A program recorded live at the Clocktower in August 2011 curated by and co-produced with the Index Feastival's Victoria Keddie featuring extended sets by Paul Metzger, Lary 7, and David First with John Colpitts (aka Kid Millions). Blues to Drone Service was organized around the idea of sound innovators and the unique personalities embodied in their customized instruments. We have organized this broadcast in three parts, allowing listeners to jump ahead or return later to a mid-point. The program runs over 2 hours.

Part 1: Paul Metzger plays a heavily modified 23 string banjo. His sonic vocabulary ranges from “deeply satisfying & impulsive outer cosmos ragadelia to clangorous, rapidly punctuated percussive workouts.”

Part 2: Lary 7 is a multimedia alchemist able to coax profane, inscrutable sounds and images from numerous and mysterious devices. His work has been described as that of a magician or scientist — one who may not always be certain of the outcome, but who is determined to see it through to its (il)logical end.

Part 3: NOTE: this set (First/Colpitts) is not available for on-demand listening..

David First is known for his dense, mesmerizing drone structures, as well as his intense, minimalist approach to the guitar. First has long been a pivotal figure in the world of experimental music.

John Colpitts (aka Kid Millions) is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and writer who is perhaps best known as a drummer and member of the band Oneida. In 2010 Colpitts founded the drum ensemble Man Forever to perform his experimental drum compositions that utilize carefully tuned drums combined with aggressive and extended performances.

Blues to Drone Service is part of INDEX, a festival of individuals and groups actively engaged media culture that strives to blur the vocabulary of science and art, dissect contemporary media culture, and further the multi textural-international landscape. The festival is directed and curated by Victoria Keddie and Kristin Trethewey.