Justin Peake is an American drummer, sound composer, improviser, and experimental media artist. His music is built from acoustic and electronic elements often using his own interactive software instruments. He has released music on the Moodgadget, Ghostly International, Ears & Eyes, and Articulated Works labels. He has been based in New Orleans since 2007.
A graduate of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), he focused on building software for variably structured improvisation in performance. His work encompasses sound, space, and light. He is the main developer behind FIGURE, a new music software for improvised conduction as well as MANTIS (the Mutually Adaptive Neuro-Tonal Interface System) which is a physiological musical instrumen incorporating realtime analysis of an individual’s heart-rate.
He is a researcher and educator and has worked as a teacher & lecturer at New York University and Tulane University.
He facilitates public workshops centered around his own research and process which investigates perception and aesthetics by reference to ecology, cognitive science, philosophy, anthropology, and a variety of contemplative practices.
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Over the years, he has performed with artists such as Frank Gratkowski, Wilbert de Joode, Mike Gamble, Byron Asher, Alissa Derubeis, Jeff Albert, Aurora Nealand, Dana Reason, Mark Dresser, Rob Mazurek, Holland Andrews, Tim Daisy, Jacob Wick, Jason Stein, Helen Gillet, Jim Baker, Scott Amendola, Quintron, Charlie Hunter, Eivind Opsvik, Tom Rainey, Simon Berz, Ingrid Laubrock, James Singleton, and Simon Lott among many others.
“ ...a gem of an electronic music producer. His sound design chops are doctorate-worthy, his ideas are always tasteful in their avoidance of excess, and he’s a master of flirting with many genres while being difficult to classify...”
“...a wonderful glimpse into not only what music can be, but also how art must necessarily involve its audience...”
- Mike Griffith, myneworleans.com“Peake belongs to a rich corner of the New Orleans music scene, one that is nonetheless largely invisible within the town’s broader musical culture. In the birthplace of jazz - a music born out of the freedom of creative improvisation. Peake’s electro-acousticism is just one branch of an extremely varied tradition.”
- Zachary Young, offbeat.com—