What does a typewriter, a rotary phone and Atari games have in common?
They're all outdated technologies that have been repurposed by a couple of young Australian composers for a groundbreaking show that uses the nostalgic sounds of yesteryear to create 'new music'.
Performing at this year's Adelaide Fringe Festival, 'Old Tech New Decks' is the brainchild of Vanessa Nimmo and Matt Rankin who met at university and formed an instant bond through their shared love of old sounds and classical composition. “We get so nostalgic about old songs but I really like to write 'new music': new melodies, harmonies and so on,” Vanessa explains.
“I wanted to tap into that nostalgia of old technology and see if we can give it the kind of instant pull that old sounds have for us.
© Brence Coghill“Classical music has a reputation for being inaccessible and it really doesn't need to be. It can be fun, it can be interesting, it can happen in a pub and people don't have to miss out on the cool, awesome stuff 'new music' can be. We're just wanting to keep classical music out there with all the new stuff that's come from it.”
For 'Old Tech New Decks', Vanessa and Matt have cannibalised antiquated technology such as typewriters and rotary phones into one-of-a-kind audio rigs for processing and producing new compositions. “We spent a lot of time gathering the tech and building the rig first,” Vanessa explains.
“The show itself consists of about ten coffee tables of old tech. We were scouring Gumtree and we had a lot [with] our families as well, so we asked everyone in the families if we can borrow this, that or the other. As we went on these reconnaissance trips, driving, we would talk about the compositional possibilities of all these sounds and we started sketching from those chats.”
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Far from an extended, casual sojourn into the avant-garde and absurd, 'Old Tech New Decks' blends the audio with a visual aesthetic that reflects the nostalgic premise of the show and provides an element of live theatre. “A lot of what we play is kind of on the edge of theatre,” Vanessa says.
“There are some soundscapes early in the piece; you're almost looking into a 1950s office, there's a radio playing and the radio is changing… it's right on the edge of being theatre and we certainly have characterisation and some moments right toward the end that are theatrical. I wouldn't call it a theatre show, but I would say it's music with a large, theatrical element in the visual side.”
'Old Tech New Decks' also incorporates the sounds of retro video games from the Nintendo, Atari and DOS platforms, which are played by the audience with the sounds being processed by Vanessa and Matt for use in the show. “There's quite a few minutes of the show where all the sounds that are happening are being made by the audience. We're processing them and putting them together, but the actual inputs are coming from the four games the audience are playing.
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“We've got two DOS games, a Nintendo and an Atari and if the audience doesn't play and make noise it's totally silent, so it's absolutely imperative they get involved,” she laughs.
“It doesn't matter if you can get through levels, we just want you to make noise so keep jumping, keep moving, keep banging into things because we need the noise.”
'Old Tech New Decks' performs at Haines & Co. (upstairs) as part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival 12-25 February.
