It's just me, Jonathan Grover. I pilfer objects from my unnatural habitat, tape things to them and call them instruments. I also play traditional soundmakers (cellosaphone, guttletar, loudsoft, ketonuric drum, staplesizer) with my meat arrays. Everything you see on here is made by me. And yet, everything here is also made by everyone I've ever known and interacted with, directly and at a distance. Every piece of "music" you might have the dubious pleasure of listening to on this page is a recombination of something I've heard or experienced before. I owe every element of my so-called musicianship to the artists who've done it before and done it better. Shoulders o' giants and all that. So, do us both a favor and trundle on over to my friends list and give them all a good, hearty listen-to. You won't regret it!
Influences
To re-iterate: all the musicians you see on the list below (and plenty that haven't yet joined the digital dong-flapping contest that MySpace can be from time to time) have inspired me either directly, via their musical essence, or through their implied teachings. Both unconsciously and consciously, I attempt to recreate the emotions they elicited while staying true to their notions of progression and soulfulness. There is an element of them in every musical element of me; I'd never go so far as to say that this music is original, but merely a novel recombination of communal emotional turbulence. I offer a warm "thank you" to all those who've helped spur me in the right direction, intentionally or otherwise!
I will name-drop some of the artists that have had a profound, irrefutable influence on me, in terms of my gradual progression from classical music nazi to "one of those damned noise 'musicians.'"
Billy Joel (for writing love songs with half-decent lyrics), Iron Maiden (for, uh, I don't know, being played incessantly in my house by my pseudo half-brother?), the Smashing Pumpkins (I used Bullet with Butterfly Wings as a metaphor/template for my emotional bullshit for several years in my youth), Smash Mouth (for being my first sorta-kinda-not really punk band, and for having a good sense of humor, something direly lacking in the music community these days), System of a Down (my first "heavy" band, inspired me to become somewhat politically aware), Tool (first band I dubbed myself a "fan" of, bought T-Shirts for, and wrote an article about - I must have listened to Lateralus once per day for 2 years straight), Nine Inch Nails (specifically the Fragile/Downward Spiral, my first introduction to industrial music and the use of noise/dissonance as a mode of musical expression - also, Trent Reznor specifically for being my first man-crush and greasing up the ol' closet door. of bisexuality. which I then came out of), Aphex Twin (for inspiring my interest in electronic music, which lead to me picking up Reason, which is where 95% of my composition takes place), Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill continues to define me, and I can't listen to any album of his without being stunned by the scale and depth of the emotions he evokes), Merzbow (for completely eradicating my understanding of what makes music music and causing me to re-evaluate my existence as an artist and human being), and last but certainly not least, The Locust: I could write 10 pages on this group alone. Apart from being amazingly sincere, kind, warm, clever, and engaging and keen individuals, they've created some of the most intricate, challenging and progressive music I've had the pleasure of listening to. They are an inspiration to me in countless ways, and are pretty much THE reason why I still give a shit about music and began performing in the first place. I'm probably going to get some shit from my fellow 31G forum goons for all this "digital dick sucking," but fuck it, the Locust are an exceptional band and if you don't think so, I suggest applying for a Primary Auditory Cortex transplant at the very least.
I'm inspired by other things too (god this is long), like 12 oz mouse, dino valls, bansky, tao lin, horror video games, marine biology, bill hicks, george carlin, tim and eric, and plenty others.
Sounds Like
A short clip from a recent show at Back Pages Books in Waltham, MA
Me playing a homemade didgeridoo at the Back Pages Book store, plus noise:
A longer clip from that same show, once again with me ..o accompanying my computer's gurgling misbehavior.
Here's a video clip from the solo portion of my first show, as part of the Unique States series at the BUOY gallery! Mostly, I used computer-generated sounds, in addition to some found objects amplified via contact mics and processed somewhat (via guitar stompboxes).
Later that evening, I performed as part of an improv ensemble set with Bhob Rainey and Dave Seidel! Here's part of that performance:
No, I don't really recall how to pronounce it. As far as I can recall, it means something along the lines of "rough ape/monkey;" I lifted it from the Spectacled Langur. And that's what all this is, at its core: roughness, spewed forth by a post-ape, warped, convoluted regurgitations of predetermined musical antimatter. The goal of all this is unclear - mostly, these sonic sketches function as a personal catharsis, allowing me to vent cathexis in a somewhat nondestructive manner, providing a communal environment in which others can partake in the same process. We're all a part of the same churning molecular mass - the social, political and cognitive elaborations of our humanity need not detract us from our feral unity, from our inherent bond with each other and all the other particulate/energy-communities bustling about in this expanding spheroid(?) cloud. The structure of our reality is of our own fabrication - if I accomplish anything outside of my self with all this, it would be to remind those who share in the journey of their ability to build and break apart as they see fit.
Thanks for coming all the way down from Maine to play at the 119 in Lowell! Your set was brilliant--people commented on how good it was. I like the way you introduce each song so people understand more about what they're hearing. All the best and hope to see you again soon!
thanks for your support! most people already know about the animal rescue site, but if you don't, please visit it, especially on the weekends, their numbers drop by thousands fri-sun. with 1 simple and free click you can know that you helped feed shelter animals! just think of all those furry, feathery, and sometimes scaly happy faces after a nice tasty bowl! :) much love, bre
DOPE SICK RADIO EPISODE 47 - TUESDAY, JUNE 2ND @ 7PM (CST) - W/ JUSTIN PEARSON OF THE LOCUST AND THREE ONE G RECORDS
The Locust have been referred to as the death of contemporary music as the world knows it. They've been called everything from junkies, faggots, and noise polluters, to criminals, degenerates, and violence mongers. I consider them nothing short of genius.
The ringleader of this fuckin mess is one Mr. Justin Pearson. His body of work is extensive. He's had is hand in more creative projects than Nicole Richie's had dicks. He's been frontin and bass rapin bands since the age of 15 and is currently one of three partners running Three One G Records. His most current projects include the band All Leather and a non-linear audio/ video production company being called Leg Lifters.
On Tuesday June 2nd, the veil will be lifted and the truth shall be revealed. Tune the fuck in. ______________________________
Absolutely. I'm going to be up in my studio for much of the day tomorrow cleaning up the wreck I made of the joint over the last week. Why don't you give me a call around 3:00 tomorrow and we can get a cup of coffee or something.
Have a good time playing in Northampton on Monday! I unfortunately can't make it to the Elevens that night (much as I'd like to). Perhaps I'll catch you around here some other time.
Same here. I just try to mind my own business and yet, it's not enough to keep her quiet. She pretty knows I despise her. Doesn't stop her from crawling up my ass every time I walk in and out the front door.
Hey there! Times like this I wish you still were in the Philly area... Two of my teachers at CCP had a little half hour televised event on the college's TV station where they improvised electronic music and bangy bangy noise stuff, very much in your style. :D Very awesome stuff. I'll see if I can't get a copy or possibly have them post it online somewhere. It was quite a sight. It'll be repeating for the rest of the week at 3:30PM and 11:30PM.
The font in the comment section is out of my control. It was a website who embedded the code themselves, so I have no control over it. It's worth it for the static boxes and the dark floral background. Combined with the awesome images I found on google (most of which are from DaVinci) creates an awesome steampunk vibe.
I'm out right now, and likely to wake up from a coma tomorrow. when i get home, i'll send you the .rns for eternal. i won't have access to the lab at school until next week because of spring break, but if you want to send me the .rns for the song, i'll keep it on my usb drive so i can look at it then.
GROVER WE BID YOU GRUNTED GREETINGS HERE IN RUPERT MURDOCH'S STINKING PURGATORY FROM THE SMOGGY, SUNBURNED AND RECESSION WORN REALITY OF STINKING LONG BEACH CALIF WHERE THE END IS HERE...HOPE YOU AND THE STRINGS ARE WELL, --wt
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