NOW Art sat down with artist claire rousay for a live conversation about her upcoming album and collaboration with our Attune project on Instagram (@nowart_la). As a creative art agency, we love to foster conversations around art, sound, design, and more art initiatives around Los Angeles and beyond. 

Below is a transcript of the video: 

Carmen Zella (CZ): Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining. I’m excited to be here with Claire Rousay. I was listening to your album A Little Death this morning, and it completely lifted my mood—it’s extraordinary. We’re thrilled to have you as part of Attune, our experimental platform launching on Valentine’s Day.

I know you have some exciting projects coming up. You’ll be in Vancouver soon—are you from there originally?

claire rousay: No, I’m originally from Winnipeg—right in the middle. I don’t go back as much; I’m typically on either coast when I visit Canada. But I’ll be in Vancouver for the film festival, and I’m pretty excited for that.

CZ: That looks amazing. I want to talk to you a little about the work you’re presenting for the film festival. But first, I’m from Kelowna, British Columbia, so I’ve gone to Winnipeg many times to visit relatives. One of the incredible, lesser-known aspects of Canadian arts and culture is the illustrators and underground arts movement that came out of Winnipeg. Was that influential for you growing up or in becoming an artist?

claire rousay: It’s definitely something I’ve revisited in recent years. When I was living there as a kid, I wasn’t super aware of any of that. I also grew up pretty religious, so underground arts and culture weren’t really in my periphery. I’ve never been too interested in where I’m from, but recently I’ve been going back to understand what culture was like in Winnipeg in the ’80s and ’90s—to contextualize where I come from and what histories I’d be interacting with if I ever went back.

CZ: Yeah, it’s such an interesting place. I’ve always felt that the cold and landscape there make you introspective—it gives rise to artists. There’s a sense of quiet in nature that invites reflection.

claire rousay:  Definitely. It’s funny—I moved from Winnipeg to Texas when I came to the States. It’s literally a 24-hour drive straight south. The sense of being in the center of a country, landlocked, has been a recurring influence in my work. Being on a coast now feels entirely different.

CZ: Can you talk a little bit about your field recordings? I’m fascinated by your layering of sounds. How do you select locations? Do you start with journaling, or do you discover them more spontaneously?

claire rousay: It changes all the time. In the past ten years, I’ve moved a lot. When I first started engaging seriously with field recording, I wasn’t as focused on location. It was more about the sound itself. I used to imagine specific textures—like a metallic, crunchy sound—and then go searching for it. I realized I enjoyed recording domestic and industrial environments more than nature. I’m not a “mountains and birds” kind of recordist—I’m more about micro sounds, like moving a safety pin across a piece of paper. That’s where the magic happens.

CZ: Wow. Once you find these sounds, how do they evolve into a piece?

claire rousay: I record constantly. Even if I don’t find what I’m searching for, the process is part of it. I have a massive archive of recordings—terabytes of them. Sometimes I’ll revisit older material based on emotion or atmosphere rather than the sound itself—looking for something that captures a feeling I want to explore.

CZ: Can I read something written about A Little Death? “Shaped around field recordings captured at dusk, the album is an homage to the gentle drifts and lurking disquiet of twilight.”

claire rousay: That was written by Mike Boyd at Thrill Jockey. The record is built around a specific time of day, not necessarily a specific place—mostly sounds from domestic or public spaces, not nature.

CZ: Did you write it in LA?

claire rousay: Yes. The recordings were made between 2021 and 2025.

CZ: It’s such a beautiful album, Claire. You’ll be performing it at Barnsdall Gallery on October 24, right?

claire rousay: Yes, I created a new score for A Bloody Lady. It started as a one-off performance in 2022 and has since expanded—I’ve been performing it at festivals and even released a selection of the soundtrack.

CZ: That’s amazing. And that performance is on October 7 at the Rio Theatre?

claire rousay: Correct.

CZ: That’s fantastic. Shifting back to Attune, you’ll be creating something for our network across 20 sites in LA. What interests you about that format?

claire rousay: I’m fascinated by how it spans 20 locations across LA County. Much of my work engages with place and sound, but I’ve never done something at that scale.  The idea of multiple small audiences forming one larger collective experience feels aligned with my approach—like stretching a single musical phrase into many variations that together form a whole.

I also love that Attune emphasizes accessibility—free, public art that invites people to just “roll up and find out.” That openness really resonates with me.

CZ: That’s beautiful. Will you add a live component?

claire rousay: I’m exploring ways to include one. I’d like to set up microphones where participants can speak, and their voices are processed in real time—transformed into tonal material. It turns language into something universal: sound.

CZ: I love that. It takes language and makes it universal. Claire, thank you so much for joining us—I can’t wait to see your performance on the 24th. Safe travels to Vancouver! For anyone attending, catch her at the Rio Theatre on October 7.

claire rousay: Thank you so much for having me.

CZ: Take care, bye.