Clan Analogue are celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2022, with events organised for the Melbourne Fringe Festival in October and some great new releases scheduled for later in the year.
For those not in the know, Clan Analogue is a collective of artists focused on electronic music, sound art and associated art forms such as DJing and video art. The collective formed in 1992 in Sydney, by artists motivated by lack of support for live electronic music in the city’s then rock-oriented live music culture. The DIY ethos of an artist-run collective allowed members to pool resources and develop a range of projects, including live events and music releases in diverse areas of electronic music and art. From Sydney, Clan Analogue spread its branches to other cities throughout Australia as the 1990s progressed. Clan Analogue artists are now active in electronic music scenes all over the globe.
There are so many highpoints in Clan Analogue’s history that it is difficult to know where to start. The Clan Analogue Live at the Goethe Institut improvised music and video performance from 1994, released on VHS cassette and now part of the permanent collection at the Sydney Powerhouse Museum? The Intone: Voice Abstractions compilation, exploring experimental processing of the human voice, shortlisted for the Australian Art Music Award for Excellent in Experimental Music in 2015? Underground electronic hits by Disco Stu and B(if)tek from the late 90s and early 2000s, which were amongst Triple-J’s most-requested songs of the era? Michael Mildren’s 12-hour non-stop live performance at Bar 303 in 2016’s Melbourne Fringe? Or the 2014 Gear Shift series of monthly electronic music jam sessions at Loop in Melbourne’s CBD, with dozens of participating artists over the course of the year? Maybe 2020’s Lockdown Drone Live streamed via Twitch, with eight artists collaborating on an epic improvised drone set from home studios in Melbourne, Sydney and Canada? Or one of countless other highlights? Let the fans and music historians debate!
For some historical background on Clan Analogue check out The Early Years and The Middle Years for what went down in the 1990s and early 2000s. We will be updating the historical record with more details as we continue through this epochal year. Stay tuned!