Jim Denley

Born in the Illawarra, south of Sydney in 1957, Jim Denley has been active in experimental and improvised sound since the late 1970s.

His photo of spiderwebs after rain is from the Budawang Mountains. The audio, Monolith Ravine he recorded in the Monolith Valley, Budawangs, Yuin Nation. He’s made work there or about the Budawangs for over 20 years

You can listen to his 2007 recordings from the Budawangs, Through Fire, Crevice and the Hidden Valley.

He is interested in what his music instinct might learn from language. From 1989 to 2009 he worked with the text/music group Machine for Making Sense, (Amanda Stewart, Stevie Wishart, Rik Rue and Chris Mann).

Jim co-formed 180ยบ with Amanda Stewart and Nick Ashwood in 2018 to continue the pursuit of text/music intra-activity.

Monolith Ravine, recorded in the Budawang Mountains 2008
Wharf – recorded in Rushcutters Bay 2019

He often records around the coves and beaches of Sydney Harbour, where for thousands of years the Iyora people would have played ngaramang (music). The selfie and audio above were captured at Rushcutters Bay in late 2019.

Darkes Brothers Cave, The Hidden Valley, Budawangs.
Billys Bounce, recorded at the Hidden Valley, 2008

He’s been involved with the radically inclusive Splinter Orchestra since 2001. Above is a video made of their trip to the Pilliga, NSW in 2018.

Contact: jim@splitrec.com