Toronto based musician Iner Souster has been creating sonic wonders from unusual junk for over a decade. Anita Iyer sneaks into the bizarre world of the instrumentalist
Ever heard of musical instruments made from recycled junk? To add to that, a
music album solely composed by these ‘junkstruments’ and an old converted piano?
Meet Toronto based music scientist Iner Souster, who utilises recycled and unconventional materials in the construction of music instruments.
“My excitement has always been in creating designs that are as unique and unconventional as the materials, causing the viewer to think beyond the habitual constraints of the art world,” he says.
In his growing years, Souster tried to emulate conventional instrumentation for his music class but it wasn’t until the summer of 1999 when he first discovered his love for homemade instruments or ‘Junkstruments’(as he calls them).
Sample this – Bowafridgeaphone – an instrument made up of fridge grates, an old broken speaker, a cake pan, a metal salad bowl and a few other metal scraps lying around his workshop.
Underwoods Bell – a collection of brassy cups suspended on an old typewriter; a five stringed chicken cooker, the 17 stringed instrument – Sympathetic sitar harp, a saw blade thumb piano, to name a few.
A musician himself, Souster attributes his design and craftsmanship to having spent years in construction and renovation. The idea is to create instruments which can be played live, he adds.
Quizzed about his favourite junkstrument, Souster says, “One of my favourites is The Big Bass Thumb Piano, I get a kick out of seeing people’s faces when I plug it in and start making noise. The tines are old Sawsall blades which I have grinded down, there are three electromagnetic pick-ups and four piezo pickups.”
Conscious of staying away from the obvious banging on metal pots and pans, he has been building Kalimbas (electric thumb piano) for a few years
now.
One of the biggest challenges he finds with creating junkstruments, is the fact that you often have only one chance to experiment with the material available. “I have many junkstruments that I now refer to as wall pieces; it can be quite frustrating to craft something and not get the tuning you like. Having said that, I do try and get these ‘Wall Pieces’ into at least one recording session as I like the idea of trying to use it all occasionally,” he quips.
Last year, Souster along with his band FemBots rolled out an album titled Calling Out, using Junkstruments for most of the rhythm tracks. Currently, the band is working on a new project – Detroit Time Machine, composing solely with junkstruments and an old piano. To let the world have a peep into his eccentric world, Souster recently opened his own studio – The Sixth in Toronto. It is in this space, that he creates and displays his instruments and holds two to three Junkstrument jamming sessions a month.
“In the early days of building and showcasing, I had many people who would just refuse to believe that these creations were playable. I always thought that was an odd thing to say, as I believe even a branch and a stone can be played. But I guess the question is – Can that branch and stone be played well?” he questions with a smile.