BRUTUM FULMEN

CURRENT PROJECTS:

- We have a 7" on clear vinyl coming out this summer. All the sounds are taken from computer data & transmissions and are heavily processed. It has an "outer space" sound to it. We would like to do a full album of this type of material in the future, if we can find an interested label. - The main Brutum Fulmen project at the moment is to finish up our album that is to be released on CDR by NEUS-318 of Japan. The main sound source on this album is feedback.

- We also have plans for a dark atmospheric album that is unlike anything on "Collapsing Orchestra" but uses similar acoustic sound sources.

- There are Brutum Fulmen tracks on several new compilations: there is a half-hour track on the "Experimental Go Go" DAT compilation from Jazzassin, two tracks on the "Humiliation" LP compilation to be put out soon by the guys in Cock ESP, a track on the impending "Noise Kills Punk Dead" CD compilation, and several other pieces on tape and CD compilations that are still in the works.

As soon as I finish with the album for NEUS-318, I will be really looking for labels who want to release either "Collapsing Orchestra" or some of our new material on CD. Currently, I am releasing "Collapsing Orchestra" myself and burning CDRs as they are needed, but I would like to have it handled by a label that has more time and experience with distribution than I do.

I consider Brutum Fulmen to be more of a studio project than a live band, but we did play our first live show in March. There is RealAudio of the whole thing on my web site! We have another show scheduled later this summer with Cock ESP and hopefully Macronympha. We will probably also play at RRRecords in the coming months, and maybe a few other shows.

BRUTUM FULMEN SOUND:

The concept for Brutum Fulmen is simply not to use any musical instruments including synthesizers. Also, we do not want to make music that is based on rhythms or tonality (like "normal" music). For "Collapsing Orchestra" we also decided not to heavily manipulate the sound. The only thing we did was add a little reverb in some places, and some parts we recorded at excessive volumes which distorted the sound.

Most of the pieces are edited together from large amounts of raw field recordings. First I use a DAT recorder and tape the sounds that I make with hinges, metal, and all the other things listed in the "Collapsing Orchestra" notes. Then I sit and listen to the tapes over and over to find interesting parts and hopefully get inspired with an idea for a new piece. I use the analogy of a sculptor who looks at a piece of rock until he sees a form inside it then cuts away everything else. I edit and overlap my field recordings to make the piece that I think is hidden inside the sounds. Many times I discover combinations of sound by accident that are better than what I had first planned.

My experiment is to take sounds from all sorts common or uncommon things and fit them together in unexpected ways. Sounds that are usually quiet can seem strange when they are made loud. To find the sounds for "Collapsing Orchestra" I made recordings on playgrounds, in my house, in a sewer pumping station, in parking lots, near industrial buildings, and on a military base.

People have said, after listening to "Collapsing Orchestra," that they later notice all sorts of sounds around them that they never paid attention to before.

Jeff Wrench

Brutum Fulmen - experimental noise music http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/1101 PO Box 480, Denville NJ 07834-0480 USA

Igor Vaganov