Josiah Gabriel

Noah Clough has been making music for a few years, and earning respect along the way. You will see him on stage at Free Press Summer Fest 2014, for instance. He has fans and credibility, and he’s making a huge point of keeping both however he can.

Clough releases tracks on Soundcloud, for a long time as Josiah Gabriel and now as Make (mkabeats.soundcloud.com). They sound like this one. But sometimes not at all like that one. What Noah tells me he enjoys is “to see a large amount of people lose themselves” to the music he makes.

That could be why he’s so focused on being a talent, rather than an all-in-one act. “It’s what he want’s to stay, an artist,” says Kelly Townsend, his new manager. Kelly is fresh to this talent management stuff, but he’s been running an audio production venture called Lynchpin for 3 years. He’s got the full faith of Noah and FLCON FCKER, his other signed act. Between these two artists and Townsend’s work in audio, they’ve put in years to creating this moment and now, Kelly assures us, “everything we’ve done will feed everything we do.”

Part of why this style of music—which is not just future bass, or even trap—because “that’s a catchall,” says Kelly—is picking up is the convergence of new technology. These guys believe that they are “challenging what it means to be an original artist: as Townsend describes their work. They have a few reasons to support that assertion.

What Clough does to make tracks and then perform them live isn’t easy to explain. But there is an MPD 18 with a 3rd party midi shift he uses to hack the controller. What he does is essentially to “hijack” equipment fully suited to one task, but weren’t designed to do “momentary effects.”

And it’s all about the momentary effects in what Noah does, as in “how do I get this shit to be expressive in general? Whereas one, zero, zero, one is unexpressive.” It’s a point in music making where new tech is converging. What Make does, say Townsend, “synthesizers do it, but digital advent is not audible, but adds to the physical sensation of being at a concert. [Noah’s] sub-base stuff is just at another level.”

That’s why, says Kelly, “this is the new frontier of what it means to be original.”

Make’s tracks use synth samples, bass patterns, all original content often from bizarre sources—kind of standard fair for modern sampling. But Clough does it well, and gets as weird as he wants to. In terms of sample types, Noah says, “what I like are more… they’re strange stuff I see on the internet. Groupings of words with energy behind them. They’re really just moments.”

He cites The Color of Pomegranates, a visual biography of Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, as a source. It is one of the strangest, most beautiful movies I’ve ever watched clips of on YouTube.

He’s got threads of Reggaeton, isolated vocals from theme songs, and what he does with them is interesting. But keep in mind that Clough isn’t ready to define his sounds. “The only narratives that you should draw from what he likes,” says Noah, “are yet to be seen.”

But “it’s OG,” says Kelly.

On the horizon for Noah Clough is the Make mix tape (out May 5th).

This release coupled with Make’s performance at FPSF will mark the official launch of the Josiah Gabriel artist’s new incarnation. - freepress houston

After performances by Houston's -Up, a solo project from one the Wrestlers (formerly Bagheera), and new electro-rock band from Dallas called Lev, Gabriel took the stage; religious ecstasy ensued. Entranced and fixed by sounds unknown, the audience watched as Gabriel conjured spirits of music's past and present by turning his knobs. Like at a pentecostal revival, he danced and writhed, overwhelmed by the spirit. His infinity machines looped and distorted signals that revived dead souls.

For those who haven't yet experienced Gabriel live, his music creates both an attraction and a repulsion with sounds both coarse and sweet, his rhythms both angular and head-bobbing. The crowd's reticence to fully immerse themselves in his music existed because he creates moments that confound people; they simply do not know how to respond. It jolts, it pierces, it slays and above all forces you to think about your own standard definition of how music should be played and performed.

Towards the end of his too-brief set, the sub-bass influence that emanated through the sound system tore the house speakers into shreds. Stereotypical drops and stage name call-outs (J-J-JJ-JJ-JJJJ-Josiah Gabrellllllll) were interjected into the few performances. White noise colored the spaces between the melody.

As the noise slowly waned, the night came to a subtle end. Gabriel quietly thanked the crowd, not understanding the feelings of thanks they wanted to pour onto him for this shared moment of enlightenment. Josiah Gabriel is not only the sound of now, but he is the sound of Houston. - Houston Press

with Dillon Francis, Janelle Monae, Flying Lotus Death Grips, Madeon, CocoRosie, Psychic TV, Elliphant, Nicholas Jaar, Dan Deacon, Mystikal, Com Truise, Cazwell, Amanda Lepore, Holly Herndon, Julian Bayle, Indian Jewelry, U.S. Girls, Jonte Moaning, Prince Rama, Deru, Matt Thibideau, Roman Gianarthur, Richard Ramirez, Christine Renee, Future Blondes, Boan, Millennial Grave, Wrestlers, Children of Pop, B L A C K I E, Hearts of Animals, Josiah Gabriel, FLCON FCKER, The Vanity, Light Wheel, Jerk, Bart Black, Prismo, DJ FREDSTER. - Houston Press

I’ve always been fascinated with those “laid end to end” factoids, like how it would take almost 7,600 nickels (or $3,795.60) to reach a mile. That’s the sort of thing that was running through my mind when putting together the HPMA ballot last week — that laid end to end, this ballot would probably make a really long list. It also made me think about how many of the four million people in the Houston area might be totally unfamiliar with our nominees, even moreso after someone Facebooked a comment Monday to the effect of, “I’ve never heard of any of these people.” - Houston Press