An evening of experimental music curated by Brattleboro-based record label New Forces in celebration of 15 years of activity! Featuring rare performances from legendary sound artists Hands To (Jeph Jerman), Joe Colley (Crawl Unit), Shredded Nerve, Scant, Matriarch, Kjostad, & Magnetic Coroner.
Doors 6pm / Show: 7pm (sharp!) $30 advance tickets / $35 at the door.
Join us for an evening of experimental music and sound art, curated by Brattleboro-based record label New Forces in celebration of fifteen years of activity. Six artists will explore ambient soundscapes, electronic music, environmental field recordings, and psychedelic noise, featuring rare performances from Hands To and Joe Colley (and their ONLY northeast shows), Shredded Nerve, Scant, Matriarch, and Kjostad & Magnetic Coroner. New Forces was founded by Stefan Aune in Minnesota in 2010 and has been an active participant in the American noise underground for fifteen years. A recent Brattleboro transplant, Stefan is excited to bring an exciting mix of legendary and new artists to Epsilon Spires to showcase the best of the contemporary sonic avant-garde.
Hands To (AZ) Prolific sound artist Jeph Jerman recorded and performed as Hands To during the 1980s and 1990s, and we are thrilled to bring Hands To out of retirement to celebrate the 15 th anniversary of the New Forces record label. Jerman was an important figure in the home recording “cassette culture” network during the 80s, both as an artist and through his label Big Body Parts. Early Hands To releases explored the properties of magnetic tape, homemade sonic devices, and various forms of experimentation, including the bio-electric feedback of the human body. Over time Hands To incorporated more environmental field recordings, and Jerman’s interest in place-based sound, found objects, and natural landscapes has been hugely influential on the broader field of “experimental music.” Jerman describes his recorded work as “the residue of a life spent learning to listen, and offering chances for others to do the same,” and this focus on careful examination of the sonic environments that surround us is a consistent feature of both Hands To and Jerman’s later output. A wide spectrum of artists, from aggressive purveyors of harsh noise to more contemplative field recorders, have drawn influence from Hands To. Jerman continues to record and perform under his own name, but Hands To has long been on hiatus, making this performance a unique opportunity to see one of the most influential artists in the American music underground.
Joe Colley (CA) is a self-taught artist who has spent decades investigating the conceptual possibilities of sound through music production, installations, or collaborations with video artists, dancers, and even prisoners. His earlier works were also created under the moniker Crawl Unit, and he operated the influential record label Povertech Industries. In Colley’s sound works, damaged wires, crackling speakers, and the existential dread of droning electronics are woven together into a juxtaposition of haunting minimalism and industrial wreckage. Buzzing, hissing, corroded sounds are wrenched from machines that seem on the brink of imminent collapse and deftly resurrected into new forms. His performances have been seen as part of festivals including Activating The Medium (SFMOMA), Observatori (Valencia, Spain), Phonotaktik (Vienna, Austria), Beyond Music (Venice, Ca.), Songlines (Mills College, Oakland), CEAIT (CalArts,Valencia), and the 2006 San Francisco Electronic Music Festival. His recordings have been released internationally on various underground record labels such as Groundfault Records, Total Black, and New Forces.
Shredded Nerve (NY) is the primary moniker of multimedia artist Justin Lakes. Recordings and performances incorporate elements of ambient, drone, noise, and power electronics through the use of elaborate handmade cassette loops, found objects, guitar feedback, and digital synthesizers. Originally based in Ohio, Lakes has operated out of Brooklyn since 2014 where he co-founded the noise record store Thousands of Dead Gods and subsequent tape label Dead Gods. In addition to publishing printed materials of artwork and flyers, he also runs the limited edition CD imprint Small Mercies which releases many of his collaborations and other solo projects.
Scant (NY) is the alias of experimental musician Matt Boettke based out of New York City. He is a founding member of Thousands of Dead Gods, a record label in Brooklyn which previously operated a cassette focused record store from 2017-2022. Through his work as Scant he has produced over 30 limited edition tapes and CDs for American underground labels such as Chondritic Sound and Monorail Trespassing, while self-releasing through the Dead Gods imprint. Apart from solo recordings he has contributed to extensive collaborations with Justin Lakes (Shredded Nerve/Thousands of Dead Gods), Stefan Aune (New Forces), Rodger Stella, and Nick Klein amongst others. Vitiate, his second full-length album as Scant, was released in the fall of 2024 on Psychic Liberation. As a curator, Boettke has been instrumental to the organization of several DIY experimental music festivals including Avant Fairfax and RVA Noise Fest in Virginia, and Summer Scum in New York.
Matriarch (PA) is the alias of Julia Spotts, currently based out of Philadelphia, PA. After beginning in Massachusetts, Matriarch shifted its focus primarily into experimental compositions exploring themes of memory and detachment. Matriarch is a project focused on exhibiting transcriptions of memory, taking listeners on a journey through specific instances of highly emotive and key experiences in the artist’s life, in the form of moving, dynamic experimental sound.
Kjostad & Magnetic Coroner (VT)
Kjostad (Stefan Aune / New Forces) and Magnetic Coroner (Weston Czerkies / Prime Ruin) are excited to collaborate in celebration of the 15 th anniversary of New Forces. Both projects utilize magnetic tape extensively in their artistic practice; Kjostad as a mechanism for transmuting environmental field recordings, and Magnetic Coroner as a cassette archeologist, working with found tapes and other bits of excavated ephemera. Aune and Czerkies typically perform as their duo Form Hunter, but this special collaboration will offer a different approach from two stalwarts of the American noise underground.
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