Vienna is the home of Radian, Martin Brandlmayr (drums, electronics), John Norman(bass), and Martin Siewert (guitars, electronics), who have been influenced by and shaped the city’s vivid scene of electronica in the early 2000s. Vienna is currently a wide open creative home to many new music composers and innovators. Today, the members of Radian are pillars of that community.
The title of the album, On Dark Silent Off, is a nod to Ad Reinhardt, whose art and theory has been influential on the trio.
The juxtaposition of extremes (on/off) is present in Radian’s work: the contrast between light and darkness; and in musical terms, sound and silence and brightness/darkness of timbre.
Radian creates a field of tension between extreme dynamics, freely improvised parts and meticulous construction, an inherent contrast between soft sounds and sharp edits. Radian’s recording/creative process takes a central role in shaping the pieces. It is a two-fold process of creating material through improvisation, sound experiments and processing on the one hand, and a routine of carefully selecting and editing this material on the other. It is often the case that mere snippets are used out of hours of sound material. The contrast between the magic of the moment, spontaneous live performance and its subsequent careful construction shape the quality of the pieces.
