Phil Maguire

Biography

I’m an experimental musician/improviser/sound artist making reductive music that explores emptiness and malfunction. Simplicity is at the core of my work. I use cheap electronics, open source software, synthesis, and obsolete audio equipment to create sparse sonic environments for personal reflection. These are often very quiet; very loud; loud made quiet; quiet made loud.

This work extends into composed instrumental music, via short text scores and instructions. These works have been performed by the likes of Garth Knox, Juice Vocal Ensemble, and Mark Sanders.

I improvise with cheap electronics, using the same emptiness to create charged interactions with other musicians and audiences. I perform solo, and in groups, with musicians including Phil Durrant, Eleanor Cully, and James L. Malone.

I run verz, a label and series presenting quiet music and sound art.