Kirk O’Riordan expands musical boundaries.

Photo courtesy of Lafayette Communications

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 When people hear about electronic music, they often think of artists like Skrillex, Avicii, and Bassnectar. Their music is loud, energetic and makes for a killer dance party.

Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Lafayette Kirk O’Riordan created a different kind of electronic music, one that is designed to tell a story. Using the diversity of electronic sounds, O’Riordan showers his listeners with a myriad of tempos and melodies that bring along a range of sentiments. His music is complex and requires multiple listens to fully understand.

This concert will be different than anything O’Riordan has done before. He said he is trying to stretch the boundaries of his musical comfort zone, something he encourages his students to do, as well.

“Artists feel the need to stretch themselves and their audiences: we wouldn’t have had Kandinsky if we didn’t first have Van Gogh. The “cutting edge”…allows for the continued growth of art,” O’Riordan said.

Just as painters work with the relationships between colors, O’Riordan draws inspiration from “instrumental color”: how sounds relate to each other. This will be emphasized by complementary abstract videos and lighting arranged by Jess Moody—think Fantasia combined with iTunes visualizer. The music combined with lighting and video is intended to create a hypnotic quality.

Performance:

Kirk O’Riordan

Friday, Feb 13

8 – 9 p.m.

Williams Center Black Box