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TRIAX / HISTORY
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Dave Powell, Alan Freeman, Steve Freeman |
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Born out of the Extremities
project, in a sense, Triax saw three members of that band continuing when Jim
Tetlow went off on a series of long stays in Australia. Extremities still existed on and off, whereas Triax
became a regular session event every 2 or 3 months. So, as the duo of Steve
and Alan Freeman (aka Alto Stratus) joined by the strangely processed
hurdy-gurdy of Dave Powell, there was a deliberate attempt to go for a unique
new hybrid at the start. Actually, the resulting debut "Musik Zu
Arcana" is 9 new hybrids, each track a different avenue of exploration,
95% spontaneously created and/or improvised. "Musik Zu Arcana"
could be interpreted as "Music To Weirdo's" or "Music To The
Strange" and is apt for such an unlikely concoction of instruments, as
"what is noise to some may be music to weirdo's" - not that any of
this is noise - it's all musical, though with many shock tactics, dense
sonics and intense moments thrown in. The results are a powerful album that
defies classification, kind of 1 part Alto Stratus, 1 part a bit Nurse With
Wound, 1 part medieval folk. 3 musicians, 3 genres mixing and colliding,
making 9 tracks to perplex and delight the adventurous music explorer. Triax since blossomed with loads more releases,
including a few doubles, and a gradually changing/growing instrumentation!
The music has always been changing too. There are some special conceptual
albums as well, like the unique "MoebiusStrip" a 2 disc opus
containing just one long track, infinitely repeatable, without end - if one
so desires. For the 8th album
"Alien Folk" Dave borrowed his school's percussion collection, and
also added violin to his instrumentation. Although the vast part of the Triax
sound is built around an array of electronic instruments, plus guitars and
live sound manipulation, solo non-electronic instruments are also key to the
sound. On the 9th album "Embryo" Dave also added flute - an
instrument that's often been featured a lot since. For a unique one-off, Dave
brought an alto saxophone with him, which worked really well, although it was
too loud and difficult to record in our small home studio. Of all the
releases to date "13" is still a firm favourite. This was when I
(Alan Freeman) really started to advance in studio editing techniques, as
further displayed on releases like "Razor" and "Vortex".
"Cycle" was yet another album on the eternal music concept, but
this time a single disc opus. Another unique one for Triax was
"Metamorphic Trickster" which involves lots of mult-layered
trickery, looping and such-like, sometimes recalling the likes of Zoviet
France and Cranioclast.
Although Triax output has slowed down in recent years,
creativity is still the force behind the music. Triax have also played live
on many occasions, debuting at the Improv. Electronic events at Bambu
(Welford Road, Leicester), playing support to Black Carrot at The Charlotte
and more recently at Church Of Sound in Nottingham. Triax also feature as
individuals (and sometimes in collaboration) at the long-running
Quadelectronic event, held monthly in Leicester. As of August 2018, a total
of 41 studio albums, 3 live albums and 3 video releases have been published. The world of Triax is exciting, innovative,
inhabiting many different musical genres yet fitting in none. Fancy something
different? Start anywhere. You can listen to them all on this site before you
buy! |
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Discography... original Alto Stratus tracks on other releases... Triax
have also featured on at least 4 Quadelectronic Documents releases. |
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Triax
reviews in Audion - #51/3, #52/36, #53/6-9+10, #54/14+15+17, #55/13,
#56/14-17 |
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