D.A.Calf is a multidisciplinary sound and installation artist, musician, composer, sound designer, producer and researcher based in Naarm/Melbourne. His particular interests lie in explorations of trauma, memory, serialisation, place, erasure and trace. These themes are explored through cartography, performance, immersive installation and archival work spanning history, geography, philosophy and anthropology.
He has presented work at Dark Mofo, Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), South by Southwest (Austin, TX), Brisbane Festival, Melbourne Festival, This Is Not Art, Melbourne Fringe, King’s Artist-Run Gallery, Sounds of the Underground (Amsterdam), Federation Square and the Arts Centre (Melb).
He was co-founder of acclaimed immersive theatre/live art company The Guerrilla Museum (Funeral, All of My Friends Were There, with Marieke Hardy), and recording studio/production suite The Institute Studio where he has worked with numerous clients including Mojo Juju, Melbourne Theatre Company, Australian Music Vault, Kira Puru, Royal Botanical Gardens of Sydney, Sea Shepherd, The City of Stonnington and The Boon Companions).
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy & Politics (double-major) from The University of Newcastle, AU, a B.Fine Arts (Hons) (Sound Art & Spatial Sculpture) from RMIT University, Melbourne, AU and in 2021 will be a PhD candidate in the School of Art at RMIT.
Currently in-development are a deconstructed opera based on the work of Georges Perec, a sonic cartography of the Paris Métro and a body of work focusing on history and memory as can be heard in monument sites throughout the former Yugoslav republics. The significance of place, particularly as it relates to memory and contested history takes prominence in all of these research interests.
In addition D.A.Calf tours regularly as a multi-instrumentalist and sound designer for numerous acts and has toured Australia, Europe and the US multiple times.
Past Works - Performance, Installation & Curation
2020
A SPECTRAL GEOLOGY - sound, text, photography in an online archive consisting of twenty-three vitrines
ISOLATION LOOPS (online) - Fortnightly series of thirteen improvised live-streamed performances incorporating field recordings and investigating geographical distance and reframing during a time of confinement.
THE TREE IN CHANGING LIGHT- daily photographic series spanning the three-and-a-half months of Melbourne’s first lockdown.
CRUEL POLICY - Collaboration with Farhad Bandesh, a Kurdish artist and asylum-seeker currently in immigration detention.
2019
EUROPEAN TOUR (July-September) - sound-based performances
TILDE FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSIC (Melbourne, AU) - From My Non-Place - Quad-channel sound installation
IVRY I-IV - Improvisational collaboration with French-Italian artist Alexander Gennaro
2018
RMIT BFA GRAD SHOW - La Vie Mode d’Emploi
THE TOTE (Melbourne, AU) - solo performance residency
ELECTROFRINGE/SYDNEY FRINGE - From My Non-Place (Sydney, AU) Quad-channel data sonification installation
M PAVILION - Secret Rehearsal - (Melb, AU) Improvisation-based performance.
MELBOURNE WRITERS FESTIVAL - (Melb, AU) Sound Design
2017
KINGS ARTIST-RUN - Remnant - (Melb, AU) Solo exhibition (24hr duration video and audio)
KINGS ARTIST-RUN - Remnant (Performance) - (Melb, AU) Solo exhibition (24hr duration video and audio, 3x 6hr performance)
MELBOURNE FRINGE - Transient (Melb, AU) (Soundwalk)
MELBOURNE FESTIVAL - All of My Friends Were There (The Guerrilla Museum) (Melb, AU) - Theatreworks - (Immersive theatre design, sound design, composition, technical direction)
2016
DARK MOFO - Last Words in a Hearse - (Hobart, AU) (Interactive/immersive piece for three hearses and website)
THE BOON COMPANIONS - Human Reactable at All That We Cannot Say (Melb, AU) (Interactive light and sound installation)
MELBOURNE FESTIVAL - Funeral (The Guerrilla Museum) - Arts Centre (Melb, AU) (Immersive theatre design, sound design, composition, technical direction)
TILDE FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSIC & SOUND ART - Hurtz III - (Melb, AU) (Performance for mixing console and outboard. with audio-reactive visuals)
2015
FEDERATION SQUARE - Nature Morte - (Melb, AU) - Environmental Film Festival (Live score for short film)
DARK MOFO - Funeral (The Guerrilla Museum) (Melb, AU) (Immersive theatre design, sound design, composition, technical direction)
BRISBANE FESTIVAL - Funeral (The Guerrilla Museum) (Melb, AU) (Immersive theatre design, sound design, composition, technical direction)
ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE - Hurtz II - Hexasonic (Melb, AU) (Performance for mixing console and outboard)
DUALITY - Collaborative pairings of artist and writers. Curated by Shannyn Higgins.
