By the end of '97 I had this almost nightly ritual of getting stoned and
recording a 60 min. session of live electronics. All these recordings
were created by simply patch wiring guitar FX boxes into a
self-sustaining sound loop and manipulating the feedback rushing through
them. I used absolutely no instruments (synthesizers, guitar,
microphones, samplers) as source for any of these recordings. Even
though I had a computer I was still recording to either VHS cassette or
to minidisc due to concerns with PC hang ups and crashing. In 2004 I had
the intentions of finally converting over some of the few hundred hours
of audio I'd accumulated into some usable digital format and maybe try
and release something. After successfully converting a dozen or so of
these recordings directly onto an external drive I started feeling more
open to the possibility of recording with my PC. This lead me to rethink
an idea I had shelved of attempting a continuous 24 hour long live
recording session. In complete awe of Masami Akita's 50 CD, 60+ hour
MERZBOX I felt really inspired to attempt something completely absurd
like this. I started buying up tons of patch cables and hitting up pawn
shops for used guitar pedals. The recording setup was to include a Mac
G4, external hard drive and two VHS decks to use as a failsafe in case
this recording failed digitally. For days I wired and tested different
combinations of effects but even with the amount of preparation I did my
first two attempts both failed around the 4 hour mark from dead air. On
June 28th, 2004 I committed myself to having another go at it. I bought
a couple packs of Newport's, blunts and some Adderall to get my head
back in the game when I needed it. I also had a couple large jugs of
water that I knew I'd wind up having to piss in once this shit got
rolling. At 1AM the following morning I pressed record on what would
turn out to be one of the most self defeating experiences of my life.
Only six hours into the session my mind was already starting to unravel.
During one of many hyper critical moments I cried real tears realizing
how committed I had become in this. Around sixteen hours in I was so
mentally raped I found myself picking at my face and plucking hairs out
of my beard with my fingers. I remember asking myself over and over
"What kind of asshole does this shit?". I honestly lost real trust in
myself that day in regards to what I was doing with my life. By the time
this thing was finally wrapping up I was so bat shit crazy I literally
thought I was hearing voices speaking to me through the static. I passed
out minutes after powering down and woke up some 14 hours later to a
headache, difficulty breathing and a 15.24 GB audio file that wouldn't
load. Searching through some old hard drives a couple months back I came
across the audio file for this recording. I had always believed the
file was corrupt but never could bring myself to delete it. I figured I
take another stab at opening it and amazingly I was successfully able to
import it in Final Cut Pro X. Not trusting I'd ever be able to open the
file again I immediately chopped and exported it as x24, 60 Min.
tracks. After reviewing the material I have to say I'm personally not
all that impressed with what I heard but for all it's flaws I felt it
was still a stunt worth sharing with others -all 24 strange hours of it.
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