Seth Faergolzia & the 23 Psaegz

Artist Information

Biography

SETH FAERGOLZIA AND THE 23 PSAEGZ, Rochester, NY
Founded by Seth in 2010 as the successor to his world-renowned 13-year project, Dufus, the Seth Faergolzia and the 23 Psaegz carry on the warm, weird legacy by stretching the boundaries of musical experience with craze and care unmatched. The group originally gathered with the intention of performing Seth’s 23 Psaegz stream of consciousness puppet rock opera, and has since also become a collaborative backing for his complex web of musical delight. Front man Faergolzia brings his one-man-band skills (mastering simultaneously the guitar, glockenspiel, kick drum, and vocal antics) to a new apex of musical sagacity, as he leads the 23 Psaegz odd.

Seth conducts his rollicking 15-folk-grand orchestra with a "glock" mallet, booming kick pedal, guitar, and far-reaching vocals. Designed with five moving parts, 23 Psaegz ignites a most profoundly human machine, a musical organism with propellers that blast whirls of free-thought, frequencies that both cut close to the bone and hug the heart; a true masterwork. Seth’s keen ear for harmony deftly channels the energies andtalents of the human voice, flute, tuba, trumpet, violin, guitars, bass, piano and found and salvaged metal percussion. With the precision and release of flight, melodic instruments melt into harmonies with the bass section, lead and vocal choir, then muscle up with brain circuit cranking dissonance. The playful and seriously probing expanse of 23 Psaegz is kaleidoscopic-divine New Orleans marching band meets Peter & the Wolf in outer space. This intense conflation of lyrical imagery and sonic wonder is music to submerge in.

Seth & the Psaegz concoct music which remains outside the scope of particular genre-labels or classification. With their harmonic subtlety, poetically experimental lyricism, quirked-out energy, and of course, Seth’s soaring, roaring gurgling, whip-crack-acrobatic vocals, each Psaegz performance lovingly unweaves time, revealing moments honest & organic in their exploration of possibility. Spontaneously fusing performers with audience, Psaegz mingle into the crowd in fits of wild dance to Seth’s iPod-karaoke hip-jump samplegasms. They’re reshaping and reinventing musical forms to create new, relevant gestures forward. Whether a whistle-driven dirge, foot-stomping fable, or inspired improvisation, these are not songs that will attract only a novel-shock-response, but a growing body of music so dynamic and full, it can be approached with new ears every time: outlandish, wise, and full-hearted.


SETH FAERGOLZIA (ex-Dufus) Rochester, NY
In his first band Dufus, Seth Faergolzia lead what was possibly the most creative and well-loved underground band in the Anti-folk/Freakfolk communities of New York City and beyond, stacking up 10 albums and numerous tours through the US, Europe, and Japan (including performances with such acts as The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Moldy Peaches, Ween, Black Dice, Jeffrey Lewis, Animal Collective and others) as well as a press reputation that often name-dropped stylistic comparisons to Frank Zappa, Deerhoof, The Moldy Peaches, Devendra Banhart, and The Dirty Projectors. He has written well over 1,000 songs.

Recent Psaegz sets draw together new songs, improvisations, electronic samples, and select material from the 13-year history of Dufus, and a selection from Seth's new rock opera, '23 Psaegz.' Each night becomes a uniquely creative experience.

Instrumentation

Seth Faergolzia - Vocals, Guitar, kickdrum
Ian Blackwood - Violin, mandolin
Jessica Breen - flute
Joyce Britton - Vocals, Percussion, Alto Saxophone
Roshi Cain - Vocals, Percussion
Noelle Evans - Vocals, Percussion, toy piano
Neeti Fidurko - Vocals, Piano
Brett Gobe - Sousaphone, Tuba
Laura Lee Jones - Vocals, Percussion, Cello
Daniel Kushner - Percussion
Payton Marovich - Banjo, Vocals, Drums, Guitar
John Vadas - Bass Guitar
Leah Stryker - Vocals, Percussion, Melodica
Reilly Solomon Taylor-Cook - Upright Bass
John Delmonico - Cello
Coleen Sedita - Glockenspeil
Shaun Jones - Electric Guitar
Andrew Cayer - Vocals, Percussion

Discography

We have just wrapped up our first recordings. Two albums, "Tin Wood Soldier" and "Friend Producers," will be released on April 28, 2012.

