LINE UP & ROSTER IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER green background = first time Norcal Noisefest appearances click on any photo to see it in full size |
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BRAD
ANDERSON (federal way, WA) Abstract Soundscapes, Harsh Noise, Piano Riffage, and Ambient Drones. |
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ANDREW
WAYNE IS CAUTIOUSLY AMUSED (sacramento) |
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BATH
SALTS (sacramento) SOFT CULTURE + EGO DEATH (CA) replicant916.bandcamp.com |
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ANTON BARBEAU & JULIA VBH (auburn) | ||
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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BLISS
FREAKS (philadelphia, PA) Bliss Freaks is a performance arm of multidisciplinary artist and musician, Gregory Kramer. Taking inspiration from his archaeological curiosity of abandoned places, he seeks ghosts among ruins and unearths evidence of forgotten histories through sound. He works with field recordings, found materials, and electronics and has had work in AUDIOSPHERE, an exhibition at Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, as well as Belgiums Klankenbos: Site Specific exhibition, Mexicos SONOM International Sound Art Festival and Balis Setia Darma Museum of Masks and Puppetry. He has album releases on Muteant Sounds, Taâlem, Pharmafabrik, Monotype Series, Impulsive Habitat, and SONM Archive. |
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BUTOH
SONICS (phoenix, AZ) The concept of blending post-Butoh body movement with ritual art noise was relatively new to the Phoenix art science when Butoh Sonics first started in 2015. Butoh artist Ashiki and pioneer noise maker Vic Void initiated the collaboration. Fellow sonic sculpturists rampaNt and PKWT joined them a year later. The group employs recycled, repurposed artifacts to create an entrancement of sound and ritual theater. They take an aleatoric approach to exploring the immense spectrum of sensations, emotions and consciousness. The group has performed throughout Arizona in venues such as Firehouse Gallery, Alwun House, nueBOX experimental art night, the Quarry Bisbee, Trunk Space, Miami Loco Art Festival, Operation Noise Toaster and Flagstaffs Interference Series. This is the sound of dust as spirits dance upon the breath of ancestors in the architect wind. Tearlist Notzine (review) Butoh Sonics is the manifestation of the modern ritual. Butoh Sonics audio resides at Bandcamp. The group maintains a Facebook page |
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CEREMONIAL
ABYSS
(portland, OR) Ceremonial Abyss began releasing tapes in 2015 on the infamous Cuss Fetish label in the Northwest, as the artist was seeking an additional outlet from the maximalist industrial project Thee Source ov Fawnation. Passing through phases of no-rave and dub-heavy tape collage, the project currently focuses on long-form composition, inspired by synesthetic landscapes of now. |
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COLLAPSIST
(sacramento) Collapsist is the harsh ambient soundscapes of Sacramento-based sonic artist Daniel Warner. Utilizing modular synthesizers and field recordings, Collapsist conjures sonic imagery inspired by cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic literature. This is Collapsist's fourth Noisefest manifestation. |
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COMPUTER
(new york, NY) Computer (NYC)- Computer is a Noise based performance art group, currently touring member Zona Zanjeros incorporates industrial rhythmic elements to their already established signature sound of extremely dense, layered, textured loops and robotic no-wave guitar noise for a tribalistic ritual performance. |
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CONURE
(berlin, GERMANY) Mark Wilson (also of 15 Degrees Below Zero) has been creating ambient noise and other varieties of sound art under the moniker Conure since May of 2000. He currently utilizes various microphones, effects pedals, loops, field recordings, and mixer as his main set of tools to create sounds that range from minimal drones to heavily layered walls of feedback and cacophony. |
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CRANK
STURGEON (waste managment, ME) Foaming at the gills with pockets full of thrift store novelties, homemade transducers, and costuming collaged from mailbox circulars, Crank Sturgeon utilizes such finery to marinate a commingling of noise and lower case art interruption. The result has been a multi-decade journal entry that reads something like a traveling circus flier: brimming with tales of dirigible mishaps, bathtub teleconferences, cassette recordings consisting of hiccuping contests, and skits showcasing repurposed office equipment that never seem to stay on script (or upright for that matter). |
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DEMONSLEEPER (oakland) | ||
+DOG+
