Concluded:
One-off, Probably Concluded:
Still Active/Still more to say:
12.03.2024
A definitive list of projects and their activity, Winter 2024
This is probably long overdue, but with the release of material from projects that had been defunct for 6 and 7 years respectively (Pendragon and Dispell), it seemed like a good chance to take stock of which projects were active or not. Most of these are in the realm of dungeon synth, new age, black metal, or game music, with other elements noted as applicable.
9.19.2024
Performances in Fall 2024
Some upcoming gigs I’m really looking forward to, and an update I'm really excited about.
October 18-20, I’ll be making two appearances at the inaugural Great Lakes Dungeon Siege. On October 18th, I’ll be playing as part of the live band for Cernunnos Woods, returning after the headlining appearance at Northeast Dungeon Siege earlier this year. On the 19th, I’ll be playing a solo set as Nahadoth. The whole event has an incredible lineup of some of the best Live Dungeon Synth acts from here and abroad.
October 27 will be the live debut of the trio Carapace, which features Kelly Bray on Trumpet and Michael Larocca on percussion, alongside myself on piano. This improvising trio has recently recorded a second record, which features some of my compositions alongside some incredible improvisations. I’m always excited to work with these musicians, and for the rest of you to hear this trio as well.
Then, on Sunday November 3rd, Dr. Caterwauls Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptrap’s will play at Small Batch Winery in North Branford, CT, on a bill with local Klezmer band Nu Haven Kapelye. Doors are at 4 PM, music at 5PM, and tickets are available in advance here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nu-haven-kapelye-dr-caterwauls-cadre-of-clairvoyant-claptraps-tickets-993717013337
Finally, December 12th, I’ll be playing with Michael Larocca as Hypostatic Soundblast Awakening, the synthesizer/drums duo with Michael Larocca. We recorded a phenomenal record recently and the concept of this project is growing more refined both musically and philosophically. The performance will be part of the New Haven Improvisers Collective Performance series, at Never Ending books in New Haven, CT. Starting at 7 PM.
Finally, unrelated to performance, I’ve been working on some ‘live’ techno sets, using various synthesizers and sequencers, attempting to do some version of live Techno performances, ranging from 30 to 40 minutes in length. I’ve started uploading them to SoundCloud, if you’re interested to hear me try something very different than usual for me.
Looking forward to seeing you at any one of these upcoming dates!
3.12.2024
Lilith, and Mushrooms
It is often recognized that support for noncommercial music is usually limited to premieres. Everyone wants to be recognized for helping bring a new thing into the world, but it seems like there is more prestige in supporting novelty than there is in supporting development. Given the pressures of deadlines, music preparation, communication, etc, premieres are often not the best performance of a work. Which makes it a shame that sometimes, premieres are the only performance a new work may receive.
So my experience working with Ingrid Laubrock in her Lilith project, alongside the phenomenally talented band of Yvonne Rogers, Eva Lawitts, David Adewumi and Henry Mermer, has been somewhat unique for me, in that we not only had a full week of rehearsal prior to its first unveiling, but have had the chance to return to this music more than once. This week, we’ll perform the suite on Thursday the 14th at Hawks and Reed in Greenfield, MA, presented as part of the Pioneer Valley Jazz Share, and then Friday the 15th at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT, and record it there as well.
1.21.2024
Experience before Understanding: Some Thoughts About Improvised Music
Free improvisation has been at the heart of my music making for most of my adult and performing life. It is one of those practices that you can do for decades but not actually improve on your abilities. Wary of that, I’ve tried to be as analytical as possible with my own practice of free improvisation, whether solo or with others. I don’t know if this level of analysis has ever had a meaningful impact on my sound, but it has certainly changed how I talk about it over the years.
The appeal of this for a lot of people I speak to is the “newness” of it. When listening to improvised music, you are theoretically hearing a sound or combination of sounds that has never been heard before. That’s obviously not the only appeal, otherwise people wouldn’t record music in this style, or form groups to do it in, etc. But encountering that “newness-above-all” attitude early on in my improvising life was one of the things that made me determined to figure out how to tell the difference from one improvised set to another, besides an affinity for the instruments being played or the people manipulating them.
The appeal of this for a lot of people I speak to is the “newness” of it. When listening to improvised music, you are theoretically hearing a sound or combination of sounds that has never been heard before. That’s obviously not the only appeal, otherwise people wouldn’t record music in this style, or form groups to do it in, etc. But encountering that “newness-above-all” attitude early on in my improvising life was one of the things that made me determined to figure out how to tell the difference from one improvised set to another, besides an affinity for the instruments being played or the people manipulating them.
1.06.2024
A Year Joyful and Tragic: An Explanation of why I play Irish Music
I’m coming up on a year anniversary of going to a local Irish session, and of really working on acquiring a repertoire and vocabulary in this style. During that time I’ve learned - certainly not mastered - somewhere around 120 tunes. I use the ‘tunebook’ feature of the website The Session to help keep track of these things, but some of the tunes added are placeholders, so those don’t count.
I can’t say completely what compelled me to do it. My only session experience was at this same session near me, in 2014, when I had absolutely no Irish repertoire, but a curiosity, and a desire to push myself further into folk traditions after spending some time at a Swedish fiddle workshop (also playing accordion) and getting my butt kicked by the details. I did what I now understand to be the mostly verboten thing of sort of ‘busking along’ with tunes I don’t know - and played a Swedish polska for them, by request. But I did also record, and from that recording, painstakingly transcribed a single tune. Not knowing any of the vocabulary, having very little idea of the ornamentation or variation that is often employed, this was not an easy process, and my attempts to actually learn the tune suffered for that reason. (I later learned, in this attempt, that the tune was called the Wicklow Hornpipe, or Sonny Murray’s, and actually learned the tune properly).
12.19.2019
Year End Roundup
Hi Folks!
While the year is not done for me yet at this point, I am definitely already thinking back over this year and some of the music I was able to get done. Next year will be a very different year for me in terms of output and more on that in a subsequent post, but for now, I’m just glad to have the chance to have so much music documented and released during this year. Several of these releases were recorded in previous years, notably the Anthony Braxton GTM (Syntax) 2017 box set, and my duo record with Chris Cretella on guitar, “Singing and Singing to Keep out the Smell”. Kolessa’s “Fires” was also produced last year, as was the bulk of Mystal Tree’s “New Growth”.
But this year brought a small load of new endeavors, including Dust Seeker, Ghost of Forest, Black Epheria and L.B.R.P. I want to speak about the last one a bit as it was, as far as my dungeon synth work goes, a fairly unusual one in that it was a collaboration. I won’t go into to much detail, but my original material, recorded on 4 track in the course of 2 days, and submitted to Attic Shrines, who released it. But Attic Shrines headquarters, built as it is atop a huge deposit of unpronounceable minerals, is not a kind place to tapes. Something happens to them there - some entity, fascinated with the potentiality of analog media, takes them apart at a molecular level, and reassembles them without great care for accuracy. The result was corrupted, rearranged. Jazz people would say “Teo’d”. It was definitely an intriguing process for me as a composer and one I hope to embark upon again.
Some highlights of the year were getting the chance to perform in the Sonic Genome and at the main stage of the Berlin JazzFest with Anthony Braxton this year. I also got a solid grasp on performing Nahadoth live, which happened four times over the course of the year, including at the first ever multi-day Dungeon Synth festival, the Northeast Dungeon Siege. I performed solo a number of times and that set forth some ways of exploring solo accordion and voice that I will definitely be following up on in the future.
See below for a gallery of album covers. Blogspot seems to want to scramble the order, so I apologize for that. Two more releases will still come out before the year is done.
While the year is not done for me yet at this point, I am definitely already thinking back over this year and some of the music I was able to get done. Next year will be a very different year for me in terms of output and more on that in a subsequent post, but for now, I’m just glad to have the chance to have so much music documented and released during this year. Several of these releases were recorded in previous years, notably the Anthony Braxton GTM (Syntax) 2017 box set, and my duo record with Chris Cretella on guitar, “Singing and Singing to Keep out the Smell”. Kolessa’s “Fires” was also produced last year, as was the bulk of Mystal Tree’s “New Growth”.
