A Morbid Movie Joke was created by dAVE Inden as attks th drknss. The entire record was made in Seattle, WA. You will find no greater family man then dAVE. Up to this point much of the music dAVE has made was inspired by his daughter and being a father. The song titles are all inspired by different events or phases in their relation from the very beginning through getting married and having their daughter.
The title of the record, A Morbid Movie Joke, comes from a time from before they began dating where dAVE’s wife made a joke regarding a swarm of bees outside a coffee shop. It was swirling about and there seemed to be hundreds or thousands of them just outside on the street. People were very curious as to what was going on and started to go outside. dAVE’s wife made a joke about the movie My Girl and how if people weren’t careful they would end up like Macaulay Culkin’s character. dAVE instantly fell in love and wanted to be with her from that moment forward.
The record is five tracks. The songs are presented in chronological order from the start of everything up to present day. The sounds all come from samples either recorded by dAVE or created in Reason by dAVE. There are field recordings from dAVE’s phone, loops of sections from generative synths and other instruments, grain synthesis, and slowed down audio that is unrecognizable from its original form. The improvised performance of each piece, except for the last track, was done on a Roland SP-404MKII and recorded directly to the final version.
I’ll be happy to talk about the first track of his project. As “Swarm of Bees” is a literal masterpiece. The instrumental sounds bring on a luxurious and the most decadent sensation. Layered amounts of xylophones overwhelmingly consume your ears. And it is very intense and intentional. Behind the xylophones it’s abundantly clear the sounds of crystal tones are peaking through. Almost halfway through this 7 minute song, a quite unexpected moment occurs. An almost haunting experience of piano comes through. I imagine a grand piano in the middle of a large foyer. Playing on its own. I know an eerie thought right?
A project full of experimental and improvisation. That’s a great way to explain the soundscape of the second track titled “There is a Wild Horse Loose in the Rage Cage”. There are alternating rhythms via synthesizer. Very full of dynamics. The intensity is set a few times through the song and restarted as a looping warped conundrum. With an amazing outro, the song switched gears to a more radical cadence.
His music is beyond our world! Literally there is a song attks th darkness has that is specifically created for aliens. Yes extra terrestrial beings are eating this song up. EDM can’t even compare. The song is a literal fry in the mother board. The song “Is that a distant call of a conch shell or is that the shower again”. It took me a moment to find the best way to describe this track; the best way it’s described would be literally a music software having multiple and back to back organisms. And it’s rigid and distorted sound comes off as 1990s dial up internet. Alternated rhythms are pulsating and leading the way through this song. This was my favorite one to listen to while in bed with my partner.
Spend some time listening to this radical and out of this galaxy sound. It’s experimental and interesting improvised music will lure a mixed batch of listeners. But be aware you will most likely have a short in the mainframe of your brain.
The MusicManiac Finds Out
Q: Where have you performed? What are your favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows? How do your work and creativity relate to the world and what it the role of music in society?
A: Since returning to making music after a number of years I haven’t yet performed live in Seattle. But, I do hope to at some point this year. I am currently working on something that I can use for a live performance. In the past when I was more active in this project I was living in Northern California and I performed at music venues around the San Francisco Bay Area. My fondest memories of performances were in the smaller DIY spaces like house shows and community centers.
Q: How would you describe the music that you typically create?
A: I describe my music as experimental electronic. Each track is typically instrumental. I look to use a variety of both analog and digital instruments to create soundscapes of sorts while the composition and performance process is improvised making for moments of music that may never occur the same way more than once.
Q: How does your work and creativity relate to the world and what it the role of music in society?
A: My creative work is mostly focused on trying to capture feelings I have and to encapsulate moments in time. As I have become a parent I have really tried to slow down and relish in small moments. Making improvised music is both fun for me, but also helps me focus on the idea that moments in our lives can’t really repeat the same way ever and making music that is always different reminds me of how special it can be to share something with folks that can never be the same way again.
Q: What’s your favorite food and drink?
A: Favorite food and drink would be pizza and coffee either together or separate. They both work for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in my opinion. But, that is likely from a childhood of watching a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and living in Seattle. Even so, I’m just fine with that. 🙂
