Bespoke Devotional

Amarior invokes vengeance and forgiveness in radiant noise

One doesn’t expect to see many flutes among the profusion of pedal chains, bespoke synth units and contact mics typical of a DIY noise show, so when Amarior takes the stage at Montreal’s Error 403 on February 24, we know to expect something special. Soon, the space reverberates with delicate tendrils of silvery melody, looping themselves around each other to form a dense, pulsating drone. The improvised piece’s subtle dissonances only enhance its elegiac beauty, charging the air as though in anticipation of a coming storm.

Amarior is the flute-based solo drone project of Jack, Montrealer of about a decade and wearer of many hats in the city’s DIY punk and adjacent noise communities. In addition to fronting queer anarchist power violence trio Jetsam, Jack is the founder of Milieu Therapy, a show series highlighting trans and nonbinary performers hosted by Turbo Haus, and  the spoken word coordinator at CKUT 90.3 FM.

Jack situates Amarior squarely within the tradition of noise music, and the ethics that defined the scene they came up in around Calgary circa 2010. “Noise in that community was really, like, women and queer people and homeless kids and punks scrounging together whatever gear they could and then teaching themselves how to do stuff,” Jack says. “I really wanted to place this project within that lineage,” they say, identifying with “folks who are typically kept out of music scenes, putting together music with whatever they have on hand to express the difficult or uglier elements of their experiences.”

The project began as Alekto – named for one of the Erinyes, the three furies of Greek mythology. “Each one is responsible for punishing a different kind of transgression,” Jack explains. “Alekto specifically: the name means ‘unceasing anger,’ and she typically shows up to punish arrogant men, or men who have transgressed against women or the family.” 

Alekto channeled Jack’s experiences of surviving an abusive relationship with an intense emotional immediacy. After a few live performances and a guest contribution to Backxwash’s STIGMATA EP, they felt that form of the project had run its course. For the occasion of Demo Fest 2020—which saw over 200 DIY projects release self-recorded demos as a benefit for Montreal migrant justice coalition Solidarity Across Borders—Jack recorded two tracks, signalling a move into a different conceptual space by releasing them as Amarior.

“I think noise, in general, is a really intimate genre,” Jack tells me. “Every noise act that I can think of—even if it is just someone [standing] behind a laptop—has this feeling of intimacy and physical proximity, and I love that about it.” They deeply treasure the kinds of visceral personal connections they’ve been able to make with audiences through Alekto and Amarior, enabled by the necessarily small scale at which performances are presented. “You can do a small, 70-cap venue, a DIY space, somebody’s kitchen – or a cathedral, and nothing else… It’s almost like a devotional experience.”

Though it’s not as overt as with their work in Jetsam, the political content of an Amarior performance is always deeply considered. “I’m very wary of anything that takes its aesthetic commitment more seriously than its political commitment,” Jack says. “Obviously, in my punk band I’m very political and it’s easy to do in that regard, but it’s harder to do in a noise project. That’s a constant tension.” 

And while they’re quick to criticize the notion that art in and of itself can constitute a revolutionary project, Jack is dedicated to nurturing spaces of respite and inspiration for fellow weirdoes and outcasts.