But this year brought a small load of new endeavors, including Dust Seeker, Ghost of Forest, Black Epheria and L.B.R.P. I want to speak about the last one a bit as it was, as far as my dungeon synth work goes, a fairly unusual one in that it was a collaboration. I won’t go into to much detail, but my original material, recorded on 4 track in the course of 2 days, and submitted to Attic Shrines, who released it. But Attic Shrines headquarters, built as it is atop a huge deposit of unpronounceable minerals, is not a kind place to tapes. Something happens to them there - some entity, fascinated with the potentiality of analog media, takes them apart at a molecular level, and reassembles them without great care for accuracy. The result was corrupted, rearranged. Jazz people would say “Teo’d”. It was definitely an intriguing process for me as a composer and one I hope to embark upon again.
Some highlights of the year were getting the chance to perform in the Sonic Genome and at the main stage of the Berlin JazzFest with Anthony Braxton this year. I also got a solid grasp on performing Nahadoth live, which happened four times over the course of the year, including at the first ever multi-day Dungeon Synth festival, the Northeast Dungeon Siege. I performed solo a number of times and that set forth some ways of exploring solo accordion and voice that I will definitely be following up on in the future.
See below for a gallery of album covers. Blogspot seems to want to scramble the order, so I apologize for that. Two more releases will still come out before the year is done.
6.23.2019
AOS - Mahalabelial
I spent a lot of April and May recording, doing some really focused work on an existing long-term project and then making some exploratory recordings for some new projects. My Black Metal project AOS has always been a reactionary project - so at the point in mid May where the conversation around reproductive rights sank to a new level of legal cruelty, I began writing new material for AOS. It came out fairly quickly, and this is the first proper full length of this album - slightly over half of the album is black metal, and there’s a long black ambient track to close the album.
AOS - Mahalabelial
AOS - Mahalabelial
6.21.2019
Mystal Tree - New Growth
I released this album almost 2 months ago. It’s original music inspired by dungeon synth, video game music, progressive rock, and some elements of West African rhythms. This album also features vocals and lyrics concerning an original story of a city built under a mysterious and powerful tree.
3.28.2019
Spring Shows
As usual, I’ve overcompensated for the advent of spring by booking a bunch of shows in a pretty short timespan. Here they are. I’m excited about all of them, especially the NorthEast Dungeon Siege MMXIX, which is the first ever multi-day festival focusing on Dungeon Synth, and the solo set on April 3 (in support of Tyshawn Sorey/Kirsten Carey duo.)
Saturday March 30th, Nahadoth at the Northeast Dungeon Siege (Festival Runs March 29-31.) Worcester, MA.
Wednesday, April 3rd - Adam Matlock (solo) with Tyshawn Sorey + Kirsten Carey Duo). The State House, New Haven, CT. 8 PM.
Saturday, April 6 - The Harris Brothers Balkan Band at Yale Slavic Chorus 50th Anniversary Reunion concert. 7PM. TBA (on Yale Campus)
Tuesday, April 9 - Jill Burton/Wade Michaels/Andrew Drury Trio. With Chris Pitziokos (solo) and Curmudgeon Corner (duo). 7:00 PM, Water House, Hamden (message for address)
Wednesday, April 10 - Kolegi (quartet), with The Suitcase Junket and S.G. Carlson.
Saturday, April 13 - Adam Matlock (solo) with Boat Dares, Shank Painters
1.25.2019
Shows in Winter (so far)
Hi All! Happy New Year etc
Today, I released “Fires will Sweep The Cities Built on Our Homes” by Kolessa. This is a follow up to last autumn’s “Ash-Stained Cabinet”, and is Dungeon Synth trying to reconcile with early 20th century modernization, and how that path has continued today. Dedicated to the memory of the Sai Anantam Ashram, where Turiya Alice Coltrane made her home.
Today, I released “Fires will Sweep The Cities Built on Our Homes” by Kolessa. This is a follow up to last autumn’s “Ash-Stained Cabinet”, and is Dungeon Synth trying to reconcile with early 20th century modernization, and how that path has continued today. Dedicated to the memory of the Sai Anantam Ashram, where Turiya Alice Coltrane made her home.
