Curator Statement
At first glance, Aisha Loe’s guitar pedals might not even look like guitar pedals. From period transistor radios to Atari controllers, the electronic organisms of Loe Sounds are often whimsically camouflaged in salvaged gear. Like hermit crabs, Loe’s handmade audio circuitry are given new homes within carefully selected, unorthodox enclosures. As duplicates are rarely made, each sonic curiosity adopts its own personality—a marriage of the circuit’s sound and its past life as a tactile, utilitarian object. A lifelong tinkerer and musician, Aisha’s creations have become staples in an impressive variety of setups including those of Mark Speer (Khruangbin), Clem McCreevy (Cherry Glazerr), and Bibi McGill (Beyoncé, P!nk, La Ley).
In Loe-Fi-Delity, we invite you to explore the sights and sounds of the unique Bay Area laboratory for yourselves. Please feel free to touch and play the instruments where indicated.
About the Artist
Aisha Loe is one half of Loe Sounds, a Queer Women Of Color-owned studio that specializes in hand-made, hand-painted guitar pedals and sound tools. In April 2020, Loe Sounds will be moving shop to Hudson Valley, New York after two years of production and experimentation in Oakland, California.
Aisha also produces music as “Loe”. You can find her on Instagram @loesounds, on Bandcamp @aishaloe, and on Soundcloud @iloe.
All works exhibited in this show are original pieces for sale. For more information, please contact the artist directly at aishabag23@gmail.com.
About the Curator
Kirk Pearson is the founder of Dogbotic, a Berkeley-based creative audio lab where creative-driven inquiry meets inquiry-driven creativity. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, Kirk has written music, built installations, and designed experiences for hundreds of films, museums, and new media projects. In 2017, Kirk was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, through which they spent a year traveling the world composing works for experimental instruments.