Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Droneshift recap and Slide Trumpet!

Dronshift was a lovely and illuminating evening. I had just rolled into San Francisco on a late flight and went directly to the Luggage Store Gallery from the airport. I was not the first arrival, but there was still space around the outside of the gallery to set up. The picture to the right is my view from my chair. CJ Borosque it chilling with her trumpet and Rent Romus' table is front and center. The room was full with participants and audience as well. As things got underway, there was a sense of sparseness that required people to step up from time to time to keep the drone going.
I got the hang of timing my contributions with the stopwatch on the Iphone. About two thirds of the way through the event Matt Davignon walked around the room with a bar napkin with "+ 5 minutes to your time." I was delighted to get the high sign. This amounted to a total playing time of 28 minutes in two hours. I liked the game like parameters of setting the amount of playing for each participant. It seems like an interesting way to get groups of players to interact in a uniform but undefined way. Something I would like to try with a quartet setting.
The next night in Oakland was equally amazing at Frank Moore's performance. A dance studio was transformed with lights, murals and warmth, Frank asked only questions of his audience and achieved amazing results. I see Frank on the vanguard of mining the human psyche to find fear and transmute that into action. I was honored to be there.

On the acquisition side of things, I located a slide trumpet on Craig's list. It required some serious repair. I took it to the legendary repair person Bruce Belo and it has been remediated. Bruce also put some true fear into me in terms of the proper maintenance of the instrument. Using phrases like "it is building a coral reef inside the horn." Bruce persuasively sold the idea of ongoing maintenance as a form of brass hygiene. I see a world of microtonal possibilities and slippery intonation with this tool! Stay tuned for further developments!

The new CD 23 Duets is entering the final phases of mastering. Pictures have been taken and the cover is coming together. The hum of excitement is pulsing through the Coastal Lair.





Thursday, December 16, 2010

Droneshift tonight at the Luggage Store Gallery, SF


I am heading up to San Francisco for Droneshift tonight. It is at the Luggage Store Gallery on Market St. at 8PM.

I will be one out of many in this event, with 23 minutes of "play time." I thought this sounded intriguing enough to book a flight to do this. Long tones in the dark of winter. What a theme.

Here are some notes on the event:

Aesthetics:
This event should be a drone concert in that each person's notes begin
and end gradually and are of very long duration. There should not be
any noticeable rhythms or melodies. Please think of your contributions
as elements and aspects of a singular "group sound". If you play a
breath-related instrument, and do not have circular breathing
techniques, you can play in a "gradual ebb and flow" style. There will
be natural changes in dynamics and mood. At some points, non-drone
sounds such as field recordings or singular bell sounds may be
appropriate element to the group sound.

Performance:
As I mentioned earlier, you're each going to need some sort of
stopwatch. Cell phones and ipods often have them, but I realized last
time that my ipod seems to turn itself off after a minute or so. I'm
not worried about the quiet beeping noises of wristwatches. (In fact,
they may be kind of nice.) The rules are:
1) Each musician can play for up to 23 minutes. When you play is up to
you - just make sure your stop watch is running as you play.
2) We will get started at exactly 8pm and finish at exactly 10pm.
3) As a group, however, we need to make sure that the music
continuously happens for the entire 2 hours.

On Friday I will be sitting in with Frank Moore for his performance in Oakland.





Thursday, November 25, 2010

Plastic is the future of Brass - The Vuvuzela

I was pondering if the World Cup was a world class noise event and whether the plastic Vuvuzela is the future of brass performance. The sound of the world cup was either the sound of angry insects or a soothing drone. Depending on your perspective. I was amused by the plastic horn as weapon of mass insurrection. No play by play or color. no announcer re-stating what had happened. Just the harsh fog of angry plastic horns. Cheap, loud and endless. Wow! The convergence of marketing and conceptual art. Since no one has claimed the idea, I suppose it will be noted as a cultural fluke.

