SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts Assistant Professor Eldritch Priest joins this episode Below the Radar to discuss the potential in nonsense and failure, the phenomenon of the earworm, and his journey from musicianship to employing theory.
In this episode, Eldritch explores his beginnings as a jazz guitarist, the practices that guide his work and his teachings, and the path that led him to composition and beyond. He dives into the legitimacy and aesthetic possibilities of failure and nonsense, and the potentials of daydreaming and a resting mind — in defiance of prevailing positivist neoliberal discourse.
Eldritch also talks about the phenomenon of the earworm, which is a focus in his new book, Earworm and Event. The earworm, to him, is a prime example of studying music less as an artform, but more as a technology, using the imagination to shape not just one's feelings, but one’s thoughts as well.