Stadiums & Shrines

Grant Nitsch on Megafortress Videos

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Diamond Mouth Surprise, the “monthly night of writing music film pictures talking chanting dancing loving communing,” was held last Saturday in its usual high ceiling-ed apartment space in Williamsburg. One of four performances (which included Noah Wall sound-sculpting crystal glass frequencies, photos below), was the debut projection of Bill Gillim’s new Megafortress release (out 1/31 on Software) with a Grant Nitsch-made video for each song. The internet saw “Green Child” last week (via Pitchfork) and now “My Favorite Girl” today (via Dummy). The rest should arrive soon, and when it does, we recommend a full, start to finish viewing—it’s a gorgeous and cohesive series, and also quite expansive given the ingredients Grant limited himself to. My curiosity into his process grew throughout that show, and while the Kansas City native wasn’t present to ask, he was just an email away:

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Gem Club on Japanese Boro

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Originally published by Nathaniel on Think or Smile.

Few things put me at peace the way Gem Club does. Like staring at the moon, with stars dimming out of focus, clouds at all sides, churning with a rain that never falls—it’s a melancholic kind of contemplation, yet ever-assuring, as I know that this pure, unrelenting beauty lies just out of reach, just one squint away.

Gem Club has soundtracked many a late night while I’ve worked on my own art, often making me wonder what types of visual influences might exist behind the sound fueling mine. Christopher has been kind enough to open up his and his partner Jared’s personal collection of textile art, as well as, chat for a few on his path to music and his admiration for Japanese boro.

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Animated | It is rain in my face.

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Having learned that our friend Matt Jones, a Brooklyn/North Carolina artist who renders spectral sound as It is rain in my face., was also quite the illustrator, we thought: why not try and see how he, sees his music. After an excellent set at our show back in June, we jammed a bit on how this could be done. A few months later, it would happen on our roof, alongside Andrew Hamlet of ArnHao, who joins Matt in their project Pressed And. Victoria captured the sequence above (and like last time, Bean cameos). While many questions were asked, the two that dictated this ended up being, basically: what colors are It Is Rain?, and what colors are Pressed And?

Audio on display is the title track from his Wishbone EP with Absent Fever, available at bandcamp.

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