Robb Kunz

Robb Kunz is a recordist and sound engineer/artist. He is the founder of the Berlin-based ethnoelectro group Alcalica and the short-lived Urban Guerrilla Audio Kollective. A core member of the militant marching band Infernal Noise Brigade from 2000 to 2006, Kunz produces large-scale, often politically charged sound installations and broadcasts that transform public spaces. At the start of the Iraq War in 2003, Kunz collaborated with artivist Filastine to create Moukabir Sawte, a sound performance that “brought the war home,” through the artists’ deployment of synchronized, mobile loudspeaker units blaring the Muslim call to prayer and wailing air-raid sirens to strategic locations in Seattle. This was followed by We Are Here to Disrupt, to Disrupt to Disrupta 4 day 16 channel sound installation in downtown Seattle, a sonic recreation of events around the 1999 WTO demonstrations. He produced Voices of the Animate Air (Belef International Arts Festival, Belgrade, 2007), a ten-channel radio symphony inspired by invasions of Belgrade over the last two centuries. 

Recently, Kunz designed and produced several pieces/exhibits for the Degenerate Art Ensemble's 2011 exhibition at the Frye Art Museum. He has been a member of DAE for 8 years, producing all their sonic output during that time. His most recent installation (Aug 2011) It's Summer Somewhere filled the Bellevue Botanical Gardens for 2 weeks with sounds of invading species from southern climes. Handcrafted from recycled materials and repurposed parts, Kunz’s signature loudspeakers are solar powered, able to receive radio transmission, and are kinetic, with the ability to constantly shift direction and blend audible content with environmental sound. 

He has received grants/awards/commissions from 4Culture, Seattle Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, City of Bellevue, NonSequitur Foundation and the Frye Art Museum.