Angus MacLise
Encyclopedia
Angus MacLise was an American percussion
ist, composer
, poet
, occult
ist and calligrapher probably best known as the first drummer for the Velvet Underground.
's Theater of Eternal Music, with John Cale
, Tony Conrad
, Marian Zazeela
and sometimes Terry Riley
. He contributed to the early Fluxus
newspaper VTre, edited by George Brecht
, and was also an early member of The Velvet Underground
, having been brought into the group by flatmate John Cale
when they were living at 56 Ludlow Street in Manhattan
.
MacLise played bongos
and hand drum
s during 1965 with the first incarnation of the band. Although the Velvets regularly extemporised soundtracks to underground films, MacLise never officially recorded with them, and is often considered something of a shadowy, legendary figure in their history. When the opportunity of the band's first paying gig in November 1965 arose, MacLise promptly quit, suggesting the group were selling out
.
MacLise was replaced by Maureen Tucker
, resulting in the "classic" lineup of The Velvet Underground. In 1966 when Velvet Underground singer Lou Reed
was in hospital
with hepatitis
, MacLise rejoined the group for a 5-day run of performances at Poor Richard's in Chicago, June 21–26 1966, sharing duties with Gerard Malanga
, whom Angus had taught to play tabla
. By this time the Velvet Underground had found some notoriety (if not great financial success) and MacLise was anxious to rejoin the group, but for reasons which are unclear this did not happen.
Later in the 1960s, Angus and his wife Hetty travelled around between Vancouver
, Paris
, Greece
and India
, finally settling in Nepal
. They also had a son, Ossian Kennard MacLise, who was recognized by Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
, the 16th Karmapa, as a reincarnation of a Tibetan saint, or tulku
, and at age four became a Buddhist monk.
A student of Aleister Crowley
(he was working on a script for a film version of Crowley's Diary of a Drug Fiend
before he died), he began to blend Tibetan mysticism
with his music to create sound through various drone
techniques.
and pulmonary tuberculosis
in Kathmandu in 1979, aged 41.
-like tape cut-ups
and minimalist droning
and electronics
, as well as many collaborations with his wife Hetty. In 2008, Hetty MacLise bequeathed a collection of her husband's tapes to the Yale Collection of American Literature
.
Selections can be found on:
MacLise also collaborated with Tony Conrad
, John Cale
and La Monte Young
on several other recordings:
have mentioned strong influences from MacLise in both sound and lyric form. His poetry can be heard recited on the track "The Coppice Meat", and his mystical droning techniques influenced such Coil releases as Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under An Unquiet Skull (Eskaton, 1998) and Astral Disaster (Threshold House, 1999).
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
ist, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
ist and calligrapher probably best known as the first drummer for the Velvet Underground.
Biography
MacLise was a member of La Monte YoungLa Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
's Theater of Eternal Music, with John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
, Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
, Marian Zazeela
Marian Zazeela
Marian Zazeela is a light-artist, designer, painter and musician based in New York City.-Life and work:Born to Russian-Jewish parents and raised in the Bronx, Marian Zazeela was educated at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and at Bennington College where she...
and sometimes Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
. He contributed to the early Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
newspaper VTre, edited by George Brecht
George Brecht
George Brecht , born George Ellis MacDiarmid, was an American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer as well as a professional chemist who worked as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Mobil Oil...
, and was also an early member of The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
, having been brought into the group by flatmate John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
when they were living at 56 Ludlow Street in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
MacLise played bongos
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
and hand drum
Hand drum
A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater. The simplest type of hand drum is the frame drum, which consists of a shallow, cylindrical shell with a drumhead attached to one of the open ends.-Types:The...
s during 1965 with the first incarnation of the band. Although the Velvets regularly extemporised soundtracks to underground films, MacLise never officially recorded with them, and is often considered something of a shadowy, legendary figure in their history. When the opportunity of the band's first paying gig in November 1965 arose, MacLise promptly quit, suggesting the group were selling out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
.
MacLise was replaced by Maureen Tucker
Maureen Tucker
Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is a musician best known for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground.- The Velvet Underground :...
, resulting in the "classic" lineup of The Velvet Underground. In 1966 when Velvet Underground singer Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
was in hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
with hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
, MacLise rejoined the group for a 5-day run of performances at Poor Richard's in Chicago, June 21–26 1966, sharing duties with Gerard Malanga
Gerard Malanga
Gerard Joseph Malanga is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.-Early life:Born in the Bronx, New York, Malanga graduated from the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and attended Wagner College on Staten Island...
, whom Angus had taught to play tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
. By this time the Velvet Underground had found some notoriety (if not great financial success) and MacLise was anxious to rejoin the group, but for reasons which are unclear this did not happen.
Later in the 1960s, Angus and his wife Hetty travelled around between Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, finally settling in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. They also had a son, Ossian Kennard MacLise, who was recognized by Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje was spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...
, the 16th Karmapa, as a reincarnation of a Tibetan saint, or tulku
Tulku
In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is a particular high-ranking lama, of whom the Dalai Lama is one, who can choose the manner of his rebirth. Normally the lama would be reincarnated as a human, and of the same sex as his predecessor. In contrast to a tulku, all other sentient beings including other...
, and at age four became a Buddhist monk.
A student of Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
(he was working on a script for a film version of Crowley's Diary of a Drug Fiend
Diary of a Drug Fiend
Diary of a Drug Fiend, published in 1922, was occult writer and mystic Aleister Crowley's first published novel, and is also reportedly the earliest known reference to the Abbey of Thelema in Sicily.-Plot introduction:...
before he died), he began to blend Tibetan mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
with his music to create sound through various drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
techniques.
Death
He died of hypoglycemiaHypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia or hypoglycæmia is the medical term for a state produced by a lower than normal level of blood glucose. The term literally means "under-sweet blood"...
and pulmonary tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in Kathmandu in 1979, aged 41.
Recorded music
MacLise recorded a vast amount of music that went largely unreleased until 1999. These recordings, produced between the mid-'60s and the late-'70s, consist of tribal trance workouts, spoken word, poetry, Brion GysinBrion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
-like tape cut-ups
Cut-up technique
The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing....
and minimalist droning
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
and electronics
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, as well as many collaborations with his wife Hetty. In 2008, Hetty MacLise bequeathed a collection of her husband's tapes to the Yale Collection of American Literature
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Selections can be found on:
- The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (Siltbreeze, 1999)
- Brain Damage in Oklahoma City (Siltbreeze, 2000)
- The Cloud Doctrine (Sub Rosa, 2002)
- Astral Collapse (Locust, 2003)
- The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (DVD, Bastet/Saturnalia, 2006)
MacLise also collaborated with Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
, John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
and La Monte Young
La Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
on several other recordings:
- Inside the Dream Syndicate Vol.I: Day Of Niagara (Table of the Elements, 2000)
- Inside the Dream Syndicate Vol.III: Stainless Steel Gamelan (Table of the Elements, 2002)
- An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music: First A-Chronology 1921-2001/Vol.1 (Sub Rosa, 2002)
Book titles
- Straight Farthest Blood Towards. (The Dead Language, Paris, 1959)
- Year. (The Dead Language, New York, 1962)
- New Universal Solar Calendar. (George Maciunas, New York, 1969)
- Dream Weapon/Aspen #9. Edited by Angus & Hetty MacLise (Roaring Fork Press, New York, 1970)
- The Cloud Doctrine. Limited edition with facsimile Angus MacLise holographs and hand-tinted cover by Don Snyder (privately published by Snyder in 1972 and reissued in 1983, New York)
- The Cloud Doctrine. (Dreamweapon Press; Kathmandu, Nepal; 1974)
- The Subliminal Report. (Starstreams Poetry Series; Kathmandu, Nepal; 1975)
- The Map of Dusk. (SZ/Press, New York, 1984)
- Ratio:3 Volume 1. Ira Cohen, Angus MacLise, Gerard Malanga - Media Shamans (Temple Press Ltd., 1991) ISBN 1-871744-30-X
- Angus MacLise Checklist. Edited by Gerard Malanga (Limited edition, privately published, 2000)
Influence
Even though his music was largely unheard, the experimental group CoilCoil (band)
Coil were an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as "Jhonn Balance"—and his partner Peter Christopherson, aka "Sleazy". The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be...
have mentioned strong influences from MacLise in both sound and lyric form. His poetry can be heard recited on the track "The Coppice Meat", and his mystical droning techniques influenced such Coil releases as Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under An Unquiet Skull (Eskaton, 1998) and Astral Disaster (Threshold House, 1999).
Dreamweapon
In May 2011 a major retrospective exhibit Dreamweapon: The Art and Life of Angus MacLise (1938-1979) was mounted by the Boo-Hooray Gallery in Chelsea, New York City. The exhibit features the contents of a recently discovered suitcase containing photographs, notes, poetry, and 100 reels of music. In addition to the gallery exhibit there are sound installations at Boo-Hooray’s second location in Chinatown and film screenings at the Anthology Archives.External links
- Angus Maclise AllMusic bio
- The Velvet Unknown, Now Emerging New York Times article on Dreamweapon exhibit.
- The Life and Art of the Velvet Underground’s First Drummer - Illustrated feature on Dreamweapon exhibit.
- Angus MacLise - Drum Solo (NYC 1968) Video clip.
- Angus MacLise "Humming in the night skull" Video clip.
- Angus Maclise - Heavenly blue pt.4&5 Video clip.
- Angus MacLise Sound Recordings at Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.