Liner Notes by PEK

Simulacrum is an offshoot of Metal Chaos Ensemble that was conceived just prior to the Virus shutting things down.  The ensemble has generally featured 3 core members PEK on all my stuff, Eric Woods on analog synth, and Bob Moores on space trumpet, guitar, and electronics.  The basic idea of this band is to increase the amount of electronics, to keep the ancillary percussion and loose the drum set, along with PEK and Bob holding down the horn parts. 

Automatons was originally scheduled to be an octet.  Bob and his wife have moved to Maine about a 3-hour drive from Evil Clown Headquarters, so he will be around, but less often.  Eric Woods was on the set and our star guzheng player from China, Jiaxin Wan was on the set – both ended up being sick…  Reed-man Michael Caglianone is having some troubles with his house that are requiring a lot of time for the moments.  Jonathan LaMaster, our great violin/bassist who goes way back with Robin Amos (they played with the seminal Boston area post-rock band Cul de Sac together for 10 years) hurt his shoulder.  Relative newbie Gabe Boyarin on computer and guitar had a conflict…

I added Eric Dahlman on trumpet, and I tried to add a bass player but couldn’t get anyone (several of my regular bass players have regular Tuesday sessions).  So, with Eric added, and three originally booked players remaining (me, Robin Amos and Michael Knoblach) we ended up with quartet.  The video looks a little funny, since I did not hear from Jiaxin and Eric until nearly show time and we had already set up for the drums and Robin’s synth in the kitchen.  Ordinarily, for a small unit, we all easily fit in the main studio space.  Although its not so good for the line of sight, its great for Joel who gets really great separation on the mics…

Sometimes, when the unit changes so much, I end up reassigning the set to a different ensemble – here the likely candidate would have been Expanse which is the project featuring Michael Knoblach and myself with various guests…  The aesthetic theme of Simulacrum is emphasis on electronics, and we usually have at least two or more electronic specialists.  Here we have Robin alone, but I spent more time on electronics than usual.  With the smaller unit, Robin’s contribution is really up front, and so despite the lack of more contributors to the electronics section, the vibe is really in line with the Simulacrum aesthetic, and I decided to keep Automatons in the Simulacrum book.

One huge advantage of pure improvisation is that ensemble size and makeup is much less critical than bands that play repertoire and rely on fixed ensembles.  Bands in more popular styles, would not be able to continue with a planned event with so much late change to the planning.  In pure improvisation, the aesthetic problem posed to the improvisors is comprised of the players, the instrumental resources, the setting and circumstances of the event.  Changes to the unit, change the problem, and therefore the solution to the problem, but do not mean that the music is less in any way or can’t continue in the face of even radical last second change.

Anyway, I like this set, and I bet you will too. PEK Out – 12/5/2024