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vacuum tree head

About Me

founding members jason berry and michael de la cuesta began the musical heresy known as vacuum tree head in the autum of 1989. drawing from early esoteric projects and personal mythologies such as "the opera", "pharmakos II" and even "fukio ladis" they immediately established a large body of work (some 240 compositions) released on "tape" albums, these albums, including a soundtrack for the rudolf schwartzkogler film "king of the crickets" became the blueprints for the later "official cd releases" as well as the "no comix" series. with the monumental "excell eye eye" (22 songs, 72 minutes long!) released in 1992 and their second cd "oob eye works" (both released on megaphone records) vth broke onto the bay area scene. after which began a 14 year run ( x 3 ) of non stop writing recording and performing. collaborating with some 142 musicians over these years (every vacuum tree head performance would be known to have a different line up as well as new roster of songs to the point where most vth members couldn't even keep track themselves) vacuum tree head became an unstoppable shapeshifting monstrosity from performing with a ballet troupe to doing single 42'-42" song suite drone zone minwarp known as tar hai wizard (an homage to artist moebius) to tape editing and cut-up collage style mayhem (aum carve etude "h" ) to klezmer-flamenco freak outs to prog-punk fusion with spanish lyrics sung in a cambodian pop style (coal vig and bakuretsu fukio) to electric-12 tone chamber jazz ragas ("13" and the nancy luna suite) to covering a song for a sun ra tribute (the call) and anything else that got in the way. some of the vth participants have included: tom corboline, moe! staiano (sleepytime gorilla museum, moe!kestra, mute socialite), rick barber (san jose symphony orchestra, gamelan sekar jaya, kings canyon), shakti marshall, erica fallin, thomas scandura (the molecules, spezza rotto, witches and devils, grand national brands), earl holt "trip" johnson III (haul), charles lloyd (cat meet, one f, jeffreys in love, saraswati temple, the creeepers, red journal, cash pony), chip dominguez & ruben batrez (snafu, anti-man band), justin markovits (blue eyed devils, chris cotton, shanty town, the frequent flyers, interstellar grains, the kamikazes), marg lloyd (the creepers), john shiurba (eskimo, spezza rotto, pink mountain,the molecules), rich corny (trip, rich and famous, the frequent flyers, interstellar grains, the kamikazes), vince rodrigues (giant value, sixish) rale sidebottom (societas insomnia, puppet theater) jesse quattro (secret chiefs 3, saint of killers, hammers of missfortune, the automic bomb audition), gary kotlyar (the kamikazes), john g. shaw sanchez III, matt "hms" waldron (irr app ext, nurse with wound, current 93), ron anderson (the molecules, pak, ron ruins, happy new year), r.k. faulhaber, alien jebian (electric cymbal), d. cawley (vim), micah mcclain (kehoe nation, magnesium, mitch marcus quartet, len paterson trio, flowtilla, david liebman and countless others), heleen ramos, mike rognlie (trip, cat meet, golden method, ray brower's body), greg kunckle (mp3 bulkstop trio, the dirt grey pigeons), sarah mckinney (blackwell), chris keith (one f, jeffreys in love), john merrill (mood-food, blackwell, sandfly, archie shepp), gino robair (splatter trio, anthony braxton), sylvia gordon (kudu, black betty, nublu orchestra, wilkommen kinder, moby), lichi d'amelio, chad connor (trip, grease grit & grime), michael mellender (schloss, sleepytime gorilla museum, japonize elephants, the immersion composition society, the lower animals), ian noble r.i.p. (dr. klown-o), vicky grossi (bitches brew, slydini, tower of power, fry pan), chris millner (the molecules, ostrich farm, bion), ches smith (secret chiefs 3, good for cows, mark ribot, xiu xiu), pandit vivek chandra shukla das (psychic tv, tipsy, xambuca, bachir attar), hilary pryde (monkey flower), rick hewitt (vim), joe lewis "man"(karpov, shepards wolf nation , the mountain men and countless others) and of course the amazing vocal stylings of robin graf (kabuki theater) and the list goes on and on.... the vth alumni list reads like a spawning ground for the bay area music scene, crossing boundries and styles without regard. vth now in it's 20th year is extending it's branches to the east coast and beyond. "look out" I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 05/03/2006
Band Website: www.myspace.com/vacuumtreehead
