Music fans try something new at Muncie experimental electronic music night
There are many ways to perform music – by plucking a string, pressing a key, drumming a stick. At the Muncie Liberation Studio, music is being made with cables and oscillators, changing sounds with the turn of a dial. IPR’s Ransom True reports on how electronic music nights have begun to build a small community.
As dusk takes hold, the Muncie Liberation Studio is one of the few places turning the lights down, as the space prepares for Experimental Electronic Music Night. The tight-knit nature of the event ensures no one slips in unnoticed.
“What’s up y’all.” “Hi Joe!” “Thank y’all for coming tonight.”
The music can be heard spilling out of the doors, with standing room only in the small Village venue. The night has three musicians scheduled, and no one knows what to expect. Pulled outside, attendees describe the draw of the event.
Lilly Bass highlighted her favorite part. “It’s different every time and I think that’s what makes it special.”
Joseph Souza found pleasure in the differences, and in their equipment. “I think there’s a lot of diversity in sound. I mean the most beautiful ambiance, I think, sometimes I think they’ll turn into almost horror music; tension. […] Honestly, you can in one of these nights and look at their gear, and it looks like you’re looking at the swatches on a spaceship or something.”
To Jaina Dodds, the draw is in the name alone. “It’s very experimental, but it’s so fascinating.”
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Some performances, like the musician Poprock’s set, are planned and choreographed. This includes dancing, distorted vocals, and even donning a cowboy hat and playing on an electric guitar, all while getting only a few feet from the seated audience up front. If it had been a standing show, Poprock, said he would have “grabbed someone in the crowd.”
Meanwhile, acts like Crawling Giants let the music guide itself. A whirlwind of sounds that don’t make you want to nod your head along but seem to tease you with familiar rhythms before pivoting entirely.
“I just have always been an improviser. It’s how I am, I was born that way. I did study classic and traditional forms of music also, but I’ve always been interested in just playing whatever comes to mind. I like anything that makes sound.”
The mind behind Crawling Giants, Adam Crawley, is a musician for the Ball State Department of Theatre and Dance. The event has become Crawley’s passion project, with the goal of filling the gaps left in Muncie’s music scene, with others sharing in supporting his motive.
Dodds harkened to her love of live music, and the lack of spaces for it in Muncie, “I think there’s definitely an audience for them here in Muncie, but there just hasn’t been a proper venue for it before.”
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Without spaces like Experimental Electronic Music Night, some musicians, like Poprock may never have a chance to perform.
“My kind of music can’t really get played at bars, and I don’t really want it to be played in bars. I want to play it in a space that feels kind of made for weirder, experimental music.”
The hope is that the Muncie Liberation Studio can become another reliable option for live music in Muncie, providing a welcoming space to music for a particular musical taste.
Ransom True is a news fellow with Ball State Public Media’s Public Media Accelerator student fellowships.
