Emil Beaulieau, or more fully, “Emil Beaulieau: America’s Greatest Living Noise Artist” (born July 5, 1957) is the stage name of Ron Lessard, a prominent
noise music
Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...
ian who primarily records for his own label:
RRRecords
RRRecords is a record label and used and new record shop based in Lowell, Massachusetts. RRRecords was the first American record label to publish underground "noise music" in the early 1980s, and published the first American vinyl by Merzbow, Maso ...
. He has collaborated and performed with many well-known noise artists, including
Merzbow
is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...
,
Pain Jerk,
Richard Ramirez
Ricardo "Richard" Leyva Muñoz Ramirez (; February 29, 1960 – June 7, 2013), dubbed the Night Stalker, the Valley Intruder (as his attacks were first clustered in the San Gabriel Valley), and the Walk-in Killer was an American serial kil ...
from
Black Leather Jesus
Black Leather Jesus is a harsh noise wall group originally from Houston, Texas. The group was founded by Richard Ramirez in 1989, who fronts the band alongside partner Sean E. Matzus and various other musicians assisting. At one point, the band ...
and
Sonic Disorder. Beaulieau frequently performs with a custom-made four-armed
turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
named the Minutoli after its creator, a friend of the artist. Dressed in his trademark pink dress shirt, tie, and grey cardigan, Emil Beaulieau acts out comical performances.
Emil Beaulieau is also believed to have been the first to have applied the LAYLAH Records term “
anti-record” to musical records which have been treated (melted, drilled, painted, etc.) so that they become noise records. While something like this had been done by experimental artists for several decades, it wasn’t until Emil’s release of a series of such records (Billboard Combat, Metastasis; Due Process, Do Nothing and many more) that these (anti-)art pieces were widely called anti-records.
He was formerly married to Maria Moran, the American multimedia artist also known as
Zipper Spy.
Minutoli
The Minutoli is a
phonograph turntable modified to support multiple (usually four)
tone arms. The tone arms may be used independently and/or in combinations at the operator's discretion. The result is generally a unique performance, due to the random positions available. The device is mostly associated with Noise performer Emil Beaulieau as an instrument employed in his stage acts. It was invented by his friend, Michael Minutoli.
External links
RRRecords, Lowell, MassachusettsEmil Beaulieau Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieau, Emil
Noise musicians
1957 births
Living people