Automatisme

Automatisme is the electronic music project of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec-based producer William Jourdain, who has since 2011 self-released a brilliant series of albums and tracks under this moniker, exploring various intersections of drone, glitch, dub techno, ambient, electro-acoustic and noise as well as digital visual art in abstract landscape and op art aesthetics. Starting with site-specific field recordings, Automatisme samples, processes, signal bends and transforms this source material into soundscapes charting a broad spectrum spanning minimalist pulse, methodically additive beat, stacked-tone maximalism, spatial drone and arrhythmic ambient/noise. Jourdain is among a cohort of young electronic music practitioners for whom the early works of progenitors from twenty years ago loom large – Pan Sonic/Mika Vainio, Stefan Betke (Pole, ~scape), Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto, Raster-Noton). He has been busy since 2011 with more than 30 releases on various labels such as Constellation Records (home for Godspeed you! Black Emperor), Force Inc. / Mille Plateaux, Neologist Productions, Liberation Through Hearing, Outlines and Dream Disk Lab. He performed concerts at Mutek (CA), ELEKTRA (CA), Suoni Per Il Popolo (CA), Pop Montreal (CA), Sulfure (FR), Generate (GE), Knobs & Wires (GE), Octandre (FR) and others as well as playing in experimental club music gigs alongside Byetone, Monolake, Seefeel, Thisquietarmy, Myriam Boucher and more. In 2019, he did a studio residency at EMS Elektronmusikstudion, the centre for Swedish electroacoustic music and sound-art. Jourdain is also a bachelor of art in art history from UQAM (Universté du Québec à Montréal).