Life is never boring. When I hear people whine about what to do and that nothing ever happens, I usually just stare at them in amazement. On the other hand, sometimes I have to whine that too many things are happening at the same time. Usually a mix of good and bad stuff. 2014 was definitely one of those energetic years of pendulum-like abundance.
The bad things first, perhaps… I lost two dear comrades within just a couple of months. Unexpectedly. Out of the blue and into the black.
Patrick “Doz”, “The Lama” Lundborg, ca 1992, at Uppsala Högar.
Patrick Lundborg (1967-2014) was a great friend from my formative years in Stockholm, when the fuzz-induced garage scene that included my fanzine Lollipop turned into considerably more psychedelic adventures. It’s hard to fully realize the importance of Patrick’s wit and intelligence, but it was there from beginning to end. His masterpiece book Psychedelia – An Ancient Culture, A Modern Way of Life has just been released as an e-book, and I strongly recommend you check it out. But, as always, get the real book too. Some of Patrick’s later writings can also be found in the available issues of The Fenris Wolf. Brilliant essays, one of a kind. His website is being kept alive and I recommend going there.
My little text about Patrick can be read here.
Henrik Møll, Copenhagen, May 2014
Henrik Møll (1960-2014) was my all time best friend and it’s still hard to process what his demise has meant to me. It permeated most aspects of the second half of the year and continues to do so. Henrik was an important part of my life and creativity and one of those rare telepathic minds that are so invaluable. Certain friendships are timeless and it doesn’t matter if you meet every other day or only once a year – the total resonance is always there no matter what. A demise therefore creates a huge vacuum.
As Henrik was such an integrated and inspiring part of getting the documentary series An Art Apart (AAA) off the ground, I will dedicate all the films I make to his memory.
My little text about Henrik can be read here.
But there were also good things happenings of course. As mentioned, AAA got off the ground, The Fenris Wolf 7 was published, as was Raisonances and Reasonances. The exhibition Imprisoned Sentences was shown at Martin Bryder Gallery in Lund, Larry’s Corner in Stockholm and Galleri Granen in Sundsvall. The exhibition Fanzinera was shown at Glasgalleriet in Ludvika and Taverna Brillo in Stockholm. Cotton Ferox had an unusually busy year, with four performances (Stockholm, Trondheim, Copenhagen, Skopje), all peculiar and rewarding in their own way.
Stockholm meant an event called Cotton Ferox & Friends at Fylkingen and included Møll & Juel from Denmark, Kroll Splint, Gustaf Broms and Max Fredrikson. It was a truly experimental evening, where the chaos seeped and leaped in all directions. During the final part of the Cotton Ferox show, we invited all of the participants to join us for a final onslaught on normality. It was… Weird. Sometimes too much of a good thing is exactly that!
Here To Go 2014 in Trondheim was special because we weren’t first fiddle. We were backing or working together with UK performance artist-painter-sculptor Angela Edwards and all lights were on her. No wonder. Her psycho-sexual rituals on stage are truly something else, and I had a hard time focusing on what it is that I’m supposed to do (not always sure what that is). The entire Here To Go event was a great success, with very memorable performances also by Z’ev. Kudos to my co-promotor Martin Palmer and the Trondheim locals for making this such a successful and memorable event!
Copenhagen was part of the centennial celebration of seminal American author William S Burroughs (1914-1997), and we were invited to perform at the renowned experimental haven Mayhem. We were joined by excellent Danish trumpet player Rasmus Juel in an ad-libbed tribute to our precious Henrik Møll.
To finish off this dark year’s musical adventures, Cotton Ferox participated in the Skopje Music Conference in Macedonia. We were joined by the lovely local DJ and artist Galatheia to make our audio-visual dream scenario even more suggestive. Galatheia recounted one of her magical dreams in Macedonian to our bizarre soundscapes and the psychedelic films of Emily Steindl and Gustaf Broms, and I’m sure the audience didn’t really know what hit them. By then, it was too late anyway.
An Art Apart hit ten productions after a trip to the US during the summer. Currently, I’m working on films with/about the following artists: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Michael Gira, Kenneth Anger, Gustaf Broms, Vicki Bennett, Andrew McKenzie, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Angela Edwards, Charles Gatewood and Mark McCloud. Most of them will be ready during 2015, so it’ll be an exciting film year, for sure.
Inside the time machine… With Freddie Wadling during the summer of 2014.
I also finished one very special film, Ingenting är sant, allting är möjligt. In 1988 I made a film on Super-8 with the Swedish singer Freddie Wadling. Very primitive stuff, with some interviews and some live bits. In the summer of 2014, we re-created that film with the same questions and new recordings of the same songs and then blended old and new versions into something quite beautiful. A very strange temporal catapult! The film turned out really well, and it will be premiered early next year.
Beautiful Scarlet Imprints after the London launch of Reasonances.
Mainly, this was a year during which I increased my writing in all possible ways, and it was reflected also in the increased publishing. The anthology of articles, texts, lectures etc – Reasonances – was published in the autumn by Scarlet Imprint, and I was and still am overjoyed about that. The book itself is beautiful and sums up the work of the past years. Looking at it in that way, as a summing up process, makes me long for a future of more writing and more lecturing. In fact, that future has already begun. The softbound edition is now available. Please go here!
A French version of the book was published by Camion Noir and is called Raisonances. More info here!
While in London for the release of Reasonances, I was interviewed by Gordon White of Rune Soup. That conversation can be heard (and seen) right here.
A chunk of the later material in Reasonances consists of lectures. I’ll keep up the pace during 2015 with more lectures. It’s fun to write, to deliver and also a highly cultivated form of communication when it’s done and one drifts into a related conversation about the topic in question. More of that! Rest assured I’ll do my bit, no matter what. If you would like to organize a lecture by me, feel free to get in touch. For the most part, I’m easy to please.
Highbrow Lowlife released some Cotton Ferox and some of my solo stuff. More info on that here. Sonik Sombres released an album I made together with UK artist Akoustik Timbre Frequency, Heated Wanderlust, and it’s one of my favorites so far. Can be listened to right here.
On the whole, a very peculiar year. Very dark, heavy, Saturnian. I cannot say I enjoyed it but I’m hopingly smart enough to learn from the mistakes (my own included) and also realize that something good can indeed come out of something bad. Or perhaps that’s just compensatory comforting? 2015 will tell. If you want to keep up with what’s going on in 2015, please sign up for my newsletter. That way, you’ll know about my whereabouts and mischiefs. Let’s make the new year a good one!
