A P O C R Y P H E T I C O M
A Synthetic Apocalypse Trilogy
Apocrypheticom is the name of an experimental trilogy project conceived by Richard Keith Vaughn. The idea was to create the musical equivalent of an apocalypse using a minimal amount of resources. The first step of this process for Richard was to build a recording studio, or at least a space that could be used for isolating incoming and outgoing sounds. Mr. Vaughn was living in Baltimore at the time, defeating the corporate system by using "Squatter's Rights" loopholes to live for free for a year in one of the nicer areas of the city, Bolton Hill. It was here that he built his first recording studio, where he recorded the drums and some of the bass for his debut album, "The Book of Janus". He soon decided to take up residence at another location (e.g. inevitable eviction).
"I didn't have any money so I ended up cutting all of the carpet from an empty apartment in the building I was squatting in. I took this carpet and completely covered a large portion of the wall in the living room. Nailed these huge square pieces of purple carpet to the wall with absolutely no regard for the property that I was leeching from for so long. I collected old, disgusting mattresses from some of the questionable areas of the city and stacked them up everywhere inside of my apartment/squat/studio. There were all kind of fixtures and holes in every wall, ugly strips of carpet hanging loosely from the ceiling, possibly dripping with asbestos... a French mannequin that creeped everyone out, including my cat. The mannequin, Lucy, was dealt with during an incident that involved gasoline, fire and baseball bats. I'm talking about complete and total destruction as far as that recording room was concerned. That wasn't fixable damage, unfortunately for the management of the property, whom I had no respect for." - RKV
The debut album, "The Book of Janus" was created entirely with toy instruments. Trash cans, buckets and Tupperware were used to create the drums and percussion. He used five drum mics and occasionally a bass drum mic. He beat on trash cans using drum sticks decorated with American flags. He beat on buckets with human bones (two humorous). He beat on toy drums with his hands and used sampled loops from various toy keyboards to create his bizarre compositions.
"I remember when I first sat down to actually consider how I was going to mic these trash cans that I had collected from various parts Baltimore City. I'm sitting there in this hideous makeshift recording studio that I built in an apartment I was squatting in. I'm looking at something like fifteen or twenty trash cans, none of which I even attempted to clean before bringing them inside... they smell of Baltimore City and all the vagrants that reside there. I'm overwhelmed trying to figure out how to attach drum mics to these trash cans. I ended up building an elaborate wooden monstrosity with clamps attached to it and somehow managed to record some amazing drum and percussion. It took me well over four months to complete the drum/percussion portion of the album, but I was extremely pleased with the overall result, particularly the ambiance my crappy little studio provided". - RKV
After having somewhat harsh words with the property management company, Mr. Vaughn reluctantly agreed to pack up his personal belongings, as well as his studio, and move somewhere else. Somehow he ended up living in the basement of a house that was owned by a diagnosed, unmedicated schizophrenic that lived upstairs. The toy instruments were recorded here, as well as the majority of the vocals.
"Living with a maniac was the most entertaining and devastating experience that I have ever endured. It was next to impossible to record anything because he was always upstairs, crashing things around, jumping off of the refrigerator, feeding the dog his pet goldfish, etc. It was definitely a lesson in patience. I lived in the ghetto for these nine months, and it was the darkest period of my life. I definitely feel that all of that darkness has transferred well to the music. I love the album, I think it's gorgeous and I think that it's terrifying. I think people will either love it or absolutely hate it. I'm not really concerned either way." - RKV
Having almost completed the entire album, Mr. Vaughn got an impulse to go live in his birthplace Dallas, Texas for a little while. It is here that Richard is finally in the process of putting the finishing touches on his 16-month project entitled, "The Book of Janus". This album is a bit over an hour long with nine songs, among other things. The album is slated for an early Winter '06 release. There's more to come, so stop by often.
