Next Level Avoidance

"Next Level Avoidance" is a collection of 10 original compositions for prepared piano, synthesizer and electronics published as a digital release by the Room40 label. Recorded and performed by the composer on an 1885 Lipp and Sohns piano, the works focus on the materiality of the instrument, which is magnified through the use of bolts, rubber strips and paper, highlighting its idiosyncracies and revealing sounds of decay. The prepared piano is augmented by the addition of analog synthesizer and digital processing, adding another layer of sonic intervention. NLA is a follow-up to my 2015 album "Pain Avoidance Machine," which was a collection of musical miniatures that responded to "the negativity of the Australian political discourse." In a similar way, NLA responds to the worsening negativity of global political discourse.