Vessel on Attali Theories

Vessel describes his first album The Order of Noise as “intensely personal” but the 22-year-old Tri Angle producer also aims to test our musical boundaries. Moving on from the house feel of last year's Nylon Sunset EP, Seb Gainsborough creates a sonic landscape where corroded dub-inflected noise and starburst synths battle for supremacy.

In electronic music, there is a glut of almost indistinguishable nowhere-music, which is basically second or third hand references of references of references, and completely lacking in a sense of the individual behind the work.

The debut is apparently informed by the ideas of Marxist Jacques Attali, who argues that music is now in a rut-like 'repeating' phase where the perfect replication of sounds is an end in itself. Here, Gainsborough tells us about bringing individuality back into electronic music and his complicated relationship with Attali's theories... 

DD: What exciting possibilities do you see in music now, despite the pessimistic nature of Attali’s theory?
Vessel: I feel like the idea of noise in music, when you do away with cliched ideas about what noise is - sexless distortion loops, lack of melodic content, whatever - is peaking creatively. Noise for me is challenging entrenched conceptions about composition, performance, and distribution channels. There seems to be a strong movement towards disregarding the golden rules that dance music has always held sacred. Rules to do with like rhythm, structure and fidelity.

It feels like there's a nexus happening with musicians like Andy Stott, Roly Porter, Ekoplekz, Pan, and all of the North American noise contingent like Pete Swans. There's a really amazing integration taking place, between dancefloor and experimental sounds. And for me, experimental is noise, and noise is personality.

Text by Zakia Uddin

Vessel: The Order of Noise is out 15th October