Member Since: 8/6/2006
Band Website: robertrich.com
Band Members: Robert Rich, Ian Boddy, Markus Reuter, Lustmord (Brian Williams), Steve Roach, Alio Die (Stefano Musso), Lisa Moskow, Forrest Fang, Sirenée, David Torn, Tom Heasley, Paul Hanson, Haroun Serang, Percy Howard, Sukhawat Ali Khan, Pranesh Khan, Carter Scholz, Vidna Obmana, Rick Davies, Andrew McGowan, Don Swanson, Hans Christian
Influences: I can't begin to list everyone. What they all have in common is a certain ineffable "interior" quality, a sort of intensity that takes you inside the depths of "self" and connects you with something universal. Musically, I am especially drawn to Indian, Arabic, Javanese, Western minimalism, some psychedelic pop and electronic music; graphically, the surrealists, perhaps Yves Tanguy and Max Ernst even above Dali (if you want to visualize 'glurp' just look at a Tanguy painting!); films like Tarkovsky's "The Sacrifice," Peter Weir's "The Last Wave," Cocteau's "Testament of Orpheus" or Bergman's "The Seventh Seal." My favorite writers include J.G. Ballard, Olaf Stapledon, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and above all Jorge Luis Borges. With his simple little short stories, Borges plants seeds in the reader's mind, which continue to grow and expand until they become complete forests in your imagination. This, for me, is the mark of the best creative work: it exercises our faculties of perception, it weaves a spell, it asks more questions than it answers, it invites us to participate, and it leaves us feeling awe and wonder. Rather than trying to preach some received Truth, it triggers us to search within and reminds us of truths forgotten.
Sounds Like: "Robert Rich's recordings are fast becoming recognized as pioneering works, having taken electronic music to previously unrealized levels of innovation."Darren Bergstein, I/E
"A music-scape that oozes with primitive life, as if pulsing from the swamp itself. . . A time traveller searching for the aperture that looks back to Eden."Calvin Ahlgren, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"Countless, beautiful, diverse, intense, evocative, innovative, lavish, awesome soundscapes."Jill Grant, INTERFACE MAGAZINE
"Nothing, not one note, seems out of place or contrived. . .A bright and attractive fusion of the ancient and the modern, a bold groundbreaking musical statement."Ben Kettlewell, DREAMSWORD
"Like listening to sonic architecture. . . Rich's structures are geometrical, yet organic."Linda Kohanov, PULSE!
"This is surely the stuff that fantasies are made of..."P.J. Birosik, L.A. RESOURCES
Record Label: Soundscape, Fathom/HOS, Release/Relapse, Hypnos
Type of Label: Indie