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Biography

Consisting of synthesist Chuck van Zyl and electric guitarist Art Cohen, The Ministry of Inside Things are considered among the most innovative of US spacemusicians today. Equally influenced by the early groundbreaking music of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Ash Ra Tempel as well as that of Pink Floyd and The Grateful Dead, their work has been described as linear, pushing forward across a diverse sonic terrain.

Based on live improvisation, The Ministry of Inside Things creates electronic realizations that flow from theme to theme, within the context of a composed suite of music. Through use of textures and atmospheres as well as harmony, rhythm and melody, the group transports the listener on an internal aural excursion.

Chuck van Zyl has been recording electronic music and performing live for over 20 years, but is perhaps best known for hosting STAR'S END for the past 30 years - one of the world's most successful radio shows of electronic music. van Zyl has released two CDs of spacemusic on the Centaur label, Celestial Mechanics and The Relic, plus The Sound Museum (with Gulch + Rath) out on the Groove label. His collaborative effort with Peter Gulch, Regeneration Mode, was released on their own Synkronos label. Art Cohen has been pushing the limits of the electric guitar in the studio and in live performance for well over 20 years.

MoIT has three live CDs available: "Everlasting Moment" (2CD) (2003), "Contact Point" (2006) and "Ambient Elsewhere" (2CD) (2008). Music from these albums have been drawn from several inspired performances and features definitive live versions of classic MoIT pieces. The music flows easily through a variety of themes, moods and styles of Spacemusic.