G.A.M.S. – dto.
Format: 180gr LP / download
Release date: september 27th 2019
The first album of the new duo G.A.M.S. (ANDI STECHER /
drums and GUIDO MÖBIUS / feedback) with special appearances by MICK
HARRIS (EX NAPALM DEATH, PAINKILLER, SCORN a.o.) and YUKO MATSUYAMA
(HULA HUT & THE SEVEN SEAS).
Feedback leads a
life of it’s own. It is an uncontrollable sonic accident, usually
ear-numbingly loud but sometimes also delicately ethereal. The essence
of feedback is being released from bonds, its path is always one of
intensification and escape. Its a physical phenomenon and hard to
predict.
The duo G.A.M.S. makes music on the edge of losing
control. A restless drummer works his way through waves of feedback,
which span the full spectrum of frequencies from pumping bass to the
highest tones. With the pulse of the feedback ANDI STECHER’s drumming,
at times feverish and driven, then distanced and abstract, creates
polyrhythmic structures. What comes into being is a maelstrom of sound
and rhythm – music beyond every style, the power of which lies in its
rawness.
STECHER and MÖBIUS switch the roles of desired and
undesired sound and thereby create pieces like archaic sculptures.
Their music is raw and powerful, but can also be soft and etheric.
Sometimes it feels like a delicate organic painting. But here’s one
thing that G.A.M.S. music certainly isn’t – predictable. The duo uses
freely improvised spaces and reacts to unplanned sonic events. And
despite all it’s seeming randomness, G.A.M.S. still manage to compose
clearly structured pieces and to reconstruct these in their live
program.
Through a cut-up technique patterns of feedback sound
fragments are juxtaposed and interlocked in varied combinations. These
hypnotic loops move between rhythm and melodies, a web that is carried
along by a driving drum set, accents of sub-bass and layers of feedback
drones.
The playful drum style of ANDI STECHER is far from
conventional rock drumming. Instead he experiments with various
materials – for instance by preparing his cymbals with chains or
putting different objects on the skin of his drums. He makes offbeat
meters and complicated grooves sound easy and light. The same goes for
changes in timing or dense textures comprising ghost notes. On the
other hand he plays straight forward beats dynamically and with power.
STECHER’s partner in G.A.M.S. is GUIDO MÖBIUS who (with the help
of a guitar amp, a microphone and effects) creates live feedbacks which
can be massive and noisy but also fragile and gentle. Fleeting and
concrete sounds join into dense textures. Feedback is never static
rather always in a process of change.
Musical guests on the album
are ex-NAPALM DEATH drummer and eletronic producer MICK HARRIS (SCORN,
FRET) contributing drones and field recordings and the versatile singer
YUKO MATSUYAMA (HULA HUT & THE SEVEN SEAS).
all music played, produced and mixed by G.A.M.S.
G.A.M.S. are Andi Stecher (drums / percussion) & Guido Möbius (feedbacks)
cover artwork by Bruno Ferro Xavier da Silva
layout & design by kaidoh
drums recorded by Dirk Dresselhaus at ZONE, Berlin
mastered & cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin