An 18-year-old from Georgia, Sam Andrews, is documenting his journey through the vast discography of Japanese noise artist Merzbow, real name Masami Akita. Andrews has been attempting to listen to all 400-plus recordings since February, sharing his progress online daily.
Andrews' videos, some of which have garnered half a million views, have attracted the attention of Akita himself. The teenager describes his daily routine as starting with breakfast, then putting on headphones for "noise."
His project is sparking conversations about how listeners engage with challenging music in the era of streaming and short-form content. Andrews maintains a colour-coded spreadsheet of his listening and rates each release on Instagram and Rate Your Music. His favourite so far is 1990’s Rainbow Electronics, while he considers 1996’s Merzbow Loves Emil Beaulieau to be the worst.
Andrews notes that only 1.6% of his audience are his age, with most viewers being in their 30s and 40s. He recounts how Akita briefly followed him, liked a reel, and collaborated on a post before removing himself and unfollowing.