Expanse
Swathe
After receiving interest in joining the Evil Clown collective from Count Robot and DNA Girl (Deb Angelosanto), and in parallel from guitarist Tim Mungenast, collective director David Peck scheduled a session for this 7th Expanse album, adding drummer Michael Knoblach to complete this quintet configuration of the band’s electric-oriented approach to space and restraint.
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… I found that I spent less time on the horns than I usually do in most Evil Clown sessions. The combination of the mostly electronic sounds from the guests together with the unusual sounds from Michael’s percussion rig, inspired me to spend more time on the Tim Kaiser electro-acoustic instruments, the synthesizer section, the strings section and the percussion. All told, it was a very satisfying session completely different than any other set from any of the Evil Clown Ensembles…”
Swathe:
Expanse
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA –
1) Swathe – 1:09:56
PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto, & bass saxophones, tarota, bass flute, melodica, Theremin with moogerfooger, syntrx, nord stage 3, prophet, korg mini , novation peak, moog subsequent, lfo synths, Linnstrument controllers, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, guqin, nagoya, spring & chime rod boxes, bowed cymbal, crotales, glockenspiel, gongs, plate gong, brontosaurs & tank bells, cow bells, orchestral chimes, chimes, Englephone, Tibetan bowls, danmo, wood blocks, voice
DNA Girl – gold tone octave mandolin, gokeys keyboard, tongue drum, Tibetan bowl, electric kalimba, spring & chime rod boxes, vocals, “A hurricane” by Emily Dickenson
Count Robot – weird sound generator, stylophone, thera synth, fx, voice, novation peak, moog subsequent, Korg mini, Linnstrument controllers, chime rod & spring boxes
Tim Mungenast – laguna electric guitar, homemade sprint instruments, bells, overtone singing & cubist blather, effects pedals by ibanez, zoom, electro harmonix, behringer & schaller, spring & chime rod boxes, electric kalimba, rocks, Englephone, orchestral chimes
Michael Knoblach – frame drum, busy box drum, tank drum, enamel bowls, devil chasers axatse, abacuses, African rattles, Fischer Price toys, sheep shears, wooden billiards triangle, tit-fer, bells, sand blocks, antique child rattles, horses-ass-a-phone, basket of rocks, spooky world noise makers, spinning toy, acme siren whistle, mortar & pestle, lobster pot
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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.
This is now the seventh set from Expanse, although Michael has also appeared on Leap of Faith sessions. Some of the Expanse sets have featured mostly acoustic instrumentation, and some of them have included more electronic instrumentation.
During the break for new studio construction for a few months at the end of last year I heard from some relatively local folks who are fans of our work here at Evil Clown Headquarters. Count Robot and DNA Girl reached out on Facebook and expressed an interest in doing a set. It turns out that they know Michael from way back, so I scheduled an Expanse set with them as the guests. Separately, Tim reached out with the same request, and it turned out that he knows them and Michael as well, so I added him to the set.
Swathe leans even more to the electronic side than the most electronic trio set featuring Eric Woods on analog synths. Count Robot plays strictly electronic instruments made up of a table of knob-twiddling boxes. DNA girl plays a synth programmed with a lot of unusual sounds, and an octave mandolin run through effects. Tim plays electric guitar with a big batch of stomp boxes for a processed sound. All the new guests also experimented with the percussion and electronic instruments permanently set up in the revamped studio space.
I found that I spent less time on the horns than I usually do in most Evil Clown sessions. The combination of the mostly electronic sounds from the guests together with the unusual sounds from Michael’s percussion rig, inspired me to spend more time on the Tim Kaiser electro-acoustic instruments, the synthesizer section, the strings section and the percussion. All told, it was a very satisfying session completely different than any other set from any of the Evil Clown Ensembles.
I was expecting this to be a great session and I was not disappointed. Stay tuned and enjoy this set!!!
PEK, 12 March 2023
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