The Amplified Elephants

THE AMPLIFIED ELEPHANTS

Sound Art Ensemble

“they taught us all how to listen,” The Age

Australia’s leading sound art ensemble featuring artists with neurodiversities. Works such as SELECT NATURALIS have consistently received high praise:

“As the voiceover says, ‘meta-listening,’ a biological feature perhaps developed by our distant ancestors, involves just such a process of shining awareness on the functional, and the willingly unseen or unheard. Select Naturalis seeks to metaphorise that awareness and, it seems, achieve real social affect: community, inclusion, technological progress and ever-better names for things.” Realtime 2015

ALBUMS

     

The Amplified Elephants artists describe their sound as:

     Teagan Connor: “melodious”

     Alisa Chu: “relaxing and creative”

     Jay Euesden: “like getting on a train”

     Megan Hunter: “R2D2”

     Helen Kruljac: “it’s better”

     Daniel Munnery: “glitch, drone stuff”

     Robyn McGrath: “noisy”

     Kathryn Sutherland: “spaceships”

     Esther Tuddenham: “like dreaming”

     Natalie Walters: “cars revving up the engines”

 

The Amplified Elephants are an ensemble produced by JOLT Arts since 2008 and incubated until 2019 as part of the ArtLife program at Footscray Community Arts. In 2015, The Amplified Elephants performed in La La Lullaby at Federation Square (Lights in Winter Festival) and SELECT NATURALIS at Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music, as well as touring Asia with JOLT and performing in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Macau.

Mentored by leading sound artist James Hullick and under management by JOLT, many Elephants’ projects have been presented internationally and in prominent Australian venues. Since 2007, these projects have been increasingly ambitious in scale, often featuring sonic technology: MachiNATIONS International Tour (London, Edinburgh, Tokyo 2014), RE:EVOLITION (Melbourne Festival 2014), SELECT NATURALIS (BIFEM 2015, RMIT 2018), LA LA LULLABY (Federation Square 2015), SELF SEEKERS (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Macau 2015, Festival of Live Art 2018), SHHHH (Meat Market 2016, Hangzhou, Hong Kong 2017).

The Amplified Elephants co-curated and performed in the JOLT Sonic Festival 2019. In 2021 the Elephants completed the new work Deep Creatures for Flash Forward and the City of Melbourne, and released the work on Heavy Machinery Records. In the same year the ensemble performed the live stream event Hagoromo as a collaboration with Noh Singer Ryoko Aoki and supported by Slow Label, Japan, Ritsumeikan University and RMIT University.

ARTISTS

Alisa Chu

Alisa Chu

ALISA CHU Alisa joined The Amplified Elephants in 2022 with her first full The Amplified Elephants show being Hagoromo with Ryoko Aoki. The show was released as an album in 2023 (Hagoromo, Hullick Studios Label). Alisa contributes to The Amplified Elephants sonically...

Teagan Connor

Teagan Connor

TEAGAN CONNOR voice / kaossillator / synthesisers / electronics / percussion author / visual artist   Having joined The Amplified Elephants in 2013 and the Sonic Adventurers in 2023, Connor has rapidly developed her sonic talents locally and abroad. Connor’s work...

Jay Euesden

Jay Euesden

JAY EUESDEN synthesisers / electronics / percussion   Along with Robyn McGrath and Kathryn Sutherland, Euesden is a founding member of The Amplified Elephants (2006-). Euesden’s practice is focused on minimalist sonic patterns, usually realising these ideas through...

Megan Hunter

Megan Hunter

MEGAN HUNTER iPads / synthesisers / electronics The prodigal artist; having been a founding member, Hunter returned to The Amplified Elephants in 2015 after an extended break. Hunter is primarily an iPad and keyboard synthesiser artist, although her recent return to...

Helen Kruljac

Helen Kruljac

HELEN KRULJAC synthesisers / spoken word / visual design Kruljac has created artwork for a number of CD projects for The Amplified Elephants, as well as contributing to the design of The Elephants’ compositions. Kruliac is also a founding member of the Sonic...

Robyn McGrath

Robyn McGrath

ROBYN MCGRATH synthesizers / electronics A founding member of The Amplified Elephants – a sound art ensemble – it was McGrath who originally thought of the name for the group. McGrath joined the Sonic Adventurers Collective in 2020. Sonically, McGrath primarily works...

Daniel Munnery

Daniel Munnery

DANIEL MUNNERY computer-based sound maker Joining The Amplified Elephants in 2012, Daniel has quickly developed an oeuvre as an electronic laptop-based sound artist. Mentored by JOLT director James Hullick and sound artist Steve Richards (aka Cleaning Lady), Daniel...

Kathryn Sutherland

Kathryn Sutherland

KATHRYN SUTHERLAND voice / kaossillator / synthesisers / electronics / percussion   A founding member of The Amplified Elephants (founded 2006), Kathryn explores the physicality of making creative sound. Kathryn is also a founding member of Sonic Adventurers...

Esther Tuddenham

Esther Tuddenham

ESTHER TUDDENHAM voice / synthesizers / electronic music / poetry   Esther is a sound artist, poet, photographer and intermedia creative mind. Esther explores human emotions and their utterance in her work. In 2021 Esther completed her book of poetry and...

Natalie Walters

Natalie Walters

NATALIE WALTERS sound artist Natalie Walters is an electronic music sound artist. Her practise is focused on computer-based creation, with a unique voice featuring luscious soundscapes and long-form ambient textures with pointillistic percussion. Walters released her...

MEDIA