Name: David Lee Myers
Occupation: Sound artist, visual artist
Nationality: American
Recent release: David Lee Myers's new album Terrenus is out via Crónica.
Recommendations on the topic of sound: On the Sensations of Tone, Hermann Helmholtz, The Art of Noises, Luigi Russolo, and of course Silence by Cage. I’ve never been impressed with written work by Eno, but he has quite a mind and the many YouTube videos of him speaking and in conversation are inspiring.

If you enjoyed this David Lee Myers interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on bandcamp.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier David Lee Myers interview.
 


When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I do not have the experience you describe. The presence of the sounds is quite enough, I do not have synesthesia.

When playing the sounds through speakers, the body resonates with many sounds. This is particularly true with my albums Terrenus and Sensus.

I don’t often listen with eyes closed but I do favor listening in a completely dark room on occasion.

How does listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

Headphones are very useful for examining the sounds precisely, and that is of course a more immersive experience.

But the vibrations moving air in a physical space is really second to none—I prefer my sounds to occupy the real world.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

Tod Dockstader of course. His sounds knocked me off my chair in the 1960s and I seriously believe that to this day no one has been able to rival them, despite the tremendous advances in sound technology.

David Tudor is another remarkable innovator in sound, creating his own devices and electronic setups.

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Tod’s Quatermass invokes fear, awe, and mystery. Delicious darkness indeed.



There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

Listening for hours is actually not listening—I think of lapping lake water, or Brian Eno, who said his ambient music was actually meant to be ignored.

Irritating sounds can actually be the most interesting and engaging of all, and I know because I make them often enough! (Examples: my n28 series, the Signals album Diabolis Ex Machina, and much else.)



Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

Suspension bridges can be surprising sound sources.

The Golden Gate Bridge is well known for its sounds. Here in NYC, under the Brooklyn Bridge there are constant, intriguing sonics. The Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage is a marvelous acoustic space. I was lucky enough to attend concerts staged there many years ago. I believe it was closed after 9/11.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

I have long wished to experience an anechoic chamber. It is on my bucket list!

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

In my studio, and in my head.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Making music and sound is very much like painting for me. I do both, and one influences the other.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

New York City where I live certainly cannot be said to be a healthy sonic environment.

On the other hand, it possesses a kind of hard reality that tells us “you are here!” Beating butterfly wings can’t be counted on to do that. In fact I moved here many decades ago in order to escape the fluffy cloud experience of Northern California, although I loved it there in its own way.

That said, I don’t want to convey the impression that I’m all hellfire and head-banging. There are perhaps some healthier vibrations emanating from my albums Envoi in Cumin, Frontier, and Stepping Through Fine Strings.



Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?

I love the sound of wind, if you can find a place and situation where it’s perceivable.

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?  

I’ve seen recent studies which indicate that animals communicate with each other much more than we assume. Birds, for instance, seem to be saying little and repeating endlessly and senselessly, but it is not the case.

As far as interspecies, my cat talks to me all the time but there is more to communication than sound—body language, for example.

Creative element? Nothing which exists is not a creative element.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

I definitely wear earplugs in the subway, it can be sonically treacherous. I once attended a Kraftwerk concert and feared I was going to suffer internal organ damage from the pulsations. So it pays to be careful.

As far as tinnitus, I believe there is some misunderstanding.

Certainly it is a real condition and there is probably no drop-forge factory worker without it. But there is an inner sound which is natural and perceivable to some people which can be claimed to be tinnitus when it is not. I grew up in a quiet midwestern town but began noticing this inner sound in my teens.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

What better source on this question than John Cage and his book Silence?

Going back to the anechoic chamber question, Cage entered one and discovered that there is no silence. He was told that the inner sound I was just speaking of is the sound of the nervous system, but I have my doubts.

In my view the “inner sound” can be thought of as the “noise floor” of the operating system. Not just my operating system, but perhaps the operating system.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

Listening is a more essential action than we realize, it situates us in reality (or it can), and I do think it is probably the most important factor in orienting ourselves to our surroundings.

Vision is overrated.