"Tin Wood Soldier" features Seth's experiments in electronics and lyric/song-writing that borders on hip-hop, and also showcases the 23 Psaegz, a huge band of singers and instrumentalists headed by Seth on guitar, voice and kick drum. The group includes a mini-choir, bass guitar, upright bass, tuba, sax, flute, trumpet, electric guitar, banjo, drums, piano, mandolin, and a number of "found metal" percussion pieces.

In addition to "Tin Wood Soldier," Seth has pieced together a side project with a numerous musicians and recording artists, and has dubbed the result "Friend Producers." The project constitutes an album's worth of songs written by Seth, which have been brazenly handed over to the capable hands of 17 talented folks to reshape and add ideas. Collaborators include producers from New York City, Rochester, Sweden, Ithaca, Germany and California, all of various levels from lo-fi to the highest fidelity.

The Psaegz are also currently working on recording a separate album, the first act of the rock opera "23 Psaegz," a sprawling work of Seth's creation approximately 30 minutes long.

Seth Faergolzia has recorded over 15 albums previous to this project under his name and Dufus.

PREVIOUS RELEASES (under Dufus):
1997 Dufus: Our First Born (J-Bird Records)
1998 Dufus: Eee*Lai*Font (Pro-Anti)
1999 Dufus: Revolution (Opulence!/Priapus)
2000 Quankmeyer Faergoalzia: pip (Anti-Pro)
2000 Fun Wearing Underwear (Pro-Anti)
2001 Dufus: Neuborns (Iron Man, Birmingham, UK)
2002 Dufus: 1:3:1 (ROIR)
2004 Dufus: Ball of Design (ROIR)
2004 Seth Faergolzia (Faer Awae)
2006 Dufus: The Last Classed Blast(Iron Man, Birmingham, UK)
2007 Dufus: Legend of Walnut
2007 BHMC Experimental Orchestra (Whprwhil Records, Seattle)
2007 Dufus: King Astronaut
2008 Faergolzia: Tape 2
2009 Dufus: In Monstrous Attitude (ROIR)
2010 Dufus: Eth (CD and full length Vinyl) (Self-Released)

COMPILATIONS
2000 Attack Records, Canada
2000 Koala Records, NY
2001 Organ Magazine, UK
2002 Departure Records, UK
2002 Olive Juice Records, NYC
2002 Rough Trade Records, UK
2004 Smoking Gun Records, UK
2007 Trikont, Germany
2011 Awkwardcore Comp, Rochester, NY

Official Website

http://www.23psaegz.com

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• MySpace
• SoundCloud
• Reverb Nation
• Bandcamp
• Seth plays "Landscaper" at Heaven, London
• Seth interviewed by Jeffrey Lewis

Audio

• Ain't No Way
  Listen   Download
• Look at the Weird
  Listen   Download
• Puke In Rides
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Ain't No Way
• Look at the Weird
• Puke in Rides

Video

wrinkle.mov

Photo Gallery

Press

• Audio Outliers: Rediscovering Recent Gems in Experimental Music [+ Show ]
  

  Eth, released in September 2010 after ten full-length albums and more than a decade of music-making,...Eth, released in September 2010 after ten full-length albums and more than a decade of music-making, sounds every bit the final bow for the itinerant freak-folk band Dufus. And yet in many ways, it is characterized by what it is not: Gone is the non-stop aggressive din of 2002's1:3:1, the frantically earnest vocals of Ball of Design from 2004, the robust yet unadorned instrumentation of In Monstrous Attitude (2009).
  
