Jesse Kudler, Mike Shiflet, Jason Zeh Summer Tour 2005
(Electro-Acoustic Punch in the Face?)

*Updated Schedule of Shows at the show page. *

Jump to Bios:

Mike Shiflet is a sound artist, graphic designer, and label operator
currently based in Columbus, OH, and preparing to move to Hyogo, Japan
this summer. Born and raised in lightly populated northeast Ohio, he began
working with feedback and analog effects in late 1997. In early 1998 he
and friend Aaron Hibbs formed the group Noumena and shortly thereafter
gave birth to the gameboy.records  noise label (which was co-run at the
time) and released their first CD, Noumena’s “Regression Now for the
Future.”Shortly after releasing the CD, Shiflet moved to Pittsburgh where
he began performing and releasing solo works under the name Caldwell
(a moniker dropped soon after returning to Ohio). In the time since,
Noumena has grown into a more performance-based group with heavy
emphasis on the amplified human body, and besides working on solo
material, Shiflet has been involved in several renowned outfits: the
primitive, industrial Sword Heaven, the violin-led improv unit Burning
Star Core and the electo-acoustic laptop duo Scenic Railroads. Shiflet's
solo works are laptop-intensive, but attempt to combine analog and digital
means of producing sound, using everything from raw vocals to customized
electronics and software. Recent works have focused on laptop and mixer
feedback, augmented by processed vocals and synthesizer, walking a fine
line between electro-acoustic, European minimalism and raw American noise.

These works have been released on labels as diverse as Boxmedia
(Chicago), Heavy Tapes (NYC), Celebrate Csi Phenomena (New Zealand),
Imvated (Belgium) and of course gameboy.records. This year brought about
Shiflet’s vinyl debut in the form of a split 7” with San
Francisco’s Joe Colley (Crawl Unit.) He has performed live alongside
artists as diverse as Bastard Noise, Lionel Marchetti, Kapotte Muziek,
Birchville Cat Motel, Greg Kelley, Thurston Moore’s Dream Action Unit,
the Haters and Charalambides. He performed on the main stage at the 2005
No Fun Festival and fully toured the Northeast US twice; with
Reynols in 2001, and with Burning Star Core (before becoming a member) in
2003.

***********************

Jesse Kudler, born 1979, improvises on guitar, synthesizer, and
electronics.  Went to public school until Wesleyan University, where he
studied music with Ron Kuivila, Alvin Lucier, and a little bit with
Anthony Braxton, among others.  He eventually became active as an
organizer and performer in improvised, experimental, and electronic music,
forming a regular duo with fellow student Jonathan Zorn and leading the
large electronic improvising ensemble Phil Collins.  Kudler has also
worked as a recording engineer for various projects.  
 
Kudler's solo work often operates on the extremes of volume, demonstrating
an interest in the subtleties that can arise from intense softness or
loudness.  He is also interested in allowing complex processes or setups
to develop on their own, with minimal intervention from the performer.
All of Kudler’s work is marked by special attention to the stereo field.
Jesse Kudler moved (from Boston) to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly
love, in September of 2004.
 
In his various travels, Kudler has shared stages with Jason Soliday, Brent
Gutzeit, TV Pow, Nmperign, Howard Stelzer and Jason Talbot, Taiwan Deth,
Lotus, PSI, Milo Fine, Ellen Weller, Marcos Fernandes, Matt Bauder,
Brainpaw, Mike Shiflet, Peter B, Horse Sinister, Matt Weston, Hrvatski,
and many others.
 
Other projects include: the Werewolves, a three-state long-distance trio
with Kevin Neary and Joey Meyer performing noise-pop songs, all with
lyrical references to werewolf mythology; G3, a quiet improvising trio
with Tim Albro and Ben Stanko; and various ad hoc groupings.
 
NB: His last name rhymes with “muddler.”
 
Web presence: www.white-flag.org
 
****************

Jason Zeh, a magnetic cassette tape composer from
Bowling Green Ohio, has been  involved in sonic
experimentation from an early age.  Zeh’s work relies
on the creation of intimate social encounters through
the use of extreme quiet punctuated by steep inclines
toward moments of extreme loudness.  Live shows
combine a mixing of previously recorded source sounds
with real time manipulation of cassette tape through
the use of modified tape decks and dismantled
cassettes.  The relationship Zeh has to the cassettes
and tape decks used to record and manipulate the
sounds is not unlike that of many laptop artists in
terms of the meticulous sculpting of sound.  But Zeh's
emotionally charged and aesthetically dynamic compositions lack the
stilted and overly technical feel of some electronic music
produced by computers.

Zeh has performed throughout the Midwest and East
Coast with noise artists such as John Wiese, Wolf
Eyes, Hive Mind, Burning Star Core, Hair Police,
Jessica Rylan and Peter B and has toured with Cotton
Museum and Leslie Keffer.