Racer Session #395 | Sean Hamilton LOCI | October 8, 2017
Open: Sean Hamilton - Drums, Auxiliary Percussion, Electronics
01. Evan Smith (Alto Sax), Jeremy Gonzalez (Alto Sax), Thomas Campbell (Drums),
John Teske (Acoustic Bass), Christian Asplund (Piano), Noel Kennon (viola)
02. Haley Freedlund (trombone), Sean Hamilton (drums), John Teske (Acoustic Bass), Neil Welch (soprano sax), Chris Cole (trumpet)
03. Satchel Henneman (electric guitar), Gus (drums), Dan Hansen (piano)
04. Neil Welch (tenor sax), Jim Knodle (trumpet, voice), Casey Adams (Drums), Geoff Traeger (voice)
05. Evan Smith (alto sax), Noel Kennon (viola), Jake Whitecar (electric guitar), Dan Weiss (drums)
06. Christian Asplund (piano), Thomas Campbell (drums), Cardigan Friend (spoken word)
07. Greg Campbell (drums), Geoff Traeger (piano), John Teske (acoustic bass), Noel Kennon (viola), Erica Miller (cello), Jeremy Gonzalez (alto sax)
08. Evan Smith (alto sax), Sean Hamilton (drums)
09. Erica Miller (cello), Neil Welch (tenor sax), Casey Adams (drums), Jason McGill (alto sax, service bell, movement), Jake Whitecar (piano)
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Greetings, Racers!
This weekend, we are very excited to be hosting Sean Hamilton at the Racer Sessions while he visits from Florida. Sean is a wonderful composer and percussionist, with a penchant for electronic and programming collaborations with himself and others. For his Racer presentation, he will be presenting work that he wrote in 2016. He has been very kind and written with much detail for us below, citing research and inspiration for the piece. Read on below to get a better understanding of what to expect, and make sure to come out this Sunday at 8pm to catch the performance!
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Sean Hamilton
"For me, music is a means for processing, reflecting, thinking, meditating, questioning, and
growing. It is my goal that when others listen to my music it will be a personal experience; one
that ultimately provides a space that allows each individual to create his or her unique
interpretation, meaning, and relevance for the music.
On Sunday, I will be performing a work entitled LOCI, which is an evening-length improvised
composition for solo drum set and electronics written in 2016. LOCI is one work from an
ongoing series of improvised compositions written to explore the symbiotic possibilities of
acoustic and electronic sounds in an improvised setting. The works feature electronics I have
programmed in Pure Data that primarily create material through two ways:
“listening to”, reacting to, or processing the sounds of the acoustic drums by using microphones on the kit, and
“improvising” material generated through the use of random numbers. The parameters of these random numbers always remain the same, but each realization of the works yield different results. In turn, every performance of the piece is unique to itself; it will never again be recreated exactly.
Despite the improvisational nature of the music, my background is primarily in classical music. I
see the music of this project as a hybrid of classical music and free improvisation and a
coalescence of three primary qualities:
A rhythmic language devoid of a pulse, metronomic beat, or grid-based rhythm
An emphasis on timbre, color, and texture
An interest in the creation and use of sonic “space”
To demonstrate these, I suggest music from these three composers who have been very
influential to me:
Stuart Saunders Smith - "Links 7, New England Night Weave"
Helmut Lachenmann - "Guero"
Morton Feldman - "Piano Piece 1952"
More about the work LOCI:
The word locus (plural loci) refers to a specific point, place, or position, or in mathematics, a
figure formed by all of the points that satisfy a certain set of conditions. The title LOCI has a
dual meaning. First, it deals with the “perfect storm” of many events, circumstances, and
occurrences that defined a specific period of extreme sentiments and emotions in my day-to- day
life. These things, although largely unrelated and contrasting outside of their chronological
coexistence, ultimately resulted in the coexistence that provided the right circumstances for the
creation of this work.
Additionally, the title refers to one underlying philosophy in my approach to improvisation,
which is the point of view that improvisation is the reflection of a single, disparate moment in
time informed by both the performer and the environment. This moment is inherently unique,
defined by any and all circumstances relevant to that moment, which may include things such as
the emotional, the conscious, the spiritual, (or the inverse of these things) as well as
environmental things including the temperature, room type, or acoustical properties of a space.
LOCI (excerpt) for solo drum set and electronics
I am very stoked for my first visit to Café Racer and to Seattle on the whole and look forward to
seeing you at the show!