Band Members: as of recent:JASON BERRY - electric soprano, alto & baritone saxophones, bass clarinet, piano, fender rhodes, megaphones, drum kit, the steinberger bass, sythesizers, guitar, tapes, computer, conduction, tibetan bells, knob twiddledge, metal and plastic buckets, drum pad, wooden dowels, piano guts, rototoms, allsorts & whatnots, tonemeisterMICHAEL DE LA CUESTA -6, 12 & baritone electric guitars, electric pocket trumpet, vibraphone, bass guitar, fender rhodes, sitar & electric sitar, upright bass, c-melody saxophone, ring modulation, marimba, steel drums, tibetan gongs, trombone, banjo, recorder, electric violinTOM CORBOLINE -bass guitar, flamenco guitar, midi bass, harmonica, welpsCHARLES LLOYD -electric guitar, lap steel, electric sitar, bass guitar, piano, recording, hella drumming, happy fun time falsetoJUSTIN MARKOVITS -drum kit, percussion, tamboura, plumbing, springs, and "pods"JOHN MERRILL - congas, bells, gongs, claves, quica, castanetts, the uterus computerusRICH CORNY -electric guitar, bass guitar, tamboura, recordingMOE! STAIANO -drum kit, percussion, metals, anything in sight that makes a sound, 154, blood, chewing gumMIKE ROGNLIE -bass guitar, harmonium, envelope filters, cat foodMICAH MCCAIN -drum kit, tablasSARAH MCKINNEY -vocals, wailing ephemera KAREN DE LA CUESTA - roadie, merch, photography SYLVIA GORDON - amazing vocals LUCY FOLEY - amazing vocals TIM BYRNES - trumpet KEITH ABRAMS - drum kit, metals, percussion ROSS BONADONNA - baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, superb engineering RICHARD E. BARBER -bassoon, bass clarinet, alto clarinet, Eb & Bb clarinets, mellotron, tympani, theremin, harp, marimba, tenor saxopone, celeste, orchestra bells, wine glasses moog, buchla & arp synthesizers, piano, "tapes"
Influences: stravinsky, zappa, black flag, sun ra, sabbath, the residents (pre-'85), vilayat khan, 8-eyed spy, bartok, etc... and also.... Rabih Abou-Khalil, art bears, albert ayler, bad brains (first 2 albums), balinese gamelan, les baxter, beach boys (smile & smiley smile), beatles, tim berne, bjork, the black keys, blackwell, blue cheer, francy boland/kenny clarke big band, booker t. & the mg's, boredoms, boris, pierre boulez, bowie ('69 - '82), glenn branca, james brown, jack bruce (things i like), tim buckley (starsailor), john cage, john cale (church of anthrax), the campbell brothers, can, captain beefheart, wendy carlos, caroliner rainbow, james chance, charming hostess, cheer accident, don cherry, the chocolate watch band, circle, ornette coleman, ry cooder/manual galban(mambo sinuendo), core, larry coryell, cream, the creatures, ccr, creation rebel, dick dale, wolfgang dauner, miles davis, dead kennedys, deerhoof, dengue fever, martin denny, devo, dmbq, dna, doctor nerve, dog faced hermans, dr. know, eric dolphy, bob dylan, edmund welles, duke ellington, don ellis, elp (tarkus), brian eno, esquivel, gil evans, the ex, john fahey, fantomas, faust, the fender IV, 5uu's, fifty foot hose, flower travellin band, fripp, funkadelic, gang of four, gentle giant, philip glass, gnawa, gong, benny goodman (sextet), herbie hancock (sextant), joe harroitt, george harrison (wonderwall), hella, hendrix, henry cow, bernard herrmann, johnny hodges, randy holden, john lee hooker, howlin' wolf, zakir hussain, husker du, huun huur tu, jethro tull, robert johnson, kagel, pandit habib khan (guru), junior kimbrough, king crimson, king cobra, king tubby, roland kirk, koenjihyakkei, hans koller, erkin koray, volker kriegel, kronos, fela kuti, steve lacy, latin playboys, lea riders group, led zepplin, howard levy, gyorgy ligeti, loung lizards (first album), los zafiros, lowrider, magma, magnesium, mahavishnu orchestra, henry mancini, the mars volta, massacre, the master musicians of jajouka, curtis mayfield, mississippi fred mcdowell, mc5, carmen mcrae (sings monk), john mclaughlin, olivier messiaen, the meters, charles mingus, misfits, modulo 1000, MOE!KESTRA!, thelonoius monk, monopause, ennio morricone, mosaic, mr. bungle (disco volante), conlon nancarrow, mark nauseef, neu, neung phak, gary numan ('77 - '83), om, one f, os mutantes, osanna, shuggie otis, augustus pablo, ivo papasov, harry partch, big john patton, pearls and brass, lee scratch perry, astor piazzolla, dave pike, pil (second edition), pink floyd, plastic ono band, pere ubu, perez prado, present, psychic tv, steve reich, mark ribot, terry riley, max roach (m' boom), roxy music (first 2 albums), ruins, hal russell, samhain, santana (first 3 albums), kurt schwitters, secret chiefs 3, simon shaheen, ananda shankar, pandit ravi shankar, archie shepp, skatalites, slayer, sly stone, sly and robbie, sleep, sleepytime gorilla museum, socrates drank the conium, soft machine, squarpusher (music is rotted one note), steely dan, stereolab, the stooges, karlheinz stockhausen, yma sumac, sun city girls, sundanese gamelan (puppet theater), toru takemitsu, talking heads (remain in light), television, this heat, peter thomas, throbbing gristle, jukka tiensuu, tortoise, traffic, t rex, 2 foot yard, univers zero, utotem, edgard varese, vacuum tree head, caetano veloso, velvet underground (white light white heat), miroslav vitous, muddy waters (electric mud), anton webern, tony williams (turn it over), stevie wonder, link wray, iannis xenakis, xohl caravan, the yardbirds, yes, la monte young, zahar, zga, zolar x, john zorn,
Sounds Like: everything and yet like nothing you've ever heard
Record Label: pest colors music
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Recording completed for VTH's album "THIRTEEN!"

