Create Illawarra Monthly Feature

Brent
Brent Williams is a composer and sound artist based in Wollongong. After studying piano at school, Brent embarked on a career as a rock musician and songwriter, recording and touring with various alternative rock bands (including the Zambian Goat Herders and more recently the experimental improv-rock band, Vvovo). Brent also has worked for 15 years as an audio engineer, both in recording studios and for live performances.

In 2004, Brent was the composer and sound designer for the Simon Luckhurst play, The Unsheltered and for Critical Mass’s production, Surface Tension.

At the Sonic Connections Convention, he performed his new piece for the Xenophone (a diamond-shaped metalophone tuned in a 53 note scale). Also at this festival, he premiered Sikanex (composed in collaboration with Dwight Mowbray), a piece for the new 16-channel CHESS surround-sound array. This year also saw the first performance of Brent’s string quartet, Zero Tolerance, Infinite Sadness.

Brent has most recently been commissioned by The Song Company to write a piece as part of their MODART ’05 series. This work will be performed in August of this year.

Gary
Around February 1961, Gary was the winner of a championship sperm race. Nine months later he was born. Then in 1975, he started playing guitar - first covering the standard rock repertoire of the time (Led Zeppelin, Cold Chisel etc etc) then gradually developing an interest in avant garde classical music and free improvisation (Derek Bailey & John Cage being the early influences).

Around 1990, the decision was made to abandon popular music & to explore improvisations using prepared guitar. Since then, he has performed as a soloist and in collaboration with various improvisors, including Jim Denley, Adam Simmons, Rik Rue, Oren Ambarchi, Rob Avenaim, Greg Kingston, Tom Fryer, Tom Fitzgerald, Mike Cooper, Sean Baxter, Dave Brown, Rod Cooper & Jon Rose. His dedication to extending the guitar's range, led him to rubbing pizza into the strings, throwing a guitar from a third storey window, nailing a guitar to a cross, writing a PhD thesis on prepared instruments and banging the guitar strings with a kitchen sink. A 1997 Australysis performance using various items from the kitchen sink was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald, revealing that Gordon Kerry ". . . most liked the salad servers".

More recently Gary has been performing with his entire family - The Von Crapp Family as his answer to Julie Andrews and the Sound of Music. At a time when "family values" are so important, we need to remember psychopaths have families too.

Performances
WILL GUTHRIE is travelling all the way from Nantes France to soak up some Aussie culture. He'll be playing in a trio with Clayton Thomas (co-ordinator of Sydney's NowNow festival and brilliant double bass player) and Gary Butler (serial guitar abuser).There'll also be an accordian duet by Warren Burt &
Catherine Schieve, and Brent Williams & HoustonDunleavy will improvise some sort of duet with whatever instruments they decide to bring along.

Wollongong City Gallery at 7:00 on July 5. $5.
Be there. Tell your friends.
(If you're coming from Sydney, check the train times -
you may not get home until the next day unless you have a car!)



	Improvised music performances by: Gary Butler Will Guthrie Clayton Thomas Warren Burt Catherine Schieve Houston Dunleavy Brent Williams *phone :* *(02) 42 969939* hearhere2002@yahoo.com.au	Feature Archives
	Brent Brent Williams is a composer and sound artist based in Wollongong. After studying piano at school, Brent embarked on a career as a rock musician and songwriter, recording and touring with various alternative rock bands (including the Zambian Goat Herders and more recently the experimental improv-rock band, Vvovo). Brent also has worked for 15 years as an audio engineer, both in recording studios and for live performances. In 2004, Brent was the composer and sound designer for the Simon Luckhurst play, The Unsheltered and for Critical Mass’s production, Surface Tension. At the Sonic Connections Convention, he performed his new piece for the Xenophone (a diamond-shaped metalophone tuned in a 53 note scale). Also at this festival, he premiered Sikanex (composed in collaboration with Dwight Mowbray), a piece for the new 16-channel CHESS surround-sound array. This year also saw the first performance of Brent’s string quartet, Zero Tolerance, Infinite Sadness. Brent has most recently been commissioned by The Song Company to write a piece as part of their MODART ’05 series. This work will be performed in August of this year. Gary Around February 1961, Gary was the winner of a championship sperm race. Nine months later he was born. Then in 1975, he started playing guitar - first covering the standard rock repertoire of the time (Led Zeppelin, Cold Chisel etc etc) then gradually developing an interest in avant garde classical music and free improvisation (Derek Bailey & John Cage being the early influences). Around 1990, the decision was made to abandon popular music & to explore improvisations using prepared guitar. Since then, he has performed as a soloist and in collaboration with various improvisors, including Jim Denley, Adam Simmons, Rik Rue, Oren Ambarchi, Rob Avenaim, Greg Kingston, Tom Fryer, Tom Fitzgerald, Mike Cooper, Sean Baxter, Dave Brown, Rod Cooper & Jon Rose. His dedication to extending the guitar's range, led him to rubbing pizza into the strings, throwing a guitar from a third storey window, nailing a guitar to a cross, writing a PhD thesis on prepared instruments and banging the guitar strings with a kitchen sink. A 1997 Australysis performance using various items from the kitchen sink was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald, revealing that Gordon Kerry ". . . most liked the salad servers". More recently Gary has been performing with his entire family - The Von Crapp Family as his answer to Julie Andrews and the Sound of Music. At a time when "family values" are so important, we need to remember psychopaths have families too. Performances WILL GUTHRIE is travelling all the way from Nantes France to soak up some Aussie culture. He'll be playing in a trio with Clayton Thomas (co-ordinator of Sydney's NowNow festival and brilliant double bass player) and Gary Butler (serial guitar abuser).There'll also be an accordian duet by Warren Burt & Catherine Schieve, and Brent Williams & HoustonDunleavy will improvise some sort of duet with whatever instruments they decide to bring along. Wollongong City Gallery at 7:00 on July 5. $5. Be there. Tell your friends. (If you're coming from Sydney, check the train times - you may not get home until the next day unless you have a car!)
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Improvised music performances by: