ALARMING ECHO BEATS INTERVIEW WITH the DSA WORKING

Insomnia and night terrors are what this artist have in store for you.A good friend and fellow artist that I have worked with and known for many years.This is his Hermetic Gnosis ambient noise ritual project.Many influences and ideas fill the mind of the man behind this.He is also in the local Texas Prog/Doom/Zeuhl, band Yeti. Let us dreamscape the pathways of his mind to see what lies in ahead for the DSA Working...
Q: Where did DSA Working get the name,What does it mean,and Why did you choose that name?

A: Strangely enough it came from one of those late night ridiculous headspaces where everything is absolutely hilarious. I was flipping through some hardcore zine and saw a phrase that had me almost passing out from laughter. It became a catch phrase among close friends of mine and soon we were making up new phrases with the same initials. So its sort of a constantly changing acronym. Some examples of what it has stood for: Dionysian Sexual Alliance, Disciples of the Secret Apocalypse, Dirty Shadow Activites. The Working part came about simply because I consider the project an act of magick.

Q: How many people are in DSA Working currently?

A: As far as recording, its only me. This will probably change soon as I've recently come into contact with an old friend with whom I share a love for dark ambient and sound experimentation. live it has consisted of Jon Teague, Rev_Samekh, and me.

Q: Where are you from and how old are you?

A: Raised in the sticks of Azle, TX. currently residing in Fort Worth, TX. I am 28 years old.

Q: What type of musick do you consider DSA Working?

A: I'll try not to get out of hand on this one...strictly music-wise, I'd have to say dark ambient. Its certainly not limited to this as i enjoy experimentation. I toy with noise on some tracks and have even been playing with semi traditional structure on current tracks in progress. I also consider it magick and would like to flatter myself in thinking its in the tradition of the surrealists...giving some sort of form to the subconscious. I try to bring the atmosphere of dreams and other sleep related visions and epiphanies out into sound. the DSA Working is very very influenced by the mental processes and activities related to sleep. hypnogogic and hypnopompic visions, dreams, sleep paralysis, etc. I'm absolutely fascinated by it all and seeing as im a piss poor writer and visual artist, I use the medium I'm somewhat decent in to explore and experiment.

Q: How long has DSA Working been around?

A: The spirit of it has been around for a long time. around 93/94 I worked with the aformentioned old friend in a project called the Clockless Nowever. It as influenced by the same ideas and revolved around the same style, but fell apart due to moves and what not. I didnt fully get back into working with this sort of music until around 98.

Q: What is your political and religious beliefs?

A: A nice sticky question. Politically, I'd consider myself an anarch (Bob Black coined this term to seperate himself from the crusty patch wearing armchair anarchists). I'm along the lines of what alot of the political underground consider the Type 3 Anarchist...I dont subscribe to the left or right side of the ideology, I simply dont buy into heirarchy and leadership. Governments are horse shit, we know that, but can we do without them? probably not. People are far too programmed and plagued and NEED it, but I'll certainly do my part to keep it out of my life. Its like William Burroughs once said, the root of the problem is our need for nations, and unfortunately thats not going anywhere. So I try to live below/around it all, doing as I see fit, creating, loving, and doing what i can not to fuck others over. i am, though, an unapologetic supporter of direct action, if only as a gesture of one's own freedom. Sometimes you need a wall to knock down to remind you that you are indeed free once you decide you are. Basically, people need to smash their TVs and fuck more. Religous? I could go on for hours on this one. I dont care for any system of belief. I dont care for adopting a label and having everything decided for me. I think Christianity is the root of alot of the problems within our collective psyche (either/or thought, sexual repression, etc) but I dont target it as I see this as an empty gesture... their ideology means nothing to me so attacking it would be like punching air. I tend to practice spiritual piracy...digging around, taking what I want and trashing the rest. I have a big interest in magick, but dont care to study the "old school". I think magick has alot to do with association to the person involved, and frankly how can something written ages ago relate to you and what goes on in your subconscious? My friend marion once said they were "just wasting their time, waving knives at tables". of course, one could use the racial memory argument here......Damn, maybe D should re-think that. Nonetheless, im interested in new archetypes, new systems, even spontaneous systems.....Make it up on the spot, let it work, forget about it. Spontanaeity and automatism are very important in my idea of magick. That said, the surrealists, Hakim Bey, Robert Anton Wilson, the Sufis, Austin Osman Spare, William Burroughs, Aleister Crowley, and my own dreams have all at one time or another influenced me spiritually. Ah, and I'm also interested in magick and its relation to revolution.

Q: What is behind the songs of DSA Working?

