Spotlight: déCollage
by Corey Blecha
Psychedelic avant-pop artist, déCollage, AKA Reed Fuchs, has fan-funded his conceptual debut album, ∞The Telos Amaranthine∞, scheduled for release on October 6. déCollage’s ineffable genre-defying debut LP transcends our lexicon, but can be imagined as a crystal prism that twirls around in your mind’s eye, watching, unfolding in Technicolor upon every listen. ∞TTA∞ is Surrealist Adventure Music: Salvador Dali’s paintings translated into a post-modern sonic collage.
In an age of synthetic textures and cookie-cutter pop music, Fuchs and his team of musical gypsies manage to cohesively blend everyday noises and samples together with innovative instrumentation and vocals, taking on dreamy and expansive soundscapes, that pull the listener in each time. I was lucky enough to have a few words with Fuchs about his latest project and what they have planned for us this year!
CMB: What is deCollage all about?
RF: The music of déCollage began three years ago when I realized I wanted to release records for the rest of my life under an alias. I’ve been in bands since middle school, and found that the easiest way to ensure longevity was to do it alone with the DIY ethos. I decided on the name déCollage 1.7 years ago, and I didn’t start playing shows until a year ago. Last February, déCollage grafted in the members it has currently: Clay Cornelius on guitar, Kyle Gray (from Rubedo) on vocal chords and synth, Joe Tabano on an effected trumpet, and Cody Schleuter on Vibraphone. I couldn’t be any happier with the sonic territory they bring to shows, and I’m looking forward to writing and recording more songs with them.
I always intended for the records to be incredibly conceptual, lyrical, and multi-textured. I take a field recorder with me everywhere. There’s something fascinating about everyday sounds taken out of context…or warped, reversed, and transformed into beats. déCollage was meant to transcend music and function as an outlet for all mediums of art. So far, I have released a book of poetry “Electric Sugar,” a live DVD with the same title, and there’s an audiobook in the works. I love creating multi-media paintings, collages, and sculptures; in September we are releasing a physical hi-res art book titled “Symmetricatalyst.” It will be the first unleashing of my art, and feature five of my favorite local artists’ pieces, who paint at most of our shows. We’re into multi-sensory performance art. On the Spring Equinox, human caterpillars transformed into butterflies during our set; and we sell dream catchers, pillowcases, and hand painted t-shirts at our shows.
CMB: Where do you see it going this year?
RF: July 2 we raised $1,078 through Kickstarter to release our debut concept album ∞The Telos Amaranthine∞. While 13 rough draft songs from our 2nd album, Polymesmerization, are all on our Bandcamp. ∞TTA∞ is déCollage’s first recordings, now it’s finished after three years in the making. We’re releasing it October 6 at my favorite DIY art gallery/venue, Unit E. Our second record, and a B-sides album are almost finished. However, we want to re-record everything with the full band because we like the way they sound live more than on the recordings. We’re planning to officially release Polymesmerization and go on tour next summer.
We are psyched that after the UMS we were signed to a label, Celestial Bliss Records! Actually, it’s my label, and we’re looking to sign like-minded artists. The other morning I poured some coffee, wrote out the contract on a napkin, sat down on the other side of the table, negotiated a better deal and signed it…I guess I’m signed to myself. For percussion, we have always favored bizarre found sounds sampled into electronic beats instead of a traditional drum set. However, we are now adding a drummer to our band, we can’t give out a name just yet, but they’ll play a kit made mostly out of trash.
CMB: Any cool promotion or marketing techniques you have learned from school that you are utilizing for shows/releases?
RF: In some ways, I feel like most of the things déCollage does wouldn’t have been nearly as efficient without the networking available through UCD and the hypnotizing knowledge of Storm Gloor and Chris Daniels. They recommended that we start up the Kickstarter campaign. CAM Records (UCD’s label) is releasing our cover of “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch” on a compilation CD of local artists this fall. Storm told us about mobile marketing, and you can download déCollage’s free mobile app by typing this into your cell: http://decollage.mobapp.at/
CMB: How was UMS?
RF: The UMS is one of my favorite events Denver has to offer. I’ve wanted to play it for years, so it was surreal taking the stage. Check out our press shots in the Denver Post, HeyReverb, and a write-up and video in the Examiner. It was fun for a change to perform a stripped minimalist set without all our balloons, visuals, 5-ft incense stick, lasers, fog, and painters (oooh but how we missed them)!
CMB: Any upcoming shows we should watch out for?
RF: déCollage’s next scheduled show is our CD release party October 6 at Unit E. We’re going easy on shows right now and mainly focusing on putting the album into the people’s hands. I’m sure we’ll have shows before that, so follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the know!
Category: Electric Buzz
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