Name: Warren Walker
Nationality: American
Occupation: Saxophonist, improviser, producer
Recent Release: Warren Walker teams up with Antonin Violot for their collaborative EP First Name Basis, out now via Jazz-o-Tech.

If you enjoyed these thoughts by Warren Walker and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, bandcamp, and Facebook.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Warren Walker 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?

It really depends on the situation. If I'm just listening to music at home or on the subway I like to watch all that's going around me in relation to the music. If I'm performing and I'm listening to my band members in an improvised setting I generally close my eyes and try to find the right thing to say musically for that particular moment.

I do have an album out by my group The Kandinsky Effect that came out in 2013 called Synesthesia.



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

There’s something very surreal about listening to music on good headphones. It really allows you to hear every detail and nuance that are generally not heard in normal listening environments.

I spend a lot of time listening to other people's music while I am traveling or on tour and it's nice to soundtrack all of the different moments.

If I’m at home and listening to music on my system it's generally very critical, ie checking mixes or working on sound design.

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

There are soooo many! But a few that come quickly to mind are:

Dawn of Midi - Dysnomia, an amazing acoustic trio that has set the benchmark for electronic music played on acoustic instruments,



Flying Lotus - I’ve always loved his production aesthetic.



Jimi Hendrix - pushing sound boundaries before we had plugins and nice gadgets.



List in no particular order:
Jon Hassel, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Joe Henderson, Tony Williams, J Dilla, Marina Herlop, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder

[Read our Marina Herlop interview]

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?

The strongest emotional response I get from any sound is when said sound works in the song.

Another instance, is when I’m on stage and one of my band members plays the exact thing the music needed in that moment.

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?

The sound I find most annoying is the sound of cellphone speakers. I’d prefer to not listen to anything than listen to music via a cellphone speaker. Without a doubt the speakers are improving every year but please do you favorite artist a favor and listen to the music in a proper setting. :)

From a composition perspective I treat all sounds equally!

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

I’ve always loved being in the mountains or anywhere in nature for that matter. The sound palette that can be found here is so immense that I can just sit there and listen.

In the city I search out spaces with crazy reverbs or echos.

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

Always at home in my studio with my coffee of choice!

I really enjoy playing old jazz clubs, theaters and concert halls. There’s this feeling of history and all the sounds the room has been exposed to that I find really fascinating.

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

Yes, very much so. Especially since I’ve started working with synthesizers and finding all of these interesting textures that you can almost touch.

When I'm playing the saxophone, the sound is created with moving air. So it also feels very much like sculpting, especially how your embouchure and hands play such an important role in the creation of the sound as well.

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 it's overall health?

Sound has always had a positive effect on my well being.

On the other hand in the city there’s a real lack of quiet space. If it's not just the city noises that are always present, you have music and sounds in every store, elevator, subway, train etc.

At times I find this a bit invasive and I think it's adding to people’s ever-rising stress and anxiety which could have serious side effects to society as a whole.

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?

For me it's always been in the ocean. Either just watching and listening to the waves break, duck diving under the wave, or being on the wave itself.

So much power within the sound, surrounding you the entire time.

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 keep my loud exposure to a minimum and mix at appropriate volume levels.

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?

The gift of being able to hear is something that I will never take for granted and I'm very grateful for everything that sound has brought me. How many of us have actually ever experienced silence?

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?

The world would be less biased.