T. Gowdy interview – “I didn’t think it would work – but I just kept making tracks”
Medieval music meets post punk experimentation… No, really.
Berlin based producer & sound artist T. Gowdy has been releasing gritty ambient techno since around 2018.
Currently hooked up with Montréal experimental label Constellation, his Therapy with Colour (2020) and Miracles (2022) albums are described as “methodical explorations of psychoacoustic analogue electronics that blend a systems-music approach with aleatory slippage and alluvial timbres”.
Coming from a background of classical and medieval music – he left home aged ten to join a choir school – but he had a punk-rock awakening in his youth and his latest Constellation release, the just-out Trill Scan (2025), combines medieval choral music with post-punk influences to push his own ideas of what an electronic album could be.
Yes, you did indeed read that right. We were intrigued too, so we asked him more…
First of all, can you tell us where you are right now, and what kind of day you’re having…
Hey! I’m in my studio in Berlin, my studio is my home. I’m feeling great today with the album having been released. I made a really good pasta as well, with zucchini and lemon. Bang on.
Been anywhere already or going anywhere interesting later?
This morning I made vegan pancakes for my friend and her son. Tomorrow I’m going to lecture university students on acoustics and then demonstrate some recording studio techniques.
Tell us a bit about your formative musical experiences… Early musical memories from siblings, parents, schoolmates… First instruments, embarrassing bands etc
I remember loving the feeling of singing in a choir, not only the reverberating voices but also the sense of unity that collective sound-making can provoke.
Other than singing and piano, I played guitar and bass. The first band I played in was called Gingko Beloba (punk/ska). Maybe this is embarrassing, I don’t know! I played bass. At the time I was also studying classical guitar and had to quit the band because I wanted to keep my nails nice and long for the nylon guitar strings.
Give us a quick precis of what you’ve released to date for the uninitiated…
B-stock (2018)
Vitrify Kate (2018) with the label Liberation Through Hearing
Pachira Aquatica (2019) with the label Shimmering Moods
Therapy with Colour (2020) with the label Constellation
Miracles (2022) with the label Constellation
Trill Scan (2025) with the label Constellation
You have a background in medieval music but had a ‘punk rock moment’ that changed everything – tell us more…
I’m not sure it was one moment per se, but the energy of punk rock was an effective method to channel turbulent emotions. I mean, I left home when I was age ten to join a touring Boychoir, so there was definitely a lot of unresolved emotion to release, if you know what I’m saying. What I’m trying to say on Trill Scan is that both can be true: ethereal, reverberating choral music with ear melting transistor noise.
That said, we can still hear an influence of older music on album tracks like ‘Courante’ – a cover of a 17th century piece… Is it fair to say it continues to have an influence? And also the punk/post-punk world?
Yeah, both work and have big influence on me. For example, I picked up playing the baroque lute a few years ago and the whole time I’m playing this mellow 17th century music, which don’t get me wrong, I love, this other sound in my head is of this chilled out baroque music, decimated through a five watt tube amp.
This album is the first time you’ve used the human voice too…. You’re a former choir boy we gather…
Yes, yes. As I related earlier, I left my family to join a boy choir school in New Jersey when I was 10. I quit before graduating. Too many rules.
Trill Scan – fascinating title, tell us more…
This title encapsulates the idea two disparate things being true and co-existing. Inspired by many things, for example, the conflict in Palestine. But, in my own immediate existence and background, with different forms of influence, for example, in this case with modality (medieval harmony) and tonality (baroque harmony). I’ll let you decide which represents “trill” and which represents “scan”.
What came first and what last?
Neither, just, you know just hanging around staring out the window, watching the leaves move and the idea appears.
Where was it made and what was your state of mind at the time?
This album has taken some time (by my standards). The recording process really began before I knew it began in a church with a small ensemble of singers in rural Quebec where I was recording feedback and vocals together for a grant. Then a few years later, I began playing pretty obsolete lute music composed by French lutenists of the 1600’s. At this time the idea of combining unlike forms formed. I didn’t think it would work but I just kept making tracks in my studio. In terms of state of mind, I would generalize to say that my mental state has been focussed on self transformation.
Did either have an audible effect on the results?
I mean, hopefully both the the places and the state of mind should be fairly audible on this album. They are to me.
What’s next for you in the short/medium/long term?
I’m excited to play some shows in support of the release and what else, hmm, teach, maybe make a life trajectory swerve, or not!
What are you hearing that’s inspiring you?
I like listening to birds, especially this time of year as they are rehearsing their songs in anticipation of finding new cuddly friends.
Any more live or release action we should know about?
After a release show in Berlin at Silent Green on 21.03 I’ll head over the Final Descent Festival in Copenhagen in April followed by a few dates in Canada in early summer. Always looking for fun bookings though 🙂
There may or may not be some other electronic sounds of mine coming out soon.
To buy your vinyl copy of T Gowdy’s Trill Scan album, click here
Pic courtesy of Vika Temnova