Gavilán Rayna Russom
Gavilán Rayna Russom |
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Gavin Russom is a musician and artist signed to DFA Records. Over the years, Russom has released music under various guises, including Black Leotard Front, Black Meteoric Star and The Crystal Ark, as well as collaborative work with Delia Gonzalez. Russom lives in New York City.
Central to Russom's aesthetic is the search for unity between man, machine, and art, which has translated into Russom designing and building custom analog synthesizers, both for his own music and for others'. Known as "The Wizard" for his technical prowess (as well as for his signature flowing red beard), Russom has built instruments for the likes of James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Tim Goldsworthy (UNKLE, The Loving Hand) and Bjorn Copeland (Black Dice).
Biography
Russom was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1974. Expressing a profound interest in music from an early age, Russom spent his teenage years exploring drone and feedback using tape loops and mixers and playing in psychedelic noise bands with Michael Kelley (Kelley Polar) and with Brian Chippendale (Lightning Bolt, Mindflayer). Russom went on to study computer music, theory, composition and improvisation at Bard College from 1994 to 1996. A growing disillusionment with traditional compositional modes along with a move to New York in 1997 opened Russom's music to more experimental forms of expression. In 1998 his collaboration with Delia Gonzalez began, a project that would lead to a number of releases on DFA. Russom moved to Berlin in 2004 where, inspired by that city's flourishing electronic music scene as well as Germany's history of psychedelic music, he produced three singles under the name Black Meteoric Star, which would eventually be collected and released as a self-titled LP in 2009. As of 2010, Russom has relocated to New York where he is producing music as The Crystal Ark.
Discography
Albums
- The Days of Mars (with Delia Gonzalez) (DFA, 2005)
- Black Meteoric Star (as Black Meteoric Star) (DFA, 2005)
Singles
- "El Monte" 12" (with Delia Gonzalez) (DFA, 2003)
- "Casual Friday" 12" (as Black Leotard Front) (DFA, 2004)
- "Relevee" 2x12" (with Delia Gonzalez) (DFA, 2006) (featuring remixes by Carl Craig and Baby Ford)
- "Death Tunnel/World Eater" 12" (as Black Meteoric Star) (DFA, 2009)
- "Dominatron/Anthem" 12" (as Black Meteoric Star) (DFA, 2009)
- "Dream Catcher/Dawn" 12" (as Black Meteoric Star) (DFA, 2009)
- "The City Never Sleeps" 12" (as The Crystal Ark) (DFA, 2010)