Martin Kay (aka Mountain Black) is a Melbourne sound artist who uses field recordings and cross-synthesis techniques to construct hyper-real and abstract immersive soundscapes for live performance, compositions, installations & sound designs.
Martin began his sonic life during the mid 1990s, being involved with Dark-Side Drum & Bass and Hardcore Breakbeat movements. Working with these mediums provided him a foundation to explore and manipulate the textural and spatial properties within music, enabling him to synthesize and construct unique sonic environments.
In 2006 Martin started using field recordings of various environments and sonic objects in his work, driven by a growing love of soundtracks and a ongoing quest for new sonic textures. Since then he has set out to create
immersive, cinematic & narrative-based compositions fusing dark and light ambiences, noise and musique concrète, with a strong focus on physical and mental sound space. Martin has performed his works in Melbourne and South Korea and has recently been translating his soundscapes to theater through
live performance, working with director Daniel Schlusser, and collaborating with Darrin Verhagen (Shinjuku Thief) and Nick Van Cuylenburg.
Martin Kay is part of the exhibition Semantic Clutter at West Space, Melbourne.
