IN CONVERSATION WITH HONEYDRIP

In v i b r a t i o n, you explore the idea of embodying the sound of bass. What does that mean to you?

It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with bass. Beyond its sonic quality I’m compelled by the possibility of embodying the sound itself. Through this obsession, I’ve been searching for new ways to interact with sub frequencies, which has coincided with the beginning of my vocal practice.

I started thinking about the similarities between the vibrations we feel within our bodies when we speak or sing and the resonance that exists within a speaker cabinet. That connection led me to imagine my body as a speaker cabinet. I wanted the resonance of my vocal cavity to be experienced not only as vibration within myself, but also as something the audience could physically feel. With this performance, I’m exploring how far embodiment can go when you truly "become the bass."

In the performance your body is both the source and manipulator of sound. What’s it like to navigate these dual roles?

Working with sound systems has really influenced the way I perceive music. In this performance, I use my voice to generate the sound and my hands to manipulate it. By imagining myself as a sound system, I think of my hand movements as the EQ on a rack unit, shaping and sculpting the frequencies in real time. Instead of adjusting knobs on a piece of equipment, I'm using my own body to make those changes. I've really enjoyed exploring different ways to embody this approach and finding physical gestures that feel connected to the sonic changes the audience experiences.

How did the idea for v i b r a t i o n first come about?

One of my favorite parts of the creative process is the incubation stage, where every wild idea feels possible and you allow yourself to dream without limitations. I had been wanting to collaborate with Yasmeen Hitti for a long time, and I also knew I wanted to reapply to MUTEK with a show that felt even more ambitious than my last. She immediately felt like the right person to explore those ideas with. Yasmeen pushed me to think beyond some of my initial proposals, and once she brought Salim Lounis into the project, the concept really began to take shape. 

Bass has always been the constant in my music. It's probably the word that best defines my musical universe, so it felt natural to make it the thematic center of the performance. Collaborating with digital artists who are so deeply versed in coding and TouchDesigner has pushed the work to another level, allowing the visuals and technology to become an extension of the ideas I'm exploring through sound and the body.

As a DJ and producer, you've been drawn to dub, reggae, jungle — bass-heavy genres. What is it about bass that feels so uniquely powerful to you?

Bass is the one frequency we don't just hear but that we feel. It has this incredible ability to bring people into their bodies and create collective experiences through vibration. There's something really powerful about a room of people physically sharing the same frequencies.

I'm also drawn to these genres because they carry histories of resistance, community, and cultural innovation. Music became a space for spiritual expression, political consciousness, and collective gathering. Dub culture in particular is rooted in experimentation. Using the studio, the sound system, and technology as instruments in themselves has always resonated with me. Working with these sounds has made me feel connected to something much larger than myself. I see v i b r a t i o n as a natural deepening of my alignment with sound system culture. It's rooted not only in the sonorities of dub, but also in its experimental ethos.

What were you and your team hoping to explore during the residency, and what emerged along the way? Did it open up any unexpected possibilities?

By the time we arrived at the residency, we had a strong conceptual vision. We could imagine the set design, the costume, and for the most part, how all of the different elements would come together, but without the space and resources to actually build and test them it was difficult to know what was technically possible. The residency gave us the opportunity to start answering those questions. Seeing our ideas take physical form was invaluable, and working alongside the Moment Factory team helped us streamline what is ultimately a technically complex performance. Their expertise allowed us to refine the setup while staying true to the original concept.

The core idea behind the performance was always clear, but once we were in the space, a new question emerged: how do we communicate that idea to the audience? We spent a lot of time thinking about how to make the performance legible: how to create a visual and sonic language that would allow people to follow the transformation and understand that there is an overarching narrative unfolding.

One thing I hadn't anticipated was just how deep the OSC control patches could go. The level of control they offered opened up entirely new possibilities for performance. It makes me feel like a magician being on stage and manipulating sound, visuals, and the entire environment through movement and gesture. That realization really expanded what I thought this piece could become.

What have you found most inspiring and most challenging about turning your body into a live audiovisual interface?

One of the most inspiring parts has been discovering the rawness of the bass I can create with my own voice. There's something really special about using such a human source to generate frequencies that are often associated with machines and speakers. It has introduced a vulnerability into my practice that wasn't there before. It reminds me of artists like Hatis Noit, who use the voice not just for melody, but as percussion, texture, and sound effects, expanding what we think the voice is capable of.

The biggest challenge has been finding the balance between these organic elements and the technology that makes the work possible. My live practice has always relied on hardware and electronic systems, so this piece asks me to constantly negotiate between the human and the machine. However I am finding that the technology extends my body, while my body gives the technology a sense of presence and imperfection.

🐝 Catch Honeydrip performing v i b r a t i o n on August 28, at Espace SAT as part of this year’s MUTEK Festival. For tickets and more info 👉 here.