NDR Invoking the Naaah Exception

Neurodivergent Orchestra

Invoking the Naaah Exception

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invoking the naaah exception

Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK

“… I came up with the idea of the Naaah Exception a while back as I was scheduling this session – mainly because I knew it would be funny for us all to say it a lot… Naaaaahhh… To Invoke the Naaah Exception means to reject something outright because it is ridiculous or obviously not acceptable. It turns out that with the Midterm election wipe out last week a lot of American voters recently Invoked the Naaah Exception and that ended up being the subject of the banter in the back half of the performance…”

invoking the naaah exception

Neurodivergent Orchestra

(AKA the Wacky Banter Orchestra)

Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA

7 November 2026

1) Invoking the Naaah Exception – 1:10:26

2) Oom Pah Pah – 4:58

PEK – wacky banter, clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, glissophone, shenai, game calls, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20, syntrx, nagoya, noise tower, Tibetan bowls, bells & chimes, log drums, wood & temple blocks, orchestral anvils, balafon, xylophone, Englephone, danmo, cow bells, chimes, [d]ronin, 17-string bass, gongs, brontosaurus & tank bells, crank lighthouse

Michael Caglianone – soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet & bass clarinet, slide whistle, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, bells, Tibetan bells, almglocken, balafon, xylophone, triangle chimes

John Fugarino – trumpets, flugelhorn, trombone, French horn, nord stage 3, prophet, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, lfo violin, array mbira, seed pod rattles

Eric Dahlman – wacky banter, flugelhorn, overtone voice, nord stage 3, gongs, flex-a-tones, chimes, cow bells, ratchet, wood & temple blocks, log drums, rubber chickens

Kelsey Gallagher – clarinet, bass clarinet, nord stage 3, lfo percolator, Englephone, seed pod rattles, ratchet, xylophone, kalimba, bells, log drums. wood & temple blocks, cowbells, rubber chickens, clown hammer

Count Robot – wacky banter, electric kazoo, fx, tapes, tape recorder, AM/FM radio, gongs, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, 17-string bass

DNA Girl – wacky banter, voice, mandolin, guitar, lfo violin, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, 17-string bass, orchestral chimes, brontosaurus & tank bells, wood & temple blocks, Englephone, danmo, rubber chickens

Tim Mungenast – wacky banter, guitar, effects, 17-string bass, nagoya

Scott Samenfeld – 5-sting fretless bass, EWI

Jared Seabrook – drums, spring & chime rod boxes, log drums, wood & temple blocks, brontosaurus & tank bells, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers

Joel Simches – live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing

Bandcamp | YouTube 1 | YouTube Shorties | Soundcloud

invoking the naaah exception

Full Video

Video Shorties

invoking the naaah exception

Liner Notes by PEK

Every once in a while, a new ensemble gets started at Evil Clown. Sometimes the new unit has a particular aesthetic problem, and an appropriate band name assigned defined in advance. For example, Metal Chaos Ensemble started as a duet between me and Yuri Zbitnov as soon as we started to work with newly acquired metal instruments in 2015, and Turbulence was formed to feature groups of horn players – sometimes as only horn players and sometimes with bass and drums. Sometimes the new unit is spun off from an existing ensemble with some variation or different set of resources. Simulacrum was spun off from Metal Chaos Ensemble to include even more electronic instrumentation and signal processing and to not require a drummer.

Sometimes the new unit comes about because new players join the roster and contribute to a session by an existing ensemble, and it is clear their contribution adds a distinctive voice to the Evil Clown palette which deserves a new band name. Such is the case with Neurodivergent. Count Robot, DNA Girl and Tim Mungenast played on two Expanse records in 2023 (Swathe in March and Gamut in July). They bring an odd sensibility that involves improvised spoken word banter between the three of them and a more pop-culture oriented use of guitar, mandolin and electronics than is typical in the other Evil Clown ensembles. For the third set featuring these three relative newbies, I rolled out the new band name, Neurodivergent, to explore combinations of their aesthetic as a group of players with a long history with various combinations of players from the Evil Clown Roster.

We’ve done a dozen or so Neurodivergent Orchestra sets now and things are getting interesting. This time all 10 of the primary people in the roster were available and made the session! In addition to our three primary wacky banterers, we had five horn players: me, John Fugarino, Michael Caglianone, Eric Dahlman and Kelsey Gallagher – and our great regulars Scott Samenfeld on bass and Jared Seabrook on drums. This ensemble has great power in the freak-out sections and great delicacy in the spoken word parts. It has been interesting to watch how this improvised theatrical presentation model has evolved as it has matured and blended with the Evil Clown Aesthetic improvisation sound space.

I came up with the idea of the Naaah Exception a while back as I was scheduling this session – mainly because I knew it would be funny for us all to say it a lot… Naaaaahhh… To Invoke the Naaah Exception means to reject something outright because it is ridiculous or obviously not acceptable. It turns out that with the Midterm election wipe out last week a lot of American voters recently Invoked the Naaah Exception and that ended up being the subject of the banter in the back half of the performance…

Anyway, we had a terrific Livestream performance. I really dig this set and I bet you do too…