My first show of the year was on January 10th, with the new trio Kolegi (featuring Helen Marx on percussion and Brian Slattery on violin). We play together in the Harris Brothers Balkan Band, and this was an opportunity for us to play some tunes that fall a little bit outside of that band’s normal comfort zone, and put some of our own spins on things. We’ll play again on April 10th, at Cafe Nine, supporting the Suitcase Junket.
TONIGHT (January 25), I’ll be performing with the Tri-centric Vocal Ensemble at Roulette in Brooklyn. Two years ago we recorded 12 hours of Anthony Braxton’s vocal music with the composer present, and it was a truly transformative experience. I’m so excited to get back together with all these wonderful musicians and do it again. We will be missing the bass voice and warm presence of Michael Douglas Jones (RIP), and the concert will be performed in his memory.
Then Sunday January 27, I’ll be playing as part of a new series at the State House in New Haven, called Multiplex. It’s a series focusing on improvised music, and so it will be an opportunity for Elm Fiction (with Bob Gorry, Thomas Martin, and Jeff Cedrone) to play again. There will also be 3 other sets, including a quartet led by Stephen Haynes, and duo music by Joe Morris and Dan O’Brien. This starts at 4PM.
Saturday, February 9th, I’ll be playing a duo set with Chris Cretella. We recorded a CD several years ago now, and as it happens, it took us awhile to get the material to release readiness - but now it’s here! There will be sets by Human Flourishing, Lucas Brode, and Henry Fraser as well. At Never Ending Books, starts at 7PM.
Tuesday, February 12th, Dr. Caterwauls plays a set at the Milford Arts Council. We’re excited to be working with them in their own venue, and our set will start at 7:30 PM.
Finally (FOR NOW), I’ll be doing a longer concert at Neighborhood Music School on Friday, February 15. This is a free show, and an important one - I’ll be performing a mix of my own songs and compositions, and maybe one or two transcriptions, in duo form with Brian Slattery. I will have (and take!) the opportunity to play the 9-foot concert grand piano, and who knows, I may make Brian learn a new instrument by then....
10.23.2018
Recent Releases vol 2
As I mentioned in a previous post, I released a few short albums recently that I'd love for you to listen to. The second is Deliverer, which is in the sub-micro-genre Dungeon Folk (most often this means music composed in the fashion of dungeon synth but with acoustic instruments in addition to or instead of synths). It is one of the most traditional-sounding dungeon-related albums I've composed, although also has some unavoidable (to me) references to Scandinavian fiddle music and Jewish nigunim. The music was recorded entirely using accordion, tambourine, recorder, and a few layers of my voice. As with the previous release, there's a bit of a short story worked into the album's text on Bandcamp, which may change your experience with the music a bit.
10.17.2018
Upcoming shows and recent releases (vol 1)
Hey all.
Some music of mine has come out recently. I'm going to break it up into a few posts.
The first is "Ash-Stained Cabinet", from a new folk-inspired dungeon synth project entitled Kolessa. The project came as a result of trying some recording on 4-track cassette recorder as a way to break up the flow of some very intensive digital mixing on another project, and once again the directness and simplicity of working with a four track proved to be a creative boon. The project is named after a musicologist and ethnographer from Ukraine, and the flavor text on the album is a kind of fictionalized story connected to him and a certain museum in Vienna...
Stream/Download HERE
I'm performing a few times this week - Thursday, October 18th at The State House in New Haven with Dr. Caterwauls on a stacked bill as part of Elm City Noisefest. The headliners are Coup De Grace, a noise/improv collective reuniting for this event, and there will be sets by Underwear, Nothing Israel, Afraid and Bizarre Rooms as well. Show starts at 8PM! Then Saturday, October 20th with the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio at OrchardStraße in New Haven, also a Noisefest event. Then on November 3rd I'll be performing with the Yale Klezmer Band at the Slifka Center on Wall Street in New Haven. This concert is free and we have a great new lineup of players to support the returning students. That show begins at 7:30. Later in the month, on November 9th, I'll be doing a solo accordion set at OrchardStraße in support of the album release and tour kickoff of Matt Gannon/Michael Larocca duo. Further info on that is incoming.
Some music of mine has come out recently. I'm going to break it up into a few posts.
