Jacques Attali famously argued that noise is music’s constitutive other. Noise is often referred to as a type of failure, disruption or glitch in music. Noise can also be a signal of transgression, one that can shock the listener out of complacent stasis or signal radicalization. While there has been much recent scholarship on the ontology of noise, these arguments often showcase the power of the sound through either its dissonance or sheer volume on the listener, but never really explore the affective response between bodies in the room.
I chose to examine one of the ‘noisiest’ music scenes, New York City’s No Wave (1977-1981) who exemplify the idea that noise, in the live space in particular, elicits unique responses from and between its audiences. Often, this response—especially in the case of Suicide who quipped, “a successful show is one where everyone has fled”—was mass exodus. Yet, I intend to argue that No Wave was not a series of destructive art tendencies, but instead created constructive social space through its sonic shattering. That No Wave’s dissonance destroys all relationality in order to constitute new ideas of relations and community. The No Wave scene’s noise actually creates intimacy, both sonically and socially, and for all its nihilistic aural qualities opens up space for an envisioned queer utopia.
About the presenterAndi Coulter
Andi Coulter cut her teeth for over a decade at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club as the club’s written ‘voice’ before moving on to marketing director for New York’s North 6 and San Francisco’s historic Fillmore venue. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University at Buffalo completing her dissertation on queer relationality and noise music in the No Wave scene and currently writing a book on the oral history of the 9:30 Club.