A: I talked alot about this above...dreams, sleep related visions, etc. also, states of mind acquired through sleep deprivation and sickness (I tend to dig on fevers). Late night situations and states of mind are big influences, especially the erotic aspects. I've had songs influenced by the post-coital laugh of a girl at 3 AM and ive had songs influenced by random phrases heard as i was falling asleep. It's pretty nebulous and hard to put into words (which is why I use music and not poetry) but I'm interested in those vibes. Those strange moments of gnosis that you know wont make any sense whatsoever the next day.

Q: How many official releases does DSA Working have?

A: A full length entitled Twilight Mind and a split with England's amazing Uncertainty Principle, both available through Alarming Echo Beats.

Q: Has DSA Working played live and if so with who and where?

A: Performed one time with the help of Jon Teague and Rev_Samekh at a benefit show for the 1919 collective

Q: What types of music are your favorites?Bands and genres?

A: I could write a fucking book here. Bands that influence the DSA Working- Tribes of Neurot, Coil, Nurse With Wound, Sensation's Fix, Bastard Noise, Igor Wakhevitch, KK Null, Earth, Sunn0))), Fungal Hex, Lull, Main, Tactile, Angelo Badalamenti... my favorite bands of all time are the Swans, Coil, and Neurosis. besides those three, I absolutely love Khanate, Godflesh, Magma, Shub Niggurath (FR), pre Drukqs Aphex Twin, Autechre, Black Flag, Univers Zero, electric era Miles Davis, later John Coltrane, Merzbow, Man is the Bastard/Bastard Noise, Sleep, High on Fire......I'll stop now. Some recent listening choices: Sunn0)))- White1, Earth- Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars, Tactile- Inscape, Fungal Hex, Total Dunkelheit (thanks to Samekh), Boris- Amplifier Worship, Sleep- Jerusalem, Neurosis- A Sun That Never Sets, and Bastard Noise/Christian Renou- Brainstorming (a fucking brilliant album, go buy it now).

Q: What is the local scene around you like?

A: I think its excellent. Alot of good metal and hardcore (El Salvador Birthday Bash, Garuda, Kill the Client, Magnus (RIP), of Death) and off the wall stuff (Pointy Shoe Factory, Dokodemo Doa). It's nice and eclectic and hard working. The nice thing about it is everyone's supportive no matter the genre or if they even personally like it. It's a healthy and vibrant scene in my opinion.

Q: I hear you are involved with Yeti,please tell us about it and any of your side projects?

A: I play bass and keyboards in Yeti, as well as some screaming. Yeti is the love of my life. People have described it as "bong fueled doom prog violence", "doom-prog", "King Crimson roasting in hell", and my all time favorite, "Magma's the Bastard". We're dedicated to volume, experimentation, and pushing ourselves and the listeners as hard as possible. We want to make heavy music that is'nt half assed but interesting, original, and challenging. I've been involved with it since 98 and have loved every minute of it. We have one full length out on Life is Abuse entitled "Things to Come" (featuring our late keyboardist Doug Ferguson, a fucking mad genius if there ever was one) and are preparing to record another full length here in a few weeks.

Q: What are your favorite art,books,movies,or TV shows?

A: Artists I admire: Max Ernst, Duchamp, Austin Osman Spare, Nick Blinko, and my nephew Wesley. There is a video artist whose name escapes me at the moment, but he did a video installation here at the Ft. Worth Modern Art Museum entitled the Greeting that is just awe inspiring. Go see it if you have the chance. I've spent at least several hours throughout the years watching this. Books: I'm a fucking fiend for books. writers I love- William S Burroughs, Hakim Bey, Robert Anton Wilson, Georges Bataille, Chuck Palahniuk, Arthur Rimbaud, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, James Havoc, Guy Debord, Jorge Luis Borges, Austin Osman Spare, Bob Black, Henry Miller, selected works by Crowley...thats all I can think of right now, I'm sure ill think of more soon as im done. Movies: some favorites are- all the films of Stanley Kubrick except for Eyes Wide Shit (save for the orgy scene, pure brilliance...the rest I thought was shit), Fight Club, all the works of David Lynch, Donnie Darko, Maya Deren's short films, the works of Jean Cocteau, Coleman Francis' Red Zone Cuba (say what you want, I think its an inadvertant surrealist masterpiece), Warner Herzog's Even Dwarves Started Small, WS Burroughs and Brion Gysin's film experiments, and stupid comedies like Dumb and Dumber and Better Off Dead. TV: the Simpsons, of course. Recently became addicted to Insomniac (guy has the greatest job in the world). Mr Show was absolute brilliance. I'm a total sucker for Adult Swim shows like Space Ghost, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Sea Lab 2021.