I am considering ways to integrate the subtle nuances of the Vuvuzela into the phog masheeen Ĺ“uvre.


Luggage Store Drone, Boston in April!


I have some travel in the offing....Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco on 12-16-10 for Drone night, 12-17-10 in Oakland in the band for Frank Moore. On the topic of Frank Moore, he is a constant inspiration. When you see what he has achieved it permanently changes your perspective on what is possible. A perspective that cuts right through the whiney BS that people produce to excuse their lack of focus or motivation. And he has such a fine time doing it. Amazing!

A little down the road, there is a trip to Boston in the works for early April. That includes a talk with the title of: "The changing context of improvisation: unplayable instruments, disaster management and the safe handling of dry ice." More details as they become available.

Happy Thanksgiving! Don't operate heavy equipment after the L-Tryptophan kicks in.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Jawbone Canyon Set up for your listening pleasure...

The Jawbone Canyon Set us up Here.
This was a decidedly harsh set. I attribute this to going on after +DOG+.
The theme here seems to be "A fist full of Samples." One at a time is clearly not enough. Some delightful moments with the dry ice and some "lyrical" lines played on the Duodenum.





Saturday, November 6, 2010

Gothenburg Sweden show up for your streaming pleasure!

Another streaming set turned in to Gothenburg Sweden at Galleri 54 Placard.
The set is available at: http://www.archive.org/details/PhogMasheeenLePlacard5-11-2010

enjoy!

phog


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Photos from Club Bit Map!


Everyone loves to see Gear! We will start there. This pic is of Igor Amokian's set up on the two left tables and the third table on the right is Big Epoch's rig. Note that the blue, green and yellow drum pad toy also lit up when played!






Here is the view of Big Epoch's setup on the lower left.
I will note that Big Epoch is the master of the Kaos pad. To watch him run it is an education. Impressive!



Phog gear. Groove box, filter, fuzztone, mixer. Good for parking blunted beats over Philip Glass or Carl Orff. In the course of the evening tracks by Art Ensemble of Chicago, Miles Davis, Steve Reich and more were mixed with beats as break music. It is an homage to the the true pioneers that opened the door to the noisy life we lead. The mixes were done with the upmost respect. Really! This is not an ironic statement!


Dan from Clown's and Fetuses working the dance floor!
Epic!






Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Club Bit Map Recap, Link to recording.

Last nights Club Bit Map at the Puka Bar in Long Beach has been recorded and is available for your listen pleasure HERE.
It features great sets by Igor Amokian and Big Epoch as well as a jam with Amokian, Epoch and phog masheeen.
Included is the dance lesson of how to do the new dance "The Buddah got a lap-band" also the costume contest and other mirth and merriment.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Video promo for Club Bit Map!

Coming this Monday!
Club Bit Map! Circuit bent dance club!
Costume Contest with a Cash Prize! Dance lessons & Big fun!
Monday 10-25-10 8PM
Puka Bar, 710 Willow, Long Beach.
FREE FREE FREE

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Next up, Jawbone Canyon...Vids from OCCCA....

Jawbone Canyon in the beautiful Mojave is coming up on 10-22-10.
For those of you who like some adventure with your noise. This is an opportunity to camp and do all the desert entertainments.
Not for everyone, But it could be fun!
Here is Vid from the OCCCA show.

More OCCCA show....

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

New track up for your amusement and perusal!


There is a New track up for your amusement and perusal!
Airlock is culled from the upcoming phog masheeen CD "23 Duets."
It is at the Santa Ana Noise festival page on Sound Cloud.

http://soundcloud.com/occca-noise-festival



Enjoy all the tracks from the performers!

This Saturday! Santa Ana & Bucharest!

This Saturday is the OCCCA show I am thrilled to be on that bill with the who's who of the local noise scene!

I just got back from Chicago. Interesting town that Chicago. The temperatures were just starting to dip. The locals bleed anti-freeze when they are cut. I however, do not have the midwest attribute of being impervious to low temps. I bought a wool coat at a Goodwill to address the issue. Nice Coat, $12.06. It looks like it might have fed some moths along the way.

Onward....
phog

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

23 Seconds, OCCCA, Jawbone Canyon

I got an invitation to participate in the 23 seconds project that is being produced by the Autonomous Individuals Network. I submitted a fresh track called "Vessel Sink" to them. It will be popping up soon on CD and Download.

October 9th is big with performances in Bucharest with Le Placard Headphone festival and at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana. The Santa Ana performance is their second annual noise night. The last one was rather memorable. It was orchestral in size and was a test of stamina.

Le Placard is a headphone festival that I like to participate in as often as I can. The process is to stream my performance to servers in Paris and then to Rumania. The feed from that festival is varied and entertaining.

The title of the Jawbone Canyon event is "COLD SNAKES WALK FREE FROM FIRE (JAWBONE IV)," This is a free event at a campground in the Mojave Desert. We are performing on Friday Oct. 22nd. Other performers include, The Deglet Noor Fakirs, Night at Noon, Swamplands, DOG, The Upside Down Face, COTA & Phaul. Another fine opportunity for Adventure and Experimental Music!

Club Bit Map is shaping up with Igor Imokian and guests lined up for your dancing pleasure. The beats and blips will be flowing, dance lessons and costume contest! October 25th at the Puka Bar in Fabulous Long Beach. As an added touch we will be floating the classic works of experimental music over extra custom grooves. So Pierre Henry may be layered with a semi-digested throb. Looking forward to that!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Club Bit Map

I had a funny thing fall in my lap.
I received the opportunity to book a night at the Puka Bar!

So I decided to combine the drum machine culture and the cult of circuit bending into a dance club. Club Bit Map.

I am now recruiting Dancers to train the dance-phobic to move to noise.

The appeal of Club Bit Map is:
  1. It is Monday night. (no competition)
  2. It is a short 3 hour burst of dancing.
  3. It is free
  4. There will be trained professionals to show you how to dance to noise safely!
  5. It could be fun!
  6. Alcohol is available!
Talent is being contacted and promotion is beginning!

phog ... out

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Soundwalk date change, Bucharest instead....

Much to my chagrin the date was changed for the Soundwalk. They moved it up a week to the 2nd of October.
I will be in Chicago on the second. So no Soundwalk this year. I can devote my full evening to Noisefest 2 at the OCCCA (Orange County Center for Contemporary Art) on October 9th.
Just to fill out the day I booked a headphone fest for the afternoon. I will be playing at 4pm in Costa Mesa at the Coastal Lair Studio and streaming to Bucharest Rumainia where it will be 2AM. I will be done in plenty of time to drive to Santa Ana for the full event of Noisefest!

If you are interested in hearing the set on Le Placard check their site http://www.leplacard.org/2010/Bucarest%20Knotland%20two/

Gotta Run,

phog


Friday, August 27, 2010

Desert Experimental pic, video work and stuff...

Skating the thin ice of non-diatonic music.

Seeking a moment of perfect clarity by playing three valves with one finger.

All while in the disassembled hangar at the Palms in Wonder Valley.

I have been working on props, scripting a video production and struggling to complete 23 Duets. I am going to seek some inspiration from Coffee.

I also want to put together a totally trimmed down set up for Soundwalk. Ultra portable and battery powered. More on that as it develops.

l8tr,
phog

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Desert Experimental 3AM, no show at the Puka Bar...

Desert Experimental was great in many different ways.
By the time we got on it was 3AM. I was glad it wasn't sunrise. We wouldn't have been able to see Bill's Videos. The set went well and we missed the lone heckler.

The lone heckler was the daytime bar tender at the Palms and voiced her opinions about every performer till about 2 AM when the bar closed and she went home. I missed much of her schtick but I was told she was relentless.

On Monday I went to the Puka Bar for noise night, however it didn't happen and the usual suspects arrived and loitered around and groused for a while then wondered off. As they say.... better luck next month.

We got accepted to the soundwalk for another thrilling year! The performances this year will be nomadic and will be announced on twitter. You can follow this mirth and merriment by following @phogmasheeen on twitter.

gotta run,

phog

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Gearing up for Desert Experimental!


We are gearing up for Desert Experimental out in Wonder Valley @ the Palms.
One good reason to attend this event is the Palms itself.

If we ever colonize another planet.....say Mars. If there is a bar there. And there will be a bar there.... it will look like the Palms.

The Palms is the bar at the end of the universe....a remote location for people who thrive on remote locations. You can camp on the site. An advantage since returning to your tent is nicer than a long drive. Any other location is a long drive.

If you need to leave a city or a suburb, the Palms is the way to do it. When you eventually return to whatever your situation is, things seem less precious and it seems easier to let things that seemed so important before..... go. Sometimes forever.

As the third stop for the "Arthroscopic Tourism" show we are frothing with excitement at another opportunity to trot this out to the Palms.

Dr. Kaplan has a new piece for her arsenal of percussion. A gift from the owner of the Sky Village Swapmeet in Yucca Valley, Bob. It is a mirror from one of the movie projectors. Polished steel to endure the heat from the arc-light in the projector. It is beautiful to see as well as hear. It makes a low gong-like sound that seems to sustain forever. It is an excellent addition to her collection of re-purposed percussion, a good amount of which was found at the Sky Village Swapmeet.


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Puka Bar Wonderment! Great Sander Wolff article!

The Puka Bar persists as one of the most enjoyable venues in Southern California. The Decor of the idealized island life and a bar tender that is waiting for her knees to heal to return to roller derby. It is a great combination!

There was a point in the show last night where I was charmed to death by the inland empire noise sensation Ralph Love as he deconstructed industrial rock with a great sound set of industrial samples. I love industrial rock so it was a trip down memory lane for me.

I did an interview with the Legendary Sander Wolff for the Long Beach Post.

The link is the word interview in the previous sentence and the cut and paste is below. The cut and paste is a little jumpy. The interview link is better and has video.

Phog Masheeen: Music Between The Cracks
by Sander Wolff | Culture Agent | 07.26.10 |


The Puka Bar, located at 710 W Willow, is presenting another installment of its First Mondays' Experimental Music Evenings tonight. One of tonight's performances will be by phog masheeen, fresh from a trek to the Bay Area for a series of shows.

Sander: How was San Francisco?

Phog: It was great! The Outsound New Music Summit starts with an event called "Touch the Gear" That happened Sunday the 18th at the Community Music Center on Capp St. in San Francisco. I flew myself and my gear up there to participate.

The Gear thing was amazing! Some really great ideas. The really informative part was watching other people use my gear.

Sander: What did you discover?

Phog: People hit all the buttons at once. and rather than subtle fading, they sweep the pots the full distance to see what it does. Some people play a sampler like a piano. amazing!

Phog: I am back down to collect the rest of the stuff, and Dr. Kaplan, and will head back up to SF to see the Thursday and Friday Shows and to perform on Saturday. Monday we are performing at the Puka Bar in Long Beach. There is some driving involved this week.

Sander: So, you left your gear up there?

Phog: Some. I am bringing up an aerophone that we call "the duodenum" that is more than I think the TSA could deal with. It is constructed from a Motorcycle exhaust pipe with a trumpet mouthpiece receiver in it. I am bringing a propane torch to warm the duodenum before massaging it with dry ice. Flying with that is a non-starter.

Sander: Aside from being cold, what does the dry ice do?

Phog: When the dry ice touches metal it boils. The difference in temperature between the ice and the metal determines how fast it boils. When dry ice boils the escaping gas vibrates the metal and the sound can be picked up with a contact mic. It works with the trumpet too. I don't use the propane on the trumpet, though.

The results are truly out of control. I can select the location of the noise that is produced, but it is very hard to say that I can control what that noise is. The whole process keeps me on my toes.

Also I use welding gloves to handle the dry ice. That adds an interesting spin to things as well.

Sander: And how does the propane come into this equation?

Phog: I use the torch to heat spots on the duodenum to provide nodes of heat on the metal. At that point I can use a strumming motion with the ice. I use the propane only to heat the metal.

Sander: I really do think you should fly with your gear, just to see what happens! (You've seen Midnight Express, right?)

Phog: I already get the little "you have been searched" pamphlets. I would need to be going somewhere really cool to push the envelope with the TSA.

One more thing about the TSA: They disassembled a rack of gear and they couldn't put it back together again. So they put it in grey buckets and sent it to the luggage carousel. Not a pretty sight to see. That was after a red-eye to Philly.

Sander: Let's talk, for a moment, about the 'Noise' genre. Do you feel that what you do is music, or is it a non-musical sonic experience? I ask because I feel that there are certainly components or elements of music in what you do.

Phog: I work in a variety of legit musical settings. I feel the noise/sound design genre offers an opportunity to communicate emotion without diatonic concerns, or beat. I consider it music between the cracks. Can I do it without chords, melody, and beat, and use texture and color to communicate [instead]? Painters can. I think musicians can, too.

Sander: That's why I struggle with 'noise' as a genre. I think it doesn't really do justice to the compositional, tonal, textural, and dynamic planning that goes into most performances.

Phog: I would agree with that with some performers. For some, NOISE is really all they want to do. I am fine with that. I think it is inspiring to see what people can do with simple means or clever manipulation of gear. I am totally unqualified to speak for any genre. However, in my work I appreciate the surprises of working in the moment. I think that the audience is aware of how far out on the plank you are, and that brings some excitement to the performance. In reference to doing justice to the tonal, textural, and dynamic planning: That may or may not apply to all performers.

Sander: There is a sense of play, of being completely in the moment, that seems to intrigue artists who work in experimental performance of one sort or another. Can you talk a bit more about that?

Phog: The play aspect is more evident for me in long form settings. We were at Torrance Art Museum a couple of weeks ago and we had five hours to fill with sound. At that point you are looking at your collaborators' ideas and seeing if there is a way to re-combine, or twist, their idea and take it in a different direction to fill the five hours. That is more playful.

In short form settings, say twenty minutes, I work to maintain focus and continuity. To maintain a story arc from one end of the performance to the other. I generally have some texture ideas at the outset but, if the plan isn't working, the plan goes. None of this "stay the course" crap. If my initial concept doesn't click right away, then I will go with no concept at all and see where that leads.

You can't do experimental music if you don't do experiments. Some of them fail. It is the way they fail that brings people to noise shows. It is like going to NASCAR to see the wrecks.

Monday, July 26, 2010

On to the Puka Bar Tonight!
















Tonight Puka Bar in Fabulous Long Beach! The second stop in the "Arthroscopic Tourism" tour.
We are on at 9:30 and Delighted to be there. It has been an action packed day so far. Getting back up to speed after our SF trip. Then we gear up for .......Desert Experimental in August!



Tuesday, July 20, 2010

North, South, North

The happy gear motivate throng at the Touch the Gear Event!

As we say stuff, stuff, stuff. The touch the gear event at the Outsound New Music Summit was AMAZING!

The reveling in the religions of tinkering, fabrication, signal path and the obscure was in full effect at the Community Music Center on Capp St.
A very convivial group of folks gathered to try out the various rigs that were presented.

I spent most of the evening introducing my signal path and showing people how to run it.

It was a very unique and fun event. I am glad I made it there!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Thanks Ken Rugg, Tam Recap. On To Outsound!


Things are really rolling here at the Costal Lair.
The Torrance Art Museum show was a great success. Five seamless hours of performance.
I am thankful to be in such auspicious company with Eric Strauss and the Divine Brick Research team. We augmented the phog masheeen core group (William Almas, Dr. Kaplan) with Tim Fritch on Clarenet, shop-vac and bundt pan.

The Arthroscopic tourism Tour kicks off at the Outsound New Music Summit in San Francisco. We are thrilled to be a part of the Summit. I am flying up for the "Touch the Gear" portion of the Summit on Sunday July 18th. Where people can check out the performer's gear and try it out. Very Cool! Then we drive up on Thursday to see shows and to perform on Saturday the 24th.

Ken Rugg's video of Eric Strauss' piece at the Torrance Art Museum.


Friday, July 2, 2010

Torrance Art Museum Tomorrow 7/3/2010

We were working on the final touches at the Museum today.
That room sounds Great! It is a great space to perform in.
I am humming with anticipation for tomorrow!





















Torrancen Art Museum Tomorrow 7/3/2010
















Compositions will be presented as a continuous stream of interconnected events that will transform the Torrance Art Museum into a cooperative sound/media installation and minimal conceptual circus. This performance exhibition will be curated by the Long Beach group FLOOD who produces and curates SoundWalk, a one-night multi-media event dedicated to sound art.


WHAT: Sound Art Exhibition curated by FLOOD (Kamran Assadi, Frauke von der Horst, Shelley Rugg-Thorp, Shea M Gauer, Marco Schindelmann)

WHO: Jose Juarez (Divine Brick Research Project featuring:Aaron Moreno), phog masheeen, Eric Strauss and FLOOD (refer to artist bios below)

WHERE: Torrance Art Museum (TAM), 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 618-6340

WHEN: Saturday, July 3rd (11:00AM-5:00PM)

ADMISSION: Free PARKING: Free


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The great work for Torrance Art Museum show continues!

We are well into the process preparing for the Torrance Art Museum Show (7-3-2010).
I rehearsed with Eric Strauss and William Almas today. Video is being filmed and edited. Audio is being rehearsed. Circuitry is being tested and refined.

The process is being respected.

I am enjoying 9 beet stretch as I type. It is an enduring classic! I strongly recommend it!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

NWEAMO App in, Work Continues on TAM show

Well lets see, today I put in an app for NWEAMO 2010.
Work is continuing on the Torrance Art Museum show. Save the date 7-3-2010. It should be an interesting event!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Upcoming work. Looks like fun!

I met today with other sound artists at the Torrance Art Museum (TAM) to see the space and consider the possibilities for collaboration. It was an exciting discussion. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of the collaboration. Some great ideas were batted around.

The event is curated by FLOOD who orchestrate the spectacular Soundwalk in Long Beach.

The Date for the event is July 3, 2010. Mark your calendar!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Monday night, in Long Beach!


The phog masheeen experience is returning to the Puka Bar in Long Beach. This coming Monday Night (1-25-10) 8:00 PM. FREE!!!

We are rolling out mad new audio and visuals for this show!
It is a great line-up with a rare appearance of or-fun-aany!
Fun & FREE!!!




Sunday, January 3, 2010

2010 Oh! My!

Onward ever onward. A new year with a blue moon. I don't know what it signifies.
I was cruising around and found a great page on Sound Is Art referencing a field recording of a slide scanner. It sounds pretty cool. Other cool stuff on that site as well.

I completed my six night gig playing x-mas music. It was an instructive experience. Playing wind instruments in a cold, un-amplified, outdoor setting is a great teachable moment. I have an increased appreciation of the Salvation Army Bands now. The Salvation army can just ring bells between songs, we had to tell family friendly x-mas jokes. The jokes evolved to quiz questions with sugar products for prizes. We damaged alot of teeth this year with all that sugar.

On a different tip, a friend pointed me in the direction of Mnozil Brass they are a gifted lot. I am unsure of their history or whereabouts. But they do have that eastern european look and vibe.

I celebrated the winter holiday by preparing for taxes. With my nose in an excel spreadsheet. No "It's a wonderful life" for me.

But now we are onto 2010! A fresh start with a new decade! Cool!