The first is "Ash-Stained Cabinet", from a new folk-inspired dungeon synth project entitled Kolessa. The project came as a result of trying some recording on 4-track cassette recorder as a way to break up the flow of some very intensive digital mixing on another project, and once again the directness and simplicity of working with a four track proved to be a creative boon. The project is named after a musicologist and ethnographer from Ukraine, and the flavor text on the album is a kind of fictionalized story connected to him and a certain museum in Vienna...
Stream/Download HERE
I'm performing a few times this week - Thursday, October 18th at The State House in New Haven with Dr. Caterwauls on a stacked bill as part of Elm City Noisefest. The headliners are Coup De Grace, a noise/improv collective reuniting for this event, and there will be sets by Underwear, Nothing Israel, Afraid and Bizarre Rooms as well. Show starts at 8PM! Then Saturday, October 20th with the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio at OrchardStraße in New Haven, also a Noisefest event. Then on November 3rd I'll be performing with the Yale Klezmer Band at the Slifka Center on Wall Street in New Haven. This concert is free and we have a great new lineup of players to support the returning students. That show begins at 7:30. Later in the month, on November 9th, I'll be doing a solo accordion set at OrchardStraße in support of the album release and tour kickoff of Matt Gannon/Michael Larocca duo. Further info on that is incoming.
9.03.2018
Excavernous Tales release, and two shows
Now available: Excavernous Tales, a split release with Sreng (the artist formerly known as Argonath). 12 tracks of brooding, subterranean dungeon synth, available at The Nahadoth Bandcamp Page. A tape edition will be available soon from Celtic Wraith Records.
Coming up, after talking about it for awhile, I’m near to complete with preparations to launch the first releases through Hyper Sigil Tapes. Stay tuned for more.
I’ve got two performances coming up this coming weekend that I’m excited about.
On Friday, September 7th, I’m playing duo with Mike Larocca, a percussionist. This is fun in and of itself, but what’s truly weird is that one of the other bands on the bill is also an accordion/drum duo. This may be an historic evening for that reason alone. The touring act is Boat Dares; Conor Perrault (of Human Flourishing) is also playing a solo set. Show is 7:00PM, Never Ending Books, New Haven, CT.
Then on Saturday, September 8th, Christopher Bousquet of American Elm and myself are opening for Paul Belbusti of Mercy Choir, who has taken a self-imposed hiatus from performances over the last year. This should be a fun show, and it’s entirely possible that Paul has whole albums worth of new material he’s written in the last year, but I’m told he’ll be playing some of the hits too. Show is 9:00 PM, at Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT.Coming up, after talking about it for awhile, I’m near to complete with preparations to launch the first releases through Hyper Sigil Tapes. Stay tuned for more.
7.09.2018
Taur Nu Fuin - Kolarbyn, and a few upcoming shows
Very pleased to announced the release of Taur Nu Fuin's Kolarbyn, an epic, well composed/realized album of dungeon synth from New Zealand artist Sean O'Kane Connelly. I recorded some accordion for the album, and it's used in a really clever, thorough way in several places on the album, alongside some really expertly 'orchestrated' synth layers. Check out the link above!
Got a couple of shows coming up this week, and throughout the rest of the month.
Thursday, July 12th - Crazy Doberman/Underwear/Cretella Matlock Paolucci - Crunch House, West Haven, CT. 8:00 PM. This will be a banger. Crazy Doberman is noise/processing/tenor sax, equal parts menacing and ambient. Underwear is semi-improvised 90s pop that is a treat to hear and see live. And this will be the first live performance of the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio, which is guitar, accordion/voice, and drums, in which a bunch of improvisers try and find their pocket.
Friday, July 13th - Allysen Callery, Birth of Flower, An Historic, New London Drone Collective. Willimantic Records, Willimantic, CT. 7:00 PM. Birth of Flower is one of my favorite bands. I have never heard Allysen or the NLDC, but I am excited to hear them both.
Saturday, July 14th - Sitting in with The Hot Club of Black Rock at Rothbard Ale and Larder, Westport, CT. Sets at 6:30 and 8:00 PM. Django-style hot jazz. My first time with this group!
Saturday July 21st - Dr. Caterwauls Featuring Anne Rhodes performing The Music of The Simpsons at the Central Library (Jamaica) branch of the Queens Library, 2:00PM (EARLY!).
