[ p l a y t h i n g s ]
Saturday, November 22nd, 2003
Opening of the Outsiders and Others Gallery's "Playthings" exhibition, Calhoun Square, Minneapolis, balcony outside the gallery space

A 3-hour archive performance (with a few short breaks, letting the loops run for a while) utilizing the processed sounds of toys: music boxes, windup toys, action figures, and other assorted noisemakers-- plus the debut of the See & Say and a mini-piano, as well as live laptop video game playing and digital Speak & Spell turntablism. More providing ambience than "playing a show" per se, which i really liked. Kind of like having a booth at a job fair or an exhibit at the science museum: people kept stopping by asking me to explain the process, and little kids raided the toys and dictated which one should go into the mix next. I enjoyed this performance a lot. Thanks Yuri!

[ toy jam ]
improvised music/ toy instruments
Part of the Improvised Music at Acadia series
Tuesday Rocktober 21st, 2003 at the Acadia Theater, Minneapolis

A very successful evening. Archive opened the night with processed sounds of such toys as windup robots, music box, Pokemon doll, toy sampler, play cell phone, Nexu, and talking Cookie Monster. Local toy expert the Reverend Matt Kessen provided a demonstration of toys from his personal collection (since part of his community service sentence for bringing marauding aliens to earth is to educate them as to the behaviors of earth people, this offered him an opportunity to practice in front of a live audience).

Datura 1.0 followed with a set of circuit-bent toys at bone-crushing volume. The Greg Schaeffer trio closed out the evening with a whimisical performance incorporating Eugene Chadbourne improv compositions.

Thanks to all performers who took part in this show, and to Andrew Lafkas for booking it. Thanks also to Jill Bernard (for the music box) and Brooke Aldridge (for the Cookie Monster and Pokemon dolls). and, of course, to everyone who gave me the windup toys i requested for my birthday.

[ accidental soundtrack ]
at Fret Frame & Chatter multimedia cabaret
June 14th, 2003; Acadia Theater, Minneapolis

My very first Archive solo performance. For this outing i decided to use field recordings exclusively, including sources such as a cable car ride, a gymnasium weight room (the recording featured on "Spotter"), various bells and car horns, a man shovelling snow, and the sound of a purring cat. (the cat, Billie, who owned one of my housemates, died about a week before the show. The performance was dedicated to her memory.)

Sounds were facilitated via one boom box, a Walkman through an amp, and a shareware dj-scratching application on my laptop that i kicked out through another amp. A film was shown onstage as I montaged the sounds. To this day, I still haven't seen the film and didn't know what it was going to be beforehand; afterwards, though, people said everything was so in sync that it seemed like i'd scored the audio specifically for the visuals. Neato.

Previously during the cabaret, I participated in an improvisatory multimedia set with Gregs Carr (turntables) and Schaeffer (sampler), Andy Honigman (film), and Mike Johnson (video). I manipulated Mr. Schaefer's audio as he served it up from his sampler.

By the way, Davu Seru and Andrew Lafkas have a fine cd out on Insides Music called "You have a Great Estate, General; We Shall Soon Divide It Amongst Us". Highly recommended.