News:
New album, Floppy, released on Saturday, 29/9 at midnight, exclusively on colored 3.5' floppy disks!! Next attack.. erm, sorry, I meant performance will strike upon London's Teatime Treats night. Feel free to be the willing victims. There is a secret operation going on, forming (areacode)noise collectives in Europe. Contact for details. The first collective out of the USA is now officially 30231noise of Thessaloniki, Greece. New home-made synthesizers are being cooked and a new album by Secret Fool is being produced by the hard-working, sleepless Jesus. Abandoned Radio Stations has been re-released by Hairway Tapes, global distribution as usual. After all we are trained professionals. Don't try this at home.
History:
Born a long time ago in a place believed by some not to be the shithole of the world, but even if deductive thought was to confirm this, it would be really close.
Jesus started his musical career by forming a band simply named " " when he was about fifteen years old. The band performed five gigs and split, but left a distinctive mark in the conservative music scene of Thessaloniki, Greece by being one of the most intentionally bad sounding bands that ever existed. Several other bands and projects occured and Jesus finally formed I Knew Them in 2003.
One of their first concerts was being the support act for Lydia Lunch's first appearance in Greece. I Knew Them became notorious for being one of the weirdest bands to ever get to infiltrate the semi-mainstream music scene. They released two albums, completed two European road tours and trashed every venue they ever performed in. Their concerts were more often than not interrupted by the infamous "pull the plug" technique, which they eventually got used to. On many occasions members of the band got attacked, hospitalized or arrested due to the chaotic nature of their performances. During his time with I Knew Them, Jesus also got to perform together with Nikki Sudden of the Swell Maps, a very influential figure for his later involvement with the DIY ethics of touring and releasing albums, Dave Kusworth of the Jacobites, and the DRMK noise collective of Slovenia.
From the beginning of his involvement with music, it was evident that Jesus was interested in anything that would make weird sounds. He would often use electronic toys and tape recorders to create soundscapes which he initially used during performances with " ", later finding their way into I Knew Them's performances and finally becoming the central creative point of his solo performances.
52 Studios were created in 2003 by Jesus Himself, for the sole purpose of experimenting with sound on a non-professional level. 52 Studios later evolved into a fully equipped experimental arts studio, with Jesus building a video synthesizer and circuit-bending just about anything for sonic or visual use. Jesus became increasingly interested in the work of Steve Rutt, Bill Etra, Reed Ghazala, Robert Moog, Don Buchla and Peter Zinovief, so his 52 Studios were evolving in this direction. During the last year of 52 Studios' existence, Jesus refused to leave the premises for any reason apart from performances. There, he started building the first Oscillators for his home-made Modular Synthesizer. During that period, the "I Forgot Them" project emerged. Wolf, I Knew Them's bassist, joined Jesus in experimental audio-visual performances, including shows in construction sites, moving vehicles, international festivals, universities, and a show with The National Theatre of Greece actors, called "The Dead Boy", the latter featuring Caveman Joe, also frequently found in 52 Studios. Caveman Joe, previously of the likes of Personality Crisis and Five Star Hotel, exposed his hidden experimentalist tamperament, using 52 Studios with Jesus on the controls to record his trilogy "Drink, Fight and Fuck" ranging from Surf rock to Industrial noise. When his experimental music ideas finished, he would still visit 52 studios to participate in shocking experimental pornography, both still images and video. I Knew Them's "Lying Dead on the Pavement" was mixed and mastered at 52 Studios, which also hosted the only two recording sessions ever by "The Ray-Bans", a band believed to have formed during the mid-sixties in San Francisco, California.
Jesus' noise making became more sophisticated as he kept on educating himself around the physics of sound, music technology and electronics. He gained a Degree in Music Technology in 2006 while producing his own debut album, "Robotnik", created solely in 52 Studios, and I Knew Them's "The truth is in here", recorded in Delta Studios and mixed in Delta and 52. In the summer of 2006 he decided to move to the UK, distancing himself from the third-worldy shithole smell. Jesus and the rest of the I Knew Them crew boarded the tour car and started their first European tour.
August 2006: The Dungeon studio was built in Islington, London, UK. On one of the worse neighborhoods to be found, with loads of guns & gods but governments missing, Jesus was once again transforming a total dump into an experimental arts studio. This time, it was pointed more towards acousmatic and electroacoustic music than conventional rock bands. The Dungeon also served as a Sound-related hardware repair center, working with recording studios and radio stations. Unfortunately, it didn't take long until the gunshots reached the front door of the building, which was kicked down three times, with an iron prison-door-like gate, nicknamed "the Alcatraz gate", saving the studio every time. The Dungeon, during its short life, was the recording facility for some of Jesus' experimental electronic work. During The Dungeon era, I Forgot Them performed in London with local noisicians and on a special occasion with an angry loner from Kent. Jesus also had his own club night in Studio 88 in Camden Town, featuring grunge and no-wave music with occasional jam sessions and the first ever experimental gig in the venue, also featuring The Reactor Core is Splendid, formerly of London's Electric Guitar Orchestra.
November 2006: The Dungeon moves to Sheffield. The Sheffield Dungeon was divided into three departments. The Sonic department, including all of the Dungeon's audio equipment, was used for mastering most of Jesus' previously existing experimental work and producing new music pieces. The Visual department, directed by Wolf, was used to experiment on new video synthesis techniques, although no visual work of this era was ever made available to the public. The third department, a new addition, was based around vintage digital devices. It included vintage video-game consoles and the good old vintage personal computers such as the Commodore 64, Commodore VIC-20, Atari 65XE, Amstrad CPC464, even an original Adler Alphatronic. This department also included vintage Macintosh computers and primal networking hardware used for networking research. This department was led by Jesus and was mostly used for artistic audio-visual programming of the computers, often coupled with the Sonic department. In the same premises Jesus had an electronics workspace, where he designed and created his own Ring Modulator, Sweep Generator, Spring Reverb and Digitally Controlled Analogue CV Sequencer modules, used in his home-made Modular Synthesizer. The Sheffield Dungeon ended in the summer of 2007, with Wolf's decision to flee from the UK due to financial problems.
The beginning of 2007 saw the second European tour of I Knew Them. Wolf decided to move back to Greece permanently. Meanwhile, Jesus had been offered a position in the University of Sheffield for post-graduate studies in the field of Sonic Arts after presenting a sample of his recorded solo work during an irrelevant discussion with one of the professors.
Summer 2007: I Knew Them have been put on hold, by the decisions of Wolf and Spiraflas. Three experimental art studios have stopped existing due to situations beyond Jesus' control. Jesus can be found performing around the world, or maybe being locked in the University of Sheffield Sound Studios from October 2007.
Solo Works:
Robotnik (MC) - Hairway Industries, 2003
Abandoned Radio Stations (MC) - Hairway Industries, 2006
Floppy (3.5' Floppy Disk) - Hairway Floppies, 2007
I Forgot Them:
The Metal Machinery (DVD) - Hairway Industries, 2006
I Knew Them:
Lying Dead on the Pavement (CD, MC) - Hairway Industries, 2005
The truth is in here (CD) - Hairway Industries, 2007
Various early demos of no significant importance also exist and can be found among other junk being sold by illegal street-salesmen. If you believe you have something that could be related in any way to Jesus, please get in contact for further information. Wash with plenty of water and consult your doctor immediately. However, in such case, we strongly advise you start making funeral arrangements while waiting for the doctor, it saves both time and money.