M. Geddes Gengras

M. Geddes Gengras has spent the last 7 years as a fixture in the Los Angeles experimental music scene. Most recently, he was recognized for his collaboration with SUN ARAW and roots-reggae legends THE CONGOS (2012's ICON GIVE THANK) which received praise from such far-flung publications as The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Wire (#2 album of 2012), and Artforum. He has logged time as a member/producer of many bands such as SUN ARAW, POCAHAUNTED, L.A. VAMPIRES, ROBEDOOR, and, most recently, AKRON/FAMILY. With Sun Araw's Cameron Stallones, he co-founded Duppy Gun Productions, a label that links up American producers with vocalists from Jamaica and is currently distributed by STONES THROW RECORDS. His solo work is based in modular synthesis and comfortably straddles a variety of forms, (kosmische, drone, experimental, musique concrète, and techno, to name a few) while remaining rooted in a deep affinity for the limitations of analog synthesis and a keen ear for timbral manipulation. Recently Gengras released his first solo lp (Test Leads) on Intercoastal Artists/Holy Mountain, a 12" ep under his PERSONABLE guise for the L.A.-based label Peak Oil, and toured the US and Canada with LAUREL HALO and ITAL.

'...he flies under his birth name for 'Test Leads', perhaps his purest and most honest revelation to date; two sprawling sides of throbbing womb bass, glinting arpeggios and awning drones split into four tracks. 'Waldorf Pts. 1 & 2' unfurl across the first, calling to mind the classic topographies of Klaus Schulze's 'Dune' LP while ascending spiralling synths through mind-expanding strata until the momentum tips into full blown 4/4 throb and raga-esque whorls like some Goan trance bliss out. A heady 'part 3' concludes that trip on the flipside, but not before 'Night Work' pushes into deep into svelte techno psychedelia and the spindly hyper-rhythmic pulses, thrumming bass and swarming dissonance of 'Cairo' acutely recalls Conrad Schnitzler at his earliest and best.' - BOOMKAT

'Standing on a stage fitted with a carpet of actual grass, a bearded, bespectacled M. Geddes Gengras let rip a 15-minute blast of analog beats and synth tones, ranging from deep bass to high-pitched signal skree. Sun Araw bandmate Cameron Stallones was standing at the front snapping cellphone picks as the Los Angeles synthesist crouched low behind an open gear box, a cigarette in his fingers burning slowly down to the tip. Imagine the violent contortions of LA beat music layered so many times back onto themselves that you get the flickering saturation of a drone, and that's kind of what it sounded like.' - VICE