words yvonne teh

A percussion group turns junk into breathtaking music

The signs were all there – when he was a child, reveals Justine Murdy, Gregory Kozak would play music with pots, oven racks, car hubcaps and wooden spoons. It was an auspicious beginning for someone who would become world famous for idiosyncratic percussion on instruments he fashioned himself.

Justine Murdy is the co-founder, artistic producer and company manager of ScrapArtsMusic who, in an interview with bc, helped provide some insights into her co-founder and the percussion group they formed in 1998. Kozak, she states, always had a more experimental approach to music – even though he trained in various jazz institutions and with an A-list of percussionists like Steve Berrios, Kenny Aronoff and Pandit Pranath among others.

But, while still in his teens, he already had discovered both the work of innovative composer, music theorist and instrument builder Harry Partch and the music of free jazz movement pioneer Ornette Coleman. So, years later, Murdy discloses, upon being “frustrated by the limitations of conventional percussion performance, the adult Kozak set out to create new instruments and a ‘next generation’ ensemble that would bring
his unique and energetic musical vision
to life.”

To be able to forge those new instruments and “expand his compositional palette”, Kozak first learnt the skill of welding. He and Murdy then took to scouring “construction sites and scrap yards looking for great-sounding plastic pipes, hoses, coils, plumbing fixtures, wooden planks, steel bowls and sheet aluminium – anything with the potential to make music.”

From not much more than what Murdy labels industrial surplus, Kozak fashioned over 100 one-of-a-kind instruments that gave him access to an entirely new sonic realm. But that still didn’t go far enough. He wanted to explore how movement could be incorporated into percussion music, and so put his instruments on wheels, enabling players and instruments to move in fluidly synchronized choreography. “Kozak then invited a group of stellar percussionists to join him on stage,” says Murdy, “and ScrapArtsMusic was born.”

Kozak and Murdy began collaborating in 1995. She is a trained architect whose contributions have included instrument, costume and lighting design as well as seeing to bookings, management and marketing for the group. The two Vancouver residents first worked together on another instrument project with the much more elaborate name of Symphonic Work Assembly of Rhythm and Movement (S•W•A•R•M) before creating ScrapArtsMusic.

In 2003, the year Kozak was honoured with a coveted Canada Council Commission Award for Canadian Composers, Los Angeles-based Simon Thomsen joined the Canadian duo. Two years later, two more members were added: Christa Mercy – who Murdy characterizes as “a woman on stage who despite wearing a mini-skirt is very capable of playing our physical style of music featuring metallic instruments among other types” – and Richard Burrows, “a passionate percussionist” who has studied with percussion masters in Europe as well as North America.

Ten years on, ScrapArtsMusic’s performers consist of a quintet of percussionists – the newest of whom, Greg Samek, only joined last month! – who make music with over 140 unique, handmade instruments with names like junk-on-a-stick, mojo, annoyaphone and sigh-chordion, divided into categories like idiophones (“musical instruments in which sound is primarily produced by the actual body of the instrument vibrating”), aerophones (which “produce sounds through the vibration of air”) and chordophones (“instruments that produce sound through the vibration of a string or strings” like conventional pianos, banjoes and sitars). Many, if not all, of Kozak’s creations are also pretty impressive sculpturally, which is a testimony to Murdy’s injunction: “Before you throw something away, be it corrugated plastic, an idea or a relationship, give it a second, third and fourth look. You may well discover magic in moments you were ready to abandon.”

Still, impressive instruments don’t necessarily make an impressive show. Murdy is quick to point out the tremendous energy that goes into ScrapArtsMusic’s performances – not only physically but especially to produce the music which straddles new music and world influences. Adult in their audience have described the music making as “sophisticated” and “energizing” even while ScrapArtsMusic shows appeal to kids through lively facial gestures, jokes and colourful theatrical spectacle. Nor does Murdy see much difference in the way culturally diverse audiences around the world react to their shows. She believes their appeal is universal because music is international – and is temporarily flummoxed when asked what is recognizably Canadian about ScrapArtsMusic. “That remains for historians to comment upon, perhaps!” she first comes up with.

But then she offers, “In our minds the fact that we have grown up in an affluent and multi-cultural country like Canada has given us exposure to music from around the world and scrap materials of a very high quality… Canada is a young country (it is only 141 years old) and consequently our musical traditions aren’t quite as rigid as some older, more entrenched national traditions, perhaps. Canadians are open-minded for the most part and we love the idea of preserving our beautiful natural environment. Our project resonates for some of these reasons.”

ScrapArtsMusic will perform in Hong Kong on July 26 and 27 as part of the International Arts Carnival. Showtime on both evenings is at 7:30pm. The July 26 percussion concert will take place at the Kwai Tsing Theatre’s Auditorium while the July 27 performance is at the Shatin Town Hall’s Auditorium. Tickets for both shows are $260, $180 and $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.