Tuesday, July 24th - Dr. Caterwauls + Friends performing The Music of Nino Rota at Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
Wednesday, August 1st - Curmudgeon Corner (Anne Rhodes/Adam Matlock) on a bill with Evan Miller, Federico Balducci, and Human Flourishing. At Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
Got a couple of shows coming up this week, and throughout the rest of the month.
Thursday, July 12th - Crazy Doberman/Underwear/Cretella Matlock Paolucci - Crunch House, West Haven, CT. 8:00 PM. This will be a banger. Crazy Doberman is noise/processing/tenor sax, equal parts menacing and ambient. Underwear is semi-improvised 90s pop that is a treat to hear and see live. And this will be the first live performance of the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio, which is guitar, accordion/voice, and drums, in which a bunch of improvisers try and find their pocket.
Friday, July 13th - Allysen Callery, Birth of Flower, An Historic, New London Drone Collective. Willimantic Records, Willimantic, CT. 7:00 PM. Birth of Flower is one of my favorite bands. I have never heard Allysen or the NLDC, but I am excited to hear them both.
Saturday, July 14th - Sitting in with The Hot Club of Black Rock at Rothbard Ale and Larder, Westport, CT. Sets at 6:30 and 8:00 PM. Django-style hot jazz. My first time with this group!
Saturday July 21st - Dr. Caterwauls Featuring Anne Rhodes performing The Music of The Simpsons at the Central Library (Jamaica) branch of the Queens Library, 2:00PM (EARLY!).
Tuesday, July 24th - Dr. Caterwauls + Friends performing The Music of Nino Rota at Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
Wednesday, August 1st - Curmudgeon Corner (Anne Rhodes/Adam Matlock) on a bill with Evan Miller, Federico Balducci, and Human Flourishing. At Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
6.18.2018
UQC Piano Split, Vol 1.
Hi all! Next in "Things you may not have known I did because I failed to post about them anywhere but Facebook" is this split cassette of solo piano music released on Until the Quasar Cassettes. Side B is the music of the mysterious entity known as Alice Roland.
I'm not a prodigious pianist - there have only been a few times in my life when I've really regretted not doing a piano performance track in more standard classical or jazz circles. But as a teacher of the instrument who often works with students with a wide variety of interests, I find that I'm thinking about it somewhat constantly, and that even as I dive deeper into how to express myself on the accordion, I enjoy facing those same problems on the piano, especially dealing with harmony and texture and piano preparations and the like. So on the 7 compositions that make up my side of the split, I'm trying to think of the same concerns that have driven my solo accordion work of late - but since keys are the only thing the two instruments really have in common, the results are very different. I name-checked Satoko Fujii and Alice Coltrane in the credits to this release, two pianists whose voices as composers and improvisers have been extremely influential to me as I've tried to find my way.
I'm not a prodigious pianist - there have only been a few times in my life when I've really regretted not doing a piano performance track in more standard classical or jazz circles. But as a teacher of the instrument who often works with students with a wide variety of interests, I find that I'm thinking about it somewhat constantly, and that even as I dive deeper into how to express myself on the accordion, I enjoy facing those same problems on the piano, especially dealing with harmony and texture and piano preparations and the like. So on the 7 compositions that make up my side of the split, I'm trying to think of the same concerns that have driven my solo accordion work of late - but since keys are the only thing the two instruments really have in common, the results are very different. I name-checked Satoko Fujii and Alice Coltrane in the credits to this release, two pianists whose voices as composers and improvisers have been extremely influential to me as I've tried to find my way.
6.12.2018
GZARA - Dawn on Nebular Horizon
Today the album "Dawn on Nebular Horizon" by my project GZARA is released. As you may know, GZARA was my primary synth/electronics project prior to the creation of Nahadoth and my dive into the dungeon synth world, and many things that I learned while working on that music have been put into play here, including some of the same equipment. The result is two side-length ambient tracks, moving slowly through deep space, learning to breathe within a vacuum.
In other news, I am playing a solo show as An Historic next Wednesday, June 20th at Cafe Nine, in support of Lunch Duchess. Laundry Day and comedian Kendra Dawsey also perform. Doors at 8:00, Show at 9:00.
