San Diego Reader

Tim Flood: Electronics, undetermined | Greg Cerra: Electronics, undetermined | Shayna Yates: Performance art

Genre: Electro | DJ, Noise | Xprmntl

Sound description: Spacey sci-fi sounds.

RIYL: Nels Cline, Bill Laswell, Brian Eno, Album Leaf, Sonic Youth, Bill Frisell

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Song Downloads

• Restraint

Related Links

• Noise Gate website

Synoposis

Inception: San Diego, 2009

Influences: Nels Cline, Bill Laswell, Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, Boards of Canada, Air, Baraka Sea, Bill Frisell, Marumari

Background:

Noise Gate creates improvised experimental ambient/electronic music using conventional guitars and prepared guitars, effects, loop pedals, synthesizers, and whatever else might be within reach.

Founded by Tim Flood, Greg Cerra, and visual artist Shayna Yates, the band’s music is typically improvised, save for the occasional pre-recorded sample. Radio frequency interference, static, electronic buzzing, hum, and accidental stray ambient sounds that might otherwise ruin a “regular song” are welcome and sometimes even highlighted and used as thematic material in the music of Noise Gate.

From sonic washes of spacey, reverb laden arpeggios played over howling feedback to danceable, detuned, fuzzed out, prepared guitar loops, the listener never knows what they may hear at any given moment. Especially as the band rarely has any notion of what they are about to play.