JOE LIRENTI
I’m a 27-year-old artist based in São Paulo, Brazil, working across music, photography, body, and space. My approach is shaped by context and collaboration — starting from atmosphere, process, and concept rather than fixed outcomes. My work moves between mediums and follows a set of recurring themes: texture, decay, and the tension between structure and looseness.
Each project — whether mixing a record, tattooing, scoring a film, or building a zine — acts as a vessel for something specific, often fragile or unresolved. I’m drawn to dissonance and distortion, not as style, but as ways of expressing vulnerability. I often collaborate with artists in different countries, responding to shifting conditions — environmental, psychological, and formal.
If you'd like to talk, collaborate, or say hi, my contact’s below.
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01 MIXED MEDIA PROJECTS
02 MUSIC PRODUCTION & MIX ENGINEERING
03 EXTENDED PRACTICE
04 MUSIC FOR FILM
05 CULTURAL EVENTSEXTENDED PRACTICE: RESIDENCIES, STUDIO & PHOTOGRAPHY
CYRÓ ARTIST RESIDENCY
Tiradentes, MG - Brazil
September 2024
Video by Theo Guarnieri
CYRÓ instagramI spent a week at CYRÓ, an artist residency set in the rural landscape of Tiradentes, Brazil. With no set proposal, the environment shaped the work: I built compositions in real time, placing them among trees, rivers, and under the shifting light of the forest. These pieces leaned into something more situational — sound that exists in a moment, without a clear beginning or end, blending with birdsong, wind, and falling leaves.
My focus was on site-specific installation, using PAs and quadraphonic setups placed directly in nature. I explored both harmony and tension between sound and setting, which has since shifted how I think about ambient music and context. The residency also gave space for spontaneous collaborations with artists like Danilo Chamas (visual artist), Aline Vieira (aka Flores Feias, from the label Meia Vida), and Maria Anália. Danilo live painted twice over my music; with Aline and Maria, we closed the experience with an abstract night-time performance — part ambient, part noise, part musique concrète — played in complete darkness, surrounded by horses.
LIVE @NADA IMPORTA RECORDS
2025
This live video captures a 6-minute drone improvisation I recorded at home — or, as I like to call it, Nada Importa Records: a fictional label.
The performance is built on feedback, dissonance, and texture — everything was played live using the Lyra-8, Cosmos, and RV-6, with no sequencing or overdubs.
The video was shot by Rafael Nelo using an Xbox Kinect with TouchDesigner, and later edited by me using Dither Boy, a glitch video tool by Studio AAA.
PHOTOGRAPHiC STUDIES
My approach to photography is informal and exploratory — not as a professional pursuit, but as an extension of my broader multimedia work. I shoot in both analog and digital formats, always guided by texture: organic, synthetic, architectural, or human. I’m drawn to surfaces that suggest the passage of time, with a particular interest in the melancholic feel of decay.
In analog, I often use expired film and vintage lenses, letting the film’s own character speak. In digital, I edit more extensively using Lightroom, pushing contrast and detail to reflect whatever I was feeling in that moment. The images are personal, emotional fragments — often tied to natural scenes or travel — and occasionally appear in zines or accompany my music. The practice expands on the same ideas that shape my sound work: atmosphere, and tension.
SALA SECRETA STUDIO
Suzano, SP - Brazil
2018 - now
Live Session recorded and edited by Joe Lirenti and Pedro Ponce, featuring the band AYGAM
Sala Secreta instagram
Sala Secreta is a two-room studio located in Suzano, SP, co-run with producer Pedro Ponce. The studio has become a meeting point for independent musicians across the Alto Tietê region (including Suzano, Mogi das Cruzes, Poá, Ferraz de Vasconcelos, Itaquaquecetuba, and Arujá).
The first room is dedicated to rehearsals and live recordings. With a comfortable, laid-back aesthetic, it’s a space where musicians feel at home and free. The second room is an acoustically treated production and mixing space equipped for more refined work. The two are fully interconnected, allowing for simultaneous recording and performance. Alongside full productions and rehearsals, the studio is known for its live sessions — often captured with a lo-fe, early-2000s MTV feel, while keeping the audio fully professional.
More than a studio, Sala Secreta operates as a community hub: we’ve supported dozens of local acts through workshops, rehearsals, events, and collaborative projects. In 2024, the studio was awarded funding through the Aldir Blanc law - as a result, during 2025, we’ve offered free studio access, production support, and educational workshops for emerging independent bands.
It’s also the place where I do most of my own mixing and production work. The constant flow of ideas, sounds, and personalities that pass through the space has a lasting effect on my practice — expanding my vocabulary and shaping how I listen, compose, and respond.
MATERIAL BRUTO
Centro de Referência da Dança
São Paulo, SP
September 2024
Guest musician in the September 2024 edition of Material Bruto, a live improvisation project created by Mariana Molinos and Felipe Teixeira Lima. The performance brings together musicians and dancers in a shared experiment.
I contributed ambient soundscapes that influenced the dancers’ movement and provided a sonic foundation for solo interventions. I performed alongside Chico Leibholz, Fernando Sagawa, and Marina Bastos, in direct dialogue with invited dancers.
Full performance audio can be listened here.