THe Healing Therapies of Noise

I am by myself at home. It is quiet as I prepare food. Without any thought, a song begins to play in my mind. Perhaps it is by The Eagles, or Eric Clapton. Syrupy canned market research produced crap. As soon as I realize that I am hearing this inside my own mind, I instantly become irritated. A radio I can turn off, unplug, donate to the Salvation Army, throw in the river, torture and ultimately execute. My mind, containing millions of these audio viruses from contagious media sources, I have to live with. The common term for this phenomenon is "EARWORMS". To smother the irritating sounds, I create in my mind a swell of high volumed wide tonal spectrum sweeping noise, like a gigantic industrial sound sweeping machine, whooshes the unwanted viral song into my mental gutter. Guaranteed to crawl back into my consciousness eventually, I am grateful for my imagination, that it can create such a crushing noise to return my mind to peaceful silence. Perhaps this has been a driving inspiration for recent Offset Needle Radius performances consisting of dense feedback and square wave layering noise. One can only wonder...
I have also noticed that when I am confronted by popular music in an instance where I am unable to shut down or remove myself from its broadcast, I tend to change the words, or hum or otherwise vocalize the melody. Admittedly, I also do this with music that pleases me. In both cases, I suggest this is how I enjoy playing with the music that is being broadcast in the space I am inhabiting. In the context of playing this way with music that irritates me, it feels as if I am categorizing the basic elements of the song, breaking it down to focus on the ludicrousity of the material. This feels therapeutic to me and I find that when I am able to play with popular music in this way, it tends not to infect my mind so much and consequently not to invoke negative thoughts.
Years ago I embarked on a mix tape project I titled "Homicide/Suicide". The premise of the tape was to be a collection of all the most infuriating syrupy vapid pop songs I could think of. The happiest, most seemingly perfectly adjusted unchallenging pop songs always seem to conjure images of bloody, violent scenes, terrible thoughts of senseless murder. I've often thought that Sheryl Crow or Edie Brickell would be the perfect auditory backdrop for violent murder scenes in movies. It is as if this music, so perfectly elated and sickeningly sweet, reflecting an impossible reality, must thus be a cover up for terrible guilt, shame, horrible violence and destruction, as an actor who grossly over-acts their part. This range of pop music has such a negative effect on my mental well being that I thought creating the "Homicide/Suicide" mix tape would both serve to over-expose myself and thus hopefully build up my immunity, while examining and sharing for the sake of helping others understand this phenomenon. I never was able to complete the tape.
I hope this admission of my reaction to some popular music won't seem as an affront to friends who may find this sort of music pleasing. I am merely trying to share with readers some of the background that has informed Offset Needle Radius and assuredly all other music endeavors I have ever been a part of. As many of my friends might be allergic to cats and I would not wish to expose them to environments where cats inhabit, I would so request not to be exposed to this sort of music. This is how I am wired. The sounds that I create are a result of this inner circuitry

Autumn Equinox Call For Particiipants

I'm looking for creative avant garde sort of performance, video, sound, installation artists to create a beautiful 6 hour event to celebrate the Autumn Equinox on Sunday September 20th. Anybody interested in participating please contact me at
offsetneedlesound(at)yahoo(dot)com

Sun Worship Comenced Despite Rain, Darkness

It wasn't easy to invoke sound prayers to a sun that has been scarce in these parts for weeks now. But we did our best to make a sonic offering and call for the sun's return to dry out our bogs. A handful of friends were present to witness incredible sounds amidst trance inducing light shows and projections courtesy of Rick Spencer and the B789 performance space. Rick projected video and had the lights going wild while we created sounds of worlds colliding, eclipses, broken band, blowing sands. Last minute addition to the line up Asa Irons brought some of his gigantic saw mill blades to create a drone scape that led to imagery of a solar eclipse. Birdorgan was Mike Fun, Dei and Marc this time around for a sound voyage that changed and morphed over a 35 minute journey. Offset Needle Radius was a steel rod bowing growing feedback layers phasing in and out and getting a bit loud so I am told. Zeroking looped and drummed paused, shifted, repeat until Marc and Mike Fun joined in to close the night. Thanks to everyone who participated and came to witness. Special thanks to Rick Spencer for creating and sharing the B789 space with us.

Update on Sun Worship Event This Saturday June 20th

Asa Irons has confirmed he will be performing at this Saturday's Sun /Worship event at B789 Performance Space in Rollinsford, NH. Asa Irons has developed a sound all his own using giant amplified saw mill blades that resonate sound waves into every crevice. He is a welcome addition to the already diverse line up of Birdorgan, Zeroking, Offset Needle Radius. Birdorgan has been a prolifient performance group for years now consisting of a core group of Marc Bisson and his wife Dei Xrist, Mike Fun and Mike Dailey, masticating and synthisizing assistance of featured guests from time to time. Hailing from Manchester birdorgan has played all over New England. Depending on who is present and what the atmospheric pressure index is, birdorgan can vary from frienzied prepared guitar, heavily synthisized vocals, and a decombusting drum kit, to vocal loops and guitar bejangling. Never a repeat performance. Zeroking is the sound output of Shawn Dailey, Mike Dailey's brother and emerging photographer.
Come join us if you're not reading this in the future. If you are, well, you missed out. You were probably doing something far more mundane when you could have joined us at the B789.

(Oops!): Carried Away at Offset Needle Sound Lab

...this from the studio neighbor next to Offset Sound Lab...
" Hey Josh,

Can you and I try to figure out some way to sound proof against each others noise at some point. I have noticed we have a lot more overlapping hours these days. Last night what ever was happening between 8 and 9PM was so loud in my studio I had to leave (luckily my 8-9 student did no come yesterday). When I left my room I had to go the the third floor to get far enough away to have it just sound like a loud radio feeding back."

...getting carried away by lovely layers of feedback in the late evening.

Frantasia Fest 2009: August Is Coming! Time To Plan...

I discovered Frantasia Fest last year just 10 days prior to it's happening. A festival of "Out Music" featuring world class performers of improvised sound from New England, Pennsylvania, Georgia, NY. The event is held over 3 evenings, August 20th to the 22nd with improvisation workshops in the afternoons. These three days are preceded by "Water In The Woods", a two night fast in a beautiful forest setting. The Water In The Woods is a good opportunity to become more aquainted with some of the performers.
Festivals celebrating experimental sound performance works are fairly common these days in urban areas around the world. This particular festival is quite unique in that it takes place in the Public Library Auditorium in Livermore Falls, a delapitated mill town population 1,500 in Central Maine. What also makes this festival so unique is the caliber of talent and creative minds it attracts each year. It could not happen were it not for incredible spirit and personality of 'visionaries' Fran Szostek, his wife, and Edward.
About a 4 1/2 hour drive from Boston, this festival is a mini vacation in itself. Check out the Frantasia Festival Official MySpace page to link to past performers pages. Keep your ears to the rails regarding pre and post events around New England, hosting performers on their way to or on their way home from this year's Frantasia Festival.

Sat. June 20th, Summer Solstice Event at B789 venue, Rollinsford, NH

Offset Needle Radius hosts a Summer Solstice celebration at this new venue, B789 in Rollinsford, NH, on Saturday June 20th, 2009. Cost is sliding scale $7-10, with the first $5 going to support the venue.
The evening will kick off with sets from Zeroking, Birdorgan, and Offset Needle Radius. The evening will conclude with a collaborative offering of Sound Waves to the Sun (..will be sleeping at the time). Officially Summer Solstice is the following day, June 21, which I remind the reader, begins at 12:00 am. The Solstice has a tipping time of 1:45am, where the longer days suddenly turn and begin to shorten. We may not make it until that magic time. But we're going to give it all up for as long as we are physically able.
B789 is the realization of artistic visionary Rick Spencer. The name of the venue is simply comprised of the room numbers in the mill building that the venue occupys. In a recent conversation, Rick talked of his support of what he termed "Feeling Arts", that is, creative output derived from an artist's soul, mined out of deep, dark places, rather than being designed with marketability first in mind. Rick himself manifests his creative spirit in quite unique ways that may have not yet been explored. He has been constructing an experimental pool table that will wind its way around the venue once completed. Due to its design a new game will be borne of the traditional pool as we know it.
Please join us for this special event and bring your posse.