JACK HOOKER

Jack Hooker is a composer, electronic musician and acoustic guitarist from Aotearoa New Zealand. 

 

His primary output is immersive electronic music, characterised by epic and emotive wall-of-sound synths, textured soundscapes and cinematic post-rock dynamics. Jack has featured this sound as a member of the duo The Shocking and Stunning and in solo and collaborative projects. His second main output is instrumental acoustic guitar music, featuring intricate fingerpicking, tapping techniques and open tunings in an expansive style that draws from diverse worldwide influences and collaborations.

 

Jack has collaborated with acclaimed New Zealand/Greek composer John Psathas on multiple occasions. In 2013 he co-composed the opening and closing of Between Zero and One, a concert length work by John for percussion group Strike. Between 2014-2016 he was then involved with John’s monumental film work No Man’s Land, receiving a full scholarship to complete a Masters Degree in Composition while working on the project. Jack travelled with the production of No Man's Land throughout Europe, India and New Zealand, and featured in the film as an on-screen performer. As part of his Masters Degree he also created music in collaboration with musicians from Indonesia, Greece and The Philippines, and spent three weeks in The Philippines working with Kalinga folk musicians. In 2020 John and Jack co-produced and curated the collaborative album It's Already Tomorrow.

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Jack has been involved with Indonesian gamelan music for a number of years, performing with the groups Gamelan Padhang Moncar (Javanese) and Gamelan Taniwha Jaya (Balinese). He composed pieces for both groups that were performed in Indonesia during a three-week tour in 2013. In 2016 he received an Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship, spending four months in West Sumatra studying talempong music.