MY INITIAL IDEA CAME FROM THE IDEA OF DISCONNECTION FROM HOME AND THE IDEA OF RECONNECTING THROUGH A PIECE OF WRITING WRITTEN TO FAMILY BUT READ TO ONESELF. ONCE COMPLETE THE LETTER WILL BE BURNED AS AN EFFIGY. PRODUCTION IDEAS WOULD BE USING AMBIENCE AND SPATIALITY AS WAY OF TRANSPORTING THE WORDS THROUGH VIBRATION INTO THE WORLD AND SERVING AS A WAY OF HEALING YOURSELF. THIS IDEA CAME FROM THERAPY TECHNIQUES IVE EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST.
THIS IDEA IS INSPIRED BY A NEW FRIENDSHIP WITH A FILMMAKER FROM HONG KONG CALLED ETIENNE. THIS CONCEPT WILL HOPEFULLY HELP WITH A FEELING OF CONNECTION TO OUR ROOTS EVEN WHEN WE ARE THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY. OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR FAMILIES CAN BE COMPLEX, OFTEN WE CANNOT EXPRESS OURSELVES EVEN TO THOSE WHO CREATED AND NURTURED US. THIS METHOD I HOPE WIll FURTHER MY EXPLORATION INTO ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF THERAPY AND SERVE AS WAY OF HELPING ETIENNE TO RECONNECT AND HEAL FRACURES OF TRAUMA.
I LIKE IDEA OF REDEFINING WHAT AN EFFIGY USUALLY MEANS (IN CONTEXT OF PROTEST) – IN A RELIGIOUS CONTEXT AND EFFIGY CAN BE A SYMBOL OF REMEMBERENCE AND VENERATION (GREAT RESPECT). ALSO FOCUSING ON SPACE AS FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR OF THE RECORDING PROCESS THAT CORRELATES WITH ELEMENTS OF PRODUCTION. SOUNDS THAT EVOKE A FEELINGS OF DEVOTION/ RELIGIOUS AWE/ CONTEMPLATIVE AMBIENCE HEARD IN SPACES OF WORSHIP.
HERE I HAVE DOCUMENTED THE PROCESS OF WRITING, RECORDING AND THE CEREMONIAL ACT OF BURNING THE EFFIGY WITH MY RICOH GR CAMERA.
CONFIGURATION TEST 1 – AMBIENT LIVEN – ECHO DREAM 2 PEDAL – MAGNETAR BLACK DISTORITION.
NOTES – MAGNETAR SYNTH IS UNPREDICTABLE AND REQUIRES FURTHER PRACTISE/ HAS SOME INTERESTING ELEMENTS OF KICK BASES PERCUSSION/ REQUIRES MORE REVERB AND DISTORTION EFFECTS.
ECHO DREAM HAS PLEASANT AMOUNT OF GRIT AND EXTREME DELAY WITH DISTORTION AND MODULATION BUILT IN/ WILL REQUIRE A LONGER CHAIN OF EFFECTS
AMBIENT LIVEN HAS GREAT QUALITIES FOR LAYER DRONES BUT WILL NEED FURTHER UNDERSTANDING ON THE ARP AND ITS POTENTIAL STRING LIKE QUALITIES ON THE PAD SECTIONS. PROGRAMMING SEEMS ABSTRACT BUT APPROACHABLE AFTER PRACTISE.
This month marks the early stages of producing my next album for the Texas-based record label Black Artifact.
Over the last three years, I’ve spent most summers in my partner’s country of Sardinia. These experiences have been deeply grounding, allowing me to think freely and creatively—far from the noise of London. Time spent in the hills of Olbia, deep in rural Sardinia, has provided a kind of isolation that acts as a catalyst for ideas to flow.
One of the most powerful inspirations came from witnessing the pagan festival of the Mamuthones, a pre-Christian ritual of the Mamoiada people of Sardinia. This street carnival involves participants dressed in wooden masks and dark animal furs, with heavy cowbells strapped to their backs. The ritual’s slow procession, accompanied by fire and the precise rhythm of the bells, is performed to invoke protection, fertility, and well-being—a farewell to winter.
Experiencing this ceremony was deeply spiritual. The act of dance and music through community reflects the importance of history, ceremony, and forgotten archaic values. It became the foundation for a new creative direction: to represent the romance of Sardinia’s countryside and the spirit of the Mamuthones through sound.
The album, Olbia, will be created through a process of deliberate limitation—using only two synthesizers and two effects pedals, including the Sonicware Liven Ambient and the Synamodec Black Distortion Synthesizer. The goal is to craft a sound palette of drone and noise, juxtaposing abrasion with vast, expansive soundscapes that evoke the emotional states often found in dream and trance: frenzy, elation, panic, and peace.
In the coming months, I will document this process in great detail.
OCTOBER 11TH 2025. HOSPITAL FESTIVAL RETURNS TO FEAR CITY NYC. 28 YEARS SINCE ITS HUMBLE BEGINNING, HOSPITAL PRODUCTIONS WAS BORN OUT OF NECESSITY AND PASSION FOR THE FRINGE ARTFORM AND PRACTISE, TO BRING NOISE MUSIC TO THOSE SEARCHING FOR A SMALL SADO MASOCHISTIC FAMILY. ITS CREATOR DOMINICK FERNOW OF PRURIENT, VATICAN SHADOW, RAINFOREST SPIRITUAL ENSLAVEMENT WITH LEGENDARY RELEASES SUCH AS RAINBOW MIRROR, FROZEN NIAGRA FALLS AND MANY OTHER GENRE DEFINING ALBUMS AND MANY MORE ROTATING ALIAS’S, HAS CARVED INTO UNDERGROUND MUSIC A STATEMENT AND CATALOGUE OF MATERIAL THAT DEFINES TRUE UNDERGROUND MUSIC ITSELF. A LABEL DECIPHERING THEMES OF DEEP HUMAN ANGUISH, THE WORST OF HUMANITIES CRIMES AGAINST ITSELF, INDUSTRIAL FALLOUT AND JOURNEYS OF DEEP SELF REFLECTION. THE INFAMOUS HOSPITAL FEST HOSTS A ROSTER OF ARTISTS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO OVER ALMOST THREE DECADES OF INDUSTRIAL MUSIC, RANGING FROM SPHERES OF TECHNO, POWER ELECTRONICS, BLACK AMBIENT AND AMERICAN HARDCORE.
2PM SATURDAY OCTOBER 11TH. WE DESCEND THE LOWER SIDE OF BROOKLYN. WE JOIN A SLOW MASSING QUEUE LEADING TO A PREVIOUSLY UNDISCLOSED LOCATION. LIKE-MINDED CONSUMERS AND CREATORS OF PATIENTLY WAIT TO BE ISSUED THEIR BADGE, YOUR BADGE IS YOUR TICKET, NO BADGE NO ENTRY, NO ACCEPTIONS. WITH RUMOURS BUZZING OF A LAST MINUTE VENUE CHANGE DUE TO THE HEADLINE BOOKING OF THE INFAMOUS GENOCIDE ORAGN, LONG STANDING GERMAN PIONEERS OF POWER ELECTRONICS, WE ENTER A SMALL SIZED BUILDING SPACE FITTED WITH 2 HUGE DIY SKATE RAMPS. HOSPITAL BEING KNOWN FOR ITS QUALITY PRODUCED GRAPHIC DESIGN AND MERCHANDISE, THE QUEUE OF ABOUT 100 PEOPLE HAD ALREADY BEGAN EAGER TO BAG EXCLUSIVES FROM THE LABEL AND OTHER DISRUPTORS SUCH AS FRINGE RECORDS OF NYC AND TOTAL BLACK OF BERLIN. THE ATMOSPHERE IS DENSE AND PALPABLE DUE TO EXCITEMENT AND LACK OF ADEQUATE AIR CONDITIONING AND THE BODY HEAT OF 400 EAGERLY ANTICIPATING ATTENDEES.
LINEKRAFT
THE FIRST ARTIST TO CLAIM THE STAGE IS JAPANS LINEKRAFT (MASAHIKO OKUBO). ARMED WITH MODULAR SYNTHESIS, AN OIL TANKER AND A PLETHORA OF MULTI EFFECTS PEDALS, A SLOW ASCENSION INTO CATHARSIS BEGINS. A CALCULATED APPROACH TO AUDIO VIOLENCE MASAHIKO DOES WITH EASE, STRIKING THE OIL TANKER LIKE A POST CIVILISATION CEREMONIAL GONG TO A RISING BACKDROP OF BLISTERING DISTORTION AND TAPE RECORDINGS OF SOCIOPOLITICAL COMMENTARY. MASAHIKO HAS COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE CHAOS HE’S INSTIGATING WHICH IS WHAT MOST IMPRESSED ME, HIS APPROACH IS SPONTANEOUS AND IMPROVISED WHILE HAVING FULL CONTROL OF THE MULTITUDE OF MACHINES BEFORE HIM. WITH THE CROWD AT FULL TILT, HE ENTERS THE CROWD TO THE EMBRACE OF HIS FANS, SPEWING UPWARD HUNDREDS OF PIECES OF PAPER READING
In an industrial society that has become a cleans chamber
where filth has been eliminated
To all of you who are on the verge of Suicide
spread your shit. Clutch your stool
I am the dark monkey man, yell and scream
Death to industry. Primitive survival instinct
Stain appalling are ape ape ape ape ape ape ape ape
ape ape ape ape ape ape ape ape ape ape ape ape ape
Dog! Monkey, humans, shit, dust, and craziness
with a sudden Yell tomorrow
THE STATEMENT LITTERS THE FLOOR STAMPED IN BY HUMANS SHIT AND DUST. THE STANDARD IS SET.
VATICAN SHADOW – ANCIENT METHODS – SALFORD ELECTRONICS
TOP OF THE BILL FOR HOSPITAL FEST WAS THE CELEBRATION OF 15 YEARS OF VATICAN SHADOW, THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX INSPIRED TECHNO PROJECT OF DOMINICK FERNOW. THINK OF THE MUSIC AS AN APPROACH TO SCORING CERTAIN MOMENTS OF AMERICAN POLITICS, HISTORY OF WAR AND THE MEDIA MACHINE THROUGH A RHYTHMIC LANGUAGE OF ELECTRONICS, ALWAYS EVOKING EMOTIONS OF INTROSPECTION WITH THE DELIVERING CINEMATIC AUDIO EXPERIENCES. CREATED DUE TO A LACK OF THEMATICS IN TECHNO SCENE AND A LOVE FOR EARLY ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC , WITH ICONIC RELEASES ON BLACKEST EVER BLACK AND HIS OWN LABEL, WITH TITLES OFTEN TAKEN FROM NEWSPAPER ARTICLES DEFINING AN ERA OF CONSPIRACY WARFARE AND BLOODSHED IN THE MIDDLE EAST .THIS PROJECT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HUGE INSPIRATION TO MY APPROACH IN GRAPHIC DESIGN ALSO BY DELIVERING A MESSAGE AN THE MUSIC WHILE FOCUSING ON THE STRONGEST ELEMENTS, IN WHICH HIS MUSIC AND DESIGN DOES SO EFFECTIVELY AND ITS APPROACH TO SUBLETY OVER EMBELLISHMENT.
RUMOURS WERE CIRCULATING OF A REUNITING OF TWO CLOSE COLLABORATORS AND HIGHLY ESTEEMED ARTISTS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, BERLINS TECHNO MAESTRO ANCIENT METHODS AND BLACKPOOLS DARK AMBIENT OUTFIT SALFORD ELECTRONICS. RUMOURS WERE CONFIRMED AS THE THREE BEGIN TO SET UP A COMPLEX ARRANGEMENT OF EQUIPMENT ON STAGE AS THE CROWD WAITES ON BAITED BREATH. WITHOUT WARNING AND RESULTING IN A INSTANT EXPLOSION OF BEER GLASS, DOMINICK BLASTS INTO WELL KNOWN PIECE FROM BERMUDA DRAIN, A MEAL CAN BE MADE, A CATALYST THAT BEGINS A FRENZY AMONG THE MASS. WITH CROWN AND ARTIST IN COMPLETE SYNERGY, THE LYRICS OF A MEAL CAN BE MADE TEAR THROUGH THE BUILDING CREATING AN UNPREDICTABLE MOVEMENT FROM EVERY ANGLE OF A PIT OF BODIES IN FRENZY.
Red arrow sent to hurt Where will she choose to strike? Moss rolls around Wet rock like claws Arrow strikes fat Diving through the center of you
COLD DRUMS OF PRECISION AND FORCE BEGINS TO SET A STEADY PATH OF UNIFIED MOVEMENT, UNRELENTING ELEMENTS OF POWER ELECTRONICS, DARK AMBIENT AND TECHNO FORM A TRIANGLE OF SOUND AMONG THOSE LEADING THE DANCE. WITH AN EXTREME LACK OF OXYGEN SURROUNDED BY A FEVER OF TARANTISM THE NEXT 60 MINUTES WERE OF ABSOLUTE IMPORTANCE. THE FEELING OF BEING UNIFIED BY MUSIC AND ART UNCOMPROMISING, UNFLINCHING AND UNWAVERING, SURROUNDED BY THOSE LIKEMINDED INDIVIDUALS OF DEDICATION AND LOVE FOR ART OF IT ALL. I FELT AT HOME IN A INSTANCE.
GENOCIDE ORGAN
HOSPITAL FEST HAD REACHED FEVER PITCH. THE CROWD UNITES FOR A CROWNING JEWEL IN INDUSTRIAL MUSIC. GENOCIDE ORGAN. INFAMOUS FOR ACCUSATIONS OF FAR RIGHT SYMPATHY AND TIES TO EXTREMIST IDEOLOGY, IN MY OPINION GENOCIDE ORGAN IS INFAMOUS FOR THE SAME REASON WHITEHOUSE WAS IN THE EARLY 80’S, THEY DONT REVEAL THEIR POLITICAL AGENDA TO THE AUDIENCE, THEY PURELY PRESENT ART IN WHICH REFLECTS AND REFERENCES THE DISASTERS OF WAR AND HUMANITY, THE AMBIGUITY UNSETTLES THOSE TRYING TO CATEGORISE AND LABEL. REGARDLESS OF ANYONES OPINION, A PERFORMANCE BY GENOCIDE ORGAN DEMANDS ATTENTION. EACH MEMBER PRIMED FOR WAR LINES THE STAGE FOR TOTAL WAR. 400 BODIES ANTICIPATE A SERMON OF TRUTH AND HERESY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. SWELLS OF DISORIENTATING PURGING DRONES ENCOMPASS THE ROOM OF SLOWLY DWINDLING OXYGEN AND BODY FLUIDS. THE CROWD REPEATS IN UNISON THE CHANTS OF HAIL AMERICA, A FITTING ANTHEM OF PROVOCATION AND TRUTH ON BROOKLYN GROUNDS.
US AMONGST THE BROKEN GLASS
TO SUMMARISE HOSPITAL FEST WOULD BE A HALF JUSTICE. MY OVERALL FEELINGS AND EXPERIENCE WERE THOSE OF A COMMUNITY BOUND BY FRINGE ART AND UNBOUND BY SOCIAL NORMS AND STRUCTURES. MOST FORMS OF ART THAT HONE IN ON CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT MATTER USUALLY ARE MISINTERPRETED BY SOCIETY AS EITHER THE FETISHISATION OF PAIN AND SUFFERING OR SOME HIDDEN AGENDA OF QUESTIONABLE VALUES AND POLITICS. THIS MAY BE THE CASE IN SOME INSTANCES, BUT HOSPITAL FEST WAS A DISPLAY OF NOT ONLY BROTHERHOOD AND AFFECTION AMONGST FRIENDS AND STRANGERS BUT A CELEBRATION OF OUTSIDERS, THOSE WHO CARE FOR THE MUSIC AND EACH OTHER. I ENCOUNTERED LIKE LIKE MINDED ARTISTS FROM ALL OF THE WORLD, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA AND THE UK, INDUSTRIAL MUSIC STILL AS RELEVANT AND NESCERSSARY TODAY AS IT WAS FROM ITS MOMENT OF CONCEPTION.
