NORCAL NOISEFEST 2014 - LINE UP/ROSTER
BIG CITY ORCHESTRA (san francisco)
BCO has is a legendary avant-garde/art project originally from Los Angeles, California which embarked on in 1979. They have publicated about 230 hour-long releases and being an important chain in the cassette culture movement of the previous decades. They jumped out from the same nest as did other famous Californian cutting edge groups such as The Residents, and Negativeland, for instance. Their music has swerved in countless directions, veering from sound art and dada experiments and psycho-acoustic explorations to off-kilter electronica and sophisticated noise and acousmatic "folk" music.
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BLACK ARTIODACTYLS (los angeles)
Black Artiodactyls is a post industrial electro acoustic noise project hailing from sewer city( Los Angeles). Sonically this project is about layering of sounds and loops scraped from various sources.

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BLIPVERT (oakland)
BlipVert is the moniker/pseudonym of Will Northlich-Redmond. BlipVert came to the forefront of Will's identity in a small room above an animal hospital in the winter of 2001.
"...a condensed blur of electronics that borrows from everything: jazz, glitch, metal, IDM, funk, classical, and probably at least a few genres that haven't even been named yet." -Regenmag
"...hyper aggressive techno that barrels along full speed into noise territory..." -Ear-Rational Music
This will be Blipvert's 2nd NF appearance.
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BOTCHED FACELIFT (morgan hill)
Botched Facelift is a one person, experimental noise project from the Bay Area, California that has been active since 2005. Encompasses a wide range of ideas and genres including experiments with circuit-bending, xenharmonic/microtonal harmony, video/sound glitch and data bending, scratch built electronics, jazz improvisations, power electronics, musique concrete, extreme metal, shamanism, drone, industrial, hindustani classical and sitar music, and endless permutations of all the above all done with a DIY aesthetic.

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CHOPSTICK (sacramento)
Chopstick has officially been playing half of the Noise Fest events. Performing sometimes with home made pedals and sometimes with modified store bought pedals he has a unique approach to creating sound. He likes coffee and ramen. As a child he had an imaginary friend that was a robotic cat that was sent back in time from the future to help him become the man he is today.
FRI

BRYAN DAY + BEN SALOMON + TANIA CHEN (richmond)
Bryan Day is a improviser, instrument inventor, illustrator and installation artist based in Richmond, CA. His work involves combining elements of the natural and man-made world using field recordings, custom audio generation software and homemade instruments. Day’s work explores the parallels between the patterns and systems in nature to those in contemporary society.

Ben Salomon is a composer and improviser focussing primarily on electro-acoustic music and percussion with an emphasis on improvisation. Current projects include Music Dance California, a collective of dancers and musicians who workshop original text scores in order to build a common language between these arts and Double Cat, an improvisation ensemble featuring a rotating cast of musicians that push the boundaries of the ensemble format. Along with these projects, he will be completing his M.F.A. in music at Mills College this Fall.


Tania Chen is a pianist, experimental musician, free improviser and sound artist, working with pianos, keyboards, found objects, toys and vintage and lo-fi electronics. She studied piano with John Tilbury during her Masters degree in Performance studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has performed the music of John Cage, Earle Brown, Schoenberg, Webern, Satie, Scriabin, Andrew Poppy, Michael Parsons and Chris Newman in the UK, Europe, USA and Japan. She is equally known for her passion for free improvisation, performing alongside and collaborating with musicians that include Steve Beresford, John Edwards, Lol Coxhill, Alan Tomlinson, Roger Turner, John Butcher, Rhodri Davies and Terry Day. Earlier this year, Tania has been touring John Cage’s Indeterminacy with Steve Beresford and the comedian, writer and performer Stewart Lee. Most recently, she has been nominated for the Royal Philharmonic Society RPS Award.


