Simulacrum
Mimicry
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… The smaller ensemble size led us to a different sound space than the last bunch of sessions where we have had 6 or 7 players. There is still plenty of synthesis, since John and I both joined Robin on the electronic and electro acoustic instruments permanently installed in the studio. Likewise with the percussion, John and I joined Michael in the percussion section. Fewer players with aggressive doubling changes move the work through a series of very distinct sonorities. …”
Mimicry
Simulacrum
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
7 April 2026
1) Mimicry – 1:10:189
2) Deceiving the Third Party – 5:24
PEK – clarinet, albert bass, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto, & tenor saxophones, glissophone, piccolo oboe, contrabassoon, bass tromboon, crumhorn, Christmas flute, goat horn, sheng, melodica, triple slide whistles, ocarina, game calls, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20, prophet, syntrx, lfo violin, lfo percolator, theremin with moogerfooger, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, sonic spring board, active sonic forest, Tibetan bowls & bells, almglocken, chimes, wood & temple blocks, log drums, brontosaurus & tank bells, gongs, plate gong, orchestral castanets, log drums, cow b ells, Englephone, danmo, balafon, xylophone, orchestral chimes & anvils, thunder tube, clown horn
John Fugarino – trumpets, flugelhorn, trombone, French horn, melodica, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, nord stage 3, prophet, lfo violin, array mbira, spring & chime rod boxes, active sonic forest, almglocken, wood & temple blocks, balafon, xylophone, Englephone, danmo, orchestral chimes, talking drum, log drums, gongs, triangle chimes, brontosaurus & tank bells, cow bells, bells, Tibetan bells, crank siren
Robin Amos – Waldorf Blofeld, Roland JP-08, Arturia K37 keyboard controller, electric zither, Behringer 1202 mixer, Roland VT3 voice controller, bass and regular harmonicas, Boss V-Wah pedal, Lottie Canto Colour Palette Kalimba, Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter, ratchet
Michael Knoblach – African dunun, gankoqui, African bells, cow bells, sleigh bells, pie pans, temple blocks, railroad sign, claves, chalises, khartals, tiny remo drum, Halloween and party noisemakers, rolling pin, shakers, scrapers, sheep shears, egg beaters, horse shoes with railroad spike, train whistles, jug, ocarina, cymbals, cooking whisks, sandpaper blocks, Meinl galaxys, Whac-A-Mole game
Full Video
Video Shorties
Mimicry
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 originally featured 3 core members: PEK on all my stuff, Eric Woods on analog synth, and Bob Moores on space trumpet, guitar, and electronics. The original idea of this band was to increase the amount of electronics, to keep the ancillary percussion and lose the drum set, along with PEK and Bob holding down the horn roles. More recently, Bob moved to Maine about 3 hours away and Eric has been less available due to having young children. The focus on electronics is retained, but the players are more fluid.
Several of the recent sets have featured synth wiz Robin Amos and violinist/guitarist/bassist Jonathan LaMaster who played together in the seminal post-rock band Cul De Sac for a decade. Regular Evil Clown percussionist Michael Knoblach toured with them a few tours and brought them over the first time a few years back for an Expanse set. Larger variations of this Simulacrum edition have included Evil Clown star horn players Michael Caglianone and John Fugarino and synthesist Cyrus Shauoul. Replicants, from 18 July 2025, was the first performance to include all seven of us.
Mimicry was planned as a quintet. Jonathan was unavailable for the entire period we were looking to schedule the set, and I decided to go with Robin, Michael and a few horns (Me, Michael Caglianone, and John Fugarino). Anyway, as often happens, someone has a late conflict and misses the set. This time it was Michael Caglianone, so we did the session as quartet with just me and John in the horn section.
The smaller ensemble size led us to a different sound space than the last bunch of sessions where we have had 6 or 7 players. There is still plenty of synthesis, since John and I both joined Robin on the electronic and electro acoustic instruments permanently installed in the studio. Likewise with the percussion, John and I joined Michael in the percussion section. Fewer players with aggressive doubling changes move the work through a series of very distinct sonorities.
Mimicry is an excellent example of long form broad palate small ensemble improvisation.
Anyway, I like this set, and I bet you will too.
PEK Out – 4/8/2026
Mimicry
Paul Brennan Photos
and Video Screen Grabs
