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The Drone Cycle 2000 @ The Ambient Ping - Po Boys Club

dreamSTATE with Steven Sauve at Po Boys Club
July 25th, 2000 - dreamSTATE with Steven Sauvé (F#) - photo by Mario Georgiou

The Drone Cycle 2000 was a series of concerts in which dreamSTATE visited one note of the chromatic scale each month of the year as a foundation for ambient improvisations with a rotating cast of special guests. The drone note was not omnipresent and was only implied at times, but was a home and harbour while venturing into unrehearsed experimental ambient improvisations with each guest before a live audience. They began in C and ended in B.

The series was hosted by THE AMBiENT PiNG - Toronto's then-weekly live ambient performance event.

In 2012, on the "Chromatic Anniversary" of The Drone Cycle 2000, dreamSTATE launched The Drone Cycle 2012, with new special guests performing with them on a wide variety of instruments, as they traversed the scale back downward.

In 2024, to celebrate the second "Chromatic Anniversary" dreamSTATE are releasing music from each month of the Drone Cycle 2000 on the dates of the original concerts, until a 12-track album, The Drone Cycle is completed on December 5th. The first track The Man from Callisto is with special guest Wally Jericho and was released on on January 25th, 2024.

Below you'll find copies of the original street posters, designed by Jamie Todd and Mario Georgiou, the individual track images - hand embroidered by Lynn Harrigan, and more information about the guest artists.

New photos and information will be added each month of 2024. ~ Scott M2

January 25th, 2000 ~ NIGHT OF THE LIVING DRONES ~ C

Download Poster PDF

Wally Jericho - Photo by Mario Georgiou

 

The Drone Cycle track 1
The Man from Callisto
featuring Wally Jericho
Wally Jericho - January 25th, 2000

Wally Jericho helped us launch the Drone Cycle in an evening of improvisations around the note C.

Knowing Wally's abilities on trumpet, bass, minidisks, loops and treatments, his good nature and his feel for ambient music meant we had a high confidence level for the night ahead. Wally had re-tuned his bass to all Cs and Gs which lead to some extra low bass drones and lovely harmonics. He told me later that he left the bass tuned that way for months after the show as he enjoyed the new possibilities.

Wally is best known, however, for his trumpet playing, so we ensured than his Drone Cycle album track, The Man from Callisto featured his spacy trumpet prominently. The track's cover image is an impression of Jupiter's moon Callisto by fiber-artist Lynn Harrigan and is a nod to Wally's beautiful piece Callisto 1.0 which is available on the streamers on his EP Preface.

Find Wally's music on Bandcamp, and also the streamers like Spotify and Apple Music.



February 22nd, 2000 ~ RETURN OF THE LIVING DRONES ~ C#

February Drone Cycle poster

Download Poster PDF

Northern Ark Cover Image

Kurt Swinghammer - Photo by Mario Georgiou

The Drone Cycle track 2
Northern Ark
featuring Kurt Swinghammer
Kurt Swinghammer - February 22nd, 2000

February's drone was C# and our special guest was Kurt Swinghammer.

Kurt is well known around Toronto as a visual artist (murals, paintings, set design, CD covers, etc...), a unique pop singer, a guitar ace (Sarah Slean and Ani DiFranco are two gigs) or a video art director (Maestro Fresh Wes, Colin James, etc...) but few would suspect he's also a creative electronic musician/experimentalist with a wicked arsenal of devices and a good feel for ambient.

I've worked with Kurt on a number of musical projects, however, and knew he would be an excellent ally in our attack on C#. This night he brought along his new Steinberger guitar, Omnichord, Moogerfoogers and a variety of other processors and loopers. The night started simply and beautifully and seemed to get darker and more chaotic as it evolved. Highlights for me were sections where Kurt employed slide or E-bow on his guitar and some strange computer data noises coaxed from his Omnichord. We chose a beautiful, spacy selection with guitar and looping for The Drone Cycle album. ~ Scott M2


March 14th , 2000 ~ VALLEY OF THE DRONES ~ D

March 2000 Drone Cycle poster

Download Poster PDF

Northern Ark Cover Image

Kurt Swinghammer - Photo by Mario Georgiou

 
The Drone Cycle track 3
Petrified Forest
featuring Michael Rockwood
Michael Rockwood - March 14th, 2000

March's drone was D and our special guest was Michael Rockwood.

Michael Joseph Rockwood has moved his focus from musical to visual art, so we're very happy to share some beautiful music created with him in his musical prime.

Michael's mixed media artwork can be viewed online at his Instagram page.

I first crossed paths with Mike when we both played at a Planet Of The Loops event (a long-running, live-looping based event which preceded even THE AMBiENT PiNG). I loved his musical vibe and later invited him to join us for a Drone Cycle concert. He kindly invited dreamSTATE to open for his band Zoebliss a few days before and joined our set - which gave us a taste of the good things to come.

Mike's very electric rock-guitar playing can be found snaking throughout the 2004 Memory Bank album Litany and Lethargy at Spotify. I think that's the most recent online evidence of his guitar playing.
~ Scott M2

 

Next Chapter coming on April 18th, 2024

...

2000 ~ The Drone Cycle 2000 ~ Ted's Wrecking Yard
1999 ~ Feedback Monitor 3rd Anniversary ~ Planet Of The Loops ~ THE AMBiENT PiNG
1998 ~ World Electronic Music Festival ~ Interference Orange

1997 ~ waveforms at The H5 Project ~ Symptom Hall

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