Alvin Lucier: Sonic Pioneer

A legend has left the building.

In my late teens, I was a punk rock musician who was content to play and stay in that world forever. Because most of my musician friends were also from that world, it took having some of my fellow collegiate art students to turn me on to “outsider” music. Once I fell in love with the concepts of John Cage, La Monte Young, and George Crumb, I was only a few steps away from the granddaddy of strange: Alvin Lucier.

Even his name evoked an otherworldlyness. My dyslexic eyes couldn’t help but mentally insert an “f” into his last name, giving it an added layer of dangerousness.

I was soon a diehard fan, and soon thereafter, not just a punk rock kid anymore. I’d been indelibly indoctrinated into the world of experimental music, a road which led me to co-found a absurdist contemporary music ensemble — It Ate My Laundry — with my friend Collyn McCoy (the first of many such ensembles I would perform with over the ensuing decades).

Much as was true about meeting someone with a Dead Kennedys or Misfits t-shirt in my youth, meeting someone who knew Lucier’s music all-but-guaranteed that you’ve met a soon-to-be friend.

I’ve read so many pithy words about Alvin Lucier’s life and work today, I’m not sure what I can add. Besides a deep note of gratitude.

Rest in power, dear sir, and thank you for the music.