ELECTROFRINGE - Hurtz II - (Sydney, AU) (Performance for mixing console and outboard)
2014
MELBOURNE MUSIC WEEK- Hurtz I (Melb, AU) (Performance for mixing console and outboard)
MELBOURNE MUSIC WEEK - Lost Empire series (Melb, AU) - shows in unusual spaces. Co-curated and produced with Matt Wicking
EUROPEAN/US TOUR - Solo performance
AUSTRALIAN TOUR - Solo performance
Past Works - Discography
2020
Outer (as The Book of Ships)
Hurtz
Five Mornings
2018
Circuli I
Flushes of AU III
2017
One Hundred Sixty-Eight Hrs (composition with morse code and voice generation)
Seven Mornings (Paris-based series of field recordings documenting an apartment building over the course of a week)
Flushes of US (fields recordings of a certain subset of US non-places, listed only by their geographical coordinates)
Flushes of AU 2
2016
Flushes of EU (field recordings of a certain subset of US non-places, listed only by their geographical coordinates)
Flushes of AU
2015
Hurtz I
2014
Terra I - compositions based on geographical locations.
AWARDS & FUNDING
2020 Joel Elenberg Prize - winner (Judged by Anna Schwartz)
Australia Council for the Arts - New Work development grant
Sidney Myer resilience grant
RISING Proposal funding
2019 Vice Chancellor’s Honour Roll - RMIT University
2013 Australia Council for the Arts - New Work grant
2012 Creative Victoria - Victoria Rocks Career Building grant
2010 Australian Music Prize - longlisted
SELECTED TERTIARY EDUCATION
2021 Doctoral Candidate - RMIT School of Art
2020 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) - RMIT
2019 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sound Art & Spatial Sculpture) - RMIT. Awarded with Distinction, Vice Chancellor’s Honour Roll (GPA 4.0)
2009-2011 Masters of Teaching (Deakin University / University of Newcastle, AU) - (Discontinued)
2006 Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy & Politics Double Major) - University of Newcastle, AU. Awarded with Distinction
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
2020 Spectral Geologies: Listening to traces in contested territories - Fusion Journal (University of Lincoln [UK] x Charles Sturt University [AU] - under review)
SELECTED VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
2007 Cert III - Small Business Management (NEIS) Hunter Institute of TAFE (Newcastle, AU)
2005 Adv.Diploma Music Business - Hunter Institute of TAFE (Newcastle, AU) Awarded with Distinction
2005 Cert III - Music Industry Skills (Music Production) Hunter Institute of TAFE (Newcastle, AU)
Masterclasses / Short Courses
2018 Diploma of Languages (French) - RMIT, Melbourne, AU (ongoing)
2017 Michel Chion Masterclass - RMIT
2017 Miller Puckette Pure Data Masterclass - BIFEM
2016 Programming Max: Structuring Interactive Software for Digital Arts - Stanford University (through Kadenze)
Development Labs / Residencies / Study Tours / Conferences
2019
Cité International des Arts - Artist Residency (2mo July/Aug 2019 Paris, FR)
Melbourne Theatre Company - Sound Design/Composition secondment (under Darrin Verhagen) - Storm Boy (5wks May/June 2019, Melb, AU)
Field Work Tour (Sept 2019) - self-funded (Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro)
2018
European Study and Development Tour (Nov 2018 - Jan 2019) - self-funded (France, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, FYRO Macedonia)
2017
