ONE MAN DRONE: b°tong (Switzerland) + Tamagawa, Oldine, Shit (all 3 France)

Sunday, April 12
Admission: $5, $10 minimum
Showtime: 8pm
reservations are recommended

Four bands, four musicians, four different approaches to the mighty DRONE - the idea of going on tour with a number of one-man-bands was born in 2006, when Mayo Records and P.B.B. released the One Man Drone 12“ compilation, which featured: b°tong from Switzerland, and Oldine, Shit and Tamagawa from France. Upon its release, the four artists decided to tour through France and Spain (September 2006) and a year later through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany (April 2007).

Since then both b°tong and Tamagawa have been on the road (together or alone) numerous times, and have gained a certain notoriety in European dark-ambient, drone and doom circles. The idea of crossing the ocean was born in the summer 2008 when the two met Oldine at a Throbbing Gristle concert in Paris, France. So now... One Man Drone, the moniker under which four musicians improvise, jam and raise havoc, comes to the USA and Canada! Two hours of electric (eclectic?) experimental entertainment, be it with kitchen-utensils run through effects, self-made tone generators or solid rock-guitars… each man/group plays his own shtick, sometimes they interlap and play into each other’s set and often they conclude by playing all four together. Anything is possible with these guys…

b°tong:
Chris Sigdell lives and works in Basel, Switzerland, and is a former member of the German industrial group NID (www.nid-musik.com), which existed from 1995 to 2005 (German label “Auf Abwegen” released a post-humous monster of CD in 2007). b°tong’s music is best described as dark ambient soundscapes. Apart from his tours, b°tong has appeared at renown European festivals like: “Sinus-Series” (Basel 2006), “Ausklang Festival” (Hamburg 2006), “Shift Electronic Art & Music Festival” (Basel 2007 & 2008) and played with artists such as: To Live And Shave In LA (USA), Sudden Infant (CH), Dave Phillips (CH), Column One (DE), Troum (DE), Origami Galactica (N), and Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim (CH).

While his recorded material is created on the laptop, live, b°tong relies on effect-pedals, sampler and various kitchen utensils to brew his instant soundscapes. His most recent release is the “Structures” CD (NOECHO Records, England 2008).

For more info, pictures and sounds: www.myspace.com/btongmusic & www.noechorecords.com.

Oldine

Oldine is a French guitar player from Dunkerque who plays and records guitar loops, vintage keyboards and human drones since 1996. From 2000 to 2002 he lived in Lyon and collaborated with Eric Blanché & Frédéric Cambon. He then moved to Paris, where, between 2002 & 2003, he collaborated with Sébastien Roux, and from 2004 to 2006, with Antoine & Julien Harpagès. Since 2006, Oldine plays and records alone and tours with one man drone hippies all around the world…

Oldine released four albums on his own label "Le Cri De La Harpe", his latest release being “I Can’t Go Higher Than The Sky” CD/LP (Le Cri De La Harpe 2007).

For more info, pictures and sounds: www.myspace.com/oldine & www.lecridelaharpe.com.

Shit
Gerome is from St. Etienne, France. Apart from doing shit (sic), he is the singer in a local crust-core band, and does French rap. As Shit, his music varies from diffused ambient music to screaming loud noise. Shit can be anything... His noise is made of boiling hot layers of altered guitars and various objects often made by himself: like a Theremin, effect-pedals, or noise boxes. Shit uses cheap but strong equipment in a world where computers are all and the analogue is nothing. In his world, computers are inexistent, not even to be dreamed about. Therefore: no professional releases, no my-space, no nothing! He lives of the grid, remains obscure and is visible only to those that attend a performance.

Tamagawa

Bertrand Gaude lives in St. Etienne too. He used to play guitar in various local grunge-groups before getting hooked on the drone. He is the owner of Mayo Records, which co-released the One Man Drone 12” with P.B.B. Chris’s little label. As for his sound: hypnotic, reverberating with faraway melodies, Tamagawa's music is emotional, but also futuristic - in his mind, the world doesn't exist. It is gone, along with humanity. His music melds layers of clean and distorted guitars with synthesizer drones and guitar feedback and loops. Apart from tours, he has appeared at the infamous Echokammer Festival (Augsburg 2008) along with artists such as: Troum (DE), Nadja (CDN) and Aidan Baker (CDN).

His most recent release is “L’Arbre Aux Fées” 3x3” CD (Basse Fréquences, France 2008).

For more info, pictures and sounds: www.myspace.com/tamagaywa.