Locust Sympathizer
Encyclopedia
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
project based in Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
, USA, with Benjamin Hockenberry as primary force and Christopher Drysdale on drums. The focus is on constructing harsh noise using a washtub bass
Washtub bass
The washtub bass, or "gutbucket", is a stringed instrument used in American folk music that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. Although it is possible for a washtub bass to have four or more strings and tuning pegs, traditional washtub basses have a single string whose pitch is adjusted by...
as a sound source and various effects pedals and looping, with layers of atonal and arrhythmic banjo and percussion.
Biography
The project began in 2004 after Benjamin and Chris moved back to Rochester NY from divergent paths, having collaborated together in college. The earliest Locust Sympathizer experiments involved attempts to make slow, harsh industrial musicIndustrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
using a washtub bass, a distortion pedal, and a set of drums. The result was minimal and frequently unlistenable. They now are located in Buffalo and Rochester, respectively, so much of the new material is being composed solely by Benjamin with assistance from other contributors, including David Rees Thomas and Damien Tavis Toman.
Music
Current work involves live looping and many more pedals than the early experiments, with emphasis placed on texture and freeform improvisation. The washtub bass acts as a sound chamber, and textures are coaxed from the metal and the string using tools such as box cutters, string bows, and drumsticks. The five-string, open-backed banjo is also featured, along with field recordings and intermittent vocals.Discography
- 2006 - Bathsheba, Burlap Records
- 2006 - Habakkuk, Audiobot Recordings
- 2006 - Split with Acin 3", Burlap Records
- 2006 - Apparatus (Collaboration with DRT), Burlap Records
- 2005 - Nigredo, Burlap Records
- 2005 - John Henry 3", Amorf Sounds
- 2005 - Wyoming, 1873 C10, Stentorian Tapes
- 2005 - "In the Passive Voice", Harsh Noise Compilation, Absalom Recordings
- 2005 - Split with Weapons of Mass Deception, Turgid Animal Records
- 2005 - "Ordinary Men and Women", Microphone Compilation, Iatrogenesis Records.
- 2005 - BCDC (Box Cutter Distribution Center) EP, self-released.
- 2004 - Harbor EP, self-released, deleted.