Experimental Music and Gender norms by H.T.

Jarvis Halfpenny

How does experimental music (such as noise, industrial etc) challenge western mainstream perceptions of gender norms, gender identity and sexuality?

Experimental music often has the primary goal of subverting the norms of society and art or conveying abstract messages which cannot be articulated using conventional means. As a result, experimental music has helped shape the cultural identity of artists who feel failed by society, such as women, transgender, gender non-conforming and queer people, struggling to find their voice in music scenes dominated by male artists who enforce mainstream perceptions of gender and sexuality (Smith et al. 2019). This essay will discuss the history of experimental music and its progression from a scene dominated by misogyny, to a cultural identity and empowering force for queer people, women, and gender diverse people. It will then discuss the development of experimental music scenes in cultures across the world including Japan, Australia, the UK and America, and how these influences have formed a resistance against what is the norm for gender and sexuality. Throughout, this essay will showcase the variety of subversive works that experimental music has to offer, from early UK industrial pioneers such as Coil and Throbbing Gristle, to modern experimental musicians such as Uboa and Straight Panic.
Experimental music was always rebellious by nature, even in its infancy (Lee 2017). At the turn of the 19th century, the futurist movement employed experimental techniques within artmaking and music, beginning with Luigi Russolo’s manifesto ‘The Art of Noises,’ whose main contention was that the industrial revolution had allowed people to enjoy more complex and diverse music (Russolo 1986). Russolo would perform a number of noise orchestras using his intonarumori, devices used to create atonal noises mimicking the soundscape of industrialisation (Russolo 1986). His works were hated, often sparking violent outrage within the audiences, which has remained as a common theme throughout the history of experimental and noise music (Lee 2017). Despite Russolo’s often blatant misogyny and disregard for the artistic capacity of women, his experiments in noise and atonal composition would allow for the future wave of industrial music to take form. This new generation would be spearheaded by a range of queer, female and gender diverse artists, including the pivotal composer John Cage (Howard 2017; Popova 2012). In the late 1930’s, Cage began to take Russolo’s noise concepts and apply them to a greater scale. His titular work 4”33 explored the very concept of what can be considered music and noise (Gann 2010). Cage would specifically separate his works from his sexuality and relationships, displaying the fear felt by him and many other artists at the time that their careers would fail due to their queerness not being accepted by critics and the general public (Bernstein & Hatch 2001). Cage’s works were often rooted in conceptuality, and paved the way for the possibilities that would later be explored by other queer and marginalized artists attempting to convey emotion through abstract composition. Cage is noted as a direct influence on industrial musicians such as Genesis P.Orridge (Pursley 2017), who in turn influenced an entire generation of musicians looking to dismantle gender roles within experimental music.
During the 70s, experimentation in music became increasingly common even among popular music artists, as did the presence of gender diverse and queer people in music (Hendricks 2017). Visceral music and performance art were spreading as a direct reaction to the Vietnam War and the presence of late capitalism approaching at an alarming rate. The UK was home to a performance art group called COUM Transmissions (later renamed Throbbing Gristle), fronted by Genesis P.Orridge, a non-binary artist who wished to create works mirroring the savagery of modern capitalism and war (Bravo 2016).  Their music can be described as ‘data transfer noise overlaid with guitar feedback and electronic beeps’ (Doran 2011, para. 11). They have been denounced as ‘the wreckers of civilisation’ by conservative MP Nicholas Fairburn (1976, para. 1), a title which the group proudly accepted, as it was a perfect summary of their mission statement; to dismantle the norms of society, specifically surrounding gender. Cosey Fanni Tutti, one of the founding members of COUM and Throbbing Gristle, would often create performance and visual art pieces surrounding her work and knowledge as a sex worker (Helena 2001). She aimed to explore the crime and morality within the industry, as well as explore the taboos of the feminine body, through both music and visual art such as in the infamous ‘Prostitution’ exhibit (Parsons 1976). She is also notable for being the lead guitarist of the band, which was ‘at the time was unheard of for a woman’ (Simpson 2018, para. 6). This shows that Throbbing Gristle were subverting the roles of gender on all frontiers and paving the way for the expected role of women in the music industry today.
Inspired by the sonic experimentation of Throbbing Gristle and other industrial musicians, Japanese artists during the 1980’s began experimenting with extreme use of noise and atonality (Tomii 2007). Within this scene, there was an increased presence of a diverse range of artists such as Merzbow, Incapacitants and Hanatarash, who were brining an unprecedented level of extremity to their cacophonous sounds, which would be dubbed harsh noise (Hegarty 2001). The Gerogerigegege, a band from Shinjuku, were at the forefront of the Japanese harsh noise revolution. Their music has been described as a ‘cacophony of noise’ with the added inclusion of ‘performance art, satire, sexuality, parody, and self-abuse’ (Baglow 2015, para. 3). The members comprised Juntaro Yamaguchi and Gero 30 (Tetsuya Endoh), two gay men who met at a queer nightclub. They began to perform their infamously raw and visceral live performances, which were often closer to performance art, with Gero 30 often stripping naked in front of crowds (Dale N/D). This would force the audience to be confronted with the sexuality of both members in a visceral, intimate way. Later in their career, Juntaro would begin to explore feelings of isolation, alienation, and sadness within the Gerogerigegege’s music (Vinciguerra 2016). This era of music, although obscure, would tackle the alienation that was felt within Juntaro due to his sexuality, a theme later explored by many gender diverse, queer and female artists looking to express their discomfort within current society.

