Miasma by Ben Carey
"Miasma documents a live performance from late 2019, made as part of an event to celebrate the launch of my 2019 LP ANTIMATTER (Hospital Hill). The performance coincided with one of Australia's worst bushfire seasons, a period that saw a thick blanket of smoke covering cities and towns across the country over a period of months.
Whilst my music has changed over the past three years, I've often come back to this recording as a unique document of time and place. The slow development of this music, its clarity and simplicity, surprised me on the day (and still does). Coming off the back of a more intense soundcheck, during the performance I found myself leaning into my materials, taking my time by elongating and suspending textures, pushing the music slowly forward in time.
The title 'Miasma' refers both to the smoke-filled atmosphere in which the performance was made, and the structural and textural aspects I hear when listening back to this music. Occurring just prior to the events of 2020 and beyond, the title might also be read in reference to the obsolete medical theory of the same name."
Ben Carey
Sydney/Eora, December 2022
Credits
Performed by Ben Carey on December 1st, 2019 at 107 Projects on Gadigal Country (Redfern, Australia)
Mixed and Mastered by Ben Carey on Cammeraygal Country (Neutral Bay, Australia)
Photo by Matthew McGuigan
Cover Design by Ben Carey
License
All rights reserved.
Ben Carey is a Sydney/Eora-based composer and improviser. He makes music using the modular synthesiser, develops interactive music software and creates audio-visual works. Ben’s work is concerned with interactivity, generativity and the delicate dance between human and machine agencies in composition and performance. Alongside Sonya Holowell, he is one half of voice/modular synth duo Sumn Conduit