5.31.2018
Dungeon Synth
Looking back over my extremely sporadic updates of this blog, it's clear that I've not done myself any favors with regards to self promotion. I've been playing shows steadily, but feeling allergic to the work of typing, checking and retyping that info into this page here. I'm brainstorming solutions, but in the mean time:
I'm in the midst of a tour of Europe with Anthony Braxton's Zim Music ensemble. For this tour the group has consisted of Anthony Braxton on Alto, Soprano and Sopranino saxophones, Taylor Ho Bynum on Cornet, flugelhorn, trombone and pocket trumpet, Jaqueline Kerrod and Miriam Overlach on pedal harp, Jean Cook on Violin, Dan Peck on Tuba, and myself playing accordion, recorders, and singing. I am hoping to reflect on this tour further once it is concluded, but the music has been transformative, has left me quite raw, humbled, and inspired, both on the micro creative level and on the macro level of, frankly, trying to understand more clearly what the hell it is I'm doing as a musician.
For the last few years, I've worked primarily as a composer in the micro genre known as Dungeon Synth. This is connected to black metal (which has been a part of my life as a listener for nearly 20 years) and often has an extreme focus on mood and narrative, which are driving forces of most of my other work as a composer or songwriter. It's been nice to spend a lot of time going inward working on this stuff, where the responsibility in composition, performance, mixing, artwork, and release are primarily on my shoulders. I've also kept a lot of those projects secret because I'm not sure what 'legit' musicians will think of them - why they're so "in" or tonal musically, why they're sometimes so messy - but to anyone wondering why I haven't made any progress on my second opera, or done much of the traditional 'creative music' or songwriting trajectory of releasing albums under my name and touring with them, here's the reason. All of these are done primarily with 90s consumergrade FM keyboards, not even proper synths (with a few exceptions), and some include vocals. What unifies them all is a strong sense of narrative (usually present through song titles, or accompanying text or short stories) and the comfort I've gotten out of working on them obsessively.
A few notes:
-None of these are meant to be one-and-done projects, although for some I do have a fixed trajectory in mind, after which point the project will be considered concluded
-Most of them have 'rules' or specific equipment used which is meant to help distinguish them sonically (The Herbalists is all recorded live with no overdubs, for the most part, whereas Mystal Tree uses primarily higher fidelity software VSTs as opposed to live keyboards; others are more easily distinguished by their narrative focus, like Arthurian mythology or, yes, Harry Potter's lore.)
-I take them all extremely seriously and I stand by them, even if I've been a little afraid to do so in the past.
Dungeon Synth projects:
Nahadoth: http://nahadoth.bandcamp.com
Mystal Tree: http://MystalTree.bandcamp.com
The Herbalists: http://theherbalists.bandcamp.com
Erszébet: http://Erszebet.bandcamp.com
Pendragon: http://pendragonking.bandcamp.com
Conqueror's Mourn: http://conquerorsmourn.bandcamp.com
Dispell: http://dispell.bandcamp.com
Collaborative: (With Daithi O Mathuna of the project Argonath)jjj
Cenobite: http://Cenobitesynth.bandcamp.com
Keyboard based Black Metal:
AOS: http://aoszos.bandcamp.com
I'm still active with my songwriting project An Historic, and with the experimental folk/jazz group Dr. Caterwauls Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps, still trying to compose more formally, and working as an improviser with a wonderful core group of collaborators like Anne Rhodes, Chris Cretella, Brian Slattery, and Michael Paolucci. I've even got another Ambient record coming out under the name GZARA, which has been defunct for a few years. But in those moments when I find myself somehow stuck in working on a song or a composition, or overwhelmed with scheduling recording sessions or rehearsals, I can do this work and feel like I'm still engaging as a musician and composer, even in isolation. I hope if you've like any of my other music that you'll consider listening to any one of these projects here. It's still me.
I'm in the midst of a tour of Europe with Anthony Braxton's Zim Music ensemble. For this tour the group has consisted of Anthony Braxton on Alto, Soprano and Sopranino saxophones, Taylor Ho Bynum on Cornet, flugelhorn, trombone and pocket trumpet, Jaqueline Kerrod and Miriam Overlach on pedal harp, Jean Cook on Violin, Dan Peck on Tuba, and myself playing accordion, recorders, and singing. I am hoping to reflect on this tour further once it is concluded, but the music has been transformative, has left me quite raw, humbled, and inspired, both on the micro creative level and on the macro level of, frankly, trying to understand more clearly what the hell it is I'm doing as a musician.
