Culture Report: The Sounds of Experimentation

Bonnie Wright has a mission not unlike that of an idealistic hipster with a penchant for rare vinyl inside dusty record stores. Wright wants to find music she loves and share it with likeminded people. As she says, what’s fun for her is “to explore” the sounds that are out there.

With a shock of cropped white hair and decades of stories, she tells energetically (with a few expletives peppered in) of how her enthusiasm for experimental music seems to come from within. It’s palpable for anyone she’s with.

A graduate of UC San Diego’s music program, which is renowned for its edgy, experimental leanings, Wright began the Fresh Sounds music series in 1993. She started the small concert series as a way to introduce the community to the fascinating, kind-of-out-there music she learned about while at UCSD. Since then, the series has evolved – now she brings in experimental musicians from all over the globe to perform.

While curating the lineup, Wright aims to surprise and excite. She wants the audience to experience something they’ve never heard or even thought was musically possible. She wants to melt some effing faces.

“My mission is to bring music to San Diego that people wouldn’t hear otherwise,” she said. “It’s a matter of exploration and curiosity. If you think about science, you may not understand what’s happening, but it has to always move forward. That’s how I see music. You don’t know what you’re going to hear. People turn to music to feel comfort. They want to hear what’s familiar. Most of everything I present is unfamiliar.”

This season, the Fresh Sounds music series focused on percussion-based music. On Thursday, Wright presents On Structure, a DIY experimental music and theater collective featuring Jessie Mariano and Natacha Diels. The duo incorporates everyday objects and instruments to create impressively structured sounds.

You’re reading the Culture Report, Voice of San Diego’s weekly collection of the region’s cultural news.

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