Emmanuel Spinelli

What did you do before joining dBs?

Before joining dBs I worked as a freelance composer and sound artist, and associate lecturer at Goldsmiths, University and London, and London College of Communication (UAL).  

Why did you first get into sound art?

I’ve played music for a very long time but I realised quite early on that I was more interested in sound (and by extension music technology) and its potential to express more intricate ideas and emotions. This led me to explore music and sound beyond the conventions of songwriting and purely diatonic forms. In turn, this has become a way for me to link my research interests with a creative practice, which I find exciting and stimulating..

Any special areas of interest?  

My main areas of interest are live electronics, improvisation, and multichannel soundscape composition, with a particular focus on historiography, identity and perception.

What do you love most about what you do?

Being equally comfortable with playing in a park, a gallery, a squat, or an Oxford auditorium.

Tell us about your proudest career moment?

This is a difficult one to answer but I guess I’d have to say my Aquarium performance (playing a fish tank as my instrument) where I opened for the legendary band Soviet France on the MS Stubnitz, followed by a solo performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, all in the same week. Not sure it is the proudest moment but definitely a highlight, professionally speaking at least.

Tell us something our students may not know about you?

My true ‘early’ background is actually in poetry and performance art. I was publishing poems before I ever released any music. I once passed out on stage during a performance that involved my collaborator repeatedly pouring a load of burning-hot candle wax on my chest, while I was – let’s say – wearing very little clothing… I might have pushed experimentation a little too far that day!