EPIC RICK

Live drone music with interactive video projection.

Formerly known as CUT WORMS

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New performance in 2019: SLICES - reimagining Giacinto Scelsi

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"You can make a song with two chords, but why use so many?"

Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Coil)

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'Drones'; long, sustaining notes or chords, that are at the base of much ancient, as well as contemporary music, have a special attraction.

They are associated with a deep internalization, with rituals of trance. They appear to 'stretch' time, create possibilities for the 'self' to lose itself.

They can consist of a single sound, but also of numerous minuscule waves and patterns. 

With Epic Rick I fuse and accumulate consonant, as well as dissonant harmonies, looking for unforseen frictions between frequencies, thus creating it's own melodies. All this happens intuitively, by ear and by heart. The perception of emotion by means of sound and visuals is the guiding factor here. By organically transforming sound and video, I create paths that the audience can follow as they will. 

'Drone' and 'glitch' are the key words. Distorting sound, letting it decay, cutting it up and regenerating it into new structures. Like a fertile soil which swarms with life. Breaking down structures into new, organic building materials, allowing new life to flourish. That is the concept behind Epic Rick.

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With several circuit bent synthesizers forming the source of electronic manipulation, Epic Rick is clearly not another ambient laptop act, but distinguishes itself by utilising only live generated sounds, and intuitively builds compositions from scratch without any prefab sounds, beats or loops. The added touch strips on the Omnichord, as well as numerous, cross-connected analogue effect units and feedback loops, allow for a very detailed sound manipulation. Epic Rick’s long, dark chords are dragged through gravel while sounds are reversed, mangled, chopped, and regenerated into new entities.  

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Epic Rick (as CUT WORMS) was previewed at the Minimal Music Festival 2013, Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam and premiered at November Music Festival, 's-Hertogenbosch with a collaboration with visual artist Rikkert Brok (Optical Machines). In 2016, Epic Rick collaborated with renowned Canadian choreographer Ginette Laurin (i.c.w. Jens van Daele's Burning Bridges) on the dance piece TIERRA. 

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German label Opa Loka Records released two CD's, which received very positive reviews in the international press.

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A MASS production