Liner Notes by PEK

In May of 2021, I opened Evil Clown Headquarters to other fully vaccinated musicians, and the first session of the new age was scheduled for the second set of the Expanse sound world.  Michael and I both enjoyed the auspicious first set right before the pandemic shut down and collaboration became an ongoing Evil Clown project, both as a duet for some sets and as a larger unit for others.  As an ongoing project, it needed a permanent name, so after some thought I came up with Expanse which evokes space and restraint, the central idea behind this ensemble at its inception.

As is often the case as a new ensemble develops over time, the original scope of intent is deepened and broadened.  An Evil Clown session that is assigned to Expanse really is a set with Michael and me and others where it is not Leap of Faith, Turbulence, Metal Chaos Ensemble, or some other Evil Clown Ensemble.  The recordings have varied from acoustic duet to trios and various larger bands with electronics and other sounds.  Michael does frequently appear as the percussionist and sometimes drummer on performances by these other Evil Clown bands.  

One recent Expanse variation has included synthesist Robin Amos, who was a founding member of the seminal Boston area post-rack band Cul De Sac.  Robin brought in violinist Jonathan LaMaster who was also in Cul De Sac for the later half of their long run.  Michael was a band member for a year and the drummer for two tours which is how we got Robin involved to begin with…  Panoramic Extent was recorded as a Livestream from Evil Clown Headquarters last November as a quartet with myself and these three players.

The Insistence of Cacophony was scheduled to be a follow up to that set.  After it was on the book, I added Evil Clown Newbie Cyrus Shauoul, who I met last fall at the Turbulence Orchestra & Sub-Units performance in Brattleboro VT where he was in the audience.  We talked for a bit after the show and he told me he played various synthesizers and was moving to Cambridge MA (a few towns over from ECH) in a few weeks…  I offered to have him play at an ECH session and he debuted here for Metal Chaos Ensemble – Room 217 about a month ago.

So, the plan was to present quintet, but it is winter in the Northeast and Robin got a stomach bug and let me know a few hours before the set that he could not make it.  I attempted to get Glynis Lomon (cello, aquasonic, voice) over to sub which would have converted the show to Leap of Faith instead of Expanse, but she could not rearrange her obligations on a few hours’ notice.  I have been planning a LOF set with Jonathan which I hope to get in the schedule later this year.  Anyway, I thought, we’ll proceed as a quartet – No biggie – Improvisation is very tolerant of this sort of personnel change even at the last second in a way that other music styles are not.

As we got close to the published start time, Cyrus had not shown up yet.  We always record a short 5-minute piece first before the concert length piece (which is the broadcast) at the end of the soundcheck.  We did that piece without him, hoping that he would arrive at the last second.  The shorty serves several functions – 1) It means that the release has two tracks which the modern digital distribution system requires for a release to be considered “full length” instead of a “single” (irrespective of how long it is) and 2) I fit 14 of these tracks onto a Label Sampler release about three times a year. 

Anyway, the appointed time arrived, and Cyrus had not, so we started the show as a trio.  About 15 minutes after we started, he did show up – turns out his work is particularly intense at the moment, and he got hung up at the office.  Paul, our camera man, let me know that Cyrus had arrived, so I snuck out to the mixing room and told him to come in and just play the synths and auxiliary instruments that are part of the permanent ECH set up.  He had brought the nice Korg synth that he brought last time and I think also guitar which we were not able to use, but there were plenty of instruments available for him to use and he did great!

It was kind of a funny dynamic…  When he jumped into the set he had never even met Jonathan or Michael before.  It’s not that unusual for musicians to play with each other for the first time at an ECH session, but this is the first time that someone showed up and started playing with unfamiliar players without even being introduced first!!

I was expecting this to be a great session, and I was not disappointed.

PEK, 25 February 2025