RA Exchange.

Welcome to Resident Adviser Exchange. I'm your host and the exchange's senior producer, Chloe Lula.

My guest today is Suzanne Shiani, a pioneering electronic musician, sound designer, five-time

Grammy-nominated composer, and a strong symbol of independent feminism for a whole generation of women in music.

She studied composition at UC Berkeley in the late 60s, fell in love with Don Buchla's modular synthesizer,

and became one of its first true virtuosos.

When no record label would sign a woman making electronic music, she funded all of her own work by starting her own sound design company, where she went on to compose trademark commercial soundscapes you've heard without knowing it.

She became the first solo woman to score a major Hollywood film and is still actively touring around the world with her Bucla, even on the eve of her 80th birthday.

We recorded this conversation live from IMS Abiza, and what came out was less a career retrospective than a working philosophy,

on being stubborn enough to walk out of opportunities that don't align with her,

refusing to play by the rules, and carving

out her own path in a man's world that didn't give her one. We also talked about radical

late 60s politics, her most recent excursion to Birkheim, and more. Suzanne Chiani's most

recent release is a collaborative live album with actress called Concrete Waves.

You can grab a copy on actress's label WorkDiscs.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

Next up, Suzanne Chiani.

Thank you for joining me.

Thank you, Chloe.

I wanted to start by asking you,

you're someone who doesn't seem to be constrained, like ideologically or musically. You've had more than 50 years in the industry. What are some things that people

don't know that you've had to do to secure your independence? I had to be very stubborn.

...