Moment – Freak Foley, an Ari Liloia moment

Ari Liloya is a musician and technologist whose work explores the growth and movement of dense colonies characterized by irregular repetition—“think shells, corals, knitted fabrics, jigsaw puzzles, etc.”, he tells us. Liloya’s musical practice developed gradually, like a fungus growing on the surface of his long-standing fascination with field recordings. 

“Some of the released spores landed on fallen trees and blossomed into solo material,” like his 2021 debut album, Ghost Town. Others were inhaled, manipulated, as he claims, “in the style of Ophiocordyceps,” in collaboration with kindred spirits Galen Tipton, Dustin Wong, Thotcrime, and Orange Milk Records. 

“Freak Foley” is born from the same love of found sounds and fieldwork, but through a distorted lens. The source is wild, but the result is wild (in a different way)—these sounds were collected from nature, but artfully transformed into captivating music. The work is already done for you, and done with love. 

Drums, melodies, and bass are easy enough to cultivate in rich musical environments, if you’re willing to cope with a little interference. “I like things that are asymmetrical, fragile, rough, noisy, uncomfortably close,” Ari explains. “There are a lot of outdoor recordings here, but this isn’t a pastoral fantasy.”