  Dufus's Maestro Seth Faergolzia's singularly spastic-elastic vocals are still ever-present--buttressed by vertiginous instrumental runs that seem to purposefully meander--but are now filtered through chamber pop that is above all characterized by a somber restraint. Eth finds the eccentric frontman's timbre comparatively more sedated, which keeps the quirky instrumental arrangements from being overshadowed. And while this imbues certain musical elements with a welcome visibility, this decidedly more staid approach seems at odds with the band's brilliant ability to cultivate eccentricity at will. "Life Is Empty" gives us Faergolzia in full folk troubadour mode, while "Gracious Host" is a kind of pseudo-tango--both lacking the panache of singularity that is quintessential Dufus.
  
  The record is at its best when employing the focused, uncluttered arrangements in service of Faergolzia's colorful vocal mania, and the most poignant moments come in bunches. First is the one-two punch of "Silence" and "Dastard," which benefits from an innate sense of gorgeous melodic phrasing, buoyed by economical yet punchy brass lines. In the second half of the album, "Bcuz" is a brilliant confluence of zany pointillist melodies, swelling choruses and clever brass licks. The subsequent "Purple Baby" features wonderfully engaging interplay between vocalist and choir, before an ensuing storm of raucous rhythmic instability eventually settles into a concise and contagious waltz-like chorus.

• Dufus played his final show inside & on the street w/ help from Regina Spektor, Moldy Peaches & more [+ Show ]
  

  As promised Adam Green showed up to sing a tune with Dufus (Seth Faergolzia and band) at Cake Shop o...As promised Adam Green showed up to sing a tune with Dufus (Seth Faergolzia and band) at Cake Shop on Saturday night, but he wasn't alone. Fellow Moldy Peach Jack Dishel also sang, and so did two other members of the defunct anti-folk band: Brent Cole and Toby Goodshank, who both also play in one of the opening bands, Berth Control. Kimya Dawson, who now spends most of her time on the other coast, was not in the house, but Regina Spektor was and she also sang a song as you can see in the pictures (it was two nights before she headlined a benefit for Daniel Cho at MHOW).
  Olice Juice Music points out:
  "3/4 of the way through the Dufus show [Saturday] night the fire alarm at Cakeshop got tripped (rumor has it due to some suspect smoke inhalating). Everyone had to evacuate the building while the fire department came and reset the alarm. But this could not stop the show! The band took it to the streets and proceeded to perform it's appropriately entitled song Fireman. Luckily, it was just a brief intermission for this, truly epic, nearly 3 hour last Dufus performance."
  You can see the street scene in the pictures too, and luckily someone grabbed the fireman incident on video, real fireman pulling up included. You can watch it, with two other videos and more pictures from the show, below...

• The Onion, Village Voice [+ Show ]
  

  "Dufus plays frantic fever-dream folk slashed through with rock stabs. The band has ties to the loca..."Dufus plays frantic fever-dream folk slashed through with rock stabs. The band has ties to the local anti-folk scene, but Dufus exploitations are bigger and more ambitious than those of, say, the Moldy Peaches. It's hard to think of a style not at least touched upon by Dufus, but the group's woozy delirium somehow makes it sound more cohesive than it probably should.
  --The Onion
  
  “Like an encyclopedia of so-called outsider music condensed into a Downtown pagan mystery meeting. Dufus’s recent “1:3:1” is the most unironically anarchic album I’ve heard all year. As giddy and inventive as it is pissed off, it’s the 21st-century equivalent of the Fugs at their finest.”
  Richard Gehr - Village Voice, NYC

• New York Times & more [+ Show ]
  

  “Things to look out for include Seth Faergolzia’s “Celibacy Pants,” which shows fiber art going punk...“Things to look out for include Seth Faergolzia’s “Celibacy Pants,” which shows fiber art going punk.”
  Roberta Smith, New York Times
  
  “They’re making this wonderful, wonderful noise, pure song-making without the baggage of clichés. How compelling, in these unromantic, unreal hollow days of packaged ‘extremes’ and punk rock boy bands. We need romantic, real-world dreamers like this. We need DUFUS.”
  Organ Magazine, UK
  
