Kevin Corcoran works with an open interest in sound as medium as it moves through contexts of music, art, communication and place.
As a percussionist he is most interested in techniques which extend the sonic possibilities of the instrument emphasizing textural sound, friction, sympathetic vibration, sustained tones and the use of found objects with focus on freely arranging sound in duration rather than marking time by rhythm. Whether working in sparse sound with a single drum and percussive objects or frenetic contexts with full drum kit, improvisation is crucial to his practice as generative method and non-hierarchical exchange of ideas.
He works also with field recordings, collecting sounds in natural and built environments by observing and interacting with sites and objects with specific interest in abandoned and overlooked areas, conditions of excess, processes of decay and intersections of infrastructure and open space. He works with electronic sound through feedback systems, computer software and cassette tapes.
He has performed in the United States, Europe, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan, exhibited sonic artworks in the Bay Area, published text, and contributed to several recordings both improvised and composed.
Beyond his own work he is an organizer of the concert series Re:Sound which takes place in an abandoned munitions magazine on Mare Island and operates under the nonprofit organization 23Five which is dedicated to the increased awareness of sound in the arts.