video of the performance can be viewed here. sampled violin by composer diane schuh, all other vocals/instrumentation by me.
this song originally appeared on a limited-run cassette compilation by the label YDLMIER and is in reference to joseph smith, the founder of the LDS/mormon church, who claimed he’d sit at the right hand of god on judgement day.
gratitude and credit to nic of unsettling mormonism for their research and work on the colonial history of our mormon heritage, which has allowed me to hear and honor more layers of grief [and fury] within this composition.
excerpt composed for and premiered at OPENSIGNAL Festival 2014 at Granoff Center for the Arts at Brown University as part of a collaborative sound installation. it was then extended to a 30 minute piece for a 2014 sound installation by Paris, France label Tsuku Boshi at Area Paris galerie.
while i feel some pride in this composition, the use of some of the ham radio samples, in addition to one of the vocals (mine) singing the Black spiritual, “sometimes i feel like a motherless child”, feels at odds with my values, and i haven’t performed it for those reasons for years. i hold that it’s important as white musicians to consider the colonial history of non-consensual extraction, so while musically i appreciate this piece, ethically i do not. this is a dip in the archive of my former self.
curated sounds from my former monthly radio show + mixes since can be found here.
recent mixes include:
i want to be your happiest one but the world is high and a long hot summer just passed me by
& more
top page image description: photo by (i believe) kyle davis of miro in a bronze and black hooded jacket singing into a microphone in front of a textured grey background