Stephen O’Malley
Live Score to Gast Bouschet & Nadine Hilbert’s Metamorphic Earth
March 28th 7:30pm
"Insofar they may expand on the O))) principles albeit perhaps a more sculptural and angular direction; the extended solid and geometric aspects of the guitar and amplifiers, sound pressure, volume and temporal structure as ambiguous and solitary form."
Stephen O’Malley (b. 1974) was born in New Hampshire, USA and raised in Seattle. He eventually spent a decade in New York and presently is based in Paris.
As a composer and musician he has been involved in hundreds of concerts and performances around the world over since 1993. O’Malley is a founding member of several groups including Thorr's Hammer (1993), Burning Witch (1995), Sunn O))) (1998),
Khanate (2000), KTL (2005), Nazoranai (2011), ÄÄNIPÄÄ (2011) and others. He is a frequent collaborator of many outsider musicians, artists and composers in various formations, in concert and studio settings.
"Stephen O’Malley placed himself on the furthest right side of the stage with his guitar and pedals, acting as a servant to three stacks of amps. Drones started to flow, quite shy was my first thought, like a certain percentage of a Sunn(((o))) drone was going to happen. Then O’Malley saluted his guests and a film came on, cast on the while stage; experimental film works, possibly close-ups of the iris of an eye, flittering as when forced open. It worked perfectly as a soundtrack, the drone still going easy on the small crowd but slowly rising, no pain in my unprotected ears. O’Malley keeps layering and steps on his pedals, I feel my trachea vibrating and my mind expands on this picture of the flickering eye cast on this stage. the three amp stacks are deistic icons and this is a ritual where we worship as O’Malley interprets their voices. They are giant Daleks who’s voices stream through us. My chest is now vibrating and my guts being softly punched. I close my eyes and am happy, I am one with the layers of drone. The gathering salutes Stephen O’Malley, the “Don of Drone.” Not until I come outside and walk towards my bus I feel the physical effect of this set."
– Sigurður Harðarson