Any Questions? - Darkness (Special Edition)

Release Notes:
This special edition of Any Questions? - Darkness celebrates the 29th anniversary of the electro-terrorist unit’s release of pure audio sculpture.  The electronic experiments and sonic soundscapes contained within herald the beginnings of the Imbued Vagary project.

Credits:
Releases May 07, 2021

ANY QUESTIONS? is comprised of:
Ttam Troll - Synthesizers, Sequencing, Sampling, and Drum Programming
MC2P4 - Synthesizers, Sequencing, and Sampling

Tracks 1-3 Produced, Composed, Engineered, Performed, and Mixed by: Ttam Troll
Tracks 1-3 Additional Sampling by: MC2P4

Tracks 4-6 Produced, Composed, Engineered, and Performed by: MC2P4
Tracks 4-6 Mixed by: Ttam Troll

Mastered by Tommy T Rapisardi at DSBP Records

Original Cover Design and Layout by: Ttam Troll
Special Edition Cover Design and Layout by: Ttam Troll

Special Edition Illustration by Mike Bohatch

Tracks 1-3 recorded at Floating Fish Studios August 1992
Tracks 4-6 recorded at Floating Fish Studios June 1992

This album has been produced on the Atari 1040STe using Steinberg Cubase 2.01 software

Copyright ©1992/2021 Floating Fish Music

Procession

Industrial Electronic Rock from the Album A Rush and a Thrill Available NOW!

Freakshow

Songs Left After The Nod (Vol. 1)

Dodge This

During the Fall of 1987, Scott and I began to search for musicians to form a new band. Our previous band, The Secret Society (rev1), had disbanded after Dirk Frey began to pursue Experimental Jazz music which didn't quite fit with what we wanted to do and Larry Lee Fiber had packed up Melqwar (sp?), the Fiber family station wagon, with all his belongings and headed to Los Angeles, CA to pursue a career in the music business. Larry's move to LA also deserves a special note because, with his move, there was no longer a direct Fiber family presence in Shippensburg. Though their shadows were long from UAS (Underhill Albany Station) and LA, things were never quite the same.

Not to be deterred in our pursuit to form a new band, Scott and I visited a band practice session at the home of Griff "Take a Whiff" Townsend in the Fall of 1987 where we saw Tim "LTJTHC" Harrell on drums and Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan on guitar. We liked what we heard from Tim and "Pap" and shortly after that practice we asked them to join the band that we were forming. They said yes and we then collectively began our pursuit for a lead singer.

While attending SU (Shippensburg University), Scott met a guy named Brad Shaeffer whom he had some classes with. Brad told Scott that he was a singer so we arranged to go over to his apartment and audition him. We went over and Brad sang Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs. Here's where, in hindsight, we should have realized it wasn't going to work out. We really didn't have any similar musical tastes but we needed a singer and he had a microphone (and a "very" small Gorilla amp) so we recruited him and our band was complete.

Now, since we had a band, we needed to find a place to practice and to line up our first gig. Here's where our friend Kurt Smith came into the picture. Kurt was attending SU and living at 9 Queen St in Shippensburg with some of his future Pi Lamba Phi brothers. They were planning a New Year's Eve party for 12/31/87 and asked us if we would play at the party.

At this point, we still hadn't rehearsed together as a band and there was only a week left before the party. Since it was Christmas break for those of us in college and high school, we were able to practice every day but, needless to say, we had a lot of ground to cover. We needed to pick some songs to play and learn how to play them. We ended up with a 7 song set list which included Pung (an original song), Wild Flower (The Cult), Monster Man (The Suburbs), Need You Tonight (INXS), Progressions (an original song), Misty Mountain Hop (Led Zeppelin), and Primitive Love Rights (Mondo Rock).

In addition to picking songs to play and learning how to play them, we also had to pick a name for the band. We had been rehearsing in the basement of 9 Queen St which was also to be the site for our first gig. The basement was affectionately referred to as "The Dungeon" and, as you can see in the picture above, the basement was pretty nasty and was equally "smelly". As an homage to our rehearsal space, we decided on "Dungeon Aire" as the name for our band.

We managed to get through the show and it was well received by the partygoers. They didn't seem to notice that Matt Skirpan's guitar was severely out of tune for most of the set. This was the only gig that we did as "Dungeon Aire" and shortly after this show, we added Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson on guitar to the band and changed our name to "This Mistress". More on that in future posts.

There was a jam box recording made of this entire show and, without further ado, here is our version of Monster Man (The Suburbs)...

Dungeon Aire Live 12/31/87

Dungeon Aire - Monster Man

We start off Floating Fish Studios Ttam Troll Plays Bass Week with one of my favorite early Any Questions? songs. This unrelenting aggressive track is full of angst about the human condition, a cynical view of society, and the youthful frustrations of trying to change it all. This song was written and recorded at Der Palast des Goldes in March 1990 and features two blistering bass solos.

After I wrote and sequenced the music for this track, MC2P4 joined me in the studio and we recorded several live takes with him adding keyboard accents and backing vocals as I screamed lead vocals and played live bass. The end result is a great mixture of cold synthesized sound with harsh human aggression that we've rarely matched since.

