Scanner is a London based experimental music artist. He started out working in audio in the late 80s early 90s, recording cell phone conversations from people nearby. He then edited the conversations, some of which adding eerie music, and others just letting the listener hear the raw, scratchy conversation. This controversial project sparked the interest of journalists, and helped get Scanner's name out in the art world. Since then, Scanner has done everything from collaberations with DJs and bands like Radiohead, to performance pieces in department stores, to combining the anthems of the 25 countries in Europe for a new Anthem to combine Europe.
For his project "Surface Noise", he took a double decker bus in London, and replaced the lights with speakers. He then traveled back and forth from St. Paul's Cathedral to Big Ben, picking up people and dropping them off. In this performance, he picked up conversations that were going on right there during the ride and combined them with noises coming from a microphone outside the bus; as well as recording images during the ride, all of which he played live for the people riding with him. He took the song "London Bridge is Falling Down" and had the sheet music superimposed over a map of London between Big Ben and St. Pauls, and wherever the notes hit were wear the bus would make stops. His work is entirely orginal and extremely fascinating. Since starting out, he has made 35 to 40 albums.
