International Strange Music Day
Break out of your comfort zone and listen to some genuinely weird music, or try making your own with unique instruments, atonal scales, and uncommon sounds.
Celebrate experimental creativity and boundary-pushing artistry by inviting audiences to discover unconventional music genres and DIY instrument-making on International Strange Music Day.
- Share user-generated playlists of the weirdest, most avant-garde tracks—challenge followers to add their own discoveries
- Host a live 'strange instrument' jam session or workshop using everyday objects as percussion
- Feature interviews with experimental musicians and composers about how they broke genre conventions
- Create a 'listening without prejudice' campaign encouraging people to step outside their musical comfort zones
International Strange Music Day was created by Patrick Grant, who was a New York City musician and composer at the time. The premise of the day is simple: to get people to play and listen to types of music they have never experienced before.
Patrick Grant believed that broadening people’s musical spectrums can also change the way that society looks at other aspects of life – his mantra is ‘listening without prejudice’.
Honestly, Strange Music Day also started out as a way for Grant to promote his new album, “Fields Amaze” in 1997. He picked August 24 because it was his girlfriend’s dad’s birthday, who had been a sort of artistic mentor to him.
By 2002, the day had been growing and picked up by various artists and venues. When he discovered the day had made its way to Europe, he decided to add the “International” portion to the name.
This growing movement now is attached to concerts, hosts a record label and gains strong support from summer schools, where it is appreciated as a great way to stimulate young minds.
The year 2012 brought added inspiration when Patrick Grant challenged the musicians of New York to participate in an International Strange Music Day Performance Soiree. Various strange bands and musicians such as Jolly Ramey, The Dreamscape Floppies, Da Groove Commanders, Micro-tons o’ Fun, and many more.
Since that time, other events have been hosted in honor of the day in New York as well as other towns and cities all over the United States. Other places in the world have been known to get in on the fun as well, including the University of London.
It’s time to celebrate International Strange Music Day!
Listen to Strange Music Online
For those whose taste in music is already a bit on the edge, this is the perfect day to celebrate by listening to something even more out of the ordinary. Whether it’s a strange artist, a strange genre or a song with strange words, try out these ideas to get started on a playlist that will be inspirational for International Strange Music Day: The Sound of Burning Chairs (2016) by Tilted Axes. One of Patrick Grant’s own projects, this group brings to public spaces the music of especially composed electric guitars. Sound Strange? It is! International Freak (2018) by The Egyptian Lover. Part of the LA dance and rap music movement of the early ‘80s, this band features front man Gregory Broussard. Rock N Roll McDonalds (1995) by Wesley Willis. This underground singer songwriter from the late eighties and early nineties gained a unique cult following, he also fronted his own punk rock band called the Wesley Willis Fiasco.
Create Some Strange Music
Ever wanted to combine a tight Wonder Woman costume, a frozen turkey drumstick and an inflatable wildebeest into a percussion concert? International Strange Music Day gives everyone the perfect excuse to do just that! What you do with these items once the music stops, of course, is something more personal…