PAS started in 1995 out of Brooklyn, NY, USA, driven by the creative talents of Robert L. Pepper working in the mediums of sound and video. Since then PAS has evolved into a collective with many different instrumentations and line ups. Permanent members include Amber Brien, Job “Vomit” Worthley, Michael Durek, and Will Seesar. Guests and occasional collaborators include, ZEV!, Hati, Steve Beresford, Thomthom Geigenschrey, Matt Chilton (Vultures), Anthony Donovan (Vultures), Damien Olsen, Philippe Petit, Robert Pascale, and many others.
PAS have released 9 full length releases and have been on several compilations throughout the years. Some of these can be found on www.cdbaby.com or iTunes. PAS have performed in various countries including the United States, Germany (including Fausts Avant Garde Festival 2009, 2010), the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Macedonia, and Poland, just to name a few. Sound and video installations have also included Chile and the United States (including the 18th Olympia Experimental Festival in Washington and the 2010 Spark Festival in Minneapolis).
PAS also curates events in New York such as Experi-MENTAL nights and the Experi-MENTAL Festival once a year at Goodbye Blue Monday.
PAS is a group out to create musical collages through the form of abstract sound. Their name refers metaphorically to those who have been aborted by society, because their point of view doesn’t fit in the constraints of “normal” society. The term also refers the negative form in French, metaphorically negating everything that is established to start from a new beginning. The viewpoint fuels our creativity to create our own world of beauty. Since our inception the band has been interested in making music from the fringes of perception, creating soundscapes that aren’t defined by any particular conventions or viewpoints. The aesthetic underpinnings are defined by the notion that music can be whatever the ear perceives. It’s a conception fueled by the love of life and art. It’s a desire for honest artistic self-expression. The compositions themselves are more akin to soundscapes than “songs” in the traditional sense. There are no clearly defined melodies, no structural landmarks that give you any sense of traditional anchor. This is not music making with any sense of or desire for commercial viability, but sonic sculptures in the mode of pure art.
The above blurb was modified from a review by Paul Paradis
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