Suzanne Ciani is a sonic pioneer — a world builder in the realm of synth, music composition and Quadraphonic sound, the early bones of what we now call “surround sound.” Spanning over five decades, her mastery of music and electronic instruments has produced 15 albums from her self-run music label Seventh Wave and an illustrious touring and professional career. Here she chats with Ace friend and experimental music auteur Julianna Barwick about their shared creative impulses, “communicating with a physical object,” and finding ways to honor performance.
A handful of Suzanne Ciani’s LIVE Quadraphonic — a rare live recording that was performed by Suzanne in San Francisco in 2016, her first solo Buchla performance in over 40 years — is available at Ace Hotels and online.
Julianna Barwick: How are you today?
Suzanne Ciani: Everything’s great, how are you?
JB: I’m good. I’m in Portland, Maine right now. And it’s a gray, rainy day. Very beautiful. I’m really happy to speak with you. We met briefly at Moogfest 2016.
SC: Okay. Was that in Durham?
JB: Yes, it was in Durham, and you were performing with the Quad system.
SC: Yes, that’s what I continue to do. That’s my modus operandi.
JB: That was a really wonderful performance. I enjoyed that a lot, and that’s the reason for the season, and this interview for the Ace Blog, because the Ace is selling the Quad record.
SC: Isn’t that amazing? I think KamranV is so creative that he has found a unique marketing approach with it. I appreciate that all this is happening.
JB: KamranV’s the producer of the record and this project? How did he get in touch with you?
SC: He apparently worked with Moog in the past, producing Moogfest. He’s an amazing person. He’s young. He’s smart. He’s capable. And he took this project on, on his own. He really created it. I didn’t have any bandwidth to even think about releasing anything, I’ve been so busy touring. Yes, he took it on. He picked that comeback concert, the very first solo Buchla concert that I did in about forty years. He did that. It was Moog that actually initiated the concert. They asked me if I would play in San Francisco in March. I live so close to San Francisco, I couldn’t say no, so I put my Buchla in the back seat of my car and went into San Francisco for that concert. It was a real milestone for me. There were some very wonderful people in the audience. I had studied years and years ago with Max Mathews, who is the father of computer music. I studied with him at Stanford. He has passed away, but several of his family members came to see me backstage after the concert. I was so touched that they had come.