a.rawlings talks to Open Book Toronto about volcanoes and turntables

At Open Book Toronto, writer-in-residence Jeff Latosik (Tiny, Frantic, Stronger) talked with a.rawlings on March 22, 2011. In this interview, Latosik catches up with a.rawlings and discusses her debut book Wide slumber for lepidopterists and some of many interests, including volcanoes, interdisciplinary arts and turntabling.

Here's a sample:

I grew up in a family that encouraged loud singing on long car rides. (This has proven embarrassing more than once in my adult years, bless them.) The last decade, I've continued that loud habit but I've also become quite interested in the boundaries between speech, non-semantic sounding, and singing. I'm intrigued by what sounds are possible to make with the human body, and particularly cultural attitudes towards acceptable sounds as categorized by gender.

When I finished WSfL, I felt as though I needed to dedicate serious research to my long infatuation with sound and voice. I turned to acoustic ecology, audio recording, vocal improvisation, and the improvised music scene in Toronto.

Read the whole interview at openbooktoronto.com.