S T Y L
U S
STYLUS [‘staɪləs] is a
device attached to the cartridge in the pick-up arm of a record player that
rests in the groove in the record, transmitting the vibrations to the sensing device
in the cartridge; a Washington DC-based turntable ensemble that performs with
multiple vintage classroom turntables as their instruments, using locked-groove
and prepared vinyl to create a sound that is minimalist, pulse-like and
hypnotic yet also dynamic and punctuated.
STYLUS performers to date
include mainstays of the Washington, DC avant-garde, free improvisation, modern
composition, noise and electronic music scene: Janel Leppin and Anthony
Pirog (Janel & Anthony/21st Century Ensemble); Chester Hawkins (Blue
Sausage Infant); Jeff Bagato (Tone Ghosting/Mercury Fools the Alchemist); Matt
Boettke (Scant); Andrew McCarry (Borborites);
Layne Garrett (Weed Tree); Keith Sinzinger (Fast
Forty); Gary Rouzer (Nine Strings/amptext); Guillermo Pizarro, live sound mixing; and JS Adams (BLK w/BEAR),
artistic director.
STYLUS warmly embraces the modern
compositional elements of turntablism and the contemporary sound-art of
Christian Marclay, Leyland Kirby (The Caretaker) and
Philip Jeck, while championing historic constructs
such as the Futurist manifesto L'arte dei Rumori, Dadaism, Samuel F.B. Morse, Automatism, Louis Braille, Milan Knížák's Broken Music, the
graphic scores of Cornelius Cardew, Fluxus performance,
and the prepared instrumentation and happenstance of John Cage.
STYLUS collaborated
with BLK w/BEAR and Insect Factory as STYLUS!BLACK!FACTORY!
for the annual Sonic
Circuits Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center’s
Lang Theatre. Their collaborative composition, our reasoning + safety falter under increased scrutiny + atmospheric
weight, manifested an audio-visual maelstrom, navigating harmonious ambient
drones and caustic acoustical squalls. BLK TAG – a project between Tag Cloud and BLK w/BEAR – contributed a foreboding and ominous background
track to the piece while STYLUS members used prepared vinyl from Insect Factory
and BLK w/BEAR in a score informed by Morse code and
evangelical eschatology.
STYLUS!BLACK!FACTORY! performance (our reasoning + safety falter under
increased scrutiny + atmospheric weight; 30 September 2012) audio at Soundcloud
STYLUS returned to the Kennedy Center
Millennium Stage on Saturday, 23 May 2012, as Sonic Circuits presented a celebration
of classic John
Cage compositions re-interpreted and performed by local artists. STYLUS
performed Credo
in Us (1945) re-scored for 'prepared' vinyl
recordings of the original Cage piece and augmented with 1960s sound-effects
albums, electric buzzers and hand-held radios. Special thanks
to Dave Vosh, Doug Poplin, STYLUS member Jeff Bagato and Keith Sinzinger's
nephew Ryan who added the sounds of buzzers and radios to the STYLUS
performance from out in the audience in true Fluxus happening fashion.
(Extra special thanks to Keith for constructing
such amazing electric buzzers!)
STYLUS performance (Credo in Us; 25 May 2012) video at the Kennedy Center
STYLUS performed live soundtracks
to two classic silent films, Lot in Sodom
(James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber, 1933) and Emak-Bakia (Man Ray, 1926) for
the Sonic Circuits 2011 Festival
opener at the AFI Silver Theatre
on Wednesday, 14 September. For Lot in Sodom, STYLUS was augmented by Doug
Poplin (Bach Sinfonia; BLK w/BEAR) and ensemble member Janel Leppin on cellos.
Eschewing their locked-groove vinyl for this performance, STYLUS in place used
prepared Jazz and Classical 78rpm recordings altered in homage to the Man Ray
readymade Cadeau (1921) and subjected to
additional inscriptions and machinations. Program
Notes (PDF file; 1 page)
STYLUS soundtrack performance
for Lot in Sodom at AFI Silver
Theatre (Halite; 14 September 2011)
on Soundcloud
STYLUS on Facebook
STYLUS on Flickr
(Intangible Arts)
STYLUS combine.monogram (District
of Noise Vol. 4 compilation vinyl album) on Soundcloud
STYLUS performance at Pyramid
Atlantic (AWL; 07 May 2011) on Soundcloud
STYLUS debut performance (The Ancient World was All Silence; 23
September 2010) video at the Kennedy Center
Images: © Intangible Arts