(sudbury, MA) +DOG+ was formed in 1990 in osaka, moved to MA from 93-98, CA from 98-16 and back in MA since 16. +DOG+ is an experimental noise band. +DOG+ somehow is involved with love earth music as well. www.loveearthmusic.com |
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FARRAH
FAUCET
(pittsburgh, PA) (they/she) everybodys (least) favorite disabled, queer noise goddess. bodies are so last season, so come get haunted with this grimy ghost. (this will be rains 9th appearance at norcal noisefest.) |
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FILTHMILK
(san francisco) The best job FiLTHMiLK ever had was driving cars of a train and parking them in a row and riding in a van back to the train . He quit after almost catching his hand in between the huge doors between the trains. FiLTHMiLK has been creating wickedly original & infectious human-robot hybrid synth attacks in the bay for about 30 years (!!) with those hands. |
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G.X.JUPITTER-LARSEN
(los angeles) Since 1979, GX Jupitter-Larsen has worked as a performance artist, sound artist, writer, and filmmaker. GX has performed both as part of The Haters, and as a member of Survival Research Laboratories. GX is currently working on his third feather-legend movie which deals with the "distance between research and knowledge." |
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HANS
VON BARTLES (santa rosa) Formed in the year 2012 in anticipation of the great dimensional shift, Hans Von Bartles was realized as the extension of a powerful psychic bond between two deranged homo sapiens floating through the yuppie-infested wine country town of Santa Rosa, California. Many nights are spent laboring under fluorescent headlamps, the laptop fans are clogged with dust and smoke as Hans inscribes a message upon its harddrive. A message pulled from holy books found in the gutter in front of the casino, one that echoes in the uppermost corners of one's unconscious mind, like pinballs connecting the dots to Nirvana, inertia is key. |
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BOB HATT (columbus, OH) | ||
DON
HAUGEN (eugene, OR) Don Haugen is a composer, sonic experimenter, and visual designer based in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Since the late 1980s; Haugen started exploring sound with tapes, oscillators, mixer feedback, contact mics and found objects. His current work merges home built electronics and re-purposed test instruments to create sonic texture-scapes. He has composed for performance artists, sound installations, film and ensembles. Haugen is curator and founder of the Eugene Noise Festival, which started in 2005 and continues today |
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JIM
HAYNES (grass valley) Corrosion and decay are central themes to the work of Californian artist Jim Haynes. He works with a recombinant crucible of shortwave radio, convulsive motors, electro-magnetic disturbances, and electronics in variable states of disrepair, with publications through Editions Mego, Sige Records, Elevator Bath, Monorail Trespassing, The Helen Scarsdale Agency, and many others. His latest album "Insomnia" has been published in 2022 in the face of many difficulties by the Ukranian imprint Sentimental Produictions. |
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HOLIDAY
SPECIAL (sacramento) What is a Holiday Special? Awkward. Ham-fisted. Ill-advised. Lacks flow and comprehension from the median narrative. Yet all of these negative qualities somehow make a Holiday Special a more captivating and amusing recess from your regular broadcasting content. Holiday Special is rooted in musique concrete, absurdity, and two idle film degrees. |
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DYLAN
HOUSER (lakeland, FL) Dylan Houser is Dylan Houser (Hell Garbage, Formaldehydra, Die Quaint, Botüüliszm, etc), based out of central Florida, USA. Their work ranges from a variety of different styles, including (but never limited to) noise, dark ambient, free improvisation, not-so-free improvisation, noise, noisecore, melancholy minimal synths, noise, noise, psychedelic guitar freakouts, dictaphone collages, tribal percussion, noise, and the occasional foray into actual music (yikes). Did I mention noise? They also tend to feature their cats quite often on album covers and throughout social media. |
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HUMANFLUIDROT
(pompano beach,FL) Jennifer wrestled her friend playfully to the ground in front of the snowcone stand and began licking the girls eyebrows as if they were sugar cubes. Human fluid rot is a burst of sound wave manipulation caused by inner emotion and feeling from creator, Robert Wilson Brantley III. Described by many as harsh noise or experimental soundscape, Robert just puts it as inner-most-feelings and expressions through sound. Using various pieces of hardware, Human Fluid Rot creates audibly colorful moods at intense volumes in what to him seems like a long period of time but in a matter of 3-7 minutes leaves he and his crowds mentally and audibly exhausted. |