Rather than trying relay how I was feeling at the time I wrote the lyrics to this song, I'll simply share the words with you. My mental and emotional state will become quite apparent.

I'm living in waste
I try to break free
I'm trying to get out to make you see
This is not how life should be
Living in this sympathy

Follow me, talk to me
I'll try to show you the way
Follow me, talk to me
I'll try to show you the way
The way

I'm tired of this, I'm tired of this
I want to get away
I'm tired of this, I'm tired of this
Oh just go away

People always telling me
That I'm not OK
Living in their glass houses
Letting life slip by
Watching their bank accounts
Grow above their heads
Waiting for the day
Their spouse is dead
Is dead
Waiting for the day
Their spouse is dead
Is dead

Dead (repeat)

I guess I had some issues. Here's the track. Enjoy!

Any Questions? - Follow

This sonic experiment culled from the FFS II Synth Jam 2010 - '80s Style session was conducted on 05/15/10.

Thee Sub One Genius' interplay between a Korg ElecTribe ER-1 and ES-1 created the rhythmic foundation from which he, MC2P4, and I manufactured this fractured yet oddly uplifting improvised instrumental. Always seemingly on the verge of derailment, we held it together, with the help of Ali, for the 7+ minute running time of the experiment.

This experiment is titled TR-3.

Imbued Vagary - TR-3 (Live at FFS II 05/15/10)

Legend has it that on one early June evening in 2010, a FFS II Synth Jam was held. The ensemble gathered included Dave Chandler (aka Thee Sub One Genius), M Scott McConnell (aka MC2P4), and Matt Norcross (aka Ttam Troll).

During the improvised recordings, which were dubbed the Punish Your Machine sessions, the trio of synthesists became hungry and ventured forth from the studio in search of nourishment. Their search ended in the land of Fujiyama. It was there, at the hibachi table, where Chocolate Japanese Noodle Baby (CJNB) was born.

This 11+ minute audio sculpture is our sonic representation of the experience. It was recorded on 06/05/10.

Imbued Vagary - CJNB (Live at FFS II 06/05/10)

This opening drone from FFS II Synth Jam 2010 - Drones on 07/24/10 captures a performance by Dave Chandler (aka Thee Sub One Genius - pictured above) and M Scott McConnell (aka MC2P4). It set a perfect tone for the sessions and, upon my arrival and a trip to Fujiyama, we delved further into atonal soundscapes.

This improv was titled TR-1.

Imbued Vagary - TR-1 (Live at FFS II 07/24/10)

This was the first time since 02/20/10 where all original FFS Synth Jam members convened and we wasted no time diving deep into the electronic plasma pool.

The ensemble gathered for this session included (from L to R) Tim Harrell (aka LTJTHC), Dave Chandler (aka Thee Sub One Genius), Matt Norcross (aka Ttam Troll), Stephen Saputelli (aka Steve O Klock), and, not shown, M Scott McConnell (aka MC2P4).

The first audio to surface from the inaugural FFS Synth Jam 2012 is this improvisation titled TR-1.

Imbued Vagary - TR-1 (Live at FFS 11/24/12)

Floating Fish Studios held its ninth in a series of Synth Jam Sessions at FFS II on 08/06/11. The ensemble gathered included (from L to R) Matt Norcross (aka Ttam Troll), Dave Chandler (aka Thee Sub One Genius), and M Scott McConnell (aka MC2P4).

Through a pit of synth bass wash and noisy volume pots, this track, titled TR-1, slowly coalesces before dematerializing leaving the listener wondering what just happened.

Imbued Vagary - TR-1 (Live at FFS II 08/06/11)

Imbued Vagary - Captured Moments 2

Release Notes:
In categorizing ones own projects, a template of sorts begins to emerge. One of those is this series. Imbued Vagary is proud to present to you a collection of musicians as well as a collection of “captured moments”. In this case, the second in a series. Just as the name implies, these are moments of raw electronic improvisation, complete with all the “imperfections” one would expect from such an endeavor. Concepts thought up and run with on the spur of the moment. Captured moments of time in an overall fabric of synthesized space.

Credits:
releases February 26, 2021 

The Imbued Vagary Collective 2021: 
Dan “The Man” 
Guillermo Pizarro 
Ho Magos 
James Krabiel 
LTJTHC 
Mary Mary 
mC2p4 
Paul Doppelganga 
Steve O Man 
Thee Sub One Genius 
Ttam Troll 

All live improvisations performed and recorded by Imbued Vagary at Floating Fish Studios II 

Mastered by Tommy T Rapisardi at DSBP Records 

Copyright ©2021 Floating Fish Music

Imbued Vagary - Caddo Issaquah

First mutant to ascend from the plasma pool after the Cy-Tech Wars. Skilled in cybernetics and data manipulation. Exhibits an extreme appetite for blood and kills for his own pleasure.

Imbued Vagary - TR-3 (Live at FFS II 05/15/10)

Ttam Troll

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