When the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra asked Andrew Norman to write a piece about Frank Gehry's Santa Monica residence, the experimental composer went to visit the traditional bungalow that Gehry famously reconfigured using raw industrial materials. His next stop was Home Depot, to grab the corrugated metal, industrial ducting and chain link fence he'd use to devise the industrial percussion sound of his new work.
For this radio piece, I got to record professional musicians whacking construction materials with paint stirrers. I also interviewed Frank Gehry about his eclectic musical background. Did you know the celebrated architect once played the toilet plunger in a stoner pickup band called "Five Bags of Shit?"
This story aired on KPCC show The Frame in 2015.