Our June 2018 Frequency Fridays show features Skott Rusch’s noise/drone solo project Witches of Malibu (LAX), experimental guitarist Tashi Dorji (NC), multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ka Baird (NYC), and experimental electronic musician Jeff Chenault’s solo project Central Inhabitants (CMH). Date: Friday, June 1 2018. Location: It Looks Like It’s Open (13 E. Tulane Rd., 43202). Admission: $10, $15 for 2. Doors open 8pm. BYOB, all ages. Our Frequency Fridays 2017-2018 season is supported by grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About the performers:
Tashi Dorji grew up in Bhutan, on the eastern side of the Himalayas. Residing in Asheville since 2000 and soaking up a vast array of music. Along the way, Dorji developed a playing style unbound by tradition, yet with a direct line to intuitive artistry. His recordings feature improvisations that spasmodically grow along tangential, surprising paths. All references break loose during a composition, as Dorji keys into his own inner world. His compositions drag the listener into a labyrinth of warbling tones, where each sound seems to jump out and replace the eerie silence that would otherwise occupy the atmosphere. The textures remain sustained in the reverberation as the vibration of the strings dwindle and ascend. After a handful of releases on various labels since 2009, Dorji presented his debut LP on Hermit Hut, the label created by Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) in 2014. And since Tashi has released music both as a soloist, and with duo projects, notably with percussionist Tyler Damon and MANAS (w/ Thom Nguyen) on labels like Bathetic Records, Cabin Floor Esoterica, Blue Tapes, Marmara Records, Feeding Tubes, UNROCK, VDSQ, MIE, Ultra Violet Light, Family Vineyard and Astral Spirits.
Ka Baird is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist living and working in NYC. She is one of the founding and continuing members of the long running avant psych project Spires That In The Sunset Rise. Since relocating to NYC in November 2014, she has set off in numerous directions apart from Spires with new collaborations as well as honing in on her solo work. She is interested specifically in performance/sound as a means to break reoccurring thought patterns and create passages into pure energy potential.
Ka has toured both nationally and internationally with performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), MoMA PS1 (Brooklyn), Roulette Intermedium (Brooklyn), Issue Project Room (Brooklyn), Fridman Gallery, Cafe OTO (London), and numerous festival appearances with Spires including TUSK (Newcastle, UK), Incubate (Tilburg, Netherlands), and Festival Of Endless Gratitude (Copenhagen, DK) and is currently an Artist-In-Residence at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, NY.
Jeff Chenault is a non-musician who has been recording in Columbus since 1983. He is a cassette culture guru who has released music on his Exoteque Music cassette label for just as long. An early pioneer in the Columbus electronic music scene, his many musical projects include 10-Speed Guillotine, Central Inhabitants, Resonance and The Weird Lovemakers. He is a true underground artist who also writes books and releases rare exotica music in his spare time.
Witches of Malibu is the previously anonymous noise project of Richard Skott Rusch. Originally from Port Huron Michigan, Skott has been making noise for over 35 years. From his Punk band in 1979, to moving on to the “more punk” sound of Industrial music and recording under the name Screw Machine from ‘81-’82. In 1982 he co-founded the pioneering American Industrial band Hunting Lodge and it’s label S/M Operations. In the mid ‘90’s Skott relocated to Los Angeles and joined the space rock band Farflung. Skott’s guitar treatments can be heard on LA’s ECOLi and Baldylocks releases as well as Lydia Lunch’s ‘Champagne,cocaine and nicotine stains’ release. He has toured and recorded with Nik Turner (Hawkwind) and basement jammed with Hans Joachim Roedelius (Cluster) and Helios Creed (Chrome).
Recording under the moniker Witches of Malibu began in 2012. WoM has released multiple tapes and vinyl releases including collab releases with folkcore artist Amps for Christ and noise legend Bastard Noise. “Witches of Malibu is a project comprised of violently psychedelic electronics, rhythm, noise and the American industrial power of suggestion through meditation and noise mongering. A concept only concerned with unlocking the ‘Hidden Secrets’ of deep space sonic exploration and mind bending psychotronics.” – Witches of Malibu