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INSTAGON
(miami, AZ)
(...a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...) INSTAGON was founded in chaos theory during 1993, and has for nearly 30 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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JUICE
MACHINE (eugene, OR) JUICE MACHINE is the electronic wife and husband duo of Heather Chessman + Roger Smith. JUICE MACHINE makes it music in the Pacific Northwest. |
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LIVER
CANCER (placer county) 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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MAJOR
TINNITUS (sacramento) Major Tinnitus is the noise project of Stephen Doyle. Amongst his weaponry are circuit bent toys, killer thrift store finds and homemade effects boxes. |
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MARS
KUMARI (bay area) Mars Kumari's music draws heavily from ambient music, industrial, noise, shoegaze, drone and hauntology. thematically it is deeply rooted in my experience of transition & transness and the way its changed my relationship to memory |
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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 Marcs 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. |
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MICROWAVE
WINDOWS vs J3M5
(bay area/calabasas) a non-classifiable noise genre battle. With a mix space given to a common point between multiple formations in minimal sound design. |
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MINI-MUTATIONS
(salem, OR) AMini-Mutations is Austin Rich, a radio broadcaster and musician from Salem, Oregon. A mixture of collage, free-imporv, political audio essay and occasional comedy, these soundscapes evoke a sense of going on a journey, through sound, and finding that you've landed somewhere else on the other side. Mini-Mutations does no repeat performances, and each one has a different theme or subject. Mini-Mutations wears their influences on their sleeves, and occasionally, on their recordings, too. |
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MINISTRY
OF APATHY (santa cruz) Ministry of Apathy grew out of a passion for harsh noise, rare sounds, and the power of empathy for outsiders. Using contact mics, power tools, effects pedals, feedback loops, and synth drones, MoA layers timbres and textures for introspection and confrontation. |
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(MUSQIS
/ XU/XU) HIDENORI NOGUCHI (saitama, JAPAN) Hidenori Noguchi is a multi-instrumentalist player, composer, director and has been in multiple bands including MUSQIS, Tokyo Sapiens, Windowz, Mooons, Xu/Xu, OOOSounds, Home Is A Fire. Hidenori Noguchi integrates multiple influences and genres into a blend of jazz, classical, improvisation, prog rock, math rock, free jazz and more! |
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PARANOIAC
CRITICAL METHOD (sacramento) Paranoiac Critical Method is the solo project of the City Councilman from the Brent Lewiis Ensemble. Through the use of modular synths, modified instruments, pedals, apps, acoustic sounds and video elements the goal of Paranoiac Critical Method is to create an irrational delirium for the listener/viewer. |
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PAROUSIA
(south sacramento) My name is Arrian Delabahan and this is my noise project, Parousia. This will be my seventh noise fest performance. My influences are: Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, VoiVod, Godflesh, Vio-lence, metal ( thrash, death metal, black metal, grindcore ), and classical music ( J.S. Bach ). The word Parousia is a greek word meaning, the return. In the Catholic Church, and all other christian denominations, the word is used to signify the return of Jesus at the end times. The Parousia For myself, I don't get into performance art or anything theatrical. When I'm on stage its all about the music (noise). Yes, noise is music. |
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ANDREA
PENSADO (salem, MA)
Andrea Pensado works with sound as a performer and programmer. She uses digital media and varied electronics. The voice is constantly interwoven in the sets. The approach to programming and performance is highly intuitive. She plays solos and collaborates frequently with other musicians. She runs Sonorium, a series of experimental music in Salem, MA , since 2010. |
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PHOG
MASHEEEN (costa mesa) Lacking any interest in acting ones age, phog masheeen rampages forward, releasing videos, promoting shows and pushing the envelope of noise by integrating, narratives, video and appropriated instruments. |
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(placeHolder)
