Biography
Michael Prime identifies as a sound ecologist, a designation that unites his deep engagement with both music and living systems. Since entering the avant-garde music community in 1985, he established a strong presence through performances in electronic ensembles such as Morphogenesis and Organum. After studying ecology, he spent many years in that profession, protecting wildlife habitats across South London, an experience that directly shaped methods for converting environmental and organic sounds into musical material.
He helped establish the live electronic improvisation ensemble Morphogenesis in 1985 alongside Roger Sutherland, Adam Bohman, Ron Briefel, Clive Hall, and Fred Sansom, issuing multiple recordings on Streamline, Paradigm, Vintage Electronic Records, and his own Mycophile imprint. Beginning in 1988 he joined performances with Organum, contributing a 7" single for Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier in 1989 and a series of CDs throughout the 1990s. Additional partnerships include work with noted avant-garde figures Jim O'Rourke and Eddie Prevost, as well as the formation of Negative Entropy in 1997 together with Geert Feytons of Noise-Makers Fifes.
Prime’s practice centers on revealing sonic phenomena that typically pass unnoticed. This approach appears both in his selection of performance sites—caves, railroad tunnels, forests—and in his choice of source materials. The 1998 album Domestic Science features processed audio drawn from domestic appliances including a refrigerator and a washing machine. His most widely regarded release, the 2000 recording L-Fields, transforms bioelectric signals from hallucinogenic plants into atmospheric electro-acoustic compositions. He devised a method of real-time interaction with vegetation whereby fluctuations in each plant’s bioelectrical field modulate an oscillator, and he has presented numerous live performances featuring these plant-derived sounds.
He helped establish the live electronic improvisation ensemble Morphogenesis in 1985 alongside Roger Sutherland, Adam Bohman, Ron Briefel, Clive Hall, and Fred Sansom, issuing multiple recordings on Streamline, Paradigm, Vintage Electronic Records, and his own Mycophile imprint. Beginning in 1988 he joined performances with Organum, contributing a 7" single for Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier in 1989 and a series of CDs throughout the 1990s. Additional partnerships include work with noted avant-garde figures Jim O'Rourke and Eddie Prevost, as well as the formation of Negative Entropy in 1997 together with Geert Feytons of Noise-Makers Fifes.
Prime’s practice centers on revealing sonic phenomena that typically pass unnoticed. This approach appears both in his selection of performance sites—caves, railroad tunnels, forests—and in his choice of source materials. The 1998 album Domestic Science features processed audio drawn from domestic appliances including a refrigerator and a washing machine. His most widely regarded release, the 2000 recording L-Fields, transforms bioelectric signals from hallucinogenic plants into atmospheric electro-acoustic compositions. He devised a method of real-time interaction with vegetation whereby fluctuations in each plant’s bioelectrical field modulate an oscillator, and he has presented numerous live performances featuring these plant-derived sounds.
Albums
