Audrey Chen is a second-generation Taiwanese-American artist currently living in Berlin, who recently gave a talk at UAL as a guest lecturer, as part of the ongoing sound arts lecture series. Chen specialises in vocal improvisations using extended technique, which she often blends with analogue synthesisers. She spoke about her history and upbringing as part of a family of scientists and doctors, and told us about she broke the mould of her family by first training as a classical musician, and then venturing more into the world of avant-garde music. When she mentioned this it resonated with me – I come from a family of people with ‘straight-laced’ jobs who sent me to private school when I was younger, in order for me to follow the same mould. Chen mentioned a level of resistance from her family, which I also experienced when I was younger and first had ambitions of making a career in music. Whilst Chen still comes from a completely different background to my own, I could definitely see a couple of parallels in our upbringings, which I appreciated hearing.

Something else Chen mentioned is something I might take into consideration when starting projects in the future. In the past, when she was a single parent, she had to tour with her son and financial constraints meant that most of the time she had to perform by herself out of necessity, so that she didn’t have to split the fees with another perform – this allowed Chen to make her living as an artist. I think what I can learn from this is to maybe be more selective (and maybe even selfish!) when joining or starting new projects. The fewer the people involved in the performance, the more revenue I get to take for myself at the end so I can sustain a living more easily in the creative arts. This has definitely been a problem when I have been involved with larger bands in the past – if you are splitting a £300 fee between 6 people, you all get £50 each, but if it were just two people then it would be £150 each, which is a much more significant amount of money. I will keep this in mind in the future.

When she played us her projects, I particularly appreciated the work of her collaboration ‘BEAM SPLITTER’, with trombonist Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø:

Part of the reason I enjoy this project probably harks back to my own experiences with the trombone – it was the first instrument I ever learnt, however I was never very inspired by it, due to the mundane catalogue of ‘classical hits’ one would have to play and learn in lessons – ‘Ode to Joy’, William Tell Overture’ and the like. Totally uncreative. I think this is the experience with music a lot of people have when they take up classical instruments at a young age. I enjoy watching the videos of this project as it shows a new side to the instrument, a kind of extended technique on the trombone which I feel blends well with Chen’s use of vocal technique and analogue synthesisers.

Overall, I found this to be a useful and inspiring talk – I would have loved to have caught Chen’s performance at Cafe OTO later that day, but I had a rehearsal I couldn’t move. However, seeing her perform in the lecture was certainly interesting. Next time she is in London I will try to see one of her performances.