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6th Saint Petersburg Noise Fest- 1st &2nd of Nov
On November 1st and 2nd, the 6th Annual Saint Petersburg Noise Fest brought noise artists from around the country (and globe) to the Tampa Bay area of Florida for 2 nights of difficult listening. This year’s fest was run and organized by Todd Novasad, who is also responsible for the Denver Noise Fest. The fest was hosted at the Venture Compound in Saint Petersburg, FL. The Venture Compound is a non-profit, anti-art gallery known for hosting both visual and sound art, which would likely not have a home anywhere else in the area.
Disperse
Polish jazz/ prog metal band Disperse blend the ethereal expanded consonance and existential bent of fusion with the precisely frenetic rhythmic structures of chunky guitar tones of technical metal. They debuted on the scene in 2010 with a more loungey and subdued record called "Journey Through The Hidden Gardens", and have now returned with a vast, sparkling emotional epic for their second album "Living Mirrors". Guitarist Jakub Ýytecki was gracious enough to do an email interview:
Unicorn Hard-On
Valerie Martino (aka Unicorn Hard-On) has been melding techno and noise for the better part of a decade now. Considered by many as a pioneer in synthesizing beats with electronica and noise, it's hard not to succumb to dance floor gyrations when UHO takes stage. When she's not inducing ass-shaking, she is bloodying audiences in her noise band with Rat Bastard, The Laundry Room Squelchers. Despite years of toiling in the noise underground, she just dropped her first proper full-length Weird Universe on the Spectrum Spools label. Ms.Martino kindly took time to answer some questions regarding her projects and the new album.
Adrian Whittaker
Adrian Whittaker is a music journalists & long term Incredible String Band fan. Recently Helter Skelter Books have released an up-dated edition of 'Be Glad: An Incredible String Band Compendium'- the book he edited & co wrote about The Incredible String Band. Adrian kindly agreed to give me an email interview discussing this new edition & the ISB in genreal.
Abominant
While many conservatives would like you to believe that metal brings out the worst in people, those that embrace it know that it actually brings out the best in people. There's a loyalty and kinship among metalheads. Those that play metal will play metal til they die. Kentucky based death metallers Abominant are a great example of the lifelong lust for metal. Formed in 1993, Abominant has raged strong for twenty years, despite musical trends, file sharing, and all the BS typically associated with the music business. Bassist Mike May and guitarist Tim Ball were kind enough to stop shredding for a bit and answer everyone's (read: our) questions.
Allerseelen
Allerseelen are one of the true innovators & constantly creative forces existing with- in the European experimental & industrial scene. Each new album is a careful made & creative sonic statement that mixers together elements of: industrial, electronica, neo-folk, Metal, traditional Germanic folk, world music influences, avant garde pop, and all manner of other musical genres.
Hal Mcgee
Based in Gainesville, FL, Hal McGee is an indelible figure in the experimental, avant garde, noise community. Active in the experimental underground since the early 80’s, he has recorded and produced over 200 albums and compilations. He was an integral figure in the homemade cassette culture movement of the 80’s. During this time he co-ran with Debbie Jaffe the Cause and Effect Cassette Distribution Service to spread homemade cassettes from experimental artists all over the globe. He also created the publications Electronic Cottage and HALzine.
Nar
Nar is a pitch black & dense HNW project that started around October 2012, and it takes the whole mysterious project thing to new heights- basically nothing is known about this project; not even it’s country of origin. So far the project has released five releases- which have taken in both CDR & tape releases. I’ve been rather taken & intrigued by much of the Nar's out-put thus, so I decided to track this most brutally dark & elusive project for an email interview.
Dead in the Dirt
Blame it on the heat, the South has been a breeding ground for dark heavy music as far back as I can remember. It’s in this environment that Dead in the Dirt has been toiling since 2008. The perfect marriage of ultra-fast grindcore and the sludgiest of sludgey metal, DITD just released “The Blind Hole” on the always reliably heavy, Southern Lord Records. Vocalist , Blake Connelly kindly took time to answer some questions regarding DITD’s politics and the new album.
Burial Ground
Burial Ground is a horror movie themed US based project that creates dense & often detailed walled noise. The project has been in existence since 2011, and has so far released coming on for 20 releases - taking in CDR’s, split tape releases, and even a which VHS tape. Burial Ground is fast becoming one of the more sorted after & popular projects with-in the worldwide HNW scene, it’s is all the work of La Crosse, Wisconsin based Anthony Shaw. Tony kindly agreed to give me a email interview
Schloss Tegal
Oranur III "The Third Report" originally appeared back in 1995, and it is now thought of as one of the first & key albums in the dark ambient genre. The album was released by the then two piece American project Schloss Tegal . I caught-up with the projects now solo member Richard Schneider (who now lives in Prague, Czechia) for an email interview to discuss Cold Spring’s recent reissues of Oranur III "The Third Report", up-coming reissues & new work.
Dead Body Collection
Along with Vomir, The Rita & Werewolf Jerusalem, Dead Body Collection is one of the most known & recognizable names with-in the world wide HNW/ Static noise scene. The project was started in August 2009 by Serbian based Aleksandar Nenad aka Dr Alex, & since then the project has released just shy of 100 releases. The project started as a more fixed & brutal take on walled noise, but over it’s existence it has gone onto release more active HNW & ANW. I originally interviewed Dr Alex back in summer 2010(here), so it’s great to interview him once again.
Kuusumun Profeetta
Kuusumun Profeetta are a six piece project from Pori Finland. They create a very distinctive & original mixture of: classic rock, moody retro pop rock, jazz rock, 1970’s theatrical rock, coral music, avant classical, and beyond. The bands lead singer & key song writer is Mika Rättö( who is also the lead singer in Finish kraut rock/ multi genre mixing legends Circle). Mika kindly agreed to give M[m] a email interview discussing the band in genreal & their most recent release Huutoja Hiljaisesta Huoneesta.