Despite consistently being invalidated and erased within the experimental music scene, marginalised groups have reclaimed their place within the scene. Nyman’s 1999 text ‘Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond’ is a critical example of the exclusion of women and other marginalized people in experimental music, even those who were critically involved in the development of experimental music in the 20th century. This text infamously does not mention a single woman in its entire length, despite the importance of female artists within experimental music (Nyman 1999). This showcases the blind ignorance and blatant disregard for women held by men in the experimental music scene within the 20th century. It is a gruesome account of misogynistic attitudes that are still, to this day, used to invalidate and erase women’s place in music, contributing to the marginalisation of women. However, at the turn of the century, women in extreme and experimental music became more and more prominent, creating music fuelled by their push for equality.
	Throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, women and queer people continued to take the forefront in the experimental and noise music scene. This was despite noise music often being ‘lazily written off as masculine’ (Armstrong 2018, para. 3) due to its history of being comprised of predominantly male acts, whose presence in the scene would often stifle women and queer acts. Artists such as Pharmakon, Puce Mary, and Lingua Ignota were innovating the genre of power electronics, a harsh and extreme subgenre of Industrial which was renowned for being incredibly misogynistic (Lev 2012). Lingua Ignota has been described as ‘sonically illustrat(ing) the reclamation of female power’ through the genre of power electronics, using lyrics and song titles to convey her experiences of domestic abuse and systemic sexism (Armstrong 2018, para. 2). Her use of power electronics, a typically masculine genre, shows her subverting Western gender norms in order to reclaim female power. Similarly, Moor Mother, a solo power electronics and hardcore poetry project, uses protest-type lyrics combined with harsh, pummelling soundscapes in order to act against racism and sexism (Joshi 2017). She has been described as using ‘aggressively visceral lyricism that journey(s) through black history’, (Joshi 2017, para 2) which is a rare topic of discussion within a scene dominated by often straight white men. Although the presence of marginalized group in experimental music is large, their voices get drowned out by the presence of others. Moor Mother’s work subverts the expectation surrounding the type of person to produce power electronic music. Subversion of the masculine perception of noise and experimental electronics has also been used by queer people, specifically gay men, in recent years, taking after the traditions laid out by previous acts such as The Gerogerigegege. Musicians such as Straight Panic, similar to The Gerogerigegege, use shock tactics and confronting lyrics in order to force the listener to grapple with the sexuality of the artist performing (Issue Project Room 2018).
In more recent years, harsh noise has grown more popular amongst trans and gender non-conforming artists, often exploring feelings of dysphoria, depression and marginalisation. Melbourne-based harsh noise artist Uboa, fronted by Xandra Metcalfe, uses noise in order to grapple with dysphoria and mental illness, clearly heard within her 2019 album ‘The Origin of my Depression’. Metcalfe describers her sound as ‘harsh noise but upping the melodic element, complete with singing and spoken words’ (Vellucci 2019, para. 20). This is used to convey the tribulations of being trans in current society (Vellucci 2019). In a similar fashion to The Gerogerigegege, she also frequently performs nude as to reclaim her womanhood, stating that ‘transfeminine bodies are frequently a fetishistic spectacle’ for the male gaze (Vellucci 2019, para. 15). Similar is Dreamcrusher, a New York-based non-binary noise musician. Although they identify as queer, and interweave topics of gender within their music, Dreamcrusher doesn’t believe that their music should be rooted within their gender identity, thus becoming ‘tokenised’ by listeners (Abdurraqib 2017, para. 4). Dreamcrusher states in an interview that they wish more people would ‘research the history of people of colour (…) and queer people in noise’ and states that they are not ‘an anomaly’, being a black, queer person within the noise scene (Abdurraqib 2017, para. 5). This displays that noise and experimental music has a history of and continues to provide a voice for marginalized people through use of abstraction and raw emotion rather than musical technique or melody. Black Dresses are a Canadian music duo that combine abrasive noise and experimental technique with pop sensibilities and create music to express their experiences of ‘surviving as trans women in an antagonistic world’, a common theme within experimental music created by trans people (Geffen 2018, para. 1). The new wave of trans and gender non-conforming experimental artists, influenced by the work of Genesis P.Orridge, is extremely important within the development of inclusivity within other music scenes.  Extreme metal and punk has a similar history of being toxically masculine, creating environments that do not provide a space for women and queer people within their respective scenes (Davis 2018). This clearly illustrates the influence that experimental music has had on shaping the gender norms of music as a whole.

