Algobabez UK

Live coding duo made up of Leeds-based creative technologist Joanne Armitage and Newcastle-based data musician Shelly Knotts

Algobabez have been blasting eardrums with incorrigibly industrial synth-driven algo-pop since 2016. Formed of algo-regulars Shelly Knotts and Joanne Armitage, they use the open-source software SuperCollider to code and control patterns of weird, wonky, thumping music. Their freeform collaboration often finds algorithmic drumming pro Armitage taking the lead with the beats, as synth specialist Knotts crafts the ambient textures and sound effects. Knotts is a data musician currently based in Newcastle, UK. She performs live-coded and network music internationally, collaborating with computers and other humans. Armitage is a creative technologist and artist working with sound, physical computing, digital media and interaction design. Based at Leeds, her current practice-based research explores how digital sound can connect with the body through haptic feedback. Burning Circuits (2017), their cassette tape debut as Algobabez, offers insights into their on-stage collaboration, as they debug errors together in real time. Armitage and Knotts like to describe their project’s DNA as “okay apart, but better together: 2 babes, 2 laptops and 1 sound.”