  “How to describe this stuff? Sort of like a marching band made out of acoustic guitars and monsters from the Muppet Show, their songs are largely about noise, chaos and incoherence, i mean - and it pains me to say - they really, really rock. There is a raw energy here the likes of which you rarely see anywhere. And...a close listen reveals substantial musical ability and craftsmanship. Dammit. Dammit!”
  Ghetto Blaster Magazine
  
  "Incredibly uplifting circus tunes."
  --Tokion

• NME UK, SPEX Germany [+ Show ]
  

  "Fourteen members strong and phenomenal live." New Musical Express (NME), UK "Kind and Scary." ..."Fourteen members strong and phenomenal live."
  New Musical Express (NME), UK
  
  "Kind and Scary."
  SPEX, Germany

• MTV, Relix [+ Show ]
  

  “Cartoonishly elastic and spastic vocals are the love-'em-or-hate-'em main attraction at this freaks...“Cartoonishly elastic and spastic vocals are the love-'em-or-hate-'em main attraction at this freakshow, but the double-take they demand also reveals whip-smart pop song writing, intricately clever wordplay, and a truly talented band as tight and precise as they are loose and stylistically wide-ranging.”
  Brad Stark - KUSF/MTV San Francisco
  
  “This is folk rock twisted and distorted into compelling new structures.”
  Relix
  
  “The unquenchable enthusiasm and daring of its delivery is enough to give you an aesthetic awakening.”
  Jambands.com

• New York Press, Stylus, Splendid [+ Show ]
  

  “Tender calm and epiphanistic lyrics.” New York Press “Seth Faergolzia could be the poster boy f...“Tender calm and epiphanistic lyrics.”
  New York Press
  
  “Seth Faergolzia could be the poster boy for anti-folk.”
  Stylus
  
  “I have never heard anything like this before or since.”
  Pop Matters
  
  “I fucking dare you not to love this band.”
  Splendid

• National Student Newspaper, UK [+ Show ]
  

  "Rightly respected as one of the most prolific, original and influential bands to emerge from the an..."Rightly respected as one of the most prolific, original and influential bands to emerge from the anti-folk scene and in their ten years of being have been criminally ignored by wider audiences...Bands like Dufus are essential within the rock music spectrum to keep complacency and mediocrity well in its place."
  -National Student Newspaper

Setlist

Seth Faergolzia will be performing either one long set (around 80 minutes) or two sets (45 minutes each) on his upcoming tour. Seth prefers the two-set option, which consists of a more energetic/wild set to start, and a quiet, sit-down set after a break for merchandising. Both sets will include a couple songs from the Dufus back catalogue.

Here are your options as a promoter; please let us know which you prefer:

Long Set:
AINT NO WAY
HAPPENED IN THE MORNING
SHEEP SONG
ANIMAL DOMICILED
PUKE IN RIDES
LOOK AT THE WEIRD
LANDSCAPER
WATER DAUGHTER
BARREL OF MONKEYS
WHEN LAND
MAN OF ACTION
MOMMY ALWAYS MOMMY
COME ON BRAIN
MECHANISM
NICKLE
ICKY STICKY

Short Set #1
AINT NO WAY
HAPPENED IN THE MORNING
SHEEP SONG
ANIMAL DOMICILED
PUKE IN RIDES
LOOK AT THE WEIRD
LANDSCAPER
WATER DAUGHTER
BARREL OF MONKEYS
WHEN LAND

Short Set #2
MOMMY ALWAYS MOMMY
COME ON BRAIN
TWO HANDS
MAN OF ACTION
ICKY STICKY
MECHANISM
NICKLE
MY WILL
DEATH BOMB (unreleased)
WHO BOTTLES
IDIOT CONVENTION
GOODSIDE
GOING TO MEET

Dufus Back Catalogue:

(set #1)
GIVING INN
FIRE
ANOUK
FREEDOM
DUFUS
PLOO N BROF
HAVING A PARTY
BABYLON COM
WRINKLE
SPECINAL

(set #2)
WEEMAMOO
BALOON ROCKING CHAIR
GRACIOUS HOST
TUTU
SILENCE
SILLY BABOON
HEAVEN IS WAITING

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

Seth Faergolzia Tour Rider

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