Angus MacLise

Angus MacLise (actually Angus William MacLise ; born March 14, 1938 in Bridgeport , Connecticut , † June 21, 1979 in Kathmandu , Nepal ) was an American drummer , composer , poet and visual artist ( calligrapher ). He is best known as the first percussionist of the Velvet Underground .

biography

As a child and adolescent, he had drums lessons, which enabled him to master such different rhythms as Haitian drums, medieval dance music and jazz drums . MacLise began his music career in 1961 as a member of La Monte Young's Theater of Eternal Music , of which he was a member with John Cale and Tony Conrad . At the same time (1961–1964) he composed music for the Fluxus festivals organized by George Maciunas , played for John Vaccaro's Theater of the Ridiculous and created soundtracks for experimental films by Jack Smith , Ron Rice and Piero Heliczer .

In 1964 and 1965 he made his first trip to North Africa and the Middle East (Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran) and trained in the various regional percussion styles. When The Velvet Underground was formed in 1965 , he joined the group at the suggestion of John Cales, with whom he lived at 56 Ludlow Street. MacLise played bongos and hand drums in the first lineup of the band .

MacLise was a staunch advocate of underground morality. When Velvet Underground made its first paid gig at Café Bizarre in New York City in November 1965 , MacLise left her because he thought she was "selling". He was replaced by Maureen Tucker . In 1966 he returned for two concerts when Lou Reed was hospitalized for hepatitis . There are no official recordings of the group with him.

After the final separation from the group, he first accompanied the poet Gerard Malanga and John Giorno at readings and organized 1970 Multimedia - Happening Epiphany . From 1971 he made further trips to North Africa, Greece, the Middle East, India and, most recently, to Nepal. His music recordings from the 1970s are characterized by the connection between ethnic sounds and the western avant-garde tradition.

MacLise died of tuberculosis in Kathmandu in 1979 .

Recordings by and with Angus MacLise

• The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (Siltbreeze, 1999)
• Brain Damage in Oklahoma City (Siltbreeze, 2000)
• The Cloud Doctrine (Sub Rosa, 2002)
• Astral Collapse (Locust, 2003)
• The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (DVD, Bastet / Saturnalia, 2006)

Together with Tony Conrad , John Cale and La Monte Young :

• Inside the Dream Syndicate Vol.I: Day Of Niagara (Table of the Elements, 2000)
• Inside the Dream Syndicate Vol.III: Stainless Steel Gamelan (Table of the Elements, 2002)
• An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music: First A-Chronology 1921-2001 / Vol.1 (Sub Rosa, 2002)

Web links

• Angus MacLise at Allmusic (English)
• Angus MacLise at Discogs (English)
• The Angus MacLise bardo tunnel monument , on My Space
• blastitude.com
• jackmagazine
• ubu.com