Yes, it's true.  Way behind schedule, and WAY over budget, but completed.  Final mix adjustments and mastering will be done over the next month or so, and then it's just a matter of coming up with the...
Posted by on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:45:00 GMT

BAL Comix!

Some older comix, done in the mid-to-late 90's, have been added in the "BAL Comix" folder over with the photos.  BAL was a place where JB and Mike D used to work; these comix were drawn on the sly at ...
Posted by on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:47:00 GMT

THE BUCKET

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KriElYL0EWk Classic VTH track with some new animation.
Posted by on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:21:00 GMT

VACUUM TREE HEAD - ZYZZX ROAD V (excerpt)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l84R1iZuDCw An excerpt of the track, from the 1996 album "Coal Vig". Head on over to www.youtube.com/user/vth42 for more video goodness.
Posted by on Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:16:00 GMT

VACUUM TREE HEAD - MONG C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvgk9PvRNE
Posted by on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:47:00 GMT

VTH NEW CD IN APRIL

Yes, it's true, the new VTH CD should be finished sometime in April. And it will be quite a surprise for all, I'm sure! At this point, it looks like there will be 14 tunes on the album, 11 of which ar...
Posted by on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:05:00 GMT

VTH YouTube channel up & running

Head on over to www.youtube.com/users/vth42 for all your VTH video needs. Live clips, some videos, and (coming soon) animation, all featuring the music of Vacuum Tree Head! New vids going up on a we...
Posted by on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:56:00 GMT

Three Haiku (sort of)

She came over last nightIn the stormNo footprints this morningShe came all overIt was still there this morningThough she was missingHer panties missingWho knows where they have gone to?Less laundry fo...
Posted by on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:47:00 GMT

Can’t find VTH CDs? Just ask here!

If you want to OWN some of this music, complete with deluxe packaging and eye-popping graphics, just ask here! Send us a message, we can remedy this problem!-VTH
Posted by on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:26:00 GMT

NO! COMIX now available on this site!

Yes, the first five chapters of this ongoing story have been uploaded & are ready for viewing - go to the "pictures" section of this site to view them.At some point in the future, we'll post a "charac...
Posted by on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:21:00 GMT