Founded in 2017, Tone List’s Audible Edge has dedicated itself to asking what else is possible in the underground exploratory music scene of Boorloo/Perth. This artist-run festival is ostensibly my baby, though it is made possible by a small team and a roster of guest curators. Keeping it afloat through the last two precarious years has been exhausting, but each actual event is a reminder of the joy of being part of the weird and warm-hearted sonic culture we have spent the last six years cultivating.

Audible Edge

Josten Myburgh performing as part of Mahagonny at Audible Edge. Photo © Eduardo Cossio.

We’ve recently become committed to “raising the stakes” by exploring special venues, funding micro-commissions or putting experimental music in strange contexts, in order to help artists realise ambitions and question normative ways of experiencing music. At the core of our curatorial philosophy is a decision to stay shoulder-deep in the scene, and prioritise artist agency: we want to find out what people want to do and help them achieve that, rather than impose our own visions.

A project from visual artist Jack Wansbrough, The Noise...