THIS will be all of these artists first appearance at Norcal Noisefest
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DEMONSLEEPER (oakland)
Heavy, sedated and distorted pulses with dark and hypnotic vocals based on nightmares and lucid dreamscapes. Each performance is an ever transforming dream sequence that evokes a trance-like dream state as a setting for surreal sound events. Alexandra Buschman started making music for string quartet and electronics in 1999 Puerto Rico with experimental pop group Synesthesia. After scaring the shit out of everyone at the Conservatory of Music in PR, she went to Mills College to study composition with Fred Frith but mostly learned improvisation and analog music making with Maggie Payne. Past and present musical acts include: Holiday Heart, Bloodfucker, Demon Face (with Sharkiface), OJO, and CTRLV3RR0R (with Deletist). This will be Demonsleepers first NF appearance.
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DELETIST (san francisco)
deletist since 2003. creator bitter pie comix since 98. x-member entartete kunst anarchist collective. x-organizer plug global headphone festivals. x-host free noise & doom @ bleakhaus. now gone rogue. recent releases: 3rd Class Cover Songs cassette, Motion/Deletist Clones collaboration & Disappearing Impromptus for Piano, Cello, Oboe, Noise & Blood. currently producing: "Children of the Black Sun" animated graphic novel, evolving video file exports @ deletist.info.

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DOEL (el dorado hills)
Formed in 2013, Doel consists of Hayden Ganas and Kylie Jackson. Through the use of cheap effect pedals and various sampled objects, Doel intends to create an atmosphere of sound and disorientation while utilizing power electronics and tape loop effects. Doel was born out of witnessing previous NoiseFest acts and is honored to be playing in this year’s Norcal Noisfest.
FRI
+DOG+ (los angeles)
DOG was formed by Steve Davis in 1990 in Osaka Japan and released 2 cassettes tapes while there on Butt Tapes. DOG moved to MA in 1993 and played around the east coast and west coast and then moved to CA in 1998. Since then DOG has played around the USA, Europe and Japan and has over 30 releases and lots of comp tracks. DOG runs loveearthmusic and tries to support other like minded folks. DOG is very honored to play the Norcal Noisefest and can be contacted at www.loveearthmusic.com.
2014 will be +DOG+'s 11th year in a row, and 12th appearance at Norcal Noisefest.
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EAR SPRAY (san francisco)
Ear Spray - Synthesizing electronics, acoustic percussion, voice and videos into dynamic and strange aural landscapes and improvisations.
- Carlos Jennings – Electronics and Conduction
- Ann O’Rourke – Vocals, Videos, Effects/Mixer, Percussion and Instagator
- Mark Pino – Entertainer and Intense Percussionist
Electroacoustic Noise. Electronic and acoustic instruments, vocals and videos. Occasional very short periods of melody and playing in Western time. Layering lots of different sounds at the same time. Science videos with strange processing. Galaxies and nebulas, sharks, molecules, plants, blood and cancer cells, etc. Plus lots of effects, of course!! Ear Spray started four years ago when Carlos Jennings and Ann O’Rourke met at the Luggage Store Gallery’s (San Francisco, CA) weekly avant garde/experimental music series, happening every Thursday for over 20 years. Mark Pino joined the group in early 2013. The more percussionists the better!! This will be Ear Spray's first Norcal Noisefest appearance.
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ELECTRIC CHAIRCUT (davis)
The Electric Chaircut is an interactive, electro-sonic, hair cut performance. Volunteers request what they would like and are taped to my chair. Their eyes and mouth are taped closed to symbolize our fetishism of appearance. I cut the hair with various implements, all amplified. Scissors and clippers wired to effects pedals, slung round my waist, are blasted through an amplifier strapped to my back. I whack at the hair in a seemingly random pattern and a cacophony of trance like sounds play to the audience. When I am finished I peel away the tape and show them the new look I have created.
Electric Haircut will be appearing on Sunday as an off stage Installation.
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JOHN FRANK & DON HAUGEN (Corvalis & Eugene,OR)
Don Haugen (Warning Broken Machine) and John Frank (klowd) have been involved in noise for over 20 years individually. Their decision to form a collaborative project is based on a mutual appreciation of similar sound aesthetics and home made instruments comprised of re-purposed electronics. Together, they build a combination of their individual artistic strengths, creating a unique sound unto itself.
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GANG WIZARD (long beach)
Entering it’s 20th year of existence, yowling and surly noise Californian improv group Gang Wizard is still at it. They’re celebrating with it's fifth proper full length LP, Important Picnic, on MIE. Mike Landucci started the band in 1995 with his brother Tom, and Jacob Anderson (Spirit Duplicator, Yuma Nora) joined shortly after. Christopher Breedon started drumming for them in 98, and those three have formed the core of the band ever since. Dozens of notable musicians have come and gone since, most importantly Brian Miller (Foot Village) who gains a mastering credit on this album, and Rob Enbom (Hospitals, Eat Skull), who, with Landucci and Anderson, took the band on an unexpected detour into more degenerative psych-noise terrain (think Amon Duul I), and as far as a European tour in 2007.
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HANS VON BARTLES (santa rosa)
Hans Von Bartles began in the summer of 2012 in Santa Rosa, CA. Hans has generated upwards of seven independent releases to date in association with Arcane Visions Collective, with more in the works. Hans can be best described as “cascading noise terror”, similar to North Bay contemporaries RAEPUSBARABUS and MAGGOT THERAPY. Having seldom left the confines of Sonoma County, this will be Hans' first Noise Fest appearance. Having little-to-no online presence, interested listeners may aquire Hans' work on cassette via Arcane Visions' webstore.
This will be Hans Von Bartles first NF appearance

