Electric Junkyard Gamelan is the brainchild of bandleader Terry Dame. Born out of desire to create an original sound Dame fused her two passions, composing and inventing to form this totally unique group.
Originally inspired by traditional Gamelan music from Bali, the group's music is influenced today by a diverse range of sounds from eastern modal traditions to funk and rock all shaped by the unique and humor laced voice of composer Terry Dame. They perform on Dame--s innovative instruments such as the Rubarp and Big Barp (electric rubber band harps), the Sitello (an electric cello/sitar combo), the Terraphone (copper pipe horn), the Clayrimba (a three octave tuned clay pot "marimba") and an arsenal of percussion instruments fashioned from old farm equipment, turntable platters, saw blades, and truck springs. The result is a super original sound with haunting melodies, funky bass lines and layers of dance-able interlocking rhythms that ride over clashes of metal on metal and colorful harmonic washes. Audiences are transfixed by the beauty and strangeness of the unusual collection of instruments on stage and the amazing array of unique sounds they produce.
The musicians in EJYG hail from diverse musical backgrounds. Dame, a saxophonist and composer by training has studied music from around the world including Indonesia, the Middle East, the Balkans and India. She has been living and working in New York City since 1985, composing and performing for film, video, theater, dance, and concerts. She was the composer and saxophonist with her seven piece global beat jazz group Monkey on a Rail from 1998-2002 and a founding member of the improvisation trio Trophy Wife . She was composer in residence and saxophonist with Jennifer Miller's New York based Circus Amok from 1994-2004 . Ms. Dame is also a member of Gamelan Dharma Swara, the traditional Balinese Gamelan based at the Indonesian Consulate in New York City and Paprika, Brooklyn--s acclaimed all-female international dance music band. Dame also currently plays saxophone with Dawn Drake's Zapote and Julz A's Squeeze Rock. She was an artist in residence at HERE Art Center in New York City during 2003 & 2004 and has received commissioning funds from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, The Rockefeller Foundation, New York State Council for the Arts and the Meet the Composer Fund. Dame was selected to be a 2006 Sundance Institute Composer Lab Fellow.
She met Julian Hintz aka Julz A, a singer, hip-hop accordionist and classically trained percussionist while in grad school at Cal Arts. Julz fronts his own band Squeeze Rock. Mary Feaster, Lee Frisari and Dame met while playing together in the Circus Amok Band. Feaster, also a member of the trio Trophy Wife is a bassist that plays everything from punk to funk, Latin to Klezmer. Frisari is a classically trained percussionist and punk rock drummer. Master hand drummer Robin Burdulis who has played Cuban and African drums for over twenty years rounds out the group.
EJYG has been performing together since 1998. They released their self-titled debut in 2002. Their new live album "Live from HERE" was released in January 2007. This highly adaptable group performs at every type of venue possible from prestigious art centers, large and small to New Yorks finest clubs, underground music parties and outdoor festivals. Past venues include The Walker Art Center, The Kitchen, Amazing Things Art Center, RealArtWays, Creative Alliance, Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton, One Longfellow Square, Sage Street Mill at Vermont Arts Exchange, Flying Monkey Art Center, TSL and the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival. New York City venues include Zebulon, Barbes, The Stone, The Knitting Factory, Galapagos, CBGB--s, Dixon Place and PS122 to name a few.
Here is what the critics say about the group.
"Electric Junkyard Gamelan makes music so original
they had to invent their own instruments to play it.
It's wild enough to please fans...regardless of genre."
--Global Rhythms Magazine
"transporting...beautiful and inspired sounds"
- --Village Voice
"...rhythmic, near-hypnotic music."
--HX Magazine
"Electric Junkyard Gamelan makes music that is the product of a highly personal vision, and Dame--s originality is alone enough reason to come check out the Big Barp in person".
--James Heflin, Valley Advocate
"Terry Dame is one of those eccentric musicians for whom composing isn--t enough, she has to create new instruments as well. A downtown fixture."
--Time Out New York
" a scattered mix of foreign music that mixes jangling and banging with worldly sounds. The EJG definitely knows what it--s playing. It never feels disjointed or awkward, but always feels out of this world; at times natural, earthy..."
--Michael Levy, New Haven Advocate
"...powerful, mesmerizing and ever changing."
--Ellie Covan,
Founder/Director of Dixon Place, NYC
Discography
New album "Live From HERE" released January 27, 2007.
Self-titled debut cd released in 2002.
New EP in the works for late summer 2008 release!!
Receives college and public radio airplay.
Actually, we've met before! I work at TSL in Hudson and saw you perform there with Paprika. Viva introduced us-- I know her from Willie Mae Rock Camp (where I first saw you perform.) So those are the connections.
