Laughter only feigned reproach. -
excerpt
Feigner is the result of a collaboration of musicians interested
in the creation of large-scale forms through electro-acoustic
improvisation. The group was founded Philadelphia in 2001 by
members of two of the areas most prolific improvising groups:
The Meicht Group and Kaktus. Most of our music has emerged from
a rigorous method of free improvisation with the goal of
experimenting in the creation of large-scale forms. We have
always sought to engage in the kind of dialectic necessary to
develop final compositions through a collaborative process.
This process has led to a deeper understanding of group psychology
and its influence on the creative product. Our work has embraced
the jazz origins implicit in this process as well as what some
call sound-based composition, drawing from late-twentieth-century
European music and the American experimental impulse that confronts
and interrogates convention.
The variety of sounds available with the electronic and acoustic sound
sources has necessitated clarity of presentation. The ambiguity felt
when noises are considered part of the spectrum of sound at a musician's
disposal creates a challenge for the musician and audience to grasp the
music. The complexity of electro-acoustic and computer music lends
itself well to this conundrum of noise and sound‹when the common vocabulary
of a musical language is hardly established there is much to explore.
Laughter only feigned reproach. was recorded in Philadelphia in June
2004 and mixed in New York City in July 2005. It was recorded and
mixed by the members of the group.
The first recording of the group was released in 2002 on Scrapple
Records (SCR 53407). Nate Dorward in Cadence Magazine (May
2003) said of the first record :
"The building blocks of this music are different: the [Feigner] trio
construct their improvisation around the kinds of quiet hisses and
high-pitched whines given off by electronic equipment. It's patiently
assembled music, never dense and rarely rapid-moving but full of detail
and flavor. The integration of the acoustic instruments and the
electronics is particularly well achieved. [It is a] satisfying
performance. The ten minutes at the end are particularly fine: an
acoustic improvisation whose outlines gradually blur into rustling
electronics-enhanced percussion."
Brendan Dougherty -
Brendan Dougherty was born in Philadelphia in 1978. Graduated
from the University of the Arts in 1999 where he studied jazz
and classical percussion and composition. A founding member of
The Meicht Group in 1998, who recorded three releases for Scrapple
Records, held a regular gig at The Knitting Factory and performed
at many venues across the America and Europe. Moved to Paris
with The Meicht Group during their involvement with Le Centre
Création Musicale Iannis Xenakis (CCMIX). Currently living in
Berlin. Other current projects include AB Duo (performing on
drumset and electronics) and OURSONGISLONG (large-scale listening
installations) and has performed with Axel Dörner, Jon Rose,
Joe Williamson, Aleks Kolkowksi, Kim Cascone and Billy Bang.
Aaron Meicht -
Music projects: The Meicht Group, Kaktus, AB Duo. Selected performances:
Free Zone/Sound Infusion Series (NYC), OURSONGISLONG at Wesleyan
University (CT), 1427 Salon (Philadelphia), Munich Experimental Music
Festival, Les Variations Anecdotiques (Paris), AIM e.V. (Köln), Kulturhaus
Mitte (Berlin), Café Uebereck (Berlin), Philadelphia Fringe Festival,
Studio des Islettes (Paris), BOA Art Festival (Antwerpen), Fadiaise Festival
at Falaises (Paris), The Rotunda (Philadelphia), The Knitting Factory (NYC),
The Khyber (Philadelphia). Selected recordings (released by Scrapple Records):
Cardboard Keyboard, Loud Like Hemlocks, Sharing the
Dry, Dig
the Sound Live. Theater music: Keen Company (NYC), Gallery Players (NYC),
Williamstown Theater Festival, Prospect Theater Company (NYC), New York
Drama League's New Directors/New Works Fellowship Production, Yale School
of Drama, Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Matt Mitchell -
Matt Mitchell was born in 1975 in the Philadelphia area. He studied
classical and jazz piano and composition at Indiana University and
the Eastman School of Music, culminating in a Masters degree from Eastman
in 1998. His teachers during this time included Michael Cain and Elizabeth
DiFelice. In the intervening years he has played and recorded with
a number of musicians and groups within the realms of jazz, rock,
and modern improvised music, including Ralph Alessi, Ravi Coltrane,
Josh Roseman, Biagio Coppa, and the art rock band Thinking Plague.
His primary musical activities in recent years have been with the
improvising groups Kaktus and Feigner, with whom he has recorded
and released several albums on Scrapple Records, including Kaktus'
Sharing the Dry and Feigner's eponymously titled debut album.
Additionally, in 2001 he self-released a solo piano CD-R entitled
A Plea For... He currently lives in Philadelphia, where
his current primary focus is the composition of electro-acoustic
music, much of which will be featured on a number of forthcoming releases.
Contact
Brendan Dougherty (Berlin)
+49 162 730 3564
wishniak@gmail.com
Aaron Meicht (New York City)
+1 267 250 7105
aaronmeicht@gmail.com
Matt Mitchell (Philadelphia)
+1 773 251 0180
matmi@earthlink.net
(c) 2005, Dougherty Meicht Mitchell
Feigner
