Kingtone

I have not been playing or listening to much music for the past four or five months, partly to minimize exposure to sound due to aggravated levels of tinnitus. This experiment has had some benefit in the realization that I can still perform, create and record with a more sensible, stripped down approach. And since there is an ongoing film soundtrack project to be completed and a call recently went out to perform at a benefit show for a fellow musician, the time came to saddle up!

First the gig. Local musician, Mark Growden recently sustained injuries from a nasty bicycle crash (something i know plenty about) and a crew of local musicians are playing a Benefit for the Being of Mark Growden this Sat. Mar 29 at 12 Galaxies in SF, CA. I played guitar in a crazy rock band with Mark five years years ago, along with Tommy Cappel of Yard Dogs, Simon from Extra Action/Crash Worship and Michael Mellender of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Damn, that’s a super group. We did, I think, 3 gigs before it imploded, unnamed. I might just be in the mood for some loud guitar (with earplugs)…

Nightsoil. My good friend, film maker Thad Povey and I are preparing this 16mm projected image and live music performance piece for the big time. Originally conceived and created with hand-manipulated and found footage by Thad and Al Alvarez and with a live performance soundtrack by myself and Mark De Gli Antoni (of Soul Coughing fame), it has seen a gorgeous HD digital transfer and is in the process of receiving a new soundtrack. This past weekend saw our first studio session at New, Improved Recording in Oakland, CA. We were able to capture the epic end composition, Katarina, some great sound effects and improvisational musique concrete with Jenya Chernoff on drums, Suki O’Kane on vibes, Jonathan Segel on violin and myself on guitar.

The Overdub Club lays new sounds over old film footage - hence the usage of the term overdub. We screen films that tickle your brain and are pleasurably insane. And since it is live, no two shows are ever the same. The soundtracks are for the most part live, but sometimes we use pre-recorded material.

And yes, we are actually a club with a rotating cast of characters. Currently: Thad Povey, Alphonso Alvarez, Kitty Hutton, Chris Santeramo, Suki O’Kane and myself.

Thad’s film studio under Bob Ostertag’s house in SF is the closest thing we have to a meeting house. It has really low ceilings and is crammed with cool old equipment, films, musical instruments and a hot plate for making tea.

Projects:
The Overdub Cub is currently in the process of converting its 2003 piece, Nightsoil, to Hi-res digital, complete with a new prerecorded soundtrack, for future distribution to film festivals, etc.

The group has also been working on a rather complex multi-image and sound piece tentatively entitled, Year of the Caves.

Reverend Screaming Fingers (Lucio Menegon)
& Phantom Drummer (Pat Spurgeon)

Composed and improvised instrumental music to juxtaposed found slide images and 16mm film prepared by San Francisco filmmaker Thad Povey.

The music - based around the electric guitar and drums and incorporating keyboards, loops and other devices - consisted of composed and structured improvisational pieces cued by film projections.

For our 15 date US tour in 2001, we setup facing each other with the projection screen between and slightly behind us. This enabled interaction with each other, the projections and the audience.

The overall effect was stunning - with no two shows the same. Musically, we were able to stretch out and explore our compositions and really try some cool stuff with the improv parts. The effect and importance of Thad’s visuals can’t be overemphasized - wild splashes of color from prepared film, flames, disasters, racecars, absurdities of the human psyche - they all came together to create some incredible synergistic moments from show to show.