Waves Crashing Piano Chords
I once mused, does anyone “really” enjoy the sound of microphone feedback? To Sean Beard of the Rochester, NY based power electronics project Waves Crashing Piano Chords, the answer is an emphatic “yes!” WCPC eschews the noise intelligentsia and their gear wizardry, in favor of an almost primitive approach to power electronics; bludgeoning his audiences with little but a microphone and piercing feedback. Oh, did I mention he’s a Juggalo? Yes, the colloquial badge of honor worn by disciples of the Insane Clown Posse and the culture they spawned. I always assumed WPCP’s Juggalo angle was just an ironic statement, but that’s not the case. Sean’s been “down with the clown” since 97’ and has been incorporating Juggalo elements into his own work. I’ve been wanting to pick his brain for a while now, so I appreciate Sean taking the time to share some of his insights
Igorrr
French based performer/ producer Igorrr is one of the more creative, bizarre & deranged figures to come out of the Breakcore and Drill ‘n’ bass scenes in recent years. His sound mixers together Breakcore/ Drill ‘n’ bass with baroque & classic music, chugging & black metal riffing, and operatic and choral vocals, classic piano playing & emotional operatic vocals, flamenco guitar flourishers, eastern European string waltz, Persian jazz-iness and beyond.
Baptizer
As a person of faith, Jim Baptizer is a marginal figure in an already marginal noise community. Not just a set of guiding principles that he keeps to himself, his politics and religious views are a large part of his power electronics project Baptizer. Jim’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever cross paths with, but when he performs, it’s a furious assault on the senses. Agree or disagree with his worldviews, there’s no denying that he’s a fascinating character. I appreciate Jim taking time to talk about his faith, politics, and the theatrics of his live performances
UK HNW Festival
On Saturday the 22nd of June 2013 The Windmill Brixton saw host to a festival of nine HNW & Harsh noise acts. Below you’ll find a rather HNW biased account of said event.
International Noise Conference USA Tour 2013 - Fin
June 21st, 2013 marked the final day of the International Noise Conference U.S.A. Tour. The finale took place at the Venture Compound in Saint Petersburg, Florida; the premiere D.I.Y. venue and (anti) art gallery on Florida’s west coast. On any day of the week you’re likely to find an experimental/noise show, art gallery opening, and so much more. For those unfamiliar, The International Noise Conference is an annual festival of noise/experimental/avant garde music in Miami, FL, organized by noise legend Rat Bastard.The Laundry Room Squelchers took the festival on the road for the better part of May and June to perform with other experimental artists all over the United States. The I.N.C. rules are simple: must play noise, no laptops allowed, and no sets longer than 15 minutes.
Utarm
Utarm is one of the most interesting and bizarre metal creatures from Norway. Noisy, gritty, mean, damaged and just plain weird, Utarm's (aka Sindre Foss Skancke) has been constantly pushing and destroying the boundaries of what is considered black metal for years, in addition to playing nasty harsh noise, industrial and power electronics in other projects (Stabwound Empire, Noisestar And TheFall Of Rome) and painting huge canvases with violent pagan visions closely connected to his music. We had a chat about his activity as Utarm and a few words about his other outputs.
Sisto Rossi
Sisto Rossi is a noise artist originally from Germany, but now residing in the swamps of Florida after a brief spell in the Pacific Northwest. I got to know Sisto last year after playing at a mini-fest with him on Florida’s Suncoast and I’ve been an avid fan of his work ever since. Sisto is perhaps best known for his wall noise under the moniker Wallkeeper. However, he also dabbles in harsh noise, drone, minimalist HNW, and power electronics under a variety of aliases such as: Forecast, Hatred, Colony Collapse, Earth Chaos, Houses in Texas, and more recently performing under his own name. I appreciate Sisto giving me the opportunity to talk with him about wall noise, his projects: past and present and creating a new genre.
Roro Perrot
Romain ‘Roro’ Perrot is known to most of the experimental world as Vomir- the unstoppable, extreme and black bag wearing French HNW project. But he also has another project that’s recently started to become fairly prolific in releasing work: Roro Perrot, which finds the Frenchman trying his hand at a mixture of wonky/ deranged folk, harsh noise core & beyond. Romain kindly agreed to give M[m] an email interview.
Voices
Voices are a recently formed London based avant black metal band, who twist their complex, brutal & atmospheric sound into many places beyond the black metal form. The band conists of past & present members of bands like: Akercocke, My Dying Bride, Dark Veil and The Order of Apollyon. I caught up with Sam Loynes(guitarist) & Peter Benjamin (guitarist & lead singer) for an email interview to discuss the bands formation, and their great debut album the cryptically entitled From The Human Forest Create A Fugue Of Imaginary.
Hoggle
Many Harsh Noise Wall projects focus on obsessions- be it on a type of movie, nihilistic moods, or even female pop stars. One project that has a very specific focus/ obsession is Santa Fe based Hoggle- the project is themed & obsessed with just one movie: The Labyrinth- the 1986 family fantasy puppet/ live action movie that was written & directed by master puppeteer & Muppet inventor Jim Henson.
Patrick McBratney
Lava Church is one of Florida’s most consistent and prolific experimental labels; releasing everything from harsh noise, to ambient, to lo-fi, to drone. Label-runner Patrick McBratney has released a variety of acts including: Sky Stadium, Raven, Mold Omen, Virgin Blood, and Su Sous Toulouse en Rogue, as well as his own experimental project Lovebrrd. I’ve had the pleasure to get to know Mr. McBratney over the past year and appreciate him taking the time to talk about his many projects, his upcoming tour, and baseball.