What Is ~Nois?

You can make your music however you want to, you just have to be vulnerable enough to take that leap.” This sentiment, shared by composer Darian Donovan Thomas with ~Nois’ Julian Velasco in 2023, spurred What is ~Nois to its beginning. “We wanted to make something that we really liked while not being limited by the traditional perceptions of the relationships between composers and performers,” says Lulloff. “This feeling really embodies the idea behind ~Nois…new music, new ideas, new sounds that all have the saxophone as a core part of it but it's not solely a capital ‘S’ sax, capital ‘Q’, quartet record.” 

 ~Nois’ dedication to commissioning new music by living composers has brought them to the forefront of new chamber music, and the four powerful performances on What is ~Nois further solidify their footing as one of the most forward thinking chamber ensembles active today.Darian Donovan Thomas’ “Sun Thrower” opens the album with an epic 10-minute piece that mixes shimmering ambient textures, soaring saxophone solos, and pumping electronic drums that coalesce into a dream-like memory of dancing. The piece features Thomas on live effectsprocessing, Natalia Warthen on the opening alto solo, and special guest and founding member of ~Nois, Hunter Bockes, on alto saxophone. 

 “alternate endings.,” a piece expressing rage and frustration around climate change, by composer and guitarist Aeryn Jade “AJ” Santillan, casts the full quartet into the role of a guitar embedded within a post-punk band. 

 The three movement album closer, “Running in a Field of Flowers” by saxophone quartet veteran Travis Laplante, reminisces on a time in his life when “he was consciously more connected to the Earth through listening.” A Closer Listen said it best: "If this is noise, it's a joyful noise."