Ignorant Noise
Griffith, Indiana, United States
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
An up-and-coming Electro-Hop/Dubstep producer, Ignorant Noise is one of Chicago’s most colorful characters. Hard to miss at a show with his ‘Noise’ hat and spiked leather jacket, his appearance is as unique and individualized as his sound. With his newest EP release ‘Pump Up The Noise’ making its way up to #40 in Dubstep on the Beatport charts, our very own Ragehound took some time to sit down and chat with Dwight Poole about his inspiration, and how his career began.
Ragehound: How did you first get started in music production?
Ignorant Noise: I had this group of friends when I was in Middle/High School who were really into Into The Groove and DDR, and they all had really good taste in hip hop and electronic music. One of them, DJ Mango, was really good at sampling and writing beats to make these awesomely spacey and groovy electro hop tunes. One day I brought my bass over to his house, and we spent hours recording drums and bass to make some groovy, unique stuff. After that, I asked for my first DAW, Acid XP or something I think, for Christmas because I was so inspired by what you could do in the realm of electronic music.
RH: Where did you come up with the name Ignorant Noise? Is there a backstory there?
IN: There is! I used to produce/DJ under the name DP (my initials [my last name isn't Noise]) but people kept asking what that stood for and they would just sort of fill in the blanks…They thought it stood for something really sexual, which makes “fill in the blanks” a really disturbing, unintentional pun and oh God why.
So I sort of was cruising along without a name for a while. Ignorant Noise came about one day while I was watching one of my friends bicker with his girlfriend on Facebook about bands. He was talking about a band he really liked, and she described it as “nothing but a bunch of ignorant noise.” MAGIC! She had an obnoxiously narrow view on music to the point where she would only listen to like 10 bands because everything else was inferior. I thought that that was hilariously ignorant. With all the music being written across the entire world, and all the artists dedicating their entire lives to a craft, the notion that you could dismiss it as “noise” was awesomely motivating. It took on an added note of significance because being an electronic producer/DJ in pre-2009 was sort of like a death sentence, or at the very least an acknowledgement that answering the question, “What kind of music do you write?” would be met with scorn and “Ooooh, techno shit.”
So Ignorant Noise is sort of a sarcastic rebuttal that I wear proudly every time I have to hear about how, being a bass player of like 11 years, I don’t play “real” instruments or play “real” music.
Being a sucker for the live experience, what I was most curious about when speaking to Dwight was how he approaches a live set, his taste in venues, and how an Ignorant Noise live experience compares to what most would expect from more ‘mainstream’ DJs. Did he take the ‘crowd pleaser’ route frowned upon by some and embraced fully by others? Or was there a more experimental undercurrent in his performances?
RH: I noticed you have a very individualized style, what would you say is your go-to for every set and why?
IN: When I started out DJing, I had this idea that I was gonna blast electro and dubstep and people were going to go crazy…I learned pretty fast and hard that going into sets with that mentality is disastrous. I learned that if I wanted to play dubstep I had to mix it with hip hop…which in a way means I was playing modern trap music before it was popular. That is a foundation of my DJing to this day. I don’t like the idea of playing to one specific crowd, and my goal is, ideally, to play music that everyone can enjoy. So I’m perfectly okay with doing something like playing ‘Ye’s All Of the Lights’ with Bassnectar’s ‘Timestretch’. In a sense, I have no go to set. I like to be versatile. Having people dance and lose themselves is more important to me than being able to pat myself on the back and claim I stuck to my DJ principles, whatever that means.
RH: What has been your favorite venue to spin at?
IN: evilOlive in Chicago for Porn and Chicken, without a doubt. I thoroughly enjoy all of the places I’ve played at, but nowhere comes even close to matching the atmosphere of that spot.
RH: Where do you primarily perform (state/city/venue type)?
IN: I play mostly in the Chicago/NWI area for now. I don’t really go for any venue type in general. I think part of the fun is being able to play in any type of venue and bring your energy into it, instead of going after certain places and trying to take their atmosphere.
At one point in our discussion, Dwight mentioned that he had an interest in helping others, reaching out to the community in a meaningful way. Already setting aside a percentage of his show earnings to donate to charity, Dwight hopes to playing future shows and producing select tracks that can dir - Soundgrail
"There were a few notable acts early on in the day. Ignorant Noise, Indigosun, and Rebirth Brass Band stood out. Ignorant Noise, despite being on from 1:30-2:15, put on as energetic of a show as any of the evening acts if not more." - Chicago Music Magazine
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
"Born in 2004, this outfit came together and began raging their way through Chicago where they performed to mesmerized and transfixed crowds. IGNORANT NOISE combined their love for the genre with infectious, loud, and powerful beats of generations before their own, and ultimately created a fresh new approach to heavier music. Armed with high-energy Electro Hop, IGNORANT NOISE will bring sophistication and sexual feeling back to your cerebral cortex."
I don't know what any of that means but I like dancing and bass music.
Let's Groove.
Band Members
Links