NORCAL NOISEFEST 2017
LINE UP & ROSTER
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
green background = first time Norcal Noisefest appearances
click on any photo to see it in full size
BIG CITY ORCHESTRA (san francisco)
BCO has is a legendary avant-garde/art project originally from Los Angeles, California which embarked on in 1979. They have publicated about 230 hour-long releases and being an important chain in the cassette culture movement of the previous decades. They jumped out from the same nest as did other famous Californian cutting edge groups such as The Residents, and Negativeland, for instance. Their music has swerved in countless directions, veering from sound art and dada experiments and psycho-acoustic explorations to off-kilter electronica and sophisticated noise and acousmatic "folk" music.
SUN
DANIEL BLOMQUIST (san francisco)
Daniel lives and works in San Francisco, Ca. He has releases on Audiotalaia, Jack Tone Records, Glacial Movements, Tectorum Tapes, Edgetone Records as well as self released material. His current work looks at processed media and creating stories through the act of transformation. It sounds like being the room next to the room where everyone else is
FRI
BLOOD OF CHHINNAMASTIKA (san jose)
SAT
DAVY BUI (sacramento)
Davy Bui hears a world where music is mostly noise & every sound/noise can become music. He imagines a village where everyone -- locksmith, baker, doctor, farmer, midwife, etc -- is also an artist/musician. Long before The Drunken Loaf splashed onto Sacramento's food scene, Davy has been a fixture in the local underground music scene and beyond for nearly two decades. With releases on S-S Records & a slew of other labels, his music spans a broad spectrum from punk free jazz to satanic new age. He is also partner & later, owner of Weird Forest Records, which has put out releases from such notable acts as Yellow Swans, Grouper and even Lil B
FRI
C.J. BOROSQUE (richmond)
CJ Borosque: She's returned to the noise community with a new perspective. Her turn ons include all sorts of sounds and music. She likes infusing noise with jazz swing and classical complexity and counterpoint. She has played as a solo noise artist numerous times at NorCal Nf and has also been a recurring member of Lords of Outland in that capacity. She once did a solo looping guitar album entitled "Machine" (which is findable along with other recordings on YouTube). Her first Album entitled the metal quan yin was poetry and featured a young Rent Romus (her husband of 15 years). In addition she plays the Soparno Sax, a percussion setup and and pocket trumpet al la don cherry (a major influence) CJ has been an influential member of the Bay Area scene since the late 1990s and also vists Sacramento regularly.
FRI
BURNT DOT (los angeles)
Burnt Dot is an LA-based noise and experimental jazz ensemble founded by Sarah Belle Reid (trumpet) and Ryan Gaston (modular synthesizer). Reid and Gaston started Burnt Dot to explore open forms of spontaneous creation. The group is a fluid ensemble of sound and visual artists who are committed to creating work that is as quirky, fiery, and thought-provoking as the world that inspires it.
SUN
CHOPSTICK (sacramento)
Chopstick has officially been playing half of the Noise Fest events. Performing sometimes with home made pedals and sometimes with modified store bought pedals he has a unique approach to creating sound. He likes coffee and ramen. As a child he had an imaginary friend that was a robotic cat that was sent back in time from the future to help him become the man he is today.
FRI
CUT SHUTTERS (denton, TX)
Cut Shutters is a duo between artists Adriana Valls and Chase Gardner. Both aim to challenge themselves and their listeners through their exploration of ideas in composition and performance within their own personal experiences together and the urge to dabble in the unusual and absurd. Chase and Adriana are looking towards what is in front of them in order to project themselves upon the world. Cut Shutters like to tell you what they're thinking about and share what moments they capture together
FRI
  DEMONSLEEPER (puerto rico)
SAT
DOSENOFFNER (seattle, WA)
Dosenöffner are Seattle experimental noise veterans Peter Keller (Bacillus, Condo Horro, etc) and Casey Chittenden Jones (Noisepoetnobody); together they focusi on improvised dark and noisy explorations with electronic hardware and modular synths with a nod to the German electronic/proto-industrial pioneers of the 60's/70's. With evocative, anxious, and disjointed synthscapes they explore further into the wildly experimental moments of electronic music created in that early era before it settled later into new age and techno
SAT
EAR SPRAY (san francisco)
Ear Spray - Synthesizing electronics, acoustic percussion, voice and videos into dynamic and strange aural landscapes and improvisations.
- Carlos Jennings – Electronics and Conduction
- Ann O’Rourke – Vocals, Videos, Effects/Mixer, Percussion and Instagator
- Mark Pino – Entertainer and Intense Percussionist
Electroacoustic Noise. Electronic and acoustic instruments, vocals and videos. Occasional very short periods of melody and playing in Western time. Layering lots of different sounds at the same time. Science videos with strange processing. Galaxies and nebulas, sharks, molecules, plants, blood and cancer cells, etc. Plus lots of effects, of course!! Ear Spray started four years ago when Carlos Jennings and Ann O’Rourke met at the Luggage Store Gallery’s (San Francisco, CA) weekly avant garde/experimental music series, happening every Thursday for over 20 years. Mark Pino joined the group in early 2013. The more percussionists the better!!
SUN
EDDIE HONEYEATER (sacramento)
I make music with no purpose. It doesn't tell a story or have a message behind it. It just happens in time and will never happen again, but it will never end. John Cage said, "An error is simply a failure to adjust immediately from a preconception to an actuality." Improvised noise.
FRI
EDEN MONONYM (medford, OR)
FRI
ENDOMETRIUM CUNTPLOW (los angeles)
Plants and animals. Tree hugging devil music. Textural explorations and deep sonic weirdness since 2006. Free hugs and possibly bubbles. Queer noise and from the valley. Thank you for your time, I love you.

