About Me
I am Aaron Gonzalez. I am primarily a bass player (stand-up and guitar), but I also sing and play keyboards and percussion. I am a composer and improviser; a bandleader, sideman, mutual collaborator, and solo artist. Some important projects I am (or have been) involved with:------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ Akkolyte : Consisting of just me and my brother, Stefan, Akkolyte takes the thrash/grindcore formula and turns it upside down, with blasts of noise, jazzy improv, and off the wall song structures. We have a cult following amongst punks, metalheads, and noise freaks across the nation, yet have managed to win over audiences normally not associated with that type of music. The REAL drum'n'bass....--------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------- Dennis Gonzalez / Yells At Eels / Banda de Brujos / Jnaana Septet /Renegade Spirits/etc.: I have played with my father, renowned jazz trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez, since I was in middle school, starting with Trio Brujos, an accordion-driven trio playing a pan-stylistic approach to Latin American music. This was an offshoot of Banda de Brujos, who played a fusion of jazz and Latin musics, who I have also played in from time to time. But most important is Yells at Eels, whose core consists of me, my brother, and my father, and is often augmented by various collaborators. We bring the tradition of avant-garde jazz into the 21st century, and have a wide musical vocabulary: from blistering punk-jazz to beautiful ambient soundscapes, from wild improvisation to complex musical arrangements, from sacred hymns and respectful tributes to irreverent musical satires and profane noisy onslaughts...Our flexibility allows us to play in a variety of differing situations, including basement punk shows, churches, art galleries, hip taverns, international jazz fests, and anti-war benefits....We have collaborated with a variety of innovative musicians, including Tim Green, Kim Corbet, Paul Plimley, Carl Smith, Bill Pohl, George Cartwright, Sabir Mateen, Rodrigo Amado, Alvin Fielder, Douglas Ewart, Oliver Lake, the Micro-East Collective, Mark Taylor, Matt Lavelle and many, many more....Recent offshoots of Yells at Eels are The Dennis Gonzalez Jnaana Septet and Renegade Spirits Ensemble...The Jnaana Septet have just released the album "The Gift of Discernment" on Poland's Not Two Records. Featuring a lush, beautiful production in a big concert hall, the sound is spiritual and meditative, yet very dynamic and climactic. The band features vocalist Leena Conquest, drummer Alvin Fielder, pianist Chris Parker, and percussion by Robbie Mercado, plus extra percussion by all involved! Renegade Spirits features percussion legend Famoudou Don Moye, and sax master Tim Green. Be on the lookout for our record, forthcoming from fledgling jazz label, Furthermore Recordings!------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------Life-Death Continuum: Life-Death Continuum is a recurring project in which I express my most desperate and intense personal and spiritual issues. Thus, the music itself is very intense, and demands a special commitment from both my musicians and my audience. The music reflects influence of classic psychedelic, progressive, and experimental rock, infused with the power and chaos of punk, metal, and noise, but tries to break free of stereotypes and straightjackets. Currently on hiatus, Life-Death Continuum will return when will and circumstance make it possible....------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------Unconscious Collective: Currently on an extended hiatus, Unconscious Collective is the brainchild of Stefan Gonzalez. Not fitting squarely into easy rock or jazz straitjackets, Unconscious Collective take basic, primal songforms as platforms for extended improvisations. We take a shamanic, theatrical, and psychedelic approach, each performance evolving us as musicians, persons, and spiritual beings....-------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------Alvin Fielder Trio: Alvin Fielder is one of the great unsung drummers in jazz history. One of the early members of the AACM, his recorded legacy includes records with the Roscoe Mitchell Sextet (which would spawn The Art Ensemble of Chicago), Improvisational Arts Quintet, Kidd Jordan, Joel Futterman, Ahmed Abdullah, Charles Brackeen, and Dennis Gonzalez. "A Measue of Vision" by the Alvin Fielder Trio is his only record under his own name. The trio is completed by Chris Parker on piano, and Dennis Gonzalez on trumpet. Though we are not part of the trio proper, Stefan and I both have guest spots (together and separate) on the album. It is available now on Clean Feed Records----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------Luis Lopes/Humanization Quartet: Based in Lisbon, Portugal, Humanization Quartet is the creation of guitarist/composer Luis Lopes and saxophonist/improviser Rodrigo Amado of Lisbon Improvisation Players, with me and Stefan as imported rhythm section. Filled with dense, difficult compositions, leading into improvs by turns impassioned and exploratory, our debut album has been released by Clean Feed Records. After two mini-tours in Portugal, we plan on returning for more, as well as on bringing Humanization to the States....