DRUMS AND DRONES

Drums and Drones is the solo project of Brian Chase, drummer for rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs and NYC’s experimental music scene. Inspired initially by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela’s legendary Dream House installation, the Drums and Drones project aims to evoke meditative qualities through the use of resonant tones and sonic subtleties derived from drums and percussion. In much the same way that this music goes “inside the sound of a drum,” a similar process is reflected in that of the listener through the process of listening. The performative compositions of Drums and Drones take two basic forms: acoustic and electroacoustic. The electroacoustic pieces set out to establish sonic environments of ‘infinite depth’ within a minimalist design. The acoustic pieces are structured as concise etudes aiming to uncover hidden possibilities within given frameworks. Drums and Drones: Decade, a triple album with 144 page book celebrating the project’s first ten years, was released in 2018 on Brian’s own Chaikin Records. 

“Spread across the three CDs are luscious laboratory experiments in listening to stretched skins, wooden vessels and metallic surfaces. . . . Continually, he is immersed in his methods, gauging subtle inflections in frequency, density and transmission. The accompanying hardback book contains a wealth of procedural information[,] personal thoughts and video stills, making Drums & Drones an indispensable statement on how drummers hear sound.” – Phillip Brophy, The Wire

“Drums and Drones: Decade . . . fluidly morphs into something educational, something inspired, something ever-so-quietly groundbreaking.” – Vanessa Phan, mxdwn.com

“This 3CD + 144-page book really cements Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Chase’s dedication to the avant-garde. Striving to reach the meditative, Chase avoids the hackneyed. . . An altogether outstanding achievement. A+” – thevinyldistrict.com

Correlations

Visual artist Keti Kartveli and composer Brian Chase present Correlations, a series of handmade ‘cards’ paired with specifically crafted audio pieces. These multimedia works explore a co-inspired relationship between the sonic and visual arts. The project’s sixty artworks form a diverse collection of independent pieces derived from a source of three large-scale paintings. On the reverse side of each card is a link to three electroacoustic sound works from Brian’s Drums and Drones project. These sound works, through their careful attention to tuning and acoustic details, set to establish a sonic environment of infinite depth within a minimalist design. Taken together, the visual and audio creations of Correlations are geared towards generating a heightened sense of symbiotic expressivity. For more info and an image gallery of the artworks visit https://www.chaikinrecords.com/correlations.

Zeena Parkins and Brian Chase, Live at San Damiano Mission

Live at San Damiano Mission was recorded in concert on August 20th, 2018 in Brooklyn, NY. For this performance, Zeena and Brian each played solo sets consisting of material from their respective solo projects: Zeena’s Captiva pieces for acoustic and electroacoustic harp, and Brian’s Drums and Drones (in this presentation for amplified snare drum and cymbal). The solo sets were then followed by Zeena and Brian performing together in duo. Each of the solo sets are included on the LP, one set per side, and compliment each other wonderfully in their minimalist/maximalist compositional and performative styles. Two excerpts from the duo set are included on the digital release.  For more details and audio samples visit https://www.chaikinrecords.com/zeenaparkinsandbrianchase.