SAT
EUROSTACHE (san francisco)
Eurostache is an improvisational group performing collaborative experiments in sound. Six core members explore electro-acoustic sound-space through the lens and energy of child-like wonderment, using novel instruments, found objects, meta-processing, vocalisms, and sound recordings in unusual combinations with traditional instruments. The group was originally established in 2008 in Oakland and its members are based in the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland.
SUN
  FIBERS + GE (sacramento)
SUN
FILTHMILK (san francisco/atlanta,GA)
FiLTHMiLK makes anthems for revolutionaries
symphonic electronic dirges for blasphemers
lullabies for kids born into a black hole
SAT
FLUORESCENT GREY (oakland)
Fluorescent Grey is often heard in the :zoviet*france: podcast ‘A Duck in a Tree’ and seen in the revolving lineup of musicians in Katabatik (headquartered in Oakland). Currently, he is composing music for the TV show ‘The Empire Files’ on Telesur. Upcoming works include an album with one half of :zoviet*france: Atom Mother Earth, and Australian synth-wizard Dave Noyze
SAT
FSLUX (sacramento)
The long-term project of C Sullivan, Fslux began with a walkabout into the midst of a great lightning storm in steamy Tennessee, with only a microphone and a few mini-recorders at hand. Still today, her sounds evolve from the manipulation of found sounds and lo-fi instrumentation.

Fslux is a fuzzy ball of static and water, chirps and giggles, the strumming of strings, the popping of ice. She stays forever true to her 4track.
The artist currently resides in Sacramento, CA.
SUN
HAPPY FUN HELL (grand junction, CO)
happy fun hell is mutant bass cyber grind fueled by the souls of the damned
SAT
HUMANFLUIDROT (pompano beach,FL)
Human fluid rot is a burst of sound wave manipulation caused by inner emotion and feeling from creator, Robert Wilson Brantley III. Described by many as harsh noise or experimental soundscape, Robert just puts it as inner-most-feelings and expressions through sound. Using various pieces of hardware, Human Fluid Rot creates audibly colorful moods at intense volumes in what to him seems like a long period of time but in a matter of 3-7 minutes leaves he and his crowds mentally and audibly exhausted.
SAT

HYPERMAPPER (san francisco)
Heavy experimental sound navigating the unseen connections between times and places, the hyper-map, a description of our collective motions. Noise entrained with structure, a performed sound of spontaneously rewoven sonic statements.

FRI
INSTAGON (sacramento)
(...a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...)
INSTAGON was founded in chaos theory during 1993, and has for 24 years now continued on with sonic exploration with that chaos. Never the same experience for the band as well as the audience, always changing, never stable, but all under the conceptual direction of LOB, it's founder... .
Instagon has appeared at ALL previous Norcal Noisefest happenings
SUN
J3M5 (calabasas)
[Circuit Bent/Hardware Set]
A multi disciplinary artist whose set up combines circuit bent and modified devices with outboard effects. Stylistically drifting between noise, glitch and dubtronica in a structure-less exploration of texture and rhythm. This amalgamation emphasizes analogue low-end atmospheres, abrasive mangled circuit mid-ranges and dark synth tone accompaniment. The mix approach takes an "Octopus" style of effects and midi signal processing that adds play to the shifting structure. He has released splits and with artists such as Igor Amokian, s*i*n and GataTECH. His recordings can be found on labels Forever Escaping Boredom (Florida) and Ehsan Recordings (Singapore).
SAT
JOLTHROWER (wet planet)
Jolthrower is the unoffical sound of the worlds most powerful cola. Now available once again across the nation at Dollar General stores everywhere...denouce your weak cola's and reach for the real thing.. the power of JOLT.. This is NOT Jolthrower's first Noisefest.
SAT
klowd (covalis, OR)
klowd is a drone project of John Frank started in Sacramento Ca 25 years ago with a focus on contact mic'd sound sources and homemade instrumentation made of re-purposed objects. Klowd is now based in Corvallis Oregon

SUN
LIVER CANCER (rocklin/roseville)
BOBBY HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF +DOG+ SINCE THE MID 90'S AND TOOK HIS FRIEND GEORDAN TO THE NORCAL NOISE FEST '08. GEORDAN WAS INSPIRED AT THE LIMITLESS SOUND OF NOISE AND IN THEIR MINDS MADNESS, THEY JOINED FORCES AND THUS CREATED LIVER CANCER! ...TAKING HARSH POWER ELECTRONICS TO A VIOLENT ...E X T R E M E ! !
Liver Cancer is always a NF favorite !

SAT
MKULTRAMEGAPHONE (salem, OR)
MKUltramegaphone is the collaboration between horridus of devilsclub and Austin Rich of the radio program "Mid-Valley Mutations." Combining soundscapes, electronic experiments, narrative cut ups, & audience broadcasts, MKUltramegphone tackles sci-fi, politics, and dada to create stories and songs in the tradition of audio essays.
SAT
MASTER MORYA (sacramento)
In the Ascended Master Teachings Morya is considered one of the "Ascended Masters," also known as the "Chohan of the First Ray". H. P. Blavatsky originated the belief, professing that Morya and Master Koot Hoomi were her guides in establishing the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky also wrote that Masters Morya and Koot Hoomi belonged to a group of highly developed humans known as the Great White Brotherhood. Master Morya is working on an album and plays shows in the Northern California area.
SUN
MEDICINE CABINET (tracy)
Medicine Cabinet is an ongoing electronic music project from Tracy, CA resident Marc Schneider. The project started in the mid 90's with nothing more than the now famous Roland 303 Groovebox and a heavy delayed microphone. Marc has been active in the Northern and Southern California noise scenes since 2006. True to Marc’s fascination with the history of the genre, Medicine Cabinet shows are typically noise or noise drone based improvisations using analog synths and circuit bent devices.
SUN
MINCING (emeryville)
making noises in an attempt to fill the void;
rhythmic, discordant, harsh, or soft
SAT
NAKED EMPEROR (los angeles)
Naked Emperor hails from the plastic depths of LA, and was formed in early 2017 by Ashley Messer (Trash Cadaver ex Cerebral Roil) and Rachel Haywire (Experiment Haywire/machineKUNT Records) who decided to join forces to combine extreme noise, total occult terrorism, violent screaming, sexualized hate, and sadistic distortion in their primal stage manifesto against civilization.
SAT
NICOTINE MANTIS (los angeles)
Nicotine Mantis is a hyperbolic representation of the depression of Jacob Sykes.

SAT
NOISEPSALM (folsom)
In April of 2008 Noisepsalm was created by Matthew Lewis as an outlet for mixing sound art and electronics with melody and traditional instruments for the sole purpose of musical experimentation. He has now had the pleasure of working with over 30 like-minded artists around the globe, often bringing in new musicians/sound artists for unique live performances.
SUN
ONLINEANARCHY (sacramento)
Online Anarchy is a side-project behind the multi-media artist Faith Pena, I use this project to express my emotional side in a way that most wouldn't understand and I like it that way

SAT
PAROUSIA (south sacramento)
Arrian Delabahan (Parousia) was born and raised in San Francisco. He moved to Sacramento in 1989 when he was a senior in high school. He has been playing classical guitar, metal (death metal, and thrash), since 1987. The first exposure to noise came about as a result of listening to Neurosis, and their side project, Tribes of Neurot in the 90's. Dissonant sound was something that cuaght his ear's attention way back when he first heard VoiVod's releases: Killing Technology, Dimension Hatrus, and Nothingface in the late 80's and early 90's. Godflesh is a big influence also, along with Brighter Death Now.
Arrian (Parousia) went to college for fine arts, and does oil painting, drawing, and tattooing. Aside from creating just noise, Arrian would like to create noise that will accompany paintings and drawings he creates. He uses his guitar set up in conjuction with his noise set up together. His goal is to create sounds that intertwine with each other. The same intertwining of sounds one would hear when listening to a Bach fugue.
SAT
PULSATING CYST (los angeles)
Pulsating Cyst crawls from the murky depths of the La Brea tar pits to emit toxic fumes and low frequency oscillations. The man behind this project may have been time traveller or the victim of a failed military experiment when a hole in time was ripped open using radio frequencies and a space time delay that sent him adrift in a sea of astral video projections. When Pulsating Cyst lands again BEWARE!
The Pulsating Cyst has appeared at portals mostly in Los Angeles and San Francisco although the man behind the project has transported all over the USA, a few portals in Canada and a squat in Paris. It appears that the Cyst has dragged many pieces of gear with him through the portals during his time travel stops in various decades including a tube based Analamp and other pieces of analog and digital auditory distortion devices.
SAT
PURE FINDER (san francisco)
PureFinder are percussionist and noise aficionado Mark Pino with electronic and acoustic sound artist Andrew J Palmer, They have been playing live and evolving their sound after meeting in early 2015. Both are commited to exploring relationships between rhythm, space, discord and atmosphere, creating a mix of noise, space and epic cinematic improvisation.
SUN
QUARTZ THRUST (sacramento)
Therapeutic meditation + Oak Park in Sacramento + Spherical frequencies + mold. Ichi e ichi go
SAT
SEA MOSS (portland, OR)
Sea Moss is Noa Ver (Mulva Myasis) and Zach D'Agostino (Don Gero). A sonic assault of homemade electronics, blasting drum beats, screeching vocals, and modular synth. Sea Moss experiments in composed improvisations, lopsided rhythms, and single serving songs. DIY-electro-noise-punk.
SAT
SIDEWALK BRUJERIA (sacramento)
The music of Sacramento based Mexican/American Noise Group Sidewalk Brujeria, is a blend of dynamic synth work and deep, dark, & punkish recordings. Their style is best described as a rough divine feminine found in melodic structure paired with a restless expression of taunting distorted sounds.
SUN
SKRUNT SKRUNT (Edmonton,CANADA)
SkruntSkrunt presents a mad scientist approach to noise. SkruntSkrunt offers a unique and varied combination of audio and visuals. From harsh noises to ambient, SkruntSkrunt explores the soundscape of the modern desktop, the auditory aspects of bodies and gravity, and the interaction of physical simulation and granular synthesis. SkruntSkrunt is a long-running project of Edmonton, Canada-based Abram Hindle who leverages a wide range of custom software and stolen software ranging from office applications, physics sims, video-games and custom-built user interfaces, in order to produce jarring synthesis. SkruntSkrunt has been a regular act at the former Victoria Noise Festival
SAT
SMITE! (sacramento)
Smite! is a man with a briefcase...its a loud briefcase...perhaps he will bring it.
Jetrock is his name.. and noise is his game.
SUN
THE STOLEN ELK (sacramento)
The Stolen Elk is Matt Kretzmann. MK has been making strange sounds on purpose since 1995.
He has played at the Norcal Noisefest several times with the long running psychadelic Sacramento band Delayed Sleep. Stolen Elk is also part of a duo with Garrincha. Visuals are important to sound. If they are not provided, they must be created or imagined.
This years performance will also include Ryan Johnson from Delayed Sleep.
SUN
TARANTULA PRINCESS (sacramento)
Tarantula princess is the daughter of Klowd and Leporidae, she had been playing noise with her father since she was around eight and started a solo project at twelve. Returning after a hiatus, she hopes to refine her sounds as she begins her life in noise as an adult

