Noise Diary

Noise Diary is an essay on sound and community. Sutton engages with Toronto’s improvised music scene as a listener. As live music is opening up after the pandemic, the author, struggling with anxiety and depression, goes out to experience the handful of Toronto rooms that house improvised music and its community. He draws from writing on art and music to think through the act of live listening and more fully participate in this especially challenging art form that feels like the edge of music. Alongside these night-time outings is the daily struggle of parenting and a reconstruction of a sense of self in post-pandemic, economically hostile Toronto. The essay incorporates interview material from several of the musicians.