For the last few years, I've worked primarily as a composer in the micro genre known as Dungeon Synth. This is connected to black metal (which has been a part of my life as a listener for nearly 20 years) and often has an extreme focus on mood and narrative, which are driving forces of most of my other work as a composer or songwriter. It's been nice to spend a lot of time going inward working on this stuff, where the responsibility in composition, performance, mixing, artwork, and release are primarily on my shoulders. I've also kept a lot of those projects secret because I'm not sure what 'legit' musicians will think of them - why they're so "in" or tonal musically, why they're sometimes so messy - but to anyone wondering why I haven't made any progress on my second opera, or done much of the traditional 'creative music' or songwriting trajectory of releasing albums under my name and touring with them, here's the reason. All of these are done primarily with 90s consumergrade FM keyboards, not even proper synths (with a few exceptions), and some include vocals. What unifies them all is a strong sense of narrative (usually present through song titles, or accompanying text or short stories) and the comfort I've gotten out of working on them obsessively.
A few notes:
-None of these are meant to be one-and-done projects, although for some I do have a fixed trajectory in mind, after which point the project will be considered concluded
-Most of them have 'rules' or specific equipment used which is meant to help distinguish them sonically (The Herbalists is all recorded live with no overdubs, for the most part, whereas Mystal Tree uses primarily higher fidelity software VSTs as opposed to live keyboards; others are more easily distinguished by their narrative focus, like Arthurian mythology or, yes, Harry Potter's lore.)
-I take them all extremely seriously and I stand by them, even if I've been a little afraid to do so in the past.
Dungeon Synth projects:
Nahadoth: http://nahadoth.bandcamp.com
Mystal Tree: http://MystalTree.bandcamp.com
The Herbalists: http://theherbalists.bandcamp.com
Erszébet: http://Erszebet.bandcamp.com
Pendragon: http://pendragonking.bandcamp.com
Conqueror's Mourn: http://conquerorsmourn.bandcamp.com
Dispell: http://dispell.bandcamp.com
Collaborative: (With Daithi O Mathuna of the project Argonath)jjj
Cenobite: http://Cenobitesynth.bandcamp.com
Keyboard based Black Metal:
AOS: http://aoszos.bandcamp.com
I'm still active with my songwriting project An Historic, and with the experimental folk/jazz group Dr. Caterwauls Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps, still trying to compose more formally, and working as an improviser with a wonderful core group of collaborators like Anne Rhodes, Chris Cretella, Brian Slattery, and Michael Paolucci. I've even got another Ambient record coming out under the name GZARA, which has been defunct for a few years. But in those moments when I find myself somehow stuck in working on a song or a composition, or overwhelmed with scheduling recording sessions or rehearsals, I can do this work and feel like I'm still engaging as a musician and composer, even in isolation. I hope if you've like any of my other music that you'll consider listening to any one of these projects here. It's still me.
5.18.2017
Shows in May/Early June
Thursday, 5/18 (ToNIGHT!) Farewell to Orkestar BAM, with The Harris Brothers Balkan Band. (I play in both.) Balkan Music and dancing at 1253/Whitneyville Cultural Commons. Doors at 7:00, Dance lesson at 7:30, show at 8:00.
Saturday, 5/20 - An Historic at Koffee? Playing a bunch of originals, folk tunes and a few covers. 8:00 PM.
Thursday, 5/25 - Dr. Caterwauls plays the Music of Twin Peaks. Best Video, Hamden, 7:30.
Monday, June 5 - singing Ingrid Laubock's Vogelfrei at Moers Festival, Moers, Germany. 4:12 PM.
Saturday, June 10th - Folk Dance/Fundraising Party with The Harris Brothers Balkan Band and many others, Shelburne Falls, MA. Time TBA
Sunday, June 11th - An Historic, with Diane Cluck, Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT. 3:00 PM.
Wednesday, June 14th - Dr. Caterwauls, with The Suitcase Junket. Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT. 8:00 PM
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