dp re/searches and ponders existences and behaviourisms humanimalistically. sound as communication in direct and primal form, a language, a tool of metaphysics, a conscience and a consciousness. opposing the omnipresent restriction and reduction of life and living. sound communications that activate primordial shared emotions otherwise hidden under the debris of civilisation. inviting rumination, encouraging intervention, endorsing catharsis. therapeutical stimulation is acknowledged. sonic activism, ritual protest music.

methods are audio de/construction, psycho-acoustics, sonic rituals, composition and performance. tools are voice, body, field recordings, electronics, objects, video.

topically dp might touch on environmental sensitisation, sentient awareness, animal and human rights, with existentialist connotations, but more so he enunciates how these and related topics interconnect, in a distinct way. dp rings in the era of humanimal.

dp has been sonically active for over 25 years, has appeared on more than 190 releases and has played around 500 concerts in 40 countries.

ritual protest music, sonic activism, humanimalism. composition, audio art, psycho-acoustics, experimental noise, musique concrète, performance. voice, microphones, objects, electronics, field recordings, video.

SCHIMPFLUCH GRUPPE * PERVERTS IN WHITE SHIRTS * DEAD PENI * OHNE * KETSU NO ANA * DP & FRANCISCO MEIRINO * DP & G*PARK * SCHIMPFLUCH ASSOCIATES * PK * TOWER OF BEEF / DOUG & CHUCK / D&S * FEAR OF GOD

dp has performed, recorded & worked with: Rudolf Eb.er, Marc Zeier, Francisco Meirino, Daniel Löwenbrück, Joke Lanz, GX Jupitter-Larsen, The New Blockaders, Phil Vane, Reto Kühne, Tom Smith, Reto Mäder, Antoine Chessex, Christian Weber, Masonna, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Randy H.Y. Yau, Scott Arford, John Wiese, Mark Durgan, Damion Romero, Ben Jones, Has Gaylani, Kid Commando, Leticia Castaneda, Tomasz Twardawa, Neil Campbell, Eric Boros, Stephen Thomas, Monno, Lucas Abela, Mario Löffel, Mike Reber, Cornelia Hesse-Honegger, Rani Zager, Eran Sachs, Alex Drool, David Opp, Alexei Borisov, Olga Nosova, Aspec(t), Pei-Wen Liu, Chris Galarreta and many more…

and has released on these fine labels: Schimpfluch, Tochnit Aleph, Blossoming Noise, Ideal Recordings, Monotype Records, Rrr, Alku, Entr’acte, Fragment Factory, Heart & Crossbone, Ini Itu, Nihilist, Scrotum Records, Noise Below, Absurd, Urbsounds and many more.

current live sets:

the LIVE ACTION is an actionistic and physical performance that is constantly evolving. with live-loops and samples of different body and voice sounds and prepared backing tapes it creates a sonic ritual, an audio exorcism, a liberating catharsis through sound, sometimes more compositional, sometimes more performative. it communicates the idea of “humanimal”, a progressive, empathic conscience that understands the human animal as part of a whole and has overcome the erroneous religious, material and supremacist phases of evolution. this set combines existential, personal, political and philosophical elements into a sonic statement.

the VIDEO ACTION is an actionistic and physical performance accompanied by visuals. loops and samples of voice and objects are played live over prepared sonic structures and follow a compositional narrative. the visuals communicate personal and existential matters, questions, thoughts and criticisms, on personal, social and global levels. this set is an evocation of humanimal, a sonic ritual, a catharsis, an audio-visual exorcism or a subjective type of shamanist healing.

the FIELD RECORDINGS set uses raw and untreated recordings made in natural habitats in thailand, vietnam, indonesia, ecuador and switzerland, of insects, amphibians, mammals, weather and other natural, non-human phenomena. individual tracks are layered and mixed into a composition. no effects or manipulations of the sound sources are applied. this set evokes a force of nature and addresses the importance of the insect world for human existence in the form of an accompanying text on a leaflet distributed in the audience at the end of the set.

dp is guilty of hypocrisy by adding to the pollution problem through travelling to play live in: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tasmania, Ukraine, USA

and at these Festivals: Luff Lausanne, Avanto Helsinki, Liquid Architecture Sydney, CCC Bern, Observatori Valencia, Ieperfest Ieper, Beyond Music Los Angeles, New Music For A Final Mess San Francisco, Crashcourse Berlin, Harbinger Soundclash Vol. 1 London, Termite Club Leeds, Kokeko Paris, Overgaden Sound Art Copenhagen, Opdrift/Drifting Mankind Enschede, No Fun Fest New York, Nojzfest Ljubljana, Avmotional Bukarest, Musica Genera Sczcecin, Liquid Architecture Melbourne, Alt Music Auckland, Biennale Athens, Triebjagd Bern, Theremin Moscow, Primate Arena Tel Aviv, Ertz Bera, Neon Marshmallow Chicago, Colour Out Of Space Brighton, Cocart Torun, Altera Napoli, Asim’tria Cusco, Saint Ghetto Bern, Industrial Noise Fest Curitiba, Akouphène Geneva, Supersimetria Barcelona, LUFF Tokyo, Bergen International Festival, Theaterspektakel Zürich, Rue Du Nord Lausanne, Tam Tuumb Rome, Sonor Festival Nantes, Noisefest Kortijk, Shards Of Ordnance Birmingham, Sound Around Kaliningrad, Screamscape Fribourg, Openair Wipkingen, Flussi Avellino, Tokyo Noise Zürich, Epicurean Escapism Berlin, Bruisme Poitiers, Ende Tymes New York City, IOIC Silent Film Marathon Zürich, Bruitisme La Chaux de Fonds, ZNFI Trbovlje, NNOI Festival, Wolimierz Borderline Noise Festival, Ondulor Festival Geneva, Festivalkongress Fieldrecording Bremen, Textures Festival London, Kyiv International Biennal, Bruitisme Bordeaux, Synthposium Moscow

electronic tuesday/praha, september 2018 (podcast with interview and new excerpts)