SUN
TOURIAN (guadalajara. MEXICO)
Fabriccio De la Mora’s solo project Tourian from Guadalajara, combines spoken word and industrial noise, along with a thin layer of performance based on Super Metroid, Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond, and Zombies in Spaceland.
Info:
Tourian is the communications manager of a space pirate fleet. Intergalactic spoken word.
SUN
TREPAN VENT (santa rosa)
Trepan Vent is the singular work of Sage Yedinak, a Santa Rosa, CA artist who once dreamed of baptizing the whole world with noise but has rather been wallowing in self imposed obscurity while producing an assortment of horrible sounds under the moniker for 17 years. Trepan Vent moves fluidly through harsh noise, power drone, and beyond, with a penchant for cobbling assorted found objects together for sound source and obliterating them through various forms of manipulation. Seldom performing publicly, Trepan Vent channels the insular sound of a world out of order, creating auditory landscapes that are meant to abuse and excite all who listen. That'll show 'em.

SUN
UBERKUNST (sacramento)
UBERKUNST was first created in 1995 when the NIAD (Noise Instrument Analog Device) was first used to interface humans with machines, allowing each to comprehend the suffering of the other. UBERKUNST engaged in multiple dangerous and outrageous battles with hideous transdimensional beings and the enemies of structure and order, often misconstrued as "noise performances," until 2007 when their efforts to scare the Elder Gods to the other side of the cosmos left them so depleted that they had to be stored in cryogenic healing chambers. They can only be released from their chambers for 10-15 minutes a year, both to ensure their future survival when needed to carry out NIAD's will, but also to protect audiences from the deadly toxic radiation that the band emits after prolonged exposure to the horrors of the cosmos.
Uberkunst has appeared at ALL previous Norcal Noisefests
SAT
USTAM (sacramento)
Ustam utilizes shrieking vocals with droning instrumentation to set the tone for her unsettling performances.
Ustam is Kylie Jackson; the female counterpart in the duo DOEL who have performed at NF in 2014-15.
FRI
LELAND VANDERMEULEN (sacramento)
Sacramento-based guitarist Leland Vandermeulen seeks to push the capabilities of the electric guitar to its absolute limit, crafting psychedelic rhythmic noise soundscapes coupled with searing, undulating solos.
Vandermeulen uses and abuses the guitar and a looping pedal in such a manner to emulate the sounds of a full-accompaniment band, resulting in massive walls of sound that contain everything from lo-fi ambience and spaghetti western-esque tones to fuzzed-out dream pop riffs and harsh industrial textures.
Vandermeulen released his debut solo album "Inner Dialogues" this year, and is his second year performing at NorCal Noisefest.
SUN
VANKMEN (oakland)
speedcore/noise/chaos from 2 brothers, located in OAKLAND, CA. Active members of the 5lowershop sound system in the bay area, they have performed at numerous shows along the west coast, bringing their frenzy live hardware sound whenever the speaker stacks allow.
FRI
VERTONEN (chicago, IL)
Vertonen has been the solo project of Blake Edwards since 1991. His most recent work has focused on reappropriating and manipulating dead and dying media to accentuate communication and its various limitations / frequent failings.

SAT
XOME (sacramento)
Xome is a harsh noise music project conceived and operated by Bob Scott. Xome first started experimenting with dissonant forms of music in 1989 but the first organized live performance in Tokyo in 1994 marks the true activation of the project. Now based in Sacramento, CA, Xome has evolved into a highly refined and extremely harsh noise music unit by means of improvised manipulation of sound generating and processing equipment.

SAT
1il (san francisco)


SUN
 



21


40 / 41