PAULINE LOMBARDO, NOISE ARTIST

I’m honored to share the thoughts of my wonderful friend, Pauline Lombardo. Pauline and Rebecca Potter have been performing as Cunting Daughters for nearly four years, manipulating subtle layers of sound with melancholy artifacts, including antique dolls and sex tools. They are featured in the film City/Ruins. Pauline also performs solo, expressing a wide range of energetic noises with contact mics, tape decks and whatever else she can get her hands on. An excellent nature photographer, Pauline also performs in the quality bands Perestroika and The Utter Darkness after a Dying Flame.

ARH: What are you working on now? Please describe current projects you’re most excited about. Are they collaborations or solo work?

PL: My most recent project was a collaboration with a great friend of mine titled Exaltation Heat, I think you may be familiar with it. Yes, it is a collab with the talented Amanda Howland. I am incredibly happy with how that cassette release turned out. The entire process flowed so easily all the way down to the cover art and packaging. Working with someone close to you can be very rewarding. I thank you, Amanda, for that. I have been in a bit of a lull lately. I find it much easier to be musically creative in the darker months of the year, I have noticed this cycle over the last few years. Summer does not inspire me. It's nearing the end of the bright distracting phase of the year so I'm sure Cunting Daughters will find it safe to crawl back out into the darkness very soon & start performing again. We also have several unfinished recordings that we intend to complete in the next few months. I'm sure there will be some solo performances as well. 

ARH:  I know what you mean about the darker months. Yes, that tape is one of my all time favorite projects, as well! I love working with you.

When and how did you get into performing? Feel free to discuss any influences and early experiences.

PL: I am very new to performing. I had been to several A/V/B [Audio Visual Baptism – a monthly series that ran for a few years, a few years ago] shows and was inspired by what was going on. One of the themed shows was "All Female", and I was encouraged by my dearest friend Stephen Petrus to get on the bill. That was Cunting Daughters’ very first performance. CD is comprised of Rebecca Potter and myself. We found it to be a great outlet for things dwelling inside of us both, a way to express our interests and complexities. We were received well, so it further encouraged us. We mostly draw from the unsettling and darker things around us, but have no exclusive theme or inspiration. Many of these themes are also inspirational in my solo work. 

ARH: Since you’ve started performing, have you noticed repeating cycles in terms of style and energy of experimental music? How would you describe the current zeitgeist? 

PL: I don't know that I have enough of a timeline to see any cycles, or I have simply not been observant enough. I do see that things have slowed and the group of local musicians that I know seems to have thinned a bit. Shows don't seem to be as well attended as they were just a couple years ago. I don't know if this is due to the closing of Bela Dubby, though it feels like that may be a factor. It also seems to me that locally things have had a slight separation. It is not an intentional separation, and I think we are just as supportive of each other, but it makes for smaller crowd support. Though, I must say, we tend to have more social gatherings that are not exclusive to music these days, and I appreciate that. 

ARH: What qualities excite you in performances of others? What takes you by surprise and keeps your interest in experimental music? 

PL: I find many different things in different types of performers interesting. I am definitely excited when I see a piece of gear that is handmade! When something looks like it was taken from the trash and is recycled into an instrument it piques my interest. The fact that pretty much "anything goes" in experimental music holds my interest as well. You never know what to expect with a performer you've never seen before, and sometimes even with one you've seen 50 times. It never seems to get boring or routine, at least to me. 

ARH: How does language factor in your creative process? Does your inspiration often begin with words or sounds – how do these interact?

PL: Much of the time I find myself starting with sounds, or ideas. It places a thought or feeling or topic in mind, and I can begin to create from there. Much of my solo work and with CD has no discernible vocals, except maybe some samples. This doesn't mean that there are no vocals, sometimes things need to be said to be expressed, though most of the time they are lost to the ears through distortion or layering and flowing with other sounds. That is intentional on my part for various reasons, mostly it is due to the personal nature of the expression. If I can gather up the cojones there with be some actual lyrics on a couple of the new CD tracks. 

ARH: Do you feel performing is a mystical act and/or ritual? If so, how does that work – how do you use ritual awareness in your work? If not, how would you describe the performing process in terms of mental, physical and emotional transformation?

PL: I have intentionally performed in a ritualistic manner, it can be powerful. I find that when I perform solo, I internalize more, focusing on specific events or emotions, oftentimes with an intent. Not to say that doesn't happen when performing with others, but the focus is stronger and more easily directed when I am alone. I do not feel there always needs to be an intent, other than (hopefully) making others feel what you are trying to express. I definitely notice a difference in my psyche (usually) during and (always) after a performance. I never walk away feeling worse than before a set, never. Ah, the catharsis of music. 

ARH: What’s next?

PL: I fully intend to continue on the same path I am on. There's currently no need for any drastic changes.