Justice Yeldham
Lucas "Grandpa" Abela | |
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 Abela after a Justice Yeldham show in Paris, France, 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Born | Lucas Abela 7 May 1972 Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
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Lucas "Grandpa" Abela (born 7 May 1972), also known by the stage name Justice Yeldham, is an Australian noise musician. They are most famous for creating an instrument made from a diamond-shaped pane of glass, fitted with contact microphones and attached to effects pedals. During live shows, they manipulate and break the glass with their mouth, often receiving cuts in the process and leaving their face and the instrument smeared in blood. NME described their live shows as "crossing the line between music and bloodsport".[1] Despite being classified as a noise artist, Abela sees themself as an improvisational musician in the free jazz tradition.[2]
Abela began their music career in Sydney in the 1990s as a DJ and turntablist.[3] Realising that any metal tip can carry sound, they began replacing the record needles with objects such as pins, knives and skewers, and soon moved on to building their own phonographs with recycled electric motors.[3] Abela's experimentations attracted the attention of Australian musicians Oren Ambarchi and Mike Avenaim, who helped launch their career as a touring musician.[2] Abela discovered the musical potential of glass in 2003 when they found broken glass among building rubble in Chippendale, Sydney. They attached a microphone to one end of the glass, then started blowing on the surface. They later said: "I was really taken how just kind of crystal clear the resonance was as opposed to the resonance within metal, ... Finding glass was a hallelujah moment."[3] Performing as Justice Yeldham, they toured the world extensively with their glass instrument, garnering a wide array of reactions due to the graphic and dangerous nature of their live shows.[3] One journalist described the sound that Abela achieves with the instrument as "like a distorted guitar laid over a harmony of dying cats."[3] In regards to bleeding on stage due to cuts from the glass, Abela says, "I'm never even conscious that I've cut myself until after the show when someone says 'You’d better clean yourself up.' It’s like the playing is an out of body experience in which I never feel pain."[3]
In 2017, Justice Yeldham began collaborating with American experimental hip hop group Death Grips.[4] They feature on the band's 2018 album Year of the Snitch.[5]
Discography
[edit]- As Justice Yeldham
- And the Drummer Who Shall Remain Nameless (2007)
- Cicatrix (2007)
- Never (2023)
References
[edit]- ^ "Meet Justice Yeldham – The Glass-Licking Nutter ‘Crossing The Line Between Music And Bloodsport’" (24 September 2009), NME. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ^ a b Priest, Gail (2009). Experimental Music: Audio Explorations in Australia. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 9781921410079, pp. 148–149.
- ^ a b c d e f Morgans, Julian (11 July 2018). "Meet the Experimental Musician Who Plays Cut Glass With His Mouth". SBS. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ Murphy, Sam (21 September 2017). "Death Grips Are Working With An Aussie Artist Who Plays Broken Glass With His Face", Music Feed. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ Hamilton, Bruce (2 July 2018). "Death Grips Is IRL: Privacy, Community, & The Shadow Of Deltron 3030 Hang Over Year Of The Snitch", Stereogum. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