Malthouse Theatre - Tower Residency (3wks 2017 Melb, AU) - as The Guerrilla Museum
2016
FOLALAB - Festival of Live Art (FOLA) (2wks 2016 Melb, AU) - as The Guerrilla Museum
Ars Electronica Festival - Future Innovators Summit (2016 Linz, Austria) (Panellist)
European Study and Development Tour (2016) - self-funded (France, Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary, Austria)
Guest Appearances / Technical Management
2019 Field Recording (Matt Wicking) - Brunswick Mechanics Institute - Performer/Composer/Sound Designer/Technical Manager
2018 Film Recording Pt.III (Fiona McDonald) - To Do / To Act - Boom Operator/Performer
2018 Film Recording Pt.III (Fiona McDonald) - Monash University Museum of Art - Boom Operator/Performer
2018 Boleskine (Philip Samartzis) - (Diffusion) - RMIT, Melbourne - System Tech
2007/2008 This Is Not Art (Multi-Arts Festival, Newcastle, NSW) - Production Manager
2005 Co-founded Signor Piggy Wigg Productions arts incubator (Newcastle, NSW)
2005 TiN Radio (Community Radio Station, Newcastle, NSW) - Founding consultant. Part of ReNEW Newcastle.
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL COMMISSIONS + Appointments
2019 Melbourne Theatre Company (Storm Boy) - Sound design/Composition secondment
2018 Stonnington Jazz (The City of Stonnington) - Festival Creative Producer
2017-present The State Library of Victoria - Event Technician
2015-present The City of Stonnington - Production Officer - Department of Festivals and Events.
2012-15 Women of Letters - Photographer / Tour technician (US, UK, Ireland, Indonesia)
2014 The Washington Post Women of Letters feature - Photographer
2014-15 Music Critic for The Follower newspaper (Newcastle, AU)
2013-14 Music Correspondent for The Vine covering South by Southwest (Austin, TX)
CURRENT MEMBERSHIPS
Music Victoria
NAVA Premium member
Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)
Sound Art and Auditory Culture research group (SAAC) RMIT
RMIT 2020 Honours Student-Staff Consultative Committee (SSCC)
Past Works - Sound Design/Composition
THEATRE
2019 Storm Boy (Melbourne Theatre Company) - Sound design/Composition secondment
2017 All of My Friends Were There (The Guerrilla Museum) - Sound design/Composition/VO
2014 Funeral (The Guerrilla Museum) - Sound design/Composition
PODCAST
2019 Sound As Ever (Australian Music Vault) - Sound design/Mix/Master (series II)
2019 Up the Pole (Cressida Bradley) - Recording/Mixing/Mastering
MULTIMEDIA
2016 Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney - Calyx bicentennial installation - Sound design/Composition
SPOKEN WORD / OTHER
2019 Up the Pole (Cressida Bradley - Malthouse Theatre) - Sound design/Composition
2018 Festival Launch (Melbourne Writers Festival) - Sound design/Composition
2018 Field Recording (Matt Wicking) - Sound design/Composition/Film Mix
2018 Lost at Sea (Matt Wicking) - Sound design/Composition/Film Mix
Selected Studio Production credits:
Mojo Juju
Native Tongue (ABC/Universal) (ARIA nominated album - 2018) - engineer
Mojo Juju (ABC/Universal) (Album - 2012) - mix/engineer/arranger
Demos (2011) - producer/mix/engineer
The General Assembly
Vanishing Point (Album - 2017) producer/mix/engineer/programming/treatments/guitar/synth/mellotron/pump organ
Everybody Knows (mini EP - 2019) - producer/mix/engineer/arranger/steel guitar
Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants
Sellin' You Salvation (Hoodoo Emporium/MGM) (Album - 2010) - engineer
Scat Song (Hoodoo Emporium) (EP - 2010) - engineer
Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants (Independent)(Album - 2007)*- producer/mix/engineer
Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants (Independent)(Demo/EP - 2006) - producer/mix/engineer
Charlie Echo
Verticalibrations (Independent) (Single - 2019) - mix
Ashford Brigade (Independent) (Single - 2019) - mix
Island Hopper (Independent) (Single - 2019) - mix
Color Glo (Independent) (Single - 2018) - mix
Tilley
close (EP - 2018) - producer/mix/engineer/programming/treatments/guitar/synth++
Kira Puru & The Bruise
The Liar (Golden Records)(EP - 2011)(mixed by Rick Will) - engineer
Kira Puru & The Bruise (Golden Records)(EP - 2010) - producer/mix/engineer
Matt Wicking
Lost at Sea (Film/live performance project - 2019) - sound design/mix/programming/treatments/guitar/synth
Field Recording (Film/live performance project - 2019) - sound design/mix/programming/treatments/guitar/synth
Dynamic Calories (UK)
Known Album (Album - 2017) - mix
Ergo B Bag
- mix - S/T (Independent)(Album - 2006)
- engineer – (Yet to be released new material - 2008)
The Book of Ships
- producer/mix/engineer (w/Scott Horscroft)/engineer/guitar/keys - Outer (nomachinethinking)(Album - 2020)
- producer/mix/engineer (w/Scott Horscroft)/engineer/guitar/keys - Dark Continent, Cold Century (nomachinethinking/Vitamin)(Album - 2010)
The Hauntingly Beautiful Mousemoon
- co-producer/mix/guitar/keys/bv - Cry Baby Cry & 45 Minutes, 7 Seconds of Bleeding Live Tracks (Rubber Records)(EP - 2005)
- co-producer/guitar/bv - The Mire/Cry Baby Cry (Signor Piggy Wigg)(Double A-Side - 2004)*
- co-producer/guitar/lap steel/bv – Presents... (One Henry/MGM) (EP – 2003)
- co-producer/guitar/bv - Four Early Songs (Signor Piggy Wigg) (EP/Demo - 2001)*
Film, Radio, TV & Sync:
2019 Climactic podcast (end credits music) - The Wild Child (The General Assembly) - Production/Arrangement/Mix/Engineer
2013 Hello Forever (feature film) - Flying in Dreams (The Book of Ships) - sync
2012 Bathing Franky (feature film) - Keep Ur Blooz, A Sml Luv Song (The Book of Ships) - sync
2006-2009 Live Sites Newcastle - music supervisor/audio editor/sound designer/mix
2008 Sydney Airport Flight Announcement System - mix/engineer
2008 Bitter & Twisted Boutique Beer Festival TV advert - composition
2007 Synchro Advertising Agency (Website) - mix/engineer
2006 The Lovelorn Living Party – theatre show content - mix/engineer
...numerous TV and radio adverts
LANGUAGES:
French Intermediate (CEFR B1)
Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian Beginner (CEFR A0)
Portuguese Beginner (CEFR A1)
Professional Referees
Associate Professor Philip Samartzis - School of Fine Arts - RMIT Melbourne, Australia;
Dr. Michael Graeve - School of Fine Arts - RMIT Melbourne, Australia; Board Member - Liquid Architecture.
Nicole Warren - Supervisor - Festivals & Events Department - The City of Stonnington.
Byron J Scullin - Director - Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS), Former Production Manager - Liquid Architecture. Former sessional lecturer - RMIT.
Dr. Darrin Verhagen - School of Digital Media - RMIT Melbourne, Australia; Sound Designer & Composer - MTC, Chunky Move, Bell Shakespeare.
N.B. Referee contact details available upon request