Caliph8
[PH]
Manila-born Caliph8, aka Arvin Nogueras, is a sound and visual artist that explores the implications of merging, summing, and hybridization to create a new artistic syntax. In his compositions, he deploys sheets of polyrhythmic beats, one-note samples, and deconstructed cut & paste sound sequences.
Caliph8’s arsenal of methods also includes sample-based and granular synthesis, as well as free-form improvisation in which he combines sound manipulation techniques and samples with prepared gear or objects.
Nogueras has been continuously active within Manila’s visual and sound art scenes since the late 90s. His artistic collaborators include: Keiji Haino, dj sniff, Yuen Chee Wai, Sin:Ned, Otomo Yoshihide, Nonplus, Roger Lopez, Seido, Teichmann Brothers, and Malek Lopez, among others.
Recent projects include a composition and sound performance with Jang Young-Gyu, Raed Yassin, Asa Chang, and Artyom Kim called Vanishing Voices at the ACC Museum in South Korea (2015) and participation in the 2017 Asian Music Network festival. During José Maceda’s centenary celebration and exhibition at the Cultural Centre of the Philippines in Manila this past year, Nogueras was tasked by the University of the Philippines Ethnomusicology Department to interpret Accordion&Mandolin, a piece for 19 instruments that Maceda wrote shortly before his death, but never premiered.
Nogueras has released on labels such as Dub Temple Records (Brisbane), SVBKVLT (Shanghai), and O-Rich (Tokyo). His latest release, Vertical Stack, came out on cassette for Manila-based label NINE IRON in 2017.
