Podcast 210: Alex McLean

Art + Music + Technology

I really like the idea of allowing a concept to grow naturally. Alex McLean sort of lives his life with that as a rule. As the developer of the Tidal (nee TidalCycles) live coding language, the founder and curator of the AlgoMech festival and a big supporter of the algorave movement, Alex has found that interaction with other people - and allowing them to influence change - provides a compelling way to allow an idea to mature.

And Alex is full of ideas. The Tidal language is a live coding language with a point: it's all about patterns. Using simple syntax and realtime interaction with the machine, you can weave together complex rhythmic and melodic algorithms into a compelling sonic story. He's taken this further with his development of the AlgoMech festival in Sheffield, which combines the worlds of algorithms and mechanisms in a unique way. He's also big into the algorave movement - which just makes sense.

Alex took a little time out of his schedule to discuss his ideas, his life (including his surprising day gig...) and his approach to growing community, and there is a lot for anyone to learn from the discussion. Enjoy!

This episode of the Art + Music + Technology podcast was supported, in part, by Chris Coleman and Laleh Mehran, artists based out of Denver, Colorado.