Smegma celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, with a riotously genre-defying, DIY outlook that stretches back to the Los Angeles Free Music Society scene of the 70s. With a starting ethos of “NO HIPPY MUSIC” and a regularly evolving line-up that has seen over 100 people perform, record with, and/or help work on projects with them, Smegma have forged their own restless approach to “primitive suburban folk”. Masterfully slicing through surf, out-jazz, garage, tape abuse, deck mangling, noise, collage, they pave a golden highway between formulaic funtimes and freeform brainfrying, helping catalyze emergent Japanoise and being heartily cited by the likes of John Olson and Thurston Moore.

SMEGMA

Smegma's roots lie in the Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) scene of the mid-'70s, and yet this long-running avant-rock collective are one of the few groups from that era that are still active today. With the musicians hidden behind ridiculous pseudonyms, Smegma offered a strange psychedelic improvisational music, throwing in all sorts of odd instruments as well as tapes, and turntables.



The group began in Pasadena, CA in 1973 as a reaction to the bloated fusion rock of the day. They were unaware that other nearby groups had also formed to perform similar free-form experimental music. They became part of a gang of similar noise artists who gathered almost nightly in the backroom of the Poo-Bah record store in Pasadena, which in 1975 merged with the LAFMS. Smegma have always been a loosely run collective, and early members included Amy Zonbambi, Chucko D.K. Fatts, Ju Suk Reet Meate, Dennis Duck, Cheez It-Ritz, Cheese-Bro, Dr. Id, Dr. Odd, and Reed Burn. Ace Ford Farren, who joined the group in early 1974, introduced Smegma to crazed street performer and Zappa protégé Wild Man Fisher, and in two sessions, one on New Years Day of 1975 and one a few months later, they recorded some tracks with Fisher on vocals. Smegma moved to Portland, OR by the end of 1975 but remained in touch with the rest of the LAFMS crowd. After appearing on various LAFMS compilations, their first LP, Glamour Girl 1941/Five Years Wasted was recorded and produced in their own studio in July 1978 and released by LAFMS the following year. They also released several 7" singles that same year on their own Pigface label. The next year found them sharing a 7" with industrial pioneer Non (Boyd Rice), released by Mute.

"In one sense, Smegma have always made party music, collecting convivial human activity that swells and recedes at unpredictable intervals. As with the spontaneous collectivism of descendants like No-Neck Blues Band, Acid Mothers Temple and Pengo, Mirage conveys the rousing feeling that anyone could show up and join in." - The WIRE on Mirage

Throughout the '80s Smegma kept a low profile and continued to put out LPs, singles, and cassettes on their own label, and occasionally gigged live. With their worldwide reputation firmly cemented, their LP Nattering Naybobs of Negativity was released by the U.K. label Dead Mans Curve and the LP Smell the Remains by the German label Dom. More albums came out in the mid-'90s on the Portland label Tim/Kerr, including the LP Smegma Plays Merzbow/Merzbow Plays Smegma with Japanese noise artist Merzbow. In the late '90s, rock & roll author Richard Meltzer became their vocalist, adding his verbal ramblings and sardonic wit to their improvised sound.

(Artist Biography by Rolf Semprebon)

smegmamusic.com/

CONTROL UNIT

Control Unit is the duo of Silvia Kastel and Ninni Morgia. They released their first album “The Fugitives” on Backwards which has been highly praised by influential musicians and critics such as Julian Cope, who made their LP vinyl of the month in May 2012, defining their music a mix of old school industrial (Throbbing Gristle and Factrix above all), Suicide, Pere Ubu and no wave (Lydia Lunch).

Silvia Kastel has studied sound engineering and electronic music in New York and has attended workshops with Joan La Barbara, collaborated with Seymour Glass of Bananafish magazine and has been running the Ultramarine record label since 2009. Her work mostly focusses on extended vocal techniques, synthesizer experimentation and beat/percussion work.

Ninni Morgia is the guitarist and founder of the noise rock band White Tornado in 1993, with whom he has released albums and split with Oxbow and Colossamite. He has played with Roy Paci, Gianni Gebbia and lived many years in New York where he has worked with Lee Ranaldo, William Parker, Daniel Carter, Kevin Shea, Peter Evans and many others. From 2005 to 2007 he was part of the psych rock band La Otracina, with which he released two albums on the Holy Mountain record label.

"…phenomenal minimal synth / cold wave / Euro industrial with references to the experiments of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire" - The WIRE contributor David Keenan

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TUSK FESTIVAL

Both Smegma and Control Unit will be playing this year's Tusk Festival which runs from 11-13 October at the Star & Shadow, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

More information and tickets at tuskfestival.com/