Squidco Blurb

Recording as An Orchestra of PEKs–overdubbed tracks performing with his arsenal of metallic, percussive and electronics devices–intermediate mixes here of electric cello and electric upright bass through Moogerfooger stomp box and syntrix analog synthesizer and a metallic percussion mix, the various timbres interacting as a larger environment for PEK’s reed improvisations.

Liner Notes by PEK

Every once in a while, there is a break in the crazy schedule here at Evil Clown and I have some time to do a solo album.  Our grand olde pal, the Corona Virus has provided such a break in spades….  At the beginning of the 2020, it appeared that the year would be our busiest yet…  We did a bunch of albums in January, February and the first weeks of March, and then I was forced to cancel a bunch of wonderful performances scheduled for the months that followed.   So, I caught up all my old business:  web site, social media, distribution, and the other non-musical activity required to drive the enterprise.  Then I took a month off…  my biggest rest since I started up in 2015 after my long hiatus.  In mid-May I started up again, conceiving some new means of producing some of the enormous output normally achieved by Evil Clown.  In the Fall I did a huge series of solo works along with a few Metal Chaos Ensemble sets with Yuri and Mike Gruen.

Now entering the second calendar year to be affected by the Stupid Virus, I really miss playing with others…  For obvious reasons, I have been producing a lot more PEK Solo albums than I do typically.  I conceived a structural schema for producing solo works while we wait for the virus to be over.  As with larger ensemble Evil Clown sessions, the planning involves selecting sound resources from the massive Evil Clown Arsenal and setting up the studio with these instruments to allow rapid changes in instrumentation and therefore in sonority.  This system provides a framework to create solo works that are sufficiently different from each other that I can continue to produce new work at something close to my usual rate even while I can’t perform with others.

The PEK Solo albums fall into four categories:

1. One continuous track (no overdubbing) of PEK playing one or many instruments with or without signal processing.
2. One continuous track of PEK playing one or many instruments with a prerecorded mix of samples drawn from the Evil Clown Catalog or specially recorded at Evil Clown Headquarters.  Solo albums from before 2020 fall into the categories 1 & 2.
3. A Quartet of PEKs – Four continuous tracks of one PEK each playing many instruments on each pass.  Some of these use broad pallets and some use very focused pallets.
4. An Orchestra of PEKs – Many tracks of PEKs performing on a broad section of the Arsenal.

The current work, Coulombs, is category 4.  The two intermediate mixes are electric cello and electric upright bass through Moogerfooger stomp box and syntrix analog synthesizer and a metallic percussion mix, Clangin’, included as a free bonus download track.  This is the 10^th CD length work for An Orchestra of PEKs since Schism recorded shortly after the onset of Corona Virus.  Each uses a different set of intermediate mixes made from the various timbre sets of instruments in the Evil Clown Arsenal.

I take samples from the intermediate mixes and transform them and then use the samples and the altered samples in the premix of my Orchestra of PEK’s albums… Many of these, like Clangin’, stand alone as complete works and have been released as bonus download tracks with the bandcamp downloads…

As I recorded this, the title “Clangin'” occurred to me as an obvious title for this track filled with bangin on metal sounds. Many years ago, when I was learning about Jazz as a young man, I enjoyed the Miles Davis Prestige period albums Walkin’ (1954), Cookin’, Relaxin’, Workin’, Steamin’ (May – October 1956).  While there is no similarity musically with these 50’s masterworks at the end of this period of Miles, there is a common thread. Miles needed to complete his contract with Prestige to start his relationship with Columbia… He engaged fantastic Jazz players and created these 5 seminal albums with similar names within a few months.

Working quickly is a fundamental part of the Evil Clown process. So after my title, Clangin’ occurred to me, it’s connection to Mile’s titles and his fierce process became apparent, and I decided to dedicate this work to Miles Davis.

While I have enjoyed the process of creating Quartet of PEKs and Orchestra of PEKs recordings during our collective CV incarceration, I am looking forward to resuming performance with other musicians in the very near future.  My housemate, Raffi, has received his first vaccine shot, and I will get my first shot next week.  I’ll be able to open Evil Clown Headquarters to sessions probably by mid-May to players in the roster who have also been fully vaccinated.  That date is about 6 or 7 weeks from the date of this writing.  My current plan is to do several category 1-3 sessions during that time, but perhaps I will squeeze in one more Orchestra of PEKs set before I can start doing sets with other players.

I expect that I will be able to resume the rapid schedule interrupted a year ago.  I have been in periodic communication with members of the various units, and we are all chompin’ at the bit!!  Stay tuned for a flood of new works by Leap of Faith, Metal Chaos Ensemble, Turbulence and other Evil Clown Ensembles starting up in May…

As usual, the chaos of the universe throws out problems which require our attention.   Expression must be expressed.  Music must be made.  The chaos of the universe demands it.

PEK – 3/25/21