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JACK HERTZ (pacifica)
Inspired by the mystery of life. Jack Hertz manipulates sound to create intangible techno-organic impressions between music and noise. He has been composing and recording experimental music for more than 30 years. Generally, he is searching for a sonic middle ground between the real and the artificial. Utilizing machines, found objects, field recordings and effects processing. He designs sounds, spaces and atmospheres for listeners explore. This will be his first NF appearance
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INSTAGON (sacramento)
(...a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...)
INSTAGON was founded in chaos theory during 1993, and has for 20 years now continued on with sonic exploration with that chaos. Never the same experience for the band as well as the audience, always changing, never stable, but all under the conceptual direction of LOB it's founder... .
Instagon has appeared at ALL previous Norcal Noisefest happenings
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LIVER CANCER (rocklin/roseville)
BOBBY HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF +DOG+ SINCE THE MID 90'S AND TOOK HIS FRIEND GEORDAN TO THE NORCAL NOISE FEST '08. GEORDAN WAS INSPIRED AT THE LIMITLESS SOUND OF NOISE AND IN THEIR MINDS MADNESS, THEY JOINED FORCES AND THUS CREATED LIVER CANCER! ...TAKING HARSH POWER ELECTRONICS TO A VIOLENT ...E X T R E M E ! !
Liver Cancer is always a NF favorite !

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LORDS OF OUTLAND (san francisco)
Collette McCaslin - trumpet, no-input pedal electronics
Philip Everett - drums, percussion, electronic autoharp
Ray Schaeffer - electric basses
Rent Romus - alto, soprano, c-melody saxophones, voice, electronics, toys

"Romus' fiery romp is a no-holds barred exposition. He slices through steel with accuracy and ease, equating to a jovial soundscape, scraped with intensifying solos and Everett's colorific cymbals hits. They galvanize your neural system from start to finish, while projecting a take no prisoners approach throughout." - Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz

Saxophonist, composer Rent Romus started the Lords of Outland in 1994 a collective of like-minded musicians focusing on exploring improvisation, melody, noise, and sound art while acknowledging their jazz, rock, and blues roots. The group has developed original music ranging from unhinged free improvisation to thematic compositional suites inspired by abstract and socio-political poetry, science fiction, horror, and fantasy.
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MASTER MORYA (sacramento)
In the Ascended Master Teachings Morya is considered one of the "Ascended Masters," also known as the "Chohan of the First Ray". H. P. Blavatsky originated the belief, professing that Morya and Master Koot Hoomi were her guides in establishing the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky also wrote that Masters Morya and Koot Hoomi belonged to a group of highly developed humans known as the Great White Brotherhood. Master Morya is working on an album and plays shows in the Northern California area. This will be Master Moryas 2nd NF appearance in as many years.
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MEDICINE CABINET (tracy)
Medicine Cabinet is an ongoing electronic music project from Tracy, CA resident Marc Schneider. The project started in the mid 90's with nothing more than the now famous Roland 303 Groovebox and a heavy delayed microphone. Marc has been active in the Northern and Southern California noise scenes since 2006. True to Marc’s fascination with the history of the genre, Medicine Cabinet shows are typically noise or noise drone based improvisations using analog synths and circuit bent devices.
This will be Marc's 8th NF in a row. 		SAT
M.O.S.E.S. (Snohomish,WA)
Misanthropic Observations set to Electronic Soundscapes
Got into noise after watching a Black Bloc set in a basements. His set was raw and a little uncomfortable. My conception of music and art was forever changed after that. M.O.S.E.S. started in delaware at a buddy's beach house, we had a whole bunch of gear, booze and weed. All the neighbors were somewhere else so we got as loud as we wanted. I was hooked after that. Jammed with buds mostly until I moved out west to snohomish. I then started to play shows at a local bar run by some very friendly folks who are into Ska and Magic the gathering. Played a handful of shows before wearing out my welcome by scaring away the old white regulars(bread and butter). Now I'm looking to spread further south to seattle where noise is a bit more acceptable
FRI
NOISEPSALM (camino)
In April of 2008 Noisepsalm was created by Matthew Lewis as an outlet for mixing sound art and electronics with melody and traditional instruments for the sole purpose of musical experimentation. He has now had the pleasure of working with over 30 like-minded artists around the globe, often bringing in new musicians/sound artists for unique live performances.
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ONE-EYED ZATOICHI & VIRTUAL VINCENT (pleasant view,CO)
A Long Time Ago, In A Garage Far, Far Away..... The later part of 1977 to be exact, One-Eyed Zatoichi and his brother Vincent sat down with minimal gear, a Kenwood cassette recorder and a concept to create short experimental vignettes representing the Solar System that we reside in. Vincent fired one up, and with OEZ on keyboards with effects and Vincent on a Les Paul Custom with a Morley EVO-1, the record button was pressed. Ideas were tossed about but improvisation was key, with the inner planets represented by milder, song-like structures and as they ventured out towards the outer planets, the pieces became..... otherworldly.
In the later part of June 2014, Vincent sadly shuffled off this mortal coil to become otherworldly himself.
OEZ realized a way to pay tribute to his brother by transferring and editing that original 1977 cassette tape, thereby creating a digital copy of the original guitar parts and Virtual Vincent was born. Here at the 2014 Norcal Noisefest, this one-time performance will consist of Virtual Vincent's original guitar parts along with OEZ's updated sonic arsenal of noise-glitch-crackle-hum.
FRI
OVERDOSE THE KATATONIC (seattle,WA)
Overdose the Katatonic is a outlet of destructive harsh sonic violence by James Trash. It's therapy so he doesn't go insane b/c of his disgust of humanity and the sickness of physical pain that drugs barely cover!!! His show's are all improv & are a soundtrack to whats happening in his life, whether it's b/c of a tragic past,the hellish future, or b/c most my friends are in a graveyard or Prison. Odtk is East Coast born and bred but lives in Seattle, WA.
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PAROUSIA (south sacramento)
Arrian Delabahan (Parousia) was born and raised in San Francisco. He moved to Sacramento in 1989 when he was a senior in high school. He has been playing classical guitar, metal (death metal, and thrash), since 1987. The first exposure to noise came about as a result of listening to Neurosis, and their side project, Tribes of Neurot in the 90's. Dissonant sound was something that cuaght his ear's attention way back when he first heard VoiVod's releases: Killing Technology, Dimension Hatrus, and Nothingface in the late 80's and early 90's. Godflesh is a big influence also, along with Brighter Death Now.
Arrian (Parousia) went to college for fine arts, and does oil painting, drawing, and tattooing. Aside from creating just noise, Arrian would like to create noise that will accompany paintings and drawings he creates. He uses his guitar set up in conjuction with his noise set up together. His goal is to create sounds that intertwine with each other. The same intertwining of sounds one would hear when listening to a Bach fugue.
Norcal Noise Fest 14 will be the first time Parousia will perform on stage. Parousia will perform on the first night, Friday at Luna's Cafe. The piece that will be performed will be titled: Mammon God Enslavement.
FRI
PHOG MASHEEEN (joshua tree)
Phog masheeen is a sound art/video collective from Joshua Tree, California that focuses on using aerophones and electronics for performance. Audio portions are accompanied by live mixed video by William Almas.
William Almas, Eric Strauss and Mark Soden Jr. will be performing as phog masheeen at the 2014 Norcal Noisefest.
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SMALL DRONE ORCHESTRA (los angeles)
Small Drone Orchestra is Don Lewis on bowed bass guitars, synth and vocal. One fundamental note is played on all the instruments, creating overtones which are used to create a sonic space. This project is the current manifestation of decades of playing a single pitch for long durations. Small Drone Orchestra is based out of Los Angeles. This will be Small Drone Orchestra's first appearance at NCNF.