15 questions/berlin, february 2018 (interview in english)

radio international/kyiv, november 2017 (radio piece)

fyh/poland, august 2017 (interview in polish)

animals sounds/london, may 2017 (podcast & interview)

heathen harvest/california, may 2017 (interview in english)

bnr/sofia, may 2017 (interview in bulgarian)

sygma/moscow, september 2016 (interview in russian)

pan african space station/cape town, september 2016 (radio session/spoken word piece)

continent/new york, august 2016 (text piece)

guests from chaos/greece april 2016 (podcast)

a propos de minos/nancy feb 2016 (radio live action & impro session)

the wrong rock show/cape town december 2015 (podcast)

vice/milano august 2015 (interview in italian)

african paper/berlin august 2015 (interview in german)

blackened disco/moscow june 2015 (podcast)

coltra/moscow april 2015 (interview in russian)

radioart106fm/israel august 2014 (podcast with humanimalism manifesto read by meira asher)

the wire: listen july 2014 (article)

ràdio web MACBA ‘on duration’ curated by dp (february 2014) (podcast)

noisepaper/tashkent june 2013 (interview in kyrillic)

ethical magazine/spain may 2013 (interview in spanish, pages 18 - 29) english version

norient/bern june 2012 (interview & podcast)

wfmu blog/USA april 2012 (interview)

luff does tokyo festival/CH+JP april 2012 (schimpfluch interview)

soma/sao paulo october 2011 (interview in portuguese)

time out/tel aviv december 2010 (interview in hebrew)

delirious insomniac/chicago april 2010 (guest podcast)

tbwb/nyc june 2006 (interview)

download bio as pdf (english)

download bio as pdf (deutsch)

download photos

dp@tochnit-aleph.com

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dp is a sonic activist, composer, performer and researcher based in Zürich, Switzerland. born in Zug, Switzerland in early 1969 to a french mother and a british father.

is impressed by the Goons, Spike Jones and Stan Freberg in his infant years. after discovering metal as a pre-teen and hardcore punk in his early teens dp expands on the DIY idea and starts dabbling in sonic autodidactics. in 1987 he co-founds hardcore-extremists Fear Of God who exist for a mere 18 months (and people still go on about 'em).

subsequently continuing solo dp experiments with the voice and develops an interest in body and concrete sounds, field recordings and the still prevalent search for experiences and phenomena that test and cross borders, habits, inhibitions and conventions.

from 1988 to 1994 dp works for RecRec, a Zürich label and distributor of independant music (a cooperative enterprise too) and learns a lot about the 'other' music. it's here that he meets Rudolf Eb.er and Joke Lanz whose ideas and approaches prove to be of similar inclinations. common ground is quickly established and pursued. this loose constellation is also known as 'Schimpfluch Gruppe' or 'Schimpfluch Commune Int.' and amongst others includes Marc Zeier and, later on, Daniel Löwenbrück.

between 1988 to 1999 dp plays music with Stephen Thomas as Tower of Beef/D&S/Doug & Chuck, and from 1991 to 1993 with Reto Kühne and Roger Drein as PK.

dp's love for field recordings, particularly for the compositional and mind-altering sonorous qualities of insects and frogs deepens during a 6-months trip through Thailand in 1994/1995. 1994 also sees the release of his first solo album.

in 1997 an injury damages dp's back for life. this leads to sonic immersion and works at intensified levels.

OHNE is established in 2000 with Tom Smith and includes Daniel Löwenbrück and Reto Mäder, forcing 4 distinctive characters to constant tumult and some interesting results.

dead peni is a solo-project initiated in 2004 using electric bass, a drum-machine, voice and backing tapes. the peni bows not only to Rudimentary Peni but also to the lifelong companions of dp's musical world, metal and hardcore-punk.

around 2005 dp & Francisco Meirino join musical forces resulting in one of dp's most satisfying and long-lasting collaborations. in Francisco's home town, Lausanne, dp also co-curates (with Tochnit Aleph) a night at the LUFF festival, and since then attends that festival every year (that he can).

field recordings trip through Vietnam in 2007.

in 2008 dp joins a bunch of Zürich squatters to form Ketsu No Ana. the band folds once 3 members disappear to South America and the squat that was their rehearsal room is evicted.

since 2008 dp & Marc Zeier (G*Park) let their stark field recordings-based audio-treatments clash live. an album is planned.

on a field recordings trip in Indonesia in 2010, frogs in the rice paddies of Rua, Sumba, offer dp his most psycho-active animal song experience to date.

in 2011 dp ventures into 7 countries of Latin America for 40 concerts in 60 days, including a stay in the Ecuadorean Amazon for field recordings, where he learns about the Yasuni-ITT Initiative.

The 'Extreme Rituals: A Schimpfluch Carnival' Festival in Bristol/England at the end of 2012 celebrates the legacy of Schimpfluch.

the Schimpfluch Associates label is founded with Rudolf Eb.er in 2013.

from 2013 to 2017 dp curates and hosts experimental live music in zürich in a concert series called atonal_zurich at the klubi (later umbo) venue.

in ’perverts in white shirts’ dp and collaborator nathalie dreier dabble with rhythm and melody, their first album is released 2016.