goldenbabyboy (redux) by #GRNDR

This is a project I had with the late, Philip Kruse (rest in peace 2016) in the early mid-2010s in Chicago. I think he's the primary reason why I decided to make sound. When I was younger, I was too insecure (and drunk) to put sound out there. He showed me that it's actually okay to be those things and twiddle some knobs for 30 inebriated people in a basement. I used inexpensive MIDI rack hardware and Philip used a laptop, in a time when noise patrons (with whatever cognitive awareness they had left) still frowned upon such devices being used for sound synthesis and processing (it lacks the warmth of physical devices they said).

We played a handful of shows, most notably a conceptual event we put together. It was promoted to be a "foam party" (a nod to 90s rave culture with dance rooms full of foam and people). It was in reality a questionably put-together noise show with foam. The "party" took place in a basement in Chicago with some local noise, techno acts, and probably the obligatory iTunes playlist DJ. We made the foam machine out of a shop vac, soap, and a thrash can (a big, new clean one). There was some décor, I think mostly a lackluster Catholic theme with prayer candles and Mary votives and altars. The main lodestone in the basement was a long hallway of human hair - human hair weaves strung to the low ceiling. To enter and exit the foam chamber, you would have to walk through it. If you were wet from the foam, you would have to brush off human hair stuck to your sudsy vessel. The foam machine was in the back cellar area of the basement (I think the building used to be a store? It was a smaller, dirty basement room with a big sliding cellar-type door). A couple of urban party promoter types promoted the event thinking it'd be a normal dance house party evening for those with minimal mental illness. Philip spent a good part of the week before the party inviting normies on OkCupid. There's not really a climax to this story or a point other than me indulging in some nostalgia. The night's attendance was mediocre as was probably the sets. However, there was a healthy ratio of confused normies who showed up but would quickly leave after hurriedly checking out the vibe.

There are many more stories from our handful of shows and time together, probably just as banal as this one. Being too fucked up to play so pretending to play DJ Tron live (90s underground horror gabber person from Chicago) instead of our set or playing on top of a very tall podium in the warehouse I lived in (that was empty) to our audience two blocks away.

Anyways, this version of the release is different than the version Philip put on his Thirdsex label -https://www.discogs.com/label/176009-THIRDSEX (renamed Nero Porca Miseria but not updated anywhere to reflect this). I was able to get some different versions of tracks from his childhood friend after he passed. Proceeds will go to Maine Access Points, a fantastic org that does harm reduction work in rural communities in the great state of Maine.

-gv

Media imprint curated by Gunther Valentine

anathema.me
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