(los angeles) What is (placeHolder)? We dont really know. One fateful night, in the Fall of 2020, three noisy people M A Harms, Eric Lennartson, and Daniel Newman-Lessler put together a house show in Somis, CA. Unbeknownst to them, that singular event would spark lifelong friendships and lots and lots of music. Sometimes its a soft and simple droning on pump organs accompanying folk melodies; other times it is a fury of feedback and rogue electronics; frequently it is an eruption of a joyous cacophony; and always it is something new, unexpected, and a complete departure from previous performances. |
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PROTOFRUSTRATION
(sacramento) Protofrustration is a noisy set of beliefs and practices invented by American knucklehead Zack Wheaton, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business or a new religious movement. Any attempts to ascertain deep meanings or epiphanic thinking within the works of Protofrustration should be discouraged. Ask your budtender if Protofrustration is right for you. |
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SCARLET
DEATH
(seattle, WA) Alice Scarlet Eidson (SNMT, Queen Antifa) has been making irregular sounds since 2001, but only going by the stage name Scarlet Death in 2017. Influenced by the likes of Joey Molinaro, Paul Mercer, Krystof Penderecki, and Masonna; you'll hear here a blast of strings, screams, and broken dreams. Her tracks often cover topics related to trauma, gender, and memetic rhetoric. She will often tell journalists that her music is Post-No Wave, but her recent output rides the fence between power electronics and dungeon synth. She is also a writer, stage producer, and performance artist. Former operator of noise community/netlabel/podcast/torrent tracker website Black Flower Music. Currently, she curates the Noise Discord netlabel. |
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SHARKIFACE
(oakland) Sharkiface is a static-witch, sample siren from Oakland who's been weaving incantations through sound since the 90s. Relocated from Austin,TX she's played in many Bay Area noise projects over the last 20+ years and founded LCM, Life Changing Ministry, a former noise venue housed in an old church in West Oakland. |
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SINISTER SENILE (louisville, KY) | ||
SONICrider
(NETHERLANDS) SONICrider (Jurgen Winkel) is a producer, musician, artist & performer from the South of The Netherlands. Jurgen started as a musician of the band BLIND an underground electro-rock band during the late eighties and nineties. Currently combining electronic music & analog sounds producing experimental music with all kinds of styles: during a performance the audience will be guided through a world of sound & vision. |
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SKRUNT
SKRUNT (Edmonton,CANADA) SkruntSkrunt presents a mad scientist approach to noise. SkruntSkrunt offers a unique and varied combination of audio and visuals. From harsh noises to ambient, SkruntSkrunt explores the soundscape of the modern desktop, the auditory aspects of bodies and gravity, and the interaction of physical simulation and granular synthesis. SkruntSkrunt is a long-running project of Edmonton, Canada-based Abram Hindle who leverages a wide range of custom software and stolen software ranging from office applications, physics sims, video-games and custom-built user interfaces, in order to produce jarring synthesis. SkruntSkrunt has been a regular act at the former Victoria Noise Festival |
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SLIME
QUEEN BINGO (Slime Planet / tampa, FL) Former Slime Planet turned Tampa, FL resident Emmy Lou aka Slime Queen Bingo is a chaotic alien circus clown who puts on a performance that cant easily be described in words. Somewhere between an after school special for particularly poorly behaved children and a YouTube ASMR video made by aliens lies the sound and vibe of SQB. Imagine one of those Disney singalong VHS tapes from the 90s but after being left under a pile of magnets for 3000 years. Crying and yelling to be expected, crowd participation encouraged; be your cringiest self and you will be truly rewarded. |
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SPREADERS
(warwarsing, NY) Singed tape hiss from Ulster county |
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SPY HAPA (bay area) | ||
STARVATION CAGE (sacramento) | ||
STOLEN
LIGHT (san jose) Stolen Light is the work of Brett Lunceford, who is also the driving force behind the Zaftig Research label (best known for their series of Christmas compilations). Stolen Light relies on ordinary sound sources which are then distorted and destroyed. When performing live, Stolen Light uses only a mixer to process sound. There are no pedals, laptops, or samplers. What you see is what you hear. Stolen Light previously performed at NoiseFest in 2001, 2018, and 2020. |
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SUNK
COST x TRALPHAZ (los angeles X bay area) Hollywood Johnny (aka notorious Noise troublemaker Breakdancing Ronald Reagan) making Hollywood Harsh Noise by way of sizzling audio pain that starts in the ears, carries to the loins, and spills out onto the floor in a sticky mess. He rides somewhere between the line of balls-out 90's American Noise tape slop like Macronympha, pristine crystalized cutup like Purgist or Facialmess, and wild, rowdy Japanese Noise like Masonna or Government Alpha; all with a uniquely fun, nasty spin. For this performance, he'll be joined on guest electronics by California legend David Lim aka TRALPHAZ; the master of hyperspeed pedal freakouts. |
