interesting ways. I'm in awe to imagine the painstaking patience and creative vision of Delia Derbyshire's work when using similar techniques in an entirely manual and physical way.

Do you have a Favourite electronic music album or track?

The 1995 Autechre Album Tri Repetae really opened my eyes to what music could be - harsh, inner-city, industrial tones but somehow with a deep emotional beauty underneath. "Clipper" is probably the standout track for me on that.

More recently and more modular synth-specific, I love the repetitive hypnotic melodies in Caterina Barbieri's album Ecstatic Computation and I really enjoy the ethereal soundscapes Hélène Vogelsinger creates in her Contemplation album.

 

Jimantronic will perform a Modular Monday session as part of The City is Full of Noises on Monday 27 February. Find out more about our month-long electronic music festival here.