Muses with ACT!

Music

This month David Psutka released his official debut album as ACT!.

Though the Toronto-based musician and Halocline Trance label boss has previously put out a couple of musings under the moniker – the “sonic mixtape” Universalist back in 2018 and the augmented reality soundtrack Grey Matter AR last year – the sounds that make up Strange Bounty / About Life solidify the compositional and aesthetic ideas that have previously shaped Psutka’s myriad of collaborations and projects.

He describes it as his ‘most refined record’ to date, written with more of an intention than his other work, which in turn has given the end product a certain clarity and polish.

At its core it’s an ‘experimental guitar record’, as Psutka attests, but there’s much more at play when it comes to the influences and approach. It’s psychedelic and laced with groove; full of shapeshifting electronics and rich sounds, while it conjures up contrasting moods that create a sense of push and pull across the release.

It doesn’t stop at those sounds we’ve just outlined, there’s tons more different muses and influences that went into the creation of the LP. Below ACT! outlines some of the music and videos that fed into the process, from extended guitar techniques and Jah Shaka’s soundsystem videos to Deep Fake Youtube accounts and couples reenacting the morning routine of American’s living in 1775… Who’d have thought it?

“Here is an eclectic little selection of Youtube videos that are each linked in spirit to the new album – there are some artists I admire, strange digital ephemera, and most importantly, a number of the projects that I was working on concurrently through my label Halocline Trance. So much of my work + life now is connected to the creative work happening in our little ecosystem that it’s impossible to disentangle my own music from the people + projects around me. All this energy ended up in my album, and I feel blessed to have had this glut of beautiful work around me during the last few years.”

Topics

ACT! Halocline Trance

LISTEN

Ilyse Krivel + Colin Fisher: Resound

Resound is an excellent sonic-environmental exploration by Ilyse Krivel + Colin Fisher – two artists who’ve contributed to the label. In the depths of Toronto’s COVID lockdowns, this video was a breath of life and a masterful examination of sound and space.

Ilyse Krivel + Colin Fisher: Resound

Resound is an excellent sonic-environmental exploration by Ilyse Krivel + Colin Fisher – two artists who’ve contributed to the label. In the depths of Toronto’s COVID lockdowns, this video was a breath of life and a masterful examination of sound and space.
Jah Shaka - Babylon

During the pandemic, I watched a lot of Jah Shaka soundsystem vids – for the music and communality. Babylon (1980) is a particularly great movie and cool staging of Jah Shaka’s sound and energy. It also has a some nostalgic value, reminding me of the time I’ve spent in South London.
Germaine Liu -Swirl

Germaine is one of my favourite musician/improvisers in Toronto – during the making of ‘Strange Bounty / About Life’ we were also working on her record, which will be out later this year on Halocline Trance. I took a lot of inspiration from her work throughout the process of making my album.
Mike Cooper

Mike Cooper is one of my favourite guitarists and I find his albums endlessly fascinating. Some of the extended techniques I used on the album were definitely informed by his playing.
Myst Milano - No Shade

I was very lucky to develop a creative relationship with Myst while working on my album and have been inspired by the work being made – both on their debut album ‘Shapeshyfter’ and other stuff that will be out in the future. No Shade is a definitive track on the album, and I love how this video turned out.
Angel Bat Dawid: In Progress

Angel is a creative/musical force – there is so much in this performance + lecture to chew on. I’ve gone back to this video many times, especially for insights about improvisational practice + performance.
Bartley Gorman - King of the Travellers

I’m a big fan of bareknuckle boxing and traveler boxing circles are interesting cultural spaces for storytelling, oral history and music. This old footage of Bartley Gorman – and the songs weave in and out of it – is nice. The use of song reminds me of the spontaneity of Yusef Lateef’s lectures, which would often break into playing/singing mid-sentence.
Ace Ventura Deep Fake

CRTL SHIFT FACE is my favourite deep fake youtube channel and their videos evoke a very unique swirl of emotions; they’re funny, unsettling, hypnotic and strange. I appreciate this level of digital-process creativity.
Kat Duma - Daydream

Daydream was another project I worked on during the production of ‘Strange Bounty / About Life’, and the video in particular was an excellent synthesis of numerous creative visions from artists who’ve contributed broadly to Halocline Trance – Kat Duma, Bulia Puteeva and Mary Chen made a beautiful video.
Early American Couples Morning Routine

Early American Youtube is definitely one of the weirder micro-genres of the site – this channel was sent to me by my exquisitely strange friend Iowyth Ulthiin while they were writing their book. This is very high level solipsism, and kinda mesmerizing.