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SÝKORA
(los angeles) SÝKORA Struggles to bring nightmares & madness into a new sonic myth using electronics, voice, sampled mass media, gongs and purple. He is likewise active in the free improv noise duo ENRICH'D WHITE. Future plans include living in a van while continuing not to record. |
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TAKESHITA
(seattle, WA) Takeshita is Tim Burkland, a harsh noise artist from Seattle, WA and founder of the Imploding Sounds label. The project began in 2019 and has put out well over 50 releases to date. Pulling inspiration from the Japanese legends as well as American contemporaries. With sounds coming from bent circuit gizmos, cut up madness, or junk metal clanging, they're always harsh and in your face. |
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TANUKISPIDERCAT
(san francisco) TanukiSpiderCat (SF) is an improvisational blend of electronic cello, synth, and samples. Looping, layered, and staggering ever forwards, haunting melodies emerge. Its a fragmented, unlikely animal, dealing in dissonance and slivered voices. |
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TECH
DIFF (sacramento) TECH DIFF AKA Ron Legowik: is a long time DIY Mod Snth noisier currently living in Sacramento |
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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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univac
(costa mesa) Consummate TechDweeb, visual artist and NovaTone musician univac continuously re-purposes the detritus of trickle-down technology, toys and off-the-shelf electronics in order to create circuit bent audioVisual hybridscausing the engineers of the original items to shudder in disbelief. He has been making experimental electronic noise and visuals since the late 1980s. |
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VIC
VOID (phoenix, AZ) Vic is an Arizona-based artist with a penchant for marrying sound and imagery. His longstanding projects include RPM Orchestra and Butoh Sonics. The former group accompanies silent film showings with live avant garde musical scores, while the latter showcases post-Butoh ritual dance alongside an electro-acoustic artnoise ensemble. Vic is also active with the Arizona-based experimentalists Sound Art Arizona |
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WALLMART
(harbor city) Name of project - Wallmart Member - Edward Giles Genre - Harsh Noise Wall (HNW) Gear - Wallmart metal case #1, Amplifier, Sony Walkman recorder Location - Harbor City, California Title of Video - Retail Aggression Completed - 2022 Directed and Edited by Dr. Darby Southgate Contact - Facebook Facebook group name - Wallmart |
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WICK END (los angeles) | ||
XOME
(woodland)
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 Woodland, 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. |
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BILLY
YFANTIS (athens, GREECE)
Vasileios (Billy) Yfantis holds 2 Master Degrees in Information Technology and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of West Attica by conducting research on e-government. Billy has been working on music since the late 1990s by experimenting with tape mixing and sound design. Billy plays digital keyboards but prefers to express his artistic dream through the electronic sounds that come from unusual machines. He has experimented with the recording of vacuum cleaners, electric blenders, and other strange sounds that have resulted in musical releases. Moreover, Billy has authored books on music and science, while from time to time, he speaks about technology at scientific conferences all over Europe. |
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ZER0-G
MICE
(earth) Zer0-G Mice is a side-effect of the periodic, every 4th Sunday uBradio Salon collaboration between Ninah Pxe & dAs (The Cantankerous Ground Crew), and univac & Austin Rich (floating through space) brought to your eager earholes via DFM.nu and the OmniWave Narrowcasting Network. Default winner of the Semi-Sesquipedalian Battle of The Banging Bands and now the primary "musical" act of the most popular Live-Streamed Semi-Scripted/Semi-Improv Absurd Sci-Fi Experimental Noise Radio Show in the galaxy, The Mice are known primarily for their leaving burning, melting or frozen planetoids in the wake of their galactic tour, typically destroying all their gear in the process. Accompanied by a plethora of functionbots, inverse-algorithms, noisemaking mandroids and the like, Zer0-G Mice hurtle headfirst toward the public humiliation they deserve at NorCal NoiseFest. |
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