Noise and experimental music has been infiltrated by women, queer and gender diverse artists who have found a platform within the scene to convey their anger, frustration and dissatisfaction with marginalisation. What was once a transmisogynistic scene dominated by cisgendered, straight, white men has been transformed into an inclusive space for people who challenge gender and sexuality norms and the gender binary, as well as other marginalised and systemically oppressed demographics.















References:
Websites:
Simpson, D 2013, 'People's lives should be as interesting as their art', The Guardian, viewed 9 April 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/aug/29/genesis-p-orridge-throbbing-gristle#2

Parsons, T 1976, ‘Throbbing Gristle/Chelsea – ICA’, Brainwashed, viewed 9 April 2019, http://www.brainwashed.com/tg/live/ica.htm

Boettner, T 2017, ‘Giving Voice to Velvet Rage: Expressions of Queer Identity in Noise’, Heathen Harvest, viewed 9 April 2019, https://heathenharvest.org/2017/05/14/giving-voice-velvet-rage-expressions-queer-identity-noise/

Jones, B & Thorpe, S 2018, ‘Feminism and Noise’, The University of Arizona, viewed 9 April 2019, https://theory.arizona.edu/speech/feminism-and-noise

Armstrong, A 2018, ‘Fire, Prayer & Curses: Lingua Ignota Interviewed’, The Quietus, viewed 9 April 2019, https://thequietus.com/articles/23861-lingua-ignota-kristin-hayter-interviewed

Lee, A 2017, ‘As the sounds of the world rattled into the future, so, too, did art and music’, The Art of Noises, viewed 9 April 2019, https://www.historytoday.com/archive/music-time/art-noises

Dale, J n.d., ‘The Gerogerigegege: Raw Footage’, Four Three Boiler Room, viewed 9 April 2019, https://fourthree.boilerroom.tv/film/gerogerigegege

Abdurraqib, H 2017, ‘Dreamcrusher Finds Peace In Chaos’, The Fader, viewed 9 April 2019, https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/12/dreamcrusher-profile-interview

Lev, N 2012, ‘On Misogyny in Industrial Music’, Coilhouse, viewed 9 April 2019, http://coilhouse.net/2012/11/on-misogyny-in-industrial-music/

Bravo, A 2016, ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Throbbing Gristle’, Vice, viewed 9 April 2019, https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/53ad5x/a-beginners-guide-to-throbbing-gristle

Hendricks, C 2016, ‘Whose Queer?: A review of ‘the 1970s: The Blossoming of a Queer Enlightenment’ at Leslie-Lohman’, Huffpost, viewed 9 April 2019, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/whose-queer-a-review-of-t_b_9986138

Davis, C 2018, ‘Body Void Have “Given” A Much-Needed Message of Inclusion In Their New Music’, Metal Injection, viewed 9 April 2019, https://metalinjection.net/av/song-premiere/body-void-given

Baglow, S 2015, ‘Noise, Exhibitionism & Hero Worship in a Tribute to The Gerogerigegege’, Louder Than War, viewed 9 April 2019, https://louderthanwar.com/noise-exhibitionism-hero-worship-tribute-gerogerigegege/

Popova, M 2012, ‘Luigi Russolo, Futurist: The Art of Noise and How the Occult Fueled Innovation in Music and Art’, Brain Pickings, viewed 9 April 2019, https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/06/09/john-cage-love-letters-merce-cunningham/

Hegarty, P 2001, ‘Full With Noise: Theory and Japanese Noise Music’, CTheory, viewed 9 April 2019, http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=314

Vellucci, J 2019, ‘Profile: Xandra Metcalfe of Uboa (2019)’, Music Tap, viewed 9 April 2019, http://www.musictap.com/2019/04/15/profile-xandra-metcalfe-of-uboa-2019/?fbclid=IwAR2S_K5pJjNX_m4MGLSZG0GNMyqKNBITbd6yn8MYCdSwjlyijlofwJ0MSMU

Issue Project Room 2018, ‘Queer Trash Presents: Straight Panic’, viewed 24 April 2019, https://issueprojectroom.org/video/queer-trash-presents-straight-panic

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Books:
Russolo, L 1986, The Art of Noises, Pendragon Press, New York.

Gann, K 2010, No Such Thing as Silence, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Mereweather, C 2007, Art, Anti-Art, Non-Art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950-1970, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.

Nyman, M 1999, Experimental music: Cage and Beyond, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Hatch, C & Bernstein, D 2001, Writings through John Cage’s Music, Poetry, and Art, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Ford, S 1999, Wreckers of Civilsation: The Story of COUM Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle, Black Dog Publishing, London.


Reports:
Smith, S, Choieiti, M & Pieper, K 2019, Inclusion in the Recording Studio? Gender and race/Ethnicity of Artists, Songwriters & Producers across 700 Popular Songs from 2012 – 2018, USC Annenberg, viewed 9 April 2019.


Journal articles:
Howard, Y 2017. ‘The Queerness of Industrial Music’, Social Text, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 33-51.