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WES STEED (sacramento)

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THE STOLEN ELK (sacramento)
The Stolen Elk is Matt Kretzmann. MK has been making strange sounds on purpose since 1995.
He has played at the Norcal Noisefest several times with the long running psychadelic Sacramento band Delayed Sleep.
Stolen Elk is also part of a duo with Garrincha.
Visuals are important to sound. If they are not provided, they must be created or imagined.

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UBERKUNST (sacramento)
UBERKUNST was first created in 1995 when the NIAD (Noise Instrument Analog Device) was first used to interface humans with machines, allowing each to comprehend the suffering of the other. UBERKUNST engaged in multiple dangerous and outrageous battles with hideous transdimensional beings and the enemies of structure and order, often misconstrued as "noise performances," until 2007 when their efforts to scare the Elder Gods to the other side of the cosmos left them so depleted that they had to be stored in cryogenic healing chambers. They can only be released from their chambers for 10-15 minutes a year, both to ensure their future survival when needed to carry out NIAD's will, but also to protect audiences from the deadly toxic radiation that the band emits after prolonged exposure to the horrors of the cosmos.
Uberkunst has appeared at ALL previous Norcal Noisefests
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VANKMEN (oakland)
speedcore/noise/chaos from 2 brothers, located in OAKLAND, CA. Active members of the 5lowershop sound system in the bay area, they have performed at numerous shows along the west coast, bringing their frenzy live hardware sound whenever the speaker stacks allow. This will be Vankmen's 2nd time headlining a night at NF.
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WORCERACS (Davis)
WORCERACS was formed in 2012 as a solo project to showcase his experimental nature after having played various traditional instruments in bands, on many stages, ranging in a wide variety of musical styles since the early 80's. He decided to make a turn away from conventional structures and western music traditions altogether and focused inward on finding his own voice in a wall of down tuned feedback guitars, theremin, heavily effected loops and samples on a quest to clear his mind and deprogram himself from social norms. He utilizes various session artists to round out his sound live.

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XOME (sacramento)
Xome is a harsh noise music project conceived and operated by Bob Scott. Xome first started experimenting with dissonant forms of music in 1989 but the first organized live performance in Tokyo in 1994 marks the true activation of the project. Now based in Sacramento, CA, Xome has evolved into a highly refined and extremely harsh noise music unit by means of improvised manipulation of sound generating and processing equipment.
2014 will mark Xome's 15th NF appearance....in a row!
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YAWN (gilroy)
"YAWN is Harsh-New-Age explorations into poly-textures and spirit voices. A parody of the heavenly spore, YAWN seeks to create true mantras which are coincidental speech without words. Like as if a DJ forgot about the way time works and let the samples become paradoxical and paradisaical, YAWN's live performances leave one with an eerie and aerie and irie sense of our enrollment in the university of the universe."
- Ribert Fropp, PetGoat Records.
YAWN is a sound and light project by Bay Area artist Ian Webb. Ian is a musician, illustrator, and digital media artist and teaches youth in the areas of forestry and ecology. Ian's goal in performing at this year's NF is to open ecstatic gateways in the audience and himself, creating an environment that is conducive to healing. Ian has performed at NF in previous years in the PetGoatRecords artist group called LLN.
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