COTFG's annual creative music festival in Austin, TX

J.G. Thirlwell
Performing on Friday, 6/13/2014 with Noveller »
Performing on Saturday, 6/14/2014 w/ string ensemble »

JG Thirlwell is a composer/producer/performer based in Brooklyn NY. He was born in Melbourne, Australia, where he studied art at Melbourne State College for two years before moving to London in 1978. After working with experimental group Nurse With Wound, Thirlwell started making his own records in 1980, initially releasing them on his own “Self Immolation” label. He was inspired by the post-punk explosion of creativity in the UK which engendered the accessibility of DIY, as well as the writings of John Cage and systems music, among other things. He relocated to NYC in 1983, where he still lives and works today.

Thirlwell’s discography is extensive and encompasses many pseudonyms including Foetus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia, Baby Zizanie, Wiseblood, Clint Ruin and others. If there is a common thread to his varied musical styles, it is dramatic intensity and evocative, cinematic quality. Thirlwell’s oeuvre runs the gamut from orchestrations, big band, cathartic noise-rock to abstract electronics and sound sculpture, chamber music, serial music and imaginary soundtracks – sometimes all in the same album.

In recent years, with commissions for Kronos Quartet, Bang On A Can, and his occasional eighteen piece ensemble, he has been increasingly interested electronically and sample generated music being re-scored for traditional instrumentation – played both conventionally and not (recent examples include performing with a chamber ensemble version of Manorexia). Thirlwell is also a member of the “freq_out” sound-art collective, who create on-site sound and light installations led by curator Carl Michael Von Hausswolf. In addition, Thirlwell scores “The Venture Brothers”, a hit cartoon show on Adult Swim/Cartoon Network.


Gary Wilson returns to Austin for a second appearance since his Texas debut at SXSW 2011 to peruse the rumors of his recent dreams on the whereabouts of Frank, Cindy, and Linda.
Wilson performs a specially curated set involving alternate instrument accommodations provided by Salvage Vanguard Theater and Switched On Music alongside with the full-capacity accompaniment of his Blind Dates of Texas from their very home and local intimate setting for this rare appearance of the internationally acclaimed DIY pillar of the incomparable 70’s AM avant funk soul new wave porno groove. Further rumors from the alternate realms of Church Of The Friendly Ghost and NMASS festival indicate an additional performance of the uncommonly reenacted Gary Wilson solo piano performance “Gary Saw Linda Kissing John Cage” to be featured – involving lightly arranged improvisations of extended non-musical numbers from the original You Think You Really Know Me album with alt-instrument and synth accompaniments from the Blind Dates Electronic Choir.


Noveller is the solo electric guitar project of Brooklyn-based composer and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate. Handling the guitar as her muse, Lipstate summons a sonic palette so rich as to challenge the listener to conceive of how it’s housed in a single instrument manipulated by a solitary performer.  Her one-woman guitar soundscapes have captured the attention of NPR, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, and The Wall Street Journal.

She released her first two full-length albums on Brooklyn noise label No Fun Productions in 2009. In 2010, Lipstate started her own imprint, Saffron Recordings, as a vehicle for releasing the Noveller full-length ‘Desert Fires’ and a split LP between Noveller and unFact (David Wm. Sims of the Jesus Lizard) titled ‘Bleached Valentine’.  In May 2011, she released the critically acclaimed ‘Glacial Glow’ jointly through Saffron Recordings and Weird Forest.  Her newest full-length, ‘No Dreams’, came out on October 22nd , 2013 on Important Records.

Lipstate’s festival performances include the Suoni Per Il Popolo fest in Montreal, No Fun Fest in NYC and Sweden, Decibel Festival in Seattle, Ellnora Festival in Illinois, New York Guitar Festival, Ecstatic Music Festival, Kilbi Im Exil in Zurich, and Unsound in Krakow. Noveller has toured the U.S. and internationally, at times supporting acts such as St. Vincent, Xiu Xiu, the Jesus Lizard, U.S. Girls, Aidan Baker, and Emeralds.  Lipstate has collaborated with several renowned musicians, including live improvised duo performances with Carla Bozulich (Evangelista, The Geraldine Fibbers), David Wm. Sims (the Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid), and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth).  She has previously performed as a member of Cold Cave, Parts & Labor, and One Umbrella. Lipstate has also participated in Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Army, Ben Frost’s “Music for 6 Guitars” Ensemble, and Glenn Branca’s 100 guitar ensemble.  Lipstate joined the hit podcast Radiolab on a nationwide tour of their live show, Apocalyptical, performing a live cinematic score for their show along with fellow musicians Glenn Kotche (of Wilco) on percussion and Darin Gray on upright bass.


S U R V I V E is Kyle Dixon, Adam Jones, Mark Donica, and Michael Stein. Through series of meticulously programmed sequences, impeccably modulated signal processing, and a massive live setup that relocates the band’s synth control room onto each respective stage they occupy, the electronic quartet has quickly gathered a dedicated following both throughout the US and internationally. Between their acclaimed debut LP (Mannequin, 2012, US reissue coming 2014 c/o HOLODECK & 540 Records), their inaugural 10″ on Light Lodge Records, and a handful of obscure vinyl & tape releases, S U R V I V E has remained a fixture in the minds of discerning electronic music listeners since 2009. After touring the southeast in the spring of 2014, the band enjoyed a quickly sold out 12″ by Austin based Monofonus Press and is preparing for the completion of their second full-length LP.


Stephen Farris is an experimental sound designer based out of Houston, TX. He processes and crafts soundscapes from yesteryear’s magnetic tape varieties. His audible surrealism can be defined as an ever-changing permutation of appropriated, nostalgic, and pseudo-randomly generated environments.


Kyle Evans (MFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago) is a sound designer, computer musician, electronic instrument creator, educator and performer. While his educational background was focused toward experimental music and sound art, his collective artistic work ranges from music technology development to multimedia installation. de/Rastra: Installation is a continued exploration in the new aesthetic possibilities of combining modern and obsolete technology. A custom computer software algorithmically composes rhythmic combinations of clicks, noise, and 60Hz sine tone harmonics, which are then broadcast, along with other synchronized video sources, to multiple cathode ray tube televisions. de/Rastra: Installation re-mediates a technology whose history is based in a one dimensional form of communication between broadcast material and receiver. The video transmission technology becomes repurposed, breaking down the device’s ‘consumption only’ nature, accenting the latent materiality of the technology over its general use as a transparent communication medium.


SYMBOL is the solo effort of producer and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Royal King. Best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the massive orchestral-rock ensemble This Will Destroy You, King has also composed and recorded scores for a host of prominent feature-films and documentaries, established Light Lodge Records, and moonlights in Austin’s amorphous ambient collective AMASA•GANA. Now on his first solitary odyssey apart from TWDY, King’s masterful ear for signal processing and affinity for corroded elegance takes free reign over a vastly expanded inventory of instrumentation. Throughout his recently released debut Online Architecture (out on HOLODECK Records), as well as in his rare live performances, King meticulously transmutes organic sound-sources through chains of modules and magnetic tape, each successive stage creating a compounded quantity of detail and decay.
soundcloud.com/lightlodge


Austin electronic musician Xander Harris has released records balancing tenebrous atmospherics with moments of high italo camp. His commingling of tonal cold wave Crowleyian sounds landed his well-received debut “Urban Gothic” on Fact Magazine’s Top 50 LPs of 2011 list. For this year’s NMASS, he will present a dark ambient set composed for laptop and synthesizer.

soundcloud.com/justin-sweatt
xanderharris.bandcamp.com


Ulnae is a collaboration between cellist and electronic instrument artist Darcy Neal, and avant chanteuse synth songstress Lily Taylor. Sean Miller provides accompaniment in the form of live interactive generative video projections. Ulnae utilizes rituals, costumes, projections, unexpected gadgets, and acoustic instrumentation in their improvised sonic excursions.

Ulnae – http://ulnaemusic.tumblr.com/
Sean P Miller – http://cargocollective.com/seanpmiller/
Darcy Neal – http://darcyneal.com/
Lily Taylor – http://www.lilytaylormusic.com/


Moonsicles is a band from Austin, Texas, who play instrumental music in a style that is yet to be determined. It might be Swamp New Age. Other times it’s closer to Celestial Metal, but very often it’s a soundtrack to an incoherent film whose characters are lost, deprived, and hallucinating miracles and monsters. Moonsicles songs are spare, inventive, lonely, minimal, pensive, gorgeous soundlands for the human ear to roam. Moonsicles is also a power group with members from some of the capital’s most provocative bands. Guitarist Aaron Russell (The Weird Weeds) distills melodies down to their essence until they seem like a smoldering frame of some burned-down behemoth; bassist Lindsey Verrill (The Weird Weeds, Dana Falconberry, Some Say Leland, McMercy Family Band) is either thwacking out Brontosaurus-sized throbs of bottom end or smiting you with shimmering frequencies; percussionist Carolyn Cunningham (Pillow Queens, Woven Bones) deconstructs rhythms with the nimbleness of a hummingbird; and keyboardist Sheila Scoville (Ichi Ni San Shi, Suspirians, No Mas Bodas) makes noises that are transcendent, insect-like, and joyful. Together the four of them play meditative instrumentals for every mood and color of the mind. This spring Moonsicles is recording an album and planning a summer tour of the West.
soundcloud.com/moonsicles


Ghostly Records recording artist Chad Mossholder delivers his unique style of organic/electronic sounds. Living somewhere between J.G.Ballard and Slavoj Zizek, his sound constructions are transcendent, thought provoking and inspiring. Chad is also a professional sound designer/composer working in the video games industry. Chad has worked on such titles as Ever Quest I+II, Planet Side I+II, and Star Wars Galaxies, Matrix Online and DC Universe Online.

cwmossholder.com


Aunt’s Analog performance will involve a combination of electronic and acoustic elements, in an attempt to create a tense but spacious sound environment. “I will have a variety of musical and non-musical objects placed around the stage. Two room microphones and two contact microphones will be plugged into a mixer and panned. Some mic signals will be clean and some affected, with moments of silence interrupted by feedback and acoustic sound. I will be creating tension using the motion of my body against the objects and within the space / field of feedback. Objects will include various pieces of percussion, metals, violin, and other resonant items/instruments to be struck or bowed. The performance will last about 20 minutes. Shrill feedback tones juxtaposed with quiet scrapes and bowed sounds will create a performance that is both meditative and jarring. Extreme highs and lows, to create a contradictory and dynamic aural / psychological sound-scape. Best enjoyed with closed eyes and open ears.” 
soundcloud.com/aunts-analog


Malloc is Matthew Thies, an electronic musician in Austin, TX. Malloc creates ambient landscapes from delicately crafted sounds, giving spectral content equal status with melody, harmony, and rhythm. Along with writing music as Malloc, Matthew has been an active performer in Austin’s eclectic electronic music world since 2002. He began as a member of the ambient noise group Numbers on the Mast, later sat in with sonic magicians Book of Shadows, and collaborated with Eric Archer as Visitor Q. With a background in computer music from Berklee and the University of Texas, Malloc draws on influences ranging from Aphex Twin to Steve Reich.
soundcloud.com/malloc


Sounding Vessels is an Austin, Texas based improvisational chamber ensemble using traditional, ethnic, manipulated, home-made and found instrumentation in electro-acoustic musics.  For NMASS, Sounding Vessels will comprise of the primary collecteif members:  Ron Carson, Dan J. Spence, Allen D. Cline. They will be performing on flute, trumpet, cello, lap steel, electric bass, marimba, gong, electric tabla, marching band percussion, water vessels and electronics.

soundingvessels.com


Benjamin Crowley, aka Artificial Earth Machine, is an Austin electronic musician who has performed original music consistently since 2011. AEM plays a variety of genres, including ambient, dance, and atmospheric sounds, using only hardware synths, drum machines, samplers, and live vocals. He is heavily influenced by other members of Austin’s incredible electronic music scene, such as Exploded Drawing and Applied Pressure.

soundcloud.com/aemachine


Christopher Petkus has been affiliated with COTFG since 2004. His projects include Mongoose, which has performed at COTFG scores of times, and Donny Who Loved Bowling, which has never performed live. He has a good story about having to crawl into a window at the old Church location to set up for a performance there. The performance you’ll hear at this year’s NMASS is made of found sounds, drones and tritones.
christopherpetkus.bandcamp.com


A performance of sound and movement by Bob Hoffnar (steel guitar), Jason Phelps (voice, movement), and Steve Parker (trombone + electronics). Through the use of slowly sweeping sine waves, steel guitar, ebow, muted trombone, voice, and electronics, we will examine simple forments of sound (through the use of muted trombone and overtone singing), audio perception (through closely tuned stereo sine tones), and resultant tones (through the use of multiphonics, ebowed steel guitar, and humming).


The trio of Sandy Ewen (guitar), Damon Smith (7 string electric upright bass, laptop) and Weasel Walter (drums) issued a 78-minute CD in early 2012, containing nothing short of alien technique and structural disruption. The music offers complete modernist abstraction with teeth and urgency. It is the sound of extreme polyphony and counterpoint, veering radically from density to space, pinprick to roar within instants. The eight pieces range from 4 to 17 minutes in length and each retain their own tight focus.

Canadian born Sandy Ewen is a rising talent hailing from Houston, Texas best known for her work with the active rock band Weird Weeds. Her vision expands upon the likeminded approaches of heralded deconstructionists like Kevin Drumm and Keith Rowe while never imitating.

Her setup is simple: a guitar, stereo amplification, distortion and various preparations. She prefers to extend the vocabulary of the instrument with raw ingenuity, eschewing the overly complicated electronic enhancements of many of her contemporaries.

In this ensemble, she is backed by the prolific improvisers Damon Smith and Weasel Walter. The duo has worked regularly as a rhythm section in varied contexts since 2006 and the music here is an excellent example of their urgent, brisk interplay. Smith is a master of the extended bass lexicon, following in the footsteps of the great Peter Kowald, forging ahead towards the beyond. Walter’s percussion is ceaselessly restless, defying logic and breaking speed records with glee.

Sandy Ewen was born in Toronto, Canada in 1985, and received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008.  Since then she has resided in Houston, TX where she pursues her musical and visual projects and her architecture license. Ewen has performed music throughout North America as a collaborative improviser and as a member the Weird Weeds. Lately, Ewen has been focusing on her visual art, frequently presenting it alongside experimental music. More info: http://www.sandyewen.com/

Damon Smith studied double bass with Lisle Ellis and had lessons with Bertram Turetzky, Joëlle Leandré, John Lindberg, Mark Dresser and others. He has also done considerable research of the ´sonic palette´ of the double bass. This has resulted in a personal, flexible improvisational language based in the American jazz avant garde movement and European non-idiomatic free improvisation. He is also very influenced by visual art, film and dance. His work with director Werner Herzog (soundtracks for “Grizzly Man” & “Encounters at the end of the World” and an early performance with the Merce Cunningham dance company reflect this. He has collaborated with a wide range of musicians including Cecil Taylor, Marshall Allen (of Sun Ra´s Arkestra), Henry Kaiser, Birgit Ulher, Fred Frith, Wadada Leo Smith, Marco Eneidi, Wolfgang Fuchs, Peter Brötzmann and Peter Kowald. He worked often in the San Francisco Bay Area Creative Music Community and is now based in Houston, Texas. For more information go to: http://www.balancepointacoustics.com

Weasel Walter is best known as the drummer and primary composer for the cult punk jazz/no wave/brutal prog band, The Flying Luttenbachers. Between 1991 and 2007, the group recorded 16 full-length albums, toured Europe and the US extensively, and included such musicians as Ken Vandermark, Mick Barr, Ed Rodriguez (Deerhoof), Jeb Bishop, Jonathan Hischke (Hella) and Fred Lonberg-Holm in its ranks. Mr. Walter has also worked with other experimental rock groups like XBXRX, Behold…The Arctopus, Burmese, Lake Of Dracula and many others. Also known as an improviser, Mr. Walter has performed and/or recorded with Evan Parker, Marshall Allen, Elliott Sharp, Peter Evans, Henry Kaiser, Mary Halvorson, Marc Edwards, Nels Cline, William Hooker, Darius Jones, Jim O’Rourke, John Butcher, Vinny Golia, John Lindberg and members of ROVA among many others. He appears on over 100 commercial releases and runs the independent record label, ugEXPLODE. More info: http://nowave.pair.com/weasel_walter/


The Bradley Telcom Ensemble features performers who all utilize the Bradley Telcom Jitter and Hit Synthesizer with Frequency Translation and Harmonic Distortion Module, an obscure piece of vintage lab equipment originally used by telecom companies for testing four-wire voice band modems. These modular analog synthesizers lend themselves to abstract, tonal, and rhythmic soundscapes. For NMASS 2014, the ensemble will be comprised of sound artists Alex KellerChristopher Royal King, and Thomas Fang.


The Bourdon Ensemble is a group of Austin ambient and drone artists with the common goal of exploring the range of acoustic instruments through the process of affecting them in different ways. Made up of R Lee Dockery, Brent Fariss, Lisa Cameron, and Jacob Green, this ensemble will be performing a long tone piece for the first time live at NMASS.

soundcloud.com/r-lee-dockery
soundcloud.com/brentfariss
soundcloud.com/jacob-phoenix-green


CotFG App Jam
App Jam will occur at various times interspersed throughout NMASS2014 weekend.This app was created by Geoff Boyd of Bentrax, LLC
How Does it Work? From the stage to your pocket, Church of the Friendly Ghost is now portable! We asked influential musicians from Austin and beyond to donate compositions in a special format: five 8-second loops per artist. Put on your headphones and browse these twenty four outrageously creative mini-compositions as they were originally assembled…

Close your eyes and wave your phone around while the mix swirls in your ears… Don’t like those vibes? Flick a ghost off the screen to swap in a new sound from a different artist… Swipe to shift the pitch down a few steps… Superego telling you to trash your current composition? Tap the reload button to replace all the tracks… This app provides all the tools for broad musical control: particular tracks can be soloed, crossfaded, and muted while groups of tracks can be favorited to save your work.

You could play a whole set with it! But in case you would rather not… the music in the app is also generative! It can be a pixel-free experience… just tap the home button to engage the auto-remix feature and listen to the jams our algorithms kick out.

How Do I Get It?

The app is called “Church of The Friendly Ghost” and is available on the iOS App Store starting today! It costs $1.99 and 100% of the proceeds go towards supporting our 2014 program. Try this URL: http://itunes.com/apps/churchofthefriendlyghost

In the app jam, participants are invited to create their own compositions using loops we have collected from our friends:

Steven Snowden, Adam Hilton, Mediums, EricMcCann, Christopher Petkus, Chalkboards, Peter Stopschinski , Matt Burnett, Derrick Fore, Bali Yaaah, Alex Keller, Dan Gentile, Steve Sachse, Eric Bohlke, brekekekexkoaxkoax, Scott Hopkins, Ellen Hutchison, SAE , Kenzie Slottow, W. Ben Alleman, LACO$TE, Henna Chou, Derivative, and many more!




Clint Enns is a video artist and filmmaker living in Toronto, Ontario. His work primarily deals with moving images created with broken and/or outdated technologies. His work has shown both nationally and internationally at festivals, alternative spaces and microcinemas.

Clint has a Master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Manitoba, and has recently received a Master’s degree in cinema and media from York University. His writings and interviews have appeared in Millennium Film Journal, Incite! Journal of Experimental Media and Spectacular Optical.
clintenns.tumblr.com/about



Continuing a series of installations for the NMASS festival (Tesseract 1, 2, and 3) that have focused on the confluence of light, sound, surface, and space, the design and art team of Clay Odom (Designer and Assistant Professor of Interior Design at The UT School of Architecture), Sean ONeill (Designer and Sound Artist) and Adam Owens (Designer and Photographer), has created a new gallery installation for the 2014 edition of the New Music and Sound Summit being held at the Salvage Vanguard Theater.

This installation will exist at Salvage Vanguard Theater from June 12th through June 14th, 2014. Below are some sample images from their in-progress work on this year’s installation:

http://onoffobject.com
https://twitter.com/onoffobject
https://twitter.com/studiomodo
http://instagram.com/snonll
http://instagram.com/nuboynow


NMASS 2014 presents a program of live projector performances, single channel videos, dual-16mm symmetries, looping noises, magical music, colorful toys, whirling gizmos, twirling toiletries, old-school media devices and new school mishaps, all arranged in a controlled cacophony by Allison Leigh Holt (a.k.a. Oilly Oowen) and Scott Stark.

Right Scott Stark, single channel video, 2008A playful study of one of the U.S.A.’s most ubiquitous symbols, and an attempt to re-invent it as a thing of problematic beauty.

Nocturnal Symmetries2014, two 16mm projectors and live audio,Images by Scott Stark, sound by Allison Leigh Holt, using field recordings by Byram Abbott.”Images untethered in dream-like urban and natural landscapes, aggravated by artificial light, lost in the gap between imperfect symmetries.”

Experiment 2Allison Leigh Holt, single channel videoExperiment 2 is a live-mixed analog video experiment made at the Experimental Television Center (ETC) in upstate New York, with footage from a modified surveillance camera. Shot in Indonesia; Boston; Manhattan; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA,

LibertyScott Stark, single channel video, 2014Freedom in our America, visually sliced and diced.

Treasures of Big HouseLive performance with Scott Stark and Allison Leigh HoltMultiple digital video projections, five video cameras including a surveillance camera, looping analog and digital sounds, various toys and noise-making devices. “A playful, manic interaction between two performers with light, shadow and sound, using toys, household objects and toiletries out of control.”

http://www.oillyoowen.com/http://www.scottstark.com/



Jerome Morrison / Stephen Fishman
Installation appearing 6/12 through 6/14/2014

A loose lesson in language, communication and group dynamics, Stephen Fishman and Jerome Morrison’s piece consists of an obelisk which projects holographic images and glyphs, which respond to specific gestures and bodily movements. By communicating with other users stationed at the opposing viewing angles, the viewers can discuss what is seen and decipher the glyph. These lessons will repeat and eventually the meaning of the hieroglyphic message will appear. Close attention and collaboration will further unlock hidden messages in the piece.

jalexmorrison.com/home/
www.macandcheez.com/


Meason Wiley
Cymatics is the study of visible sound and vibration, a subset of modal phenomena. When sound travels through a medium such as water, regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible. The resulting patterns emerge depending on the frequency of the sound, as well as the material and size of the physical container. This installation utilizes two equidistant 8″ full-range speakers and a plate bi-amplifier housed in a custom box. A thin sheet of acrylic is placed directly on top of the speaker cones and sealed with waterproof caulk. The sounds are created utilizing phase modulation synthesis and were generated using NI Reaktor software.

www.cyclespersecond.net


Vanessa Gelvin is an Austin-based artist whose artistic practice frequently includes sound and other non-object based media. Her installation at NMASS utilizes sound from field recordings and historical and contemporary audio recordings to explore opposing ideological currents within American culture.

vanessagelvin.bandcamp.com


Bleep Labs workshop
In this solder-free workshop, students will learn about basic synthesizer building blocks and assemble an open ended synthesizer system. The kit is based around light controlled analog oscillators which interact with each other. They are then passed through a a lo-fi, Arduino based digital delay. After the workshop, users can change the code and circuit to make all kinds of glitchy, drony, noisy sounds.

No previous experience with electronics is required. All materials included. There is a $30 workshop fee to cover supplies, separate from NMASS admission, and space is limited. Please RSVP by email to drbleep@bleeplabs.com so that we can plan for the appropriate number of attendees!

Peformance on 6/14/2014
Dr. Bleep (aka John-Mike Reed) will be performing with his own noise devices along with modular synthesizer and glitched visuals.




Category: Uncategorized

  • 2014 Performers

    J.G. Thirlwell
    Performing on Friday, 6/13/2014 with Noveller »
    Performing on Saturday, 6/14/2014 w/ string ensemble »

    JG Thirlwell is a composer/producer/performer based in Brooklyn NY. He was born in Melbourne, Australia, where he studied art at Melbourne State College for two years before moving to London in 1978. After working with experimental group Nurse With Wound, Thirlwell started making his own records in 1980, initially releasing them on his own “Self Immolation” label. He was inspired by the post-punk explosion of creativity in the UK which engendered the accessibility of DIY, as well as the writings of John Cage and systems music, among other things. He relocated to NYC in 1983, where he still lives and works today.

    Thirlwell’s discography is extensive and encompasses many pseudonyms including Foetus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia, Baby Zizanie, Wiseblood, Clint Ruin and others. If there is a common thread to his varied musical styles, it is dramatic intensity and evocative, cinematic quality. Thirlwell’s oeuvre runs the gamut from orchestrations, big band, cathartic noise-rock to abstract electronics and sound sculpture, chamber music, serial music and imaginary soundtracks – sometimes all in the same album.

    In recent years, with commissions for Kronos Quartet, Bang On A Can, and his occasional eighteen piece ensemble, he has been increasingly interested electronically and sample generated music being re-scored for traditional instrumentation – played both conventionally and not (recent examples include performing with a chamber ensemble version of Manorexia). Thirlwell is also a member of the “freq_out” sound-art collective, who create on-site sound and light installations led by curator Carl Michael Von Hausswolf. In addition, Thirlwell scores “The Venture Brothers”, a hit cartoon show on Adult Swim/Cartoon Network.


    Gary Wilson returns to Austin for a second appearance since his Texas debut at SXSW 2011 to peruse the rumors of his recent dreams on the whereabouts of Frank, Cindy, and Linda.
    Wilson performs a specially curated set involving alternate instrument accommodations provided by Salvage Vanguard Theater and Switched On Music alongside with the full-capacity accompaniment of his Blind Dates of Texas from their very home and local intimate setting for this rare appearance of the internationally acclaimed DIY pillar of the incomparable 70’s AM avant funk soul new wave porno groove. Further rumors from the alternate realms of Church Of The Friendly Ghost and NMASS festival indicate an additional performance of the uncommonly reenacted Gary Wilson solo piano performance “Gary Saw Linda Kissing John Cage” to be featured – involving lightly arranged improvisations of extended non-musical numbers from the original You Think You Really Know Me album with alt-instrument and synth accompaniments from the Blind Dates Electronic Choir.


    Noveller is the solo electric guitar project of Brooklyn-based composer and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate. Handling the guitar as her muse, Lipstate summons a sonic palette so rich as to challenge the listener to conceive of how it’s housed in a single instrument manipulated by a solitary performer.  Her one-woman guitar soundscapes have captured the attention of NPR, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, and The Wall Street Journal.

    She released her first two full-length albums on Brooklyn noise label No Fun Productions in 2009. In 2010, Lipstate started her own imprint, Saffron Recordings, as a vehicle for releasing the Noveller full-length ‘Desert Fires’ and a split LP between Noveller and unFact (David Wm. Sims of the Jesus Lizard) titled ‘Bleached Valentine’.  In May 2011, she released the critically acclaimed ‘Glacial Glow’ jointly through Saffron Recordings and Weird Forest.  Her newest full-length, ‘No Dreams’, came out on October 22nd , 2013 on Important Records.

    Lipstate’s festival performances include the Suoni Per Il Popolo fest in Montreal, No Fun Fest in NYC and Sweden, Decibel Festival in Seattle, Ellnora Festival in Illinois, New York Guitar Festival, Ecstatic Music Festival, Kilbi Im Exil in Zurich, and Unsound in Krakow. Noveller has toured the U.S. and internationally, at times supporting acts such as St. Vincent, Xiu Xiu, the Jesus Lizard, U.S. Girls, Aidan Baker, and Emeralds.  Lipstate has collaborated with several renowned musicians, including live improvised duo performances with Carla Bozulich (Evangelista, The Geraldine Fibbers), David Wm. Sims (the Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid), and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth).  She has previously performed as a member of Cold Cave, Parts & Labor, and One Umbrella. Lipstate has also participated in Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Army, Ben Frost’s “Music for 6 Guitars” Ensemble, and Glenn Branca’s 100 guitar ensemble.  Lipstate joined the hit podcast Radiolab on a nationwide tour of their live show, Apocalyptical, performing a live cinematic score for their show along with fellow musicians Glenn Kotche (of Wilco) on percussion and Darin Gray on upright bass.


    S U R V I V E is Kyle Dixon, Adam Jones, Mark Donica, and Michael Stein. Through series of meticulously programmed sequences, impeccably modulated signal processing, and a massive live setup that relocates the band’s synth control room onto each respective stage they occupy, the electronic quartet has quickly gathered a dedicated following both throughout the US and internationally. Between their acclaimed debut LP (Mannequin, 2012, US reissue coming 2014 c/o HOLODECK & 540 Records), their inaugural 10″ on Light Lodge Records, and a handful of obscure vinyl & tape releases, S U R V I V E has remained a fixture in the minds of discerning electronic music listeners since 2009. After touring the southeast in the spring of 2014, the band enjoyed a quickly sold out 12″ by Austin based Monofonus Press and is preparing for the completion of their second full-length LP.


    Stephen Farris is an experimental sound designer based out of Houston, TX. He processes and crafts soundscapes from yesteryear’s magnetic tape varieties. His audible surrealism can be defined as an ever-changing permutation of appropriated, nostalgic, and pseudo-randomly generated environments.


    Kyle Evans (MFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago) is a sound designer, computer musician, electronic instrument creator, educator and performer. While his educational background was focused toward experimental music and sound art, his collective artistic work ranges from music technology development to multimedia installation. de/Rastra: Installation is a continued exploration in the new aesthetic possibilities of combining modern and obsolete technology. A custom computer software algorithmically composes rhythmic combinations of clicks, noise, and 60Hz sine tone harmonics, which are then broadcast, along with other synchronized video sources, to multiple cathode ray tube televisions. de/Rastra: Installation re-mediates a technology whose history is based in a one dimensional form of communication between broadcast material and receiver. The video transmission technology becomes repurposed, breaking down the device’s ‘consumption only’ nature, accenting the latent materiality of the technology over its general use as a transparent communication medium.


    SYMBOL is the solo effort of producer and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Royal King. Best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the massive orchestral-rock ensemble This Will Destroy You, King has also composed and recorded scores for a host of prominent feature-films and documentaries, established Light Lodge Records, and moonlights in Austin’s amorphous ambient collective AMASA•GANA. Now on his first solitary odyssey apart from TWDY, King’s masterful ear for signal processing and affinity for corroded elegance takes free reign over a vastly expanded inventory of instrumentation. Throughout his recently released debut Online Architecture (out on HOLODECK Records), as well as in his rare live performances, King meticulously transmutes organic sound-sources through chains of modules and magnetic tape, each successive stage creating a compounded quantity of detail and decay.
    soundcloud.com/lightlodge


    Austin electronic musician Xander Harris has released records balancing tenebrous atmospherics with moments of high italo camp. His commingling of tonal cold wave Crowleyian sounds landed his well-received debut “Urban Gothic” on Fact Magazine’s Top 50 LPs of 2011 list. For this year’s NMASS, he will present a dark ambient set composed for laptop and synthesizer.

    soundcloud.com/justin-sweatt
    xanderharris.bandcamp.com


    Ulnae is a collaboration between cellist and electronic instrument artist Darcy Neal, and avant chanteuse synth songstress Lily Taylor. Sean Miller provides accompaniment in the form of live interactive generative video projections. Ulnae utilizes rituals, costumes, projections, unexpected gadgets, and acoustic instrumentation in their improvised sonic excursions.

    Ulnae – http://ulnaemusic.tumblr.com/
    Sean P Miller – http://cargocollective.com/seanpmiller/
    Darcy Neal – http://darcyneal.com/
    Lily Taylor – http://www.lilytaylormusic.com/


    Moonsicles is a band from Austin, Texas, who play instrumental music in a style that is yet to be determined. It might be Swamp New Age. Other times it’s closer to Celestial Metal, but very often it’s a soundtrack to an incoherent film whose characters are lost, deprived, and hallucinating miracles and monsters. Moonsicles songs are spare, inventive, lonely, minimal, pensive, gorgeous soundlands for the human ear to roam. Moonsicles is also a power group with members from some of the capital’s most provocative bands. Guitarist Aaron Russell (The Weird Weeds) distills melodies down to their essence until they seem like a smoldering frame of some burned-down behemoth; bassist Lindsey Verrill (The Weird Weeds, Dana Falconberry, Some Say Leland, McMercy Family Band) is either thwacking out Brontosaurus-sized throbs of bottom end or smiting you with shimmering frequencies; percussionist Carolyn Cunningham (Pillow Queens, Woven Bones) deconstructs rhythms with the nimbleness of a hummingbird; and keyboardist Sheila Scoville (Ichi Ni San Shi, Suspirians, No Mas Bodas) makes noises that are transcendent, insect-like, and joyful. Together the four of them play meditative instrumentals for every mood and color of the mind. This spring Moonsicles is recording an album and planning a summer tour of the West.
    soundcloud.com/moonsicles


    Ghostly Records recording artist Chad Mossholder delivers his unique style of organic/electronic sounds. Living somewhere between J.G.Ballard and Slavoj Zizek, his sound constructions are transcendent, thought provoking and inspiring. Chad is also a professional sound designer/composer working in the video games industry. Chad has worked on such titles as Ever Quest I+II, Planet Side I+II, and Star Wars Galaxies, Matrix Online and DC Universe Online.

    cwmossholder.com


    Aunt’s Analog performance will involve a combination of electronic and acoustic elements, in an attempt to create a tense but spacious sound environment. “I will have a variety of musical and non-musical objects placed around the stage. Two room microphones and two contact microphones will be plugged into a mixer and panned. Some mic signals will be clean and some affected, with moments of silence interrupted by feedback and acoustic sound. I will be creating tension using the motion of my body against the objects and within the space / field of feedback. Objects will include various pieces of percussion, metals, violin, and other resonant items/instruments to be struck or bowed. The performance will last about 20 minutes. Shrill feedback tones juxtaposed with quiet scrapes and bowed sounds will create a performance that is both meditative and jarring. Extreme highs and lows, to create a contradictory and dynamic aural / psychological sound-scape. Best enjoyed with closed eyes and open ears.” 
    soundcloud.com/aunts-analog


    Malloc is Matthew Thies, an electronic musician in Austin, TX. Malloc creates ambient landscapes from delicately crafted sounds, giving spectral content equal status with melody, harmony, and rhythm. Along with writing music as Malloc, Matthew has been an active performer in Austin’s eclectic electronic music world since 2002. He began as a member of the ambient noise group Numbers on the Mast, later sat in with sonic magicians Book of Shadows, and collaborated with Eric Archer as Visitor Q. With a background in computer music from Berklee and the University of Texas, Malloc draws on influences ranging from Aphex Twin to Steve Reich.
    soundcloud.com/malloc


    Sounding Vessels is an Austin, Texas based improvisational chamber ensemble using traditional, ethnic, manipulated, home-made and found instrumentation in electro-acoustic musics.  For NMASS, Sounding Vessels will comprise of the primary collecteif members:  Ron Carson, Dan J. Spence, Allen D. Cline. They will be performing on flute, trumpet, cello, lap steel, electric bass, marimba, gong, electric tabla, marching band percussion, water vessels and electronics.

    soundingvessels.com


    Benjamin Crowley, aka Artificial Earth Machine, is an Austin electronic musician who has performed original music consistently since 2011. AEM plays a variety of genres, including ambient, dance, and atmospheric sounds, using only hardware synths, drum machines, samplers, and live vocals. He is heavily influenced by other members of Austin’s incredible electronic music scene, such as Exploded Drawing and Applied Pressure.

    soundcloud.com/aemachine


    Christopher Petkus has been affiliated with COTFG since 2004. His projects include Mongoose, which has performed at COTFG scores of times, and Donny Who Loved Bowling, which has never performed live. He has a good story about having to crawl into a window at the old Church location to set up for a performance there. The performance you’ll hear at this year’s NMASS is made of found sounds, drones and tritones.
    christopherpetkus.bandcamp.com


    A performance of sound and movement by Bob Hoffnar (steel guitar), Jason Phelps (voice, movement), and Steve Parker (trombone + electronics). Through the use of slowly sweeping sine waves, steel guitar, ebow, muted trombone, voice, and electronics, we will examine simple forments of sound (through the use of muted trombone and overtone singing), audio perception (through closely tuned stereo sine tones), and resultant tones (through the use of multiphonics, ebowed steel guitar, and humming).


    The trio of Sandy Ewen (guitar), Damon Smith (7 string electric upright bass, laptop) and Weasel Walter (drums) issued a 78-minute CD in early 2012, containing nothing short of alien technique and structural disruption. The music offers complete modernist abstraction with teeth and urgency. It is the sound of extreme polyphony and counterpoint, veering radically from density to space, pinprick to roar within instants. The eight pieces range from 4 to 17 minutes in length and each retain their own tight focus.

    Canadian born Sandy Ewen is a rising talent hailing from Houston, Texas best known for her work with the active rock band Weird Weeds. Her vision expands upon the likeminded approaches of heralded deconstructionists like Kevin Drumm and Keith Rowe while never imitating.

    Her setup is simple: a guitar, stereo amplification, distortion and various preparations. She prefers to extend the vocabulary of the instrument with raw ingenuity, eschewing the overly complicated electronic enhancements of many of her contemporaries.

    In this ensemble, she is backed by the prolific improvisers Damon Smith and Weasel Walter. The duo has worked regularly as a rhythm section in varied contexts since 2006 and the music here is an excellent example of their urgent, brisk interplay. Smith is a master of the extended bass lexicon, following in the footsteps of the great Peter Kowald, forging ahead towards the beyond. Walter’s percussion is ceaselessly restless, defying logic and breaking speed records with glee.

    Sandy Ewen was born in Toronto, Canada in 1985, and received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008.  Since then she has resided in Houston, TX where she pursues her musical and visual projects and her architecture license. Ewen has performed music throughout North America as a collaborative improviser and as a member the Weird Weeds. Lately, Ewen has been focusing on her visual art, frequently presenting it alongside experimental music. More info: http://www.sandyewen.com/

    Damon Smith studied double bass with Lisle Ellis and had lessons with Bertram Turetzky, Joëlle Leandré, John Lindberg, Mark Dresser and others. He has also done considerable research of the ´sonic palette´ of the double bass. This has resulted in a personal, flexible improvisational language based in the American jazz avant garde movement and European non-idiomatic free improvisation. He is also very influenced by visual art, film and dance. His work with director Werner Herzog (soundtracks for “Grizzly Man” & “Encounters at the end of the World” and an early performance with the Merce Cunningham dance company reflect this. He has collaborated with a wide range of musicians including Cecil Taylor, Marshall Allen (of Sun Ra´s Arkestra), Henry Kaiser, Birgit Ulher, Fred Frith, Wadada Leo Smith, Marco Eneidi, Wolfgang Fuchs, Peter Brötzmann and Peter Kowald. He worked often in the San Francisco Bay Area Creative Music Community and is now based in Houston, Texas. For more information go to: http://www.balancepointacoustics.com

    Weasel Walter is best known as the drummer and primary composer for the cult punk jazz/no wave/brutal prog band, The Flying Luttenbachers. Between 1991 and 2007, the group recorded 16 full-length albums, toured Europe and the US extensively, and included such musicians as Ken Vandermark, Mick Barr, Ed Rodriguez (Deerhoof), Jeb Bishop, Jonathan Hischke (Hella) and Fred Lonberg-Holm in its ranks. Mr. Walter has also worked with other experimental rock groups like XBXRX, Behold…The Arctopus, Burmese, Lake Of Dracula and many others. Also known as an improviser, Mr. Walter has performed and/or recorded with Evan Parker, Marshall Allen, Elliott Sharp, Peter Evans, Henry Kaiser, Mary Halvorson, Marc Edwards, Nels Cline, William Hooker, Darius Jones, Jim O’Rourke, John Butcher, Vinny Golia, John Lindberg and members of ROVA among many others. He appears on over 100 commercial releases and runs the independent record label, ugEXPLODE. More info: http://nowave.pair.com/weasel_walter/


    The Bradley Telcom Ensemble features performers who all utilize the Bradley Telcom Jitter and Hit Synthesizer with Frequency Translation and Harmonic Distortion Module, an obscure piece of vintage lab equipment originally used by telecom companies for testing four-wire voice band modems. These modular analog synthesizers lend themselves to abstract, tonal, and rhythmic soundscapes. For NMASS 2014, the ensemble will be comprised of sound artists Alex KellerChristopher Royal King, and Thomas Fang.


    The Bourdon Ensemble is a group of Austin ambient and drone artists with the common goal of exploring the range of acoustic instruments through the process of affecting them in different ways. Made up of R Lee Dockery, Brent Fariss, Lisa Cameron, and Jacob Green, this ensemble will be performing a long tone piece for the first time live at NMASS.

    soundcloud.com/r-lee-dockery
    soundcloud.com/brentfariss
    soundcloud.com/jacob-phoenix-green


    CotFG App Jam
    App Jam will occur at various times interspersed throughout NMASS2014 weekend.This app was created by Geoff Boyd of Bentrax, LLC
    How Does it Work? From the stage to your pocket, Church of the Friendly Ghost is now portable! We asked influential musicians from Austin and beyond to donate compositions in a special format: five 8-second loops per artist. Put on your headphones and browse these twenty four outrageously creative mini-compositions as they were originally assembled…

    Close your eyes and wave your phone around while the mix swirls in your ears… Don’t like those vibes? Flick a ghost off the screen to swap in a new sound from a different artist… Swipe to shift the pitch down a few steps… Superego telling you to trash your current composition? Tap the reload button to replace all the tracks… This app provides all the tools for broad musical control: particular tracks can be soloed, crossfaded, and muted while groups of tracks can be favorited to save your work.

    You could play a whole set with it! But in case you would rather not… the music in the app is also generative! It can be a pixel-free experience… just tap the home button to engage the auto-remix feature and listen to the jams our algorithms kick out.

    How Do I Get It?

    The app is called “Church of The Friendly Ghost” and is available on the iOS App Store starting today! It costs $1.99 and 100% of the proceeds go towards supporting our 2014 program. Try this URL: http://itunes.com/apps/churchofthefriendlyghost

    In the app jam, participants are invited to create their own compositions using loops we have collected from our friends:

    Steven Snowden, Adam Hilton, Mediums, EricMcCann, Christopher Petkus, Chalkboards, Peter Stopschinski , Matt Burnett, Derrick Fore, Bali Yaaah, Alex Keller, Dan Gentile, Steve Sachse, Eric Bohlke, brekekekexkoaxkoax, Scott Hopkins, Ellen Hutchison, SAE , Kenzie Slottow, W. Ben Alleman, LACO$TE, Henna Chou, Derivative, and many more!




    Clint Enns is a video artist and filmmaker living in Toronto, Ontario. His work primarily deals with moving images created with broken and/or outdated technologies. His work has shown both nationally and internationally at festivals, alternative spaces and microcinemas.

    Clint has a Master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Manitoba, and has recently received a Master’s degree in cinema and media from York University. His writings and interviews have appeared in Millennium Film Journal, Incite! Journal of Experimental Media and Spectacular Optical.
    clintenns.tumblr.com/about



    Continuing a series of installations for the NMASS festival (Tesseract 1, 2, and 3) that have focused on the confluence of light, sound, surface, and space, the design and art team of Clay Odom (Designer and Assistant Professor of Interior Design at The UT School of Architecture), Sean ONeill (Designer and Sound Artist) and Adam Owens (Designer and Photographer), has created a new gallery installation for the 2014 edition of the New Music and Sound Summit being held at the Salvage Vanguard Theater.

    This installation will exist at Salvage Vanguard Theater from June 12th through June 14th, 2014. Below are some sample images from their in-progress work on this year’s installation:

    http://onoffobject.com
    https://twitter.com/onoffobject
    https://twitter.com/studiomodo
    http://instagram.com/snonll
    http://instagram.com/nuboynow


    NMASS 2014 presents a program of live projector performances, single channel videos, dual-16mm symmetries, looping noises, magical music, colorful toys, whirling gizmos, twirling toiletries, old-school media devices and new school mishaps, all arranged in a controlled cacophony by Allison Leigh Holt (a.k.a. Oilly Oowen) and Scott Stark.

    Right Scott Stark, single channel video, 2008A playful study of one of the U.S.A.’s most ubiquitous symbols, and an attempt to re-invent it as a thing of problematic beauty.

    Nocturnal Symmetries2014, two 16mm projectors and live audio,Images by Scott Stark, sound by Allison Leigh Holt, using field recordings by Byram Abbott.”Images untethered in dream-like urban and natural landscapes, aggravated by artificial light, lost in the gap between imperfect symmetries.”

    Experiment 2Allison Leigh Holt, single channel videoExperiment 2 is a live-mixed analog video experiment made at the Experimental Television Center (ETC) in upstate New York, with footage from a modified surveillance camera. Shot in Indonesia; Boston; Manhattan; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA,

    LibertyScott Stark, single channel video, 2014Freedom in our America, visually sliced and diced.

    Treasures of Big HouseLive performance with Scott Stark and Allison Leigh HoltMultiple digital video projections, five video cameras including a surveillance camera, looping analog and digital sounds, various toys and noise-making devices. “A playful, manic interaction between two performers with light, shadow and sound, using toys, household objects and toiletries out of control.”

    http://www.oillyoowen.com/http://www.scottstark.com/



    Jerome Morrison / Stephen Fishman
    Installation appearing 6/12 through 6/14/2014

    A loose lesson in language, communication and group dynamics, Stephen Fishman and Jerome Morrison’s piece consists of an obelisk which projects holographic images and glyphs, which respond to specific gestures and bodily movements. By communicating with other users stationed at the opposing viewing angles, the viewers can discuss what is seen and decipher the glyph. These lessons will repeat and eventually the meaning of the hieroglyphic message will appear. Close attention and collaboration will further unlock hidden messages in the piece.

    jalexmorrison.com/home/
    www.macandcheez.com/


    Meason Wiley
    Cymatics is the study of visible sound and vibration, a subset of modal phenomena. When sound travels through a medium such as water, regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible. The resulting patterns emerge depending on the frequency of the sound, as well as the material and size of the physical container. This installation utilizes two equidistant 8″ full-range speakers and a plate bi-amplifier housed in a custom box. A thin sheet of acrylic is placed directly on top of the speaker cones and sealed with waterproof caulk. The sounds are created utilizing phase modulation synthesis and were generated using NI Reaktor software.

    www.cyclespersecond.net


    Vanessa Gelvin is an Austin-based artist whose artistic practice frequently includes sound and other non-object based media. Her installation at NMASS utilizes sound from field recordings and historical and contemporary audio recordings to explore opposing ideological currents within American culture.

    vanessagelvin.bandcamp.com


    Bleep Labs workshop
    In this solder-free workshop, students will learn about basic synthesizer building blocks and assemble an open ended synthesizer system. The kit is based around light controlled analog oscillators which interact with each other. They are then passed through a a lo-fi, Arduino based digital delay. After the workshop, users can change the code and circuit to make all kinds of glitchy, drony, noisy sounds.

    No previous experience with electronics is required. All materials included. There is a $30 workshop fee to cover supplies, separate from NMASS admission, and space is limited. Please RSVP by email to drbleep@bleeplabs.com so that we can plan for the appropriate number of attendees!

    Peformance on 6/14/2014
    Dr. Bleep (aka John-Mike Reed) will be performing with his own noise devices along with modular synthesizer and glitched visuals.




  • E.Artifact

    5:00pm on Saturday, July 29th 2023

    E.Artifact is a songwriter, producer, and mulit-instrumentalist based in Austin, Texas. their current musical output exists in the realms of jazz, soul, and psych rock.

    The performance at New Media Art & Sound Summit will include:

    David Alvarez (piano)
    Patrick McNally (percussion)
    Paul Ukrainets (electronics)
    Ezra Rodriguez (cello)
    Kendra Sells (vocals)
    Luke Bartels (flute)
    Andrew Harkey (bass)

    The group will be exploring questions interpreted from a series of Vietnamese folk poems, known as Ca Dao, in four movements.

    https://eartifact.org/

  • Goliath was Bigfoot

    4:00pm on Saturday, July 29th 2023

    Goliath Was Bigfoot is a contemporary music initiative started by Andrew Stoltz and Brent Fariss in 2022. The purpose of the group is to engage in conceptual explorations of folk tales, urban legends, ghost stories, conspiracy theories, myths, and the possible origin of the Sasquatch in the Book of Samuel. They present these ideas drawing from diverse and eclectic musical traditions such as sound-based abstraction, theater, folk songs, hymns, minimalism, metal and Ambient Americana. In late 2023, Goliath Was Bigfoot will be presenting a full-scale work in both the performative and recorded formats. For the Murder Ballad series, they are joined by Jess Griggs and Jordan Walsh.

    NMASS Program description

    Murder Ballads, Volume III
    Side 1 – “The Possom’s Lament” – Andrew Stoltz
    Side 2 – “Merrilee” – Brent Fariss

    Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form, whose primary narrative describes the events of a crime or death. This usually includes the lead-up and/or aftermath. “Murder Ballads, Vol. III” examines the tradition of murder ballads in relation to animals and how humans tend to treat animals in a very cruel way. The piece also explores grieving through old-world ritualistic funerary customs and practices that contrast our modern, often sanitized process of handling sorrow, and the way we often dismiss that these furry friends are members of our family. As an aural expression, this piece seeks a surreal, meditative and ritualistic atmosphere that confronts the finality of death and the peace that comes with the reconciliation of this universal, shared experience.

    Player Biographies

    Brent Fariss is a composer / performer living in Austin, Texas. He has collaborated in several modern music settings including the Gates Ensemble, Waco Girls, Goliath Was Bigfoot, and the Austin New Music Coop. Fariss holds a Master’s degree in Composition from Texas State University, where he also studied the contrabass. He has become increasingly interested in the idea of conceptualism; using minimalist techniques to unite texture, form, resonance, and abstracted programmatic ideas to create a musical environment. 

    Andrew DiRemiggio Stoltz is an Austin, Texas-based composer, songwriter, performer and recording engineer. Utilizing both traditional and non-traditional instruments, strict composition and improvisation, his most recent work celebrates the subtle, natural, introspective and quiet moments. Born and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio metropolitan area, he holds a Masters of Music in Composition from Cleveland State University and was a 2005 recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Award, and a 2012 and 2020 recipient of a New Music USA grant. His work has been performed and represented at a number of festivals and galleries throughout the U.S., Mexico and Europe.

    Jess Griggs is a radio host, producer, writer, and musician based in Austin, Texas. Jess has worked in a variety of music and media institutions in Austin and on the east coast. Currently, they work at KMFA 89.5 as the traffic manager and host of ‘Night Music.’ When they’re not on the airwaves, they write angsty poetry or they make questionable sounds via the trombone.They also have a Mini Australian Shepherd named Libby who is, by all accounts, perfect.

    Jordan Walsh is a percussionist, audio engineer, and educator based in Austin, Texas. A proponent of electronics and theater in music, he strives to perform the most absurd music with the most genuine fervor. Jordan frequently commissions and performs new works in both chamber and solo settings, including recent collaborations with composers including Elainie Lillios, Akshaya Avril Tucker, Kitty Xiao, and José Martinez.

    Frequently engaged as a solo performer, Jordan has appeared as a guest at the SEAMUS conference, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and Southwestern University, with upcoming engagements including residencies at Purdue University and Alabama University. Jordan proudly endorses Pearl/Adams Instruments, Sabian Cymbals, Black Swamp Percussion, and Innovative Percussion. When he is not engaged with contemporary classical music, Jordan can be found playing drums with singer-songwriter James Tabata, a smattering of nonsense instruments with Goliath Was Bigfoot, and prepared guitar with Austin’s experimental folk band Middle Sattre.

  • Andrea Cortez & Mario Garza duo

    8:00pm on Saturday, July 29th 2023

    Integrating traditional sounds of Mesoamerica and South Asia, Andrea Cortez and Mario Garza incorporate wordly improvisations with elements of raag (melodic frameworks) and taal (rhythmic cycles). Combining harp, tanpura, and tabla, the representative instruments of the West and East, the duo expound on connecting to natural elements through indigenous praxis and padhant (rhythmic syllabification). These improvisations are catalysts in evocations for healing and hope.

    Andrea Cortez, MM, MT-BC, is a board certified music therapist and sound artist. Her diverse work is at the intersection of performance art, sound therapy, and sound meditation. Deeply inspired by nature, Andrea explores the relationship between music, the natural world, and plants. Her performances and recordings with harp, ambient effects, and plant generated sounds are designed to create restorative listening experiences that move the listener into relaxed states of consciousness. The therapeutic tones of her work focus on sound’s influence on physiological processes of the human body, states of attention, and perception. Andrea is a harpist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound meditation teacher. She is owner of Mind Body Music Center, a sound therapy studio, in Austin, TX

    Mario Garza studies theology at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and performs percussion with the Nizami Qawwali Party. He studies classical Hindustani khayal with tabla and the Bengali mridanga under the tutelage of Ustad Ghulam Farid Nizami of the Senia gharana. Illustrating live rhythm, Mario also dances Mexican Jarocho and Mexika danza. Outside of music, Mario’s work focuses on current events in agriculture and interfaith initiatives.

  • MATTIE

    9:00pm on Saturday, July 29th 2023

    MATTIE is a mirror. She is an oracle of the SOL, and a watch-person over the keys to liberation guiding your experience via modalities of introspective visuals, lyrical self-inquiry, melody/harmony, experimental instrumentation, movement, meditation, and performance art.

    Learn more about her sounds on Bandcamp.


  • Bitches Set Traps + Austin improvisors

    6:00pm on Saturday, July 29th 2023

    Bitches Set Traps is a feminist improvisation ensemble. Part avant-garde improv, part comedy, part social commentary.

    The virtuoso musicians of Bitches Set Traps push the boundaries of improvisation by exploring current events, feminism, misogyny, and performance taboos, in theatrical and comedic performances. Using instruments, voices, and common household items, BST recycles and questions everyday tropes of American culture, from tampon commercials to heavy metal power ballads, Eminem to Supreme Court briefs, Joan Didion to Frank Sinatra.

    The Bitches cross over venues and genres bringing together ideas between subcultures; they set traps in concert halls, nightclubs, theaters, and galleries with equal intensity. As an improvising group they sometimes collaborate with additional guest musicians. BST formed in 2018 as the North Texas Feminist Improvising Group, inspired by the original Feminist Improvising Group of the late 1970’s.

    Bitches Set Traps members:

    Sarah Ruth Alexander: vocals, instruments
    Elizabeth McNutt: flute
    Kourtney Newton: cello

    BST will be joined by Austin based improvisors (West Fox, Mike Capone, Joelle Wagner, Josh Ronsen, Vanessa Gelvin, Kyle Stocking, Aaron Bielish, Violinda, Daniel Mee, and Matt Lacomette) working within a set of structured improvisation guidelines for this set at the New Media Art & Sound Summit.

  • COSMS vs Gamelan Lipi Awan

    7:00pm on Saturday, July 29th 2023

    COSMS

    COSMS is an instrumental duo formed in Austin, TX in 2013.  Josh and Damen hail from small town Indiana and Shanghai respectively.  As such, their perspectives, tastes and approaches to their sounds overlap as often as they clash.  The result is a full and complex sound of bass and percussion.  By using effects, loopers, trippers, percussion and bass guitar, Josh and Damen make two sets of hands sound like ten.

    As one of the original members of the Southwest Post Rock Collective, their exploration in to what they can achieve as a two-piece has evolved over the years as the pic up steam and hone their craft.

    2023’s release of the “Tigers” EP is a testament to that growth.  Utilizing new instruments like a hardpan and a 6-string bass, COSMS continues to push what is possible.  Recorded and mixed by Chico Jones at Estuary Recording Facility and Mastered by Max Lorenzen at Rare Ear, “Tigers” marks their most challenging and engrossing effort yet. 

    Gamelan Lipi Awan (Gamelan Rising Star) refers both to the Balinese musical instruments and to the group of individuals that comprise the orchestra.

    The gamelan was acquired by Texas State University in 2012 and has attracted large numbers of players over the years. Gamelan Lipi Awan’s performances have included the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce gala, Sights and Sounds festival, San Marcos Public Library, Texas State University Asian Cultural Showcase, 72 Degrees Festival, and TMEA. The ensemble has also been featured in the documentary Power of Pearl.

    Playing the gamelan is a very special experience. Apart from the obvious educational musical benefits including rhythmic acuity and musical memory, the sekaa or club of players develops a close sense of ‘belonging’, responsibility and friendship through learning together.

  • Aurum Son

    9:00pm Friday, July 28th 2023

    Aurum Son is Sonia Flores with Andrew Martinez, Danielle Gibson, and Mark Medina for Friday, July 28th.

    Aurum Son is a genre-busting electroacoustic ensemble from Houston, Texas. The group successfully blends global music with jazz, folk and experimental soundscapes. Taking notes from Sun Ra and Avant Garde Jazz, the themes in which they compose are outer space, the spirit warrior journey, spiritual alchemy and transformation. Aurum Son can be heard on major streaming platforms and are set to release new music in 2023.

    Bandcamp: aurumson.bandcamp.com

  • Sluder Brothers

    8:00pm Friday, July 28th 2023

    SLUDER BROTHERS performing “Niche Cathedral” 

    Brent Sluder manages an historic Austin dance hall as a day job , and though he wants to be writing scores for real films (such as Jules of Light & Dark (2020) and The Love Inside (2015), for the time being, Brent settles for writing music for fake movies (such as Man-Made Lakes, and Outlaw Supper Club massacre 1984). Additionally, he can be found experimenting under the names Field Dress and Jeepacabre, collecting art books, and painting his feelings.

    His older brother, Kevin Sluder lives in McKinney, Tx and has been teaching public school string orchestra at the middle and high school levels for 16 years. He has also published nearly 20 educational string orchestra pieces, and loves recording albums of a variety of genres in his spare time.

    This premiere performance of their all-new collaboration ‘Niche Cathedral’ marks the first time the Sluder brothers have performed live since high school marching band. They have a long-distance recording project called Brudeheim Stemroller which relies on passing Logic stems back and forth like sonic pen pals. Their piece for Friday, July 28th was conceived and arranged in the same way.

    Examples of works by Brent Sluder and Kevin Sluder can be heard in Bandcamp.

  • EYEmusic graphic score interpretations

    7:00pm Friday, July 28th 2023

    Originally from Calgary Canada, Aaron Bielish received an MFA from the University of Houston and a Master of Music from Rice University. He works in a diverse range of media including photography, pen and ink, digital and computer media, sound, and ceramics. His works have been featured at the Art League of Houston, Foundation for Modern Music, Canadian Music Festival and the Baton Rouge Gallery. He currently resides in Houston where he is currently an instructor in the music department, visual art department, and humanities department at Lone Star college.

    For this set, a number of performers will interpret graphic scores created by Aaron Bielish. The improvised sections will be performed by individuals or small groups of people on a wide range of instruments and technological tools.

    The players may include:

    The players may include: Aaron Bielish, Violinda, J.Brent Crosson, Thomas Echols, Julia Hungerford, Hung Nguyen, Peter Stopschinski, Leila Henley, and Charles Stolze.