Computers are jerks: a conversation with Dan Deacon
If you’re going to see a Dan Deacon show, chances are the composer and electronic musician won’t ask you to put your cell phone away. In fact, he’ll probably encourage you to keep it handy. That’s because having a smartphone loaded with Deacon’s app turns the audience into a makeshift light show.
It looks something like this (skip to :55 to see the start of the show):
The app, made in conjunction with Wham City Lights, reacts to a tone which then syncs your phone to the next song in the set. It blurs the line between audience and performer in a way that Deacon enjoys — rather than just going to see a show, attendees contribute to the performance. The app also invites smartphones into a concert setting, an area in which it is usually strictly banned. It’s part of Deacon’s M.O.: to use technology in a way that enhances his vision of what a Dan Deacon show should look and sound like.
This in spite of the fact that he also refers to the computer as “the biggest jerk I’ve ever worked with.”
It overheats, it is unreliable, and it quits unexpectedly. Deacon points out, though, that it also has a right to be as fickle as it is, seeing as its advanced capability allows him to do so much with his compositions.
He also feels that technology is putting the music world on the precipice of its next big change:
“The last 100 years saw such an insane change in music, it’s almost impossible to think about the next 100 years having any less. There was a time before music, there was a time before opera, and there was a time before what we’re about to enter into.”
Listen to a Spotify playlist built by Ben Johnson featuring artists from our Playing With Machines series, and others:
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