A lot of this applies to what I was doing when I was a true DiYer I suppose: recording with 4 tracks, bouncing, reducing noise, and all that. I now record with (hopefully better!) Pro gear which is a different situation altogether. Nonetheless I feel this rite of passage (which I encourage in my scientific research also) is useful, and perhaps even essential, to learn to make music/art that is of high equality, not just in terms of composition and basic sound recording, but also production and engineering principles. By this I don't mean that hi-fi production is the best way. I'm a big believer in noise in a Cageish sense (check out some of my music and views in my Proteomusic project if you'd like). I just mean that music should be a form of true self expression and not done to please others. This is a hard problem I admit, and does not meant that I don't extremely value music as entertainment, but that is not my goal in creation.
My musical story is as follows: back in high school, I was a total dreg to society and had nothing better to do. So I got together a few of my friends and created a group (we were called the Morons and we even had a song that was called The Rap of the Morons (which I re-recorded and put on my first album). We played a couple of gigs, but for some reason, it all fizzled out. Then I went to college and became an academic and computing nerd (I still am one). I went through grad school with 2 guitars, going back to making self-indulgent forms of music, and releasing my first album. I now have a doctorate, and science doesn't give me much time, but I am working on my second release (slowly), looking for more ways to make noise!
I have worked with a few bands, but I decided that I'm better off on my own. I bought myself a 4-track recorder and use the hard disk on PC for my recordings. I decided to call myself TWISTED HELICES.
Other names I thought of before I settled down on one and their logos (click on the name) are here for your viewing pleasure.
Credit for the Algorhythms idea goes to Maureen and credit for the Twisted Helix name goes to Jonathan. There's an explanation for changing the name from Twisted Helix to Twisted Helices.
Regarding the kind of music I make: the more warped it is, the better. My primary influences are Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and Primus. But I'm more interested in making music right now along the lines of Ween and The Residents, and experimenting with noise.
