Damn it, why did it take me over 2 years to update this? I guess I got busy again. This year was over before it started; constant touring, and during the few weeks I have off in between I mostly clean my house, procrastinate, start to work on some of my own music, go see a few shows, buy thrift store vinyl and wash it with dish soap, frolic through the botanical gardens, polish my boots, then start packing again.

I assume, dear return-reader, that you’ve noticed I’ve answered a lot of questions on this site. A LOT of questions. They just keep coming. Some I don’t bother with. I delete them. Perhaps because they are offensive, irrelevant, boring, etc. I don’t like answering questions about other people. Go ask them. And by the way, if you’re going to return to this site to see my response, the least you can do is head over to the Riverworm Bandcamp page and buy ALL of my releases—preferably physical copies. I don’t understand how people don’t listen to CDs anymore. People tell me, “I don’t even own a CD player anymore”. So it broke and you just said fuck it and threw out all your CDs? WTF. I mean, the players aren’t that expensive. And CDs sound better than pretty much everything else. That’s just a fact of frequencies. Set one up in the kitchen and listen to a CD while you make coffee. It’s not difficult.

Whatever. I’m old school. I still have the cassettes I made in collage (in the ‘80s, baby) of 20th century orchestral and chamber music. I’d go to the university library media area, clandestinely move a tape deck over to the turntable booths, wire them up and pirate Lutosławski and Ives for days. Lots of obscure recordings that weren’t necessarily duplicated onto digital formats.

There’s too much music anyway. I can’t keep track. And with that in mind, I’ll write some more and put it out there. I know I keep talking about my “singer/songwriter” record, but that’s because I’m impatient to finish it, or rather, to find the time to finish it, so I’ll just keep hyping it to pressure myself. I swear it will be out by mid 2025. It’s called “Polyjealous” and a couple of the song titles are “Hoarfrost” and “Leechcraft”. I’m singing on everything save for one beat-based ambient vamp (for lack of a better qualification) that is built around a few wrong-number messages I received on voicemail several years ago. There will also be a cover of a very familiar hit pop song from 2007. I’m also starting to work on the next trio-convulsant avec folie à quatre which will be based on a Buñuel film. Also considering releasing some of my solo bass “Flexes for Carrietta White” pieces, like a ‘best of’ if you will.

Tomorrow I’m going to a wedding of some good friends and they asked me to play Retrovertigo, so I’m going to sing it with a few musicians backing me up. Later that night I’ll play two sets of jammy psychedelic dance music at Nublu starting at midnight and the following afternoon I’ll fly to Dallas to start the next Bungle run of shows. We’ll go to the UK and EU in June and then that will probably be it for us for a while, or maybe forever, who knows. I never seem to know the answer to that question. Then I spend 3 months straight with Buzz Osborne which will end on Halloween in London with me questioning my sanity.

Thanks for visiting.

video of the month: https://ubu.com/film/marclay_record.html

Damn it. Why did it take me a year to update this thing. Oh, right, end tymes and such. Well, I survived. Several close to me did not and I continue on in ritual, with respect and reverence. I burn candles, takes vows of silence, excruciating hikes, brutal psychological roads that are now well paved. I’ve been doing the bushwhacking but shit keeps growing back.

For those who care, I’m getting to the Q&A piece by piece. I think I have 160 questions still to answer. Sorry for the delay (that’s also how I start most of my emails).

Ok, news of sorts. I’ll be updating releases soon. Somewhere back there in 2020 a few things came out: Starebaby’s 2nd record, Brian Marsella Trio playing Zorn, Trio with Dan Weiss & Miles Okazaki, weirdo duo stuff with Kevin Rutmanis (sold out), duo record with Buzz Osborne (and another in the works), oh yeah that band Mr Bungle did some stuff — I guess I should put that record up. I think I’m forgetting some things.

During the blood mist of the pandemic I decided (clearly in my right mind) to start a record label since I couldn’t find anyone to put out my duo record SpermChurch. There’s a bandcamp page, there are a bunch of videos on Vimeo. Do I really have to put the links here? Why do I have to do all the work? Ok fine, here they are:
https://spermchurch.bandcamp.com/
https://vimeo.com/spermchurch

Slowly gigs are coming back, but I’m honestly in no hurry. I’m just at that age where a slower pace is appealing AF. I kinda like sitting here making collages and mix tapes and writing music. Speaking of which, I’m going into the studio in January with a new book of music I wrote for trio-convulsant with a chamber quartet. Officially, ”trio-convusant avec folie a quatre” featuring some stellar musicians.

Other news: just finished recording with Ahleuchatistas. Those dudes are sick. Also, planning on putting out an EP of King Dunno. Look for something on Amphetamine Reptile. What is that? Guess! I’m also currently writing music for a documentary about a dude who was sentenced to 55 years in prison for selling $350 worth of weed in Denver. It’s your standard politics vs. human life story.

That’s probably enough for now. Get back to your interval training.

video of the month: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSnbV1FrIhA

There’s not a whole lot to update at the moment as it seems we’re all in the same sinking boat. Yes, I can be a pessimist, but I’m also re-reading Camus’ The Plague. It turns out we, as a collective group of social creatures, haven’t learned much despite the digital revolution and our self-proclaimed prowess of communication. Despite empathy we’re still pretty selfish, if not totally.

I stopped running in the park due to too many joggers not wearing masks. One recent day, as I was sitting in the park, sun-drenched, enjoying my existential polemic, a man called out a woman for not wearing a mask. She immediately disputed the issue with a fair amount of belligerence telling him he was ‘sick in the head’. I started to wonder if I was sick in the head. Paranoid? Taking precautions too far? Is being too careful actually a problem in this scenario? Either way, I felt uncomfortable and I went home to finish the chapter. I do pretty well on my own having spent a lot of years in small practice rooms once I decided that there were sacrifices I had to make. At this moment I feel like Henry Bemis right when he discovers the library (luckily I don’t need glasses to read).

Many of my gigs and recording sessions have been cancelled, of course, and I can only speculate on the next installment of my livelihood. In the meantime I am revisiting the basics of technique on the upright bass; long-tones, arpeggios, coordination, and string crossing. Also working up the prelude of Bach’s 2nd cello suite. Soon I will dig into writing some new music, most likely the next trio-convulsant effort. And some of that other stuff I mentioned in a previous blog.

The SpermChurch recording is finished. I have to have it mastered and figure out what to do with it. Physical release or digital only? Label or self-release?

Oh did I mention Mr. Bungle did some shows? I think you may have heard about that. The shows were a blast and we immediately went into the studio and recorded the whole damn thing. It felt like the right time to bring back some ‘80s thrash metal and thank Satan we got that work in before this stupid human pandemic kicked in. In my eyes this is one variation of the band known as Mr. Bungle. We typically call it Raging Wrath Bungle. It remains to be seen if “Bungle Proper” will ever see the light of day but any certainty of future events is a bit ambiguous, no? A lot of people ask me about Danny and Bär, and trust me, I communicate with them.

I also added two new releases that came out this year: Kris Davis’ Diatom Ribbons and a split cassette with myself playing solo on one side and a duo based in Utrecht on the other. As I mention in the blurb about that one, if you at $5 to your purchase of my duo CD “Baltimore” (physical copy) I will toss in that cassette. Maybe even write you a personal note for what it’s worth. There’s a new Starebaby on it’s way as well as Brian Marsella’s trio doing yet another epic, through-composed piece of madness by Zorn.

Ok, I should get to answering some of those questions you lunatics have piled up over the months. Take care of yourselves out there and show a little compassion for your neighbors, would ya?

—Trevor

video of the month: https://vimeo.com/16392274