Kristopher Grant

Kristopher Grant headshot

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Departments

Technology and Applied Composition

Courses Taught

Production Techniques in Ableton Live

Q&A

What is your hometown?

Chicago, Illinois.

What is your favorite recording?

Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma.

What are you passionate about outside of music?

Visual art, finding new ways to blend art and technology.

Who were your major teachers?

Nicolas Collins, Taurin Barrera, Shaio Zerba.

What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?

"You are the barrier to your own greatness."

What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?

What all can you do with this?

What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?

When I was introduced to computer audio and experimental music during a Nicolas Collins lecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?

Military intelligence.

What is your daily practice routine?

I try to make a short song every day.

If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be? Why?

Jacob Collier because of his incredible musicality, Benn Jordan for the depth of his works, & Flying Lotus for inspiration and ideas.

From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you? Why?

Either Detroit, Michigan, or Chicago in the 1970s, because they were the birth places of techno and house music respectively.

What is your unrealized project?

An art installation titled "The Rumor Mill."

Please list your most important collaborations.

Suzanne Ciani, Popgang Records, Quadre Quartet.

What recordings can we hear you on?

My artist name is Idea Unsound, and my music is available on virtually all streaming platforms. My most recent releases are a2 track EP called Pixel Funk and my short albums Black Cell and Explore Shanghai. 

Additional Media

 

 

Kristopher Grant is a classically trained musician & multi-media artist with particular expertise in electronic music production, synthesis techniques, and interactive audio-visual tools. He has been producing and mixing music under the moniker ‘Idea Unsound’ for over a decade with various software systems, developing a strong understanding of computer-music interfacing, as well as an instrument-like level of comfort within the digital environment. He also uses an assortment of multi-media tools to create immense, interactive installations and performances with Ableton Live as the centerpiece. What’s more, Grant is also a veteran of the US Air Force, having done 3 combat tours of duty over 6 years before departing to pursue life as a full-time audio professional.