Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Muller.
Hi Jeremy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in North Carolina and went to college for percussion performance. I finished my doctorate in music at Arizona State University and lived in Phoenix, AZ for about 10 years. Throughout my college and professional career I had been performing a lot as a soloist or with contemporary music ensembles, mostly of experimental works from composers of the 20th century. I commissioned several composers to write percussion solos, which formed the basis of my first solo percussion album released on Albany records entitled “Within the Within.” This album project was a decade-long process that was the culmination of many of my own ideas, interests, and aesthetics in the contemporary percussion tradition.
During my time living in Arizona I really started experimenting with musical ideas to develop my own compositional aesthetic. This was quite a struggle because I became somewhat disillusioned with the trends in the contemporary music and percussion world. However, this did help me hone in and develop my own aesthetic. I have since written many electro-acoustic works for instruments, audience cell phones, and multimedia interaction.
I moved to Atlanta six years ago (right before the pandemic) and have continued making music and art in the city and local community. I teach at Georgia Tech in the School of Music, College of Design, where I direct the Laptop Orchestra, I organize the Neo-Arcade event each year, and teach other musicianship and computer music composition courses. I am currently working on a new album of my own compositions, all for instruments + cell phones.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. As I mentioned earlier, one of my struggles was just finding my own musical voice and space to explore that was unique but spoke to me. Then I started exploring technology that would include audience cell phones generating electronics during the concert. The very first piece I wrote for this was a piano solo with audience cell phones. I had no idea if the cell phones would be loud enough to blend with the piano, and I also had no way of truly testing it since I didn’t know how large the audience would be at the concert, nor did own more than one or two old cell phones. I struggled with the technology and networking with the piece in future versions. Plenty of times I was about to give up on the project but then I’d get very positive comments from audience members after the performance. It was very much a love/hate relationship for a while.
I should also mention the fair amount of rejection I’ve had over the years, but this is nothing unusual for a musician or artist. You tend to get used to it and learn to focus more on the successful outcomes from presenting your work. Plus, I really enjoy the process of composing a new piece of music and figuring out how the technology will work. The process is where I find the most enjoyment and it helps drive me even in the face of rejection.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I teach at Georgia Tech in the School of Music, College of Design. I am also a musician and multimedia artist. I mostly compose electroacoustic music that uses real-time audio manipulation or acoustic phenomena. My solo percussion album on Albany records features three world premieres, a recording premiere, and an American recording premiere. I’ve also worked with a variety of professional ensembles including Arcomusical (a berimbau chamber ensemble in Chicago), that recorded one of my works on their third album “Emigre and Exile.” As a percussionist I have gravitated towards the Venezuelan maracas and the afro-Brazilian berimbau. With both instruments I have studied them in their traditional settings and strive to perform them in a contemporary music setting. I am particularly interested in the juxtaposition of these traditional instruments with live electronics so that is how I typically perform/compose with these instruments. I recently performed Ricardo Lorenz’s Pataruco: Concerto for Venezuelan Maracas and Orchestra with the GT Symphony Orchestra and Chaowen Ting conducting.
Over the past decade or so, my musical compositions have been almost exclusively for works with acoustic instrument(s) and cell phones. These works are intended to transform the typical concert experience by allowing audience participation from their phones and connecting each person to the musical texture through networked technology. It primarily turns audience devices into speakers so that they are immersed in an audio-visual experience. These works explore probability and texture as extensions of the acoustic instrument.
What are your plans for the future?
I am currently working on a full album of instrument(s) and cell phones. All of the works are finished with the exception of one (it’s still being written) and I hope to finish recording the rest of the album by next summer (2026). I am also in the process of expanding these ideas to other art forms like with dancers and interactive installations.
At Georgia Tech I am continuing our annual Neo-Arcade event which I hope to eventually expand beyond the class I teach. I also have plans for new speaker designs that our Laptop Orchestra will be using. And I hope this will launch us into an ongoing project of commissioning composers for new works for our Laptop Orchestra.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jeremymuller.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremysmuller/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyMullerMusic
- Other: https://jeremymuller.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
– The photo “2023_04_29 Jeremy Muller_127A1804.jpg” was taken by Heather Clavé and used with permission from Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.
– The photo “Jeremy_Muller_18.jpg” was taken by Anastasia Campos
– The photo “DSC_0914.jpg” was taken by myself (Jeremy Muller)
– All other photos were taken by Masato Kubota
