Liam Elliot did not plan on pursuing an education in music. Elliot, the son of a nurse and geophysicist, was interested in physical creation and considered becoming an architect or engineer — until he went down a path that made him feel like music would give him the most flexibility in what he created.
Elliot is now a composer, instrument maker, and sound artist, who specializes in making his own instruments and improvising music. His musical journey began at seven years old in a traditional choir and behind a piano, but he found his passion in navigating his way through improvised performances using unconventional equipment.
When Elliot performs, he finds excitement in embracing the unexpected turns that his set can take due to its unorthodox nature.
“I get bored if I’m not going to be surprised by something that I’m making,” said Elliot.
The composer particularly enjoys performing at the Unruly Sounds Music Festival, an annual event in Princeton’s Hinds Plaza that features a wide variety of music and highlights new sounds and compositions. Elliot will be performing at this year’s eighth annual Unruly Sounds Music Festival on Saturday, September 28, in his third year taking the stage at the event.
“The way [Elliot’s] music works is so unusual,” said Mika Godbole, creator of the festival. “That’s what drew me to him.”
Godbole was first captivated by Elliot’s music during a concert put on by Princeton University’s Graduate Program in Composition.
“I heard one of Liam’s pieces at one of those concerts, and it was so cool,” said Godbole. “I was like, what is he doing? What just happened? What is this?”
Elliot received his master of philosophy in liberal arts from the University of Cambridge and his bachelor of music composition at Acadia University in Nova Scotia and is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in composition at Princeton University.
The culture and community of Princeton University’s music department, which Elliot found to be supportive of a vast range of sound practices, is part of why he chooses to stay in New Jersey.
At the university, Elliot worked as a preceptor for courses in acoustics and instrumental design, and engineering and the arts. Right now, he is taking a break from precepting while he finishes his dissertation.
Along with assisting in teaching about designing instruments, Elliot designs and builds his own unique instruments. Making his own instruments keeps the sound artist excited to discover new and unexpected sounds.
Each instrument Elliot makes is different in terms of engineering and sound. At the moment, he is working on creating a string feedback resonator instrument that mixes acoustic and electronic instruments.
Like many of his instrument inventions, the creation started off as something simple that was expanded on a whim to become something bigger and more inventive.
“It’s been fun with these instruments,” said Elliot. “Having an idea of what they can do, building them, and finding out that they maybe do what I wanted them to do.”
Even if the instruments do not do what Elliot expected them to, no love is lost because he enjoys the process of discovery.
The sound artist uses his inventions when he performs, but also at other times uses instruments that he did not design. During this year’s Unruly Sounds Music Festival, Elliot will be performing improvised music using a modular synthesizer that he did not design.
Joining him for the performance is Jaqui Kerrod, who is a local harpist. Elliot was a fan of Kerrod’s music and had the chance to play with her for the first time last year. Since then, the two performers have been looking for another chance to be on stage together.
“She does amazing, weird, and wonderful things with the harp,” said Elliot.
For their performance at Unruly Sounds Music Festival, Kerrod will improvise on the harp. Elliot will then take the sounds of her improvisation, transform them in different ways, and play them out.
“He thinks about everything and it’s so thoughtful and well done,” said Godbole. “That’s the thing that I can say about every artist whose music is presented. These folks really spend time on their craft.”
Elliot experienced the Unruly Sounds Music Festival for the first time in 2018, weeks after he moved to Princeton. At the festival was when he realized that the community felt like a good place for him to be in.
“That was such a moment of ‘oh I’m in the right spot’ of seeing this mix that included so many different types of music being performed and supported,” said Elliot.
Audience members at the Unruly Sounds Music Festival, like the sound artist once was, tend to be supportive and receptive to hearing new things, according to Elliot. Unlike some performances where audience members are virtually forced to sit or stand through an entire set, onlookers can come and go as they please at Unruly Sounds.
“I like that there’s welcoming for people to join for as long or as little as they want to,” said Elliot.
People of all ages are welcome to drop by Hinds Plaza in Princeton at any point from noon to 5 p.m. on September 28 and enjoy fresh sounds and new compositions, which have always been the cornerstone of the event.
When she is putting together each year’s Unruly Sounds Music Festival, Godbole makes an effort to find local artists to perform. This year, she moreso found artists who are affiliated with Princeton University to be a part of the event. Elliot is among this demographic. Along with him are a West African percussionist, an all female brass band, and others who are new to the music festival.
“I just wanted to do something different,” said Godbole. “There’s a lot of great local artists.”
Both Elliot and Godbole keep returning to the festival, in their respective roles, because of the joy it makes them feel and the way audiences react to the music.
For performers like Elliot, captivating a person passing by enough to get them to stop and watch the performance, and even dance along, is motivating. Godbole, as the creator, and sometimes performer, finds gratification in observing audience members experience the kind of music that is performed at the event for the first time.
“People who’ve never heard stuff like that before and they’re just walking by, stay for a bit and then they leave,” said Godbole. “Just for that little while, they’re like, ‘oh, I’ve not heard this before or I’ve not heard anything like this before.’ And I’m like, ‘yes, that’s it. That’s the thing.’”
It is through the work of organizers and performers, that the Unruly Sounds Music Festival has been able to keep coming back to Princeton for eight years.
“To actually play in it and then, you know, do my performance and then get to sit there and enjoy what everyone else is doing is wonderful,” said Elliot.
Unruly Sounds Music Festival, Hinds Plaza, Witherspoon Street, Princeton. Saturday, September 28, noon to 5 p.m. Free. music.princeton.edu/event/unruly-sounds-music-festival-2024/
