PSYCHIC TV* (PTV3)

Psychic TV has a long and storied history that can never be done justice in a concise bio. Therefore, we will not take much space with its telling, but will direct the majestic reader to one of the many sites that have taken it on with aplomb, such as www.GenesisP-Orridge.com. Instead, we wish to focus on the near past, present and near futures of PTV3 as it takes flight for all to marvel. Psychic TV's last incarnation ended several years ago with the release of the dreamy 'Trip Reset'. It was recently seen selling at Ameoba Records in Los Angeles filed away under 'industrial' music, which it could not be further from due to its soft, obviously psychedelic textures and imagery. But Genesis P-Orridge has always carried on her back the weight of the work that she has created in the past, and because of her work with some of the most legendary of sonic anarchists, Throbbing Gristle. Throbbing Gristle could accurately be described as 'industrial', some of the time. But TG's music is too slippery to be categorized, yet we must categorize, musn't we? So it seems that wherever Gen goes, so must the tag. But make no mistake, Psychic TV is and has been a much different experiment. Drawing on the influences of Genesis' past, mostly his/her early years as a deviant Mod in 1960's London, PTV would mix and match or 'cut-up' sight/sound/feeling to create new psychedelic fumes for us to breath. For many years she did just that, until Psychic TV gave way to Thee Majesty, Genesis' spoken word/ambient sound project with Bryin Dall and Larry Thrasher. Thee Majesty went on to make many otherwordly recordings and give sumptuous live performances. Thee Majesty re-energized Gens commitment to sound, but that was not enough for her. In 2003, Genesis, in conjunction with the prodding of old friend Electric Eddie O'dowd (drummer of NY Glam legends, Toilet Boys), the decision to reform PTV was made. With Eddie signed on as drummer and creative co-director, the two began to design their dream incarnation of the band. The band would encompass all that PTV had been stylistically from their early no-wave sound through to the 'hyperdelic' trance rock of the late eighties and early nineties. But it would not be limited to past versions of PTV. It would be everything Genesis ever wanted PTV to be, that it wasn't. This sound would be linked to Brian Jones, Syd Barrett, Don Van Vliet, and all the psychedelic pioneers of the past and the ones Gen and Eddie were listening to in the present. They began looking around NY for the perfect players, like souled-minds who could help make their vision reality. This new band would also incorporate the influences of all the players, forming a collaboration in the truest sense. Alice Genese, bass vibrationalist of power acts Sexpod, CandyAss, and most recently Pretty Boys was tapped to rumble the drinks off tables. Like Alice, an old friend of Eddies from the miasma of East Village scenes past, David Max was asked to step into the role of guitar player. David had performed in psychedelic noise band Tadpoles and more recently HIT, the drug/studio experiment that was only known to those lucky enough to wander into its lair. Markus Persson joined as keyboardist through sheer persistence and power of will. Markus, a fan of Gens since he was a small podling, literally pushed his way into PTV and has made his keyboard into more that just keys, squeezing out sounds that would make the pope cry. Eddie would set the groove and Gens pandrogynous other half Lady J would operate various sampling and percussive mechanisms. But wait a second, what is Pandrogyny, you may ask? Pandrogyny is art, more specifically, it is a concept/project of Lady Jaye and Genesis' that attempts to analyze the future of evolution as it pertains to the human body and gender, with the goal of illuminating the very real possiblities provided by modern technology to alter our bodies thereby altering our minds and our societies. But maybe we should just ask Genesis. "We are not trying to look like twins, though we wouldn't mind that if it were possible. We are seeking to give an initial impression ov visual similarity as far as we can. As a 56 y-era old biological male who is 5 foot six inches with a 30 inch waist E can never reasonably expect to look identical to Lady Jaye Who is a biological female who is 35 y-eras old and 5 foot 10 inches high with a 24 inch waist. Butter we are interested in thee concept ov PANDROGENY and being coumitted enough to surrender our bodies to surguries even if we end up not liking how we look. That is not what we are concerned with. We have no urge to try and "look better", or younger, or more "glamourous". Nor are we changing gender. Pandrogeny is about neutralising gender in order to REPRESENT a future possibility for thee species. I.T. is a way ov BEING not a way ov looking, butter we use thee visual cues to give an impression that symbolises EVOLUTION and radical biological and structural change. Thee human body is not sacred. Far from I.T. thee body is a container within which dwells thee MIND. Thee consciousness. "YOU" are/is thee collection ov memories, thoughts, and experiences stored in coum miraculous way in thee brain and nervous system coumbined with thee species recording device DNA. Your body is a means ov tasting thee wonders ov physical material existence and ov giving thee ethereal consciousness that is you a means ov mobility and ov sensory perception. Thee body transmits to you both to experience, and to protect and maintain your container." With Pandrogyny, Gen is lighting a path of philosophical revolution, and to it, PTV3 adds the hyperdelic soundtrack and ritualized ecstatic sensual overload that provides a place to be free to explore ourselves. (To be continued...)