"dont complain about your black cloud when youve been doing a fucking raindance all day" - greg korn
“When I was young, I was told: 'You'll see, when you're fifty. I am fifty and I haven't seen a thing.” - erik satie
"As far as consistency of thought goes, I prefer inconsistency." --John Cage
"I certainly had no feeling for harmony, and Schoenberg thought that that would make it impossible for me to write music. He said, 'You'll come to a wall you won't be able to get through.' So I said, 'I'll beat my head against that wall.' " --John Cage
If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience. - John Cage
We need not destroy the past. It is gone.
-John Cage
influential musicians: john cage, prince, brian eno, erik satie, dinosaur jr, sonic youth, masonna, velvet underground, rza, serge gainsbourg, the pixies, ween, pavement, jesus and mary chain, iggy pop, the cure, richard d james, new order, daft punk, lee scratch perry, steely dan and others
badmammal is the primary alias of Chris Matule, a musician and artist currently living in San Francisco. Chris has actively experimented with sound since he was a kid, playing both in bands and in smaller collaborations with friends. Making music that ranged from rock to acid house, he learned to play guitar, drums, and bass, always tinkering with audio gadgets and unorthodox sources of sound. During college, Chris attended many Friday nights at Washington’s D.C.’s infamous weekly event Buzz, where he grew closer to electronic music and began to explore DJ-ing and new forms of electronic production.
Chris soon began making drum and bass under the name process, and after befriending label proprietor Kurt Gluck, achieved his first release on Ohm Resistance Records with a song called fascination, a remix/audio hat-tip to The Cure's Fascination Street. Soon after, Ohm signed the very well-received Rickshaw, releasing it on a split-label 10” between Ohm Resistance and Offshore Industries. Chris continues making drum and bass under the name messenger, and is expected to have another release on Ohm Resistance later this year.
Not content, however, to limit himself to dance music, he worked constantly on developing his own sound, imagined as something that Brian Eno or Ninja Tune might listen to; a looser, less generic sound, one more expressive of his wide range of musical influence and capable of expressing a broader scope of moods and themes. To this end, he began to incorporate more live instrumentation into his music, blending lush, ambient guitars both acoustic and electric with IDM programming and analog bass. On Carrying a Deranged Gospel Choir, the songs commando (track 1), beach song (track 5) and big hills (track 8) showcase this mix well.
Towards the end of college, Chris and his fellow artist friends Greg Korn, John Fransella, and Philip Wassibauer began piecing together what would eventually become www.c-a.at. A loose organization of multimedia artists from around the world, the majority from Europe, they gather once a year for the Schmiede Hallein, a weeklong working festival held in an abandoned Austrian salt factory where participants create collaborative cross-genre art projects and demonstrations, hold lectures and discussions on contemporary art, technology and society, and then throw a big party at the end.
Chris then moved to Austria for a year, living in the mountains of Salzburg and working on the Schmiede project while diving deep into a colder, more computer and synthesizer-driven IDM sound, best represented on Carrying a Deranged Gospel Choir by the songs skydive (track 6) and song s (track 9).
After his time in Austria, Chris temporarily returned to his hometown in New Jersey before setting out to Los Angeles. Introduced to Yamil Rezc from the Mexico City band Sub-Division by Trevor Randall of Hard Soul Records, Chris began contributing remixes to the band’s records and E.P.s, one of which appeared in the 2007 Cannes Film Festival Palme D’Or winning short film Ver Llover.
Chris spent much of his time in Los Angeles collecting instruments and experimenting with new styles, sounds, and techniques. He began adding vocals, harmonica, ukulele and cumbus into the mix, and then found-sounds, Ableton Live, talking toys, modified igil… in the process bringing to maturity a sound that’s uniquely his own, at once sophisticated and wide-eyed, breezy and full, oftentimes playful and always worth a closer listen.
Today, Chris happily resides in San Francisco, where he endeavors to make more music, take more photographs, release his work independently, and involve himself in art as much as possible.
RELEASES
badmammal/Carrying A Deranged Gospel Choir/goodluck/badluck/glbl001
badmammal/Knife Song /Exegene Presents: Noise Corrosion Exegene Recordings/XGNCD001
badmammal/Promise (remix)/The Primos EP/Sub-Division/Hard Soul Records ASIN: B000A9QKKU
messenger/Sexphone and Express/Sexphone and Express single/Freestyle Recordings/FSR DIGI003
process/Fascination/Ohmwreckers Resculpted Part 2 of 2/Ohm Resistance/14K OHM A
process/Rickshaw/Ohm Resistance/ Offshore Industries Split 10” Series/Ohm Resistance/ Offshore Industries OHMOSR002
Remix of Promise, originally written and performed by Sub-Division
Remix of Blue Boy, originally written and performed by Sub-Division.
Appeared in Ver Llover, 2007 Cannes Film Festival Palme D’Or-winning short film by Elisa Miller.
Remix of Este Encanto, originally written and performed by Morbo
With a history of invention spanning such diverse creations as the telephone, golf and economics, Scotland has proven itself to be at the forefront of well, basically, genius. To prove this once again, Nerve Recordings have focused on this part of the world for it's new release - The Intercity EP, featuring producers spread the length and breadth of Scotland (with a guest appearance from Singapore). From the dubby beats of Morphy to the techy futurism of Velocet, most of the sub genre's of drum n bass make an appearance here and show the quality and diversity of the production talent in the country. Starting with the tough beats of "Ruffneck" through to Linden's smooth roller "Day by Day" and finishing on two slabs of downtempo in the shape of Velocet's epic "Go With The Flaw" and the doom laden sounds of "Not In My Town" from the Figures of the Lost Dawn.
Tracklisting:
1) "Ruffneck" - Morphy 2) "Awaken Life" - Velocet & Paul Reset 3) "Island Rock" - Morphy & Kiat 4) "Day By Day" - Linden 5) "Tenma" - 9 Tails Fox 6) "Positive Vibes" - BZ 7) "Go With The Flaw" - Velocet 8) "Not In My Town" - The Figures of the Lost Dawn
yo, thanks so much for the music for Merci. ... I really like it, fits well. ... I really fucked up on the video end. ... i'm sure Jay told you our hardrive get 86ed on the last shoot. anyway super dope!! great job
hi mr badmammal, hope things are good for you. love your new stuff. hope to meet again in the near future. the best to you and the yours from over here in the hills