-------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- MFM / Festive Death : MFM is the viral trickster homunculus given life by the great master of the visual arts, 'Wheatboy' David S. Aponte. Like much of his work outside of his more classical and scholastic end, MFM is a post-dadaistic, sub-realist reaction to it's own place within the age of disinformation. I was part of the first incarnation, Moronica for Morons, which was dubbed 'avant garde techno for the idiot movement,' but then grew too many tentacles to care about techno, the avant garde, or any movement but it's own slothful chaostrail. Since then, I have participated in many other permutations, (usually when Wheatboy ends up back in Dallas), with similarly initialed names....I usually fulfill one of two roles: that of 'real' musician helping to give organization to the chaos, or that of debaucherous Dionysian prankster-priest, inebriated and covered in slime. Festive Death is an offshoot of MFM that had a particular focus on the psychedelic and magic(k)al side of the proceedings. We had a dancy side and a more beautiful, ambient side that set us apart from the other MFM projects, but we could still bring the noise. Alas, our album was never properly finished. Ah, maybe tomorrow.....----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ----- Aphonic Curtains : Aphonic Curtains is one of the loudest and noisiest projects I have ever played in (the only real competition being certain incarnations of MFM). We started by accident, as a last minute replacement for Richard Ramirez, who had cancelled his show at House of Tinnitus. It consisted of three friends who had never previously played together: me on bass, 'prepared' and treated in real time, Rob Buttrum (curator of House of Tinnitus) on amplified metal scraps (everything including the kitchen sink), and Mike Maxwell (SDS, SubKommander) running samples and other sound sources through a KAOS pad. What sets us apart from our peers is the sheer physicality of our performances, and the organic natures of the sources we manipulate. Each show reveals a slow mutation whose final destination is yet unknown. Playing in this project has has led to an extended collaborative association between Mike and myself, resulting in us playing together occasionally in projects such as SUBKommander Big Band, Age of Disinformation, and Zanzibar Snails!----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------Scream of Love: A midnight mass during which all involved face, and ultimately liberate, the hidden sides of their being....Scream of Love has only had one performance to date, but I am currently at work on a bigger and badder version, to be unveiled in the coming months....Scream of Love is a celebratory conspiracy of artists, including many local improvisers, with horns, vocals, percussion, and electronics all going in novel and unpredictable directions. Let us kiss your brain and melt your mind!------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------------------DEFB: This pandrogynous psychopomp is still gestating in the womb of my soul, but we have received one premature transmission via 16 track sonogram (as heard above). Await a puddle of goo, exploding cigars, and a distinctive first cry to heaven...--------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------I also periodically play in various one-off situations, or bands I'm not regularly associated with, for instance: outfits put together for special occasions, contributing to various recording projects, improvising situations of all sorts, and the rare jazz standards gig....----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------OTHER PROJECTS:--------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------Inner Realms Outer Realms: My record label and production company. I have but one release: Dennis Gonzalez Yells At Eels' "Geographia", but there is more to come. I also have a distro consisting of releases related to my music, and that of my friends and family. There is a small online catalog posted in my blog above; just message me if you are interested in purchasing anything. Inner Realms Outer Realms periodically sets up shows of interesting and forward thinking music in the Dallas area; keep your eyes peeled...--------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------------------Adorable Sons: A collaborative cottage industry with my mother: we make organic soaps and other beauty products! Contact me for product list and prices!----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------Visual media: Though most of my artistry is spent on sounds, I also dabble in drawing, painting, collage, and magical mixed media. I will post samples of such work in the future------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------Words: Most of my wordsmithery is expended on lyrics, however, sometimes the inspiration demands other avenues. I have variously composed poetry of all sorts, hymns and psalms on the sacred and mysterious, anarchist rants and manifestos, psychedelic overflowing verbal chaos, dirty filthy erotic smut, and supremely trivial bulldada-laden gibberwocky. Will my dilletantism ever get me accidentally published? We shall see....----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------Actor/Model/Otherwise Exploitable Image With Personality: Trying to build up a resume in this department....I have appeared in the anti-classic "Pot Zombies" (directed by Justin Powers, distributed by Troma), as a stoned undead bone-muncher. I have modelled for photographers such as Wes Maeckel and Sally Glass, KUNST, who takes photographs and then modifies them using other media, and the woodcut art of David S. Aponte. I am a willing subject, so contact me if interested
