Rafael Anton Irisarri

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rafael Anton Irisarri is a composer, record producer, and mastering engineer living in New York. Over the years, his sonic fingerprints are audible in much of the past decade’s most vital ambient music and beyond. Alongside his own influential records, he’s collaborated with dozens of artists, including Julianna Barwick, Biosphere, Leandro Fresco, Steve Hauschildt, and Benoît Pioulard. His mastering studio, Black Knoll, is credited on releases from a veritable who’s who of left-field electronica, modern classical, and ambient-adjacent music – from Terry Riley, Ryuichi Sakamoto, William Basinski, MONO, Grouper, Devendra Banhart and Rachel Grimes to Eluvium, Julia Kent, Clarice Jensen, Oliver Coates, Scanner, and Telefon Tel Aviv.

Irisarri’s compositions field an array of modern ambient overtones threaded through oceanic symphonies with tape loops bowed electric guitar and vast washes of overdriven sound. His most recent albums portray these common themes giving way to metal and classical influences that emphasize Irisarri’s melancholic tendencies. These unique overtures, coupled with his signature layering of distortion and bleached-out textures, fabricate an audible environment that would seemingly be at odds with, yet gracefully complement each other.

Irisarri travels frequently to perform live internationally. His concerts at churches, synagogues, museums and other non-traditional performance spaces explore the physicality of sound. Combining an array of bass amps, multiple loudspeaker configurations, synths, bowed guitar, computers, and lighting, irisarri decontextualize the audience’s relationship to the venue, creating an immersive, otherworldly environment. Highlights include concerts at Barcelona’s Sónar, Mexico City’s MUTEK, Krakow’s Unsound, and Tasmania’s Dark Mofo. Aside from electronic music festivals, Irisarri has presented his works at multidisciplinary arts events, including Milan’s prestigious Mito Settembremusica, the Hague’s Todaysart, and Dissolving Localities in Jerusalem.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .