Easy Listening

Few artists have such a clarity of vision that their names could be so universally understood to describe a total aesthetic. David Lynch is one such artist. For Episode 15 I invited two guests to speak about the sound of David Lynch. Evan Pacewicz I’ve known for roughly two decades. He, alongside bandmate Josh Stewart, has constructed soundscapes under the moniker Moth Drakula. He is also a writer. Marcel Sletten is an accomplished experimental musician and the label head of Primordial Void. Both artists, like Lynch, have explored the textural possibilities of sound in their respective practices. Join us as we look back on the life and career of the artist David Lynch. Outro music courtesy of Moth Drakula. Support the show on Patreon.com/easypod.

The Los Angeles Free Music Society is a collective of avant garde musicians and artists based in Los Angeles. Founded in 1973, the group’s experimental and unconventional approach to music and performance was informed as much by avant garde rock as the arts milieu of the time. I spoke with inaugural members Joe Potts and Fredrik Nilsen about their ongoing work with LAFMS as well as auxiliary groups, like the Paul McCarthy-fronted Extended Organ. Special thanks to Gilgongo Records for sending me a copy of the Blorp Esette Gazette Volumes Three and Four, which is still available and highly recommended. Support the show on Patreon.com/easypod.

For Episode 13 I spoke with Twig Harper. Twig came to noise via punk in 90s Anne Arbor, Michigan. There, he formed longstanding collaborations with the likes of Nate Young of Wolf Eyes and Carly Ptak (with whom he’d form Nautical Almanac). Eventually he and Ptak would buy a house in Baltimore, named Tarantula Hill. There they’d host a number of noise shows, performances, and house a litany of musicians and artists. Twig and Tarantula Hill both make a cameo in the new Sean Price Williams directed film, The Sweet East. His most recent release is Music for Lathecuts: HAHA (Laughing Record). Support the show on Patreon.com/easypod.

For Episode 12, we look at the work of electronic musician Pauline Oliveros. Throughout much of her career, she was intent on exploring attention and awareness as it relates to sound. Many of her pieces were exercises in listening - whether through drones or group exercises in sonic creation. I am joined by Barbara Nerness - a Phd candidate researching music and neuroscience at Stanford University. Support the show on Patreon.com/easypod.

Will August Park is a composer based in New York. My conversation with Will was recorded in early February shortly after he had finished a residency in Tokyo. Prior to releasing his recordings made during the pandemic, Will August Park worked in beat reproduction. The electronics incorporated into his work now may be much more meditative. His most recent music, released under his own name, blends piano with textural electronic music to create something unique. Support the show on Patreon.com/easypod.

Episode 10 is decicated to discussing the life's work of Krautrock pioneer Manuel Göttsching. He was a founding member of Ash Ra Tempel, which formed when he was in his teens. Following the dissolution of the group, he would continue to release music under the name Ashra as well as his own name. We explored his contributions to guitar playing and the greater psychedelic music scene. I am joined by harsh noise hesher and guitarist Jay Howard (Circuit Wound, Kesem). Support the show on Patreon.com/easypod.

For Episode 9, I spoke with Andy Schiaffino - the LA-based artist behind body / negative. The work produced is at once experimental and melodically minded, recalling Grouper as much as Kevin Shields. Andy spoke to me ahead of a studio residency with Madeline Johnston of Midwife. Intro and outro music courtesy the artist. Support the show on Patreon.com/easypod.

John Duncan is an artist and noise musician perhaps best known for Blind Date (1980) in which he left his "last potent seed in a dead body." The audio recording of this event was then played for an audience in downtown Los Angeles. The fallout from the performance caused him to leave the country for Tokyo - where he would experiment with shortwave, pirate television/radio broadcasts and direct pornography. This is the second part of our 3+ hour conversation recorded in Fall of 2021. Listen to the full episode on Patreon.com/easypod.

DRUNKS WITH GUNS is a project that has achieved legendary status, due in part to the lack of documentation beyond the band’s limited discography. Still they had universal recognition despite their absence, influencing the following decades of noise rock degeneracy and beyond. I'm joined by Adam Lehrer (Safety Propaganda/System of Systems podcast) and Alex Weber (formerly of LA noise rock band K-Mart). Listen to the full episode on Patreon.com/easypod.

Deep-fried philosophy with Alex Bienstock. Alex's musical output resists simple genre classifications - moving from noise, to indie rock, to trap. A flexi of his project DIY Surgery is now available on Pleasure Principle. Intro clips courtesy the label. Outro clip from ESCBAS' Best of 3 (courtesy Alex Bienstock). Recorded May 2022.