Jesse Eric Schmidt does not use the scan button on his radio to search for something to listen to. He uses the scan button to compose something to be listened to, something that collectively he has called a “rhythmic modular inventory” of what is on at that moment, the moment that is in fact an expanse of contiguous moments, the chance moments that occur between the start and end of his performance. The result is something that emphasizes the ephemeral nature of a radio signal. Much radio scanning by casual listeners has to do with finding a song worth lingering on — and in the vast majority of cases, that means to have temporary access to something that one knows is firmly available elsewhere: on YouTube, encased in a CD, in a box of 7″ singles at the back of one’s closet. Schmidt never lingers for long, instead allowing each audio element to commune with what preceded it and with what one anticipates will come next, each chess move enacted with the white noise signature of radio static.
https://soundcloud.com/radius-17/episode-39
Track originally posted for free download at theradius.us. More from Schmidt at jesseericschmidt.com. The image below is a grid of his varied activities:
