78. Life’s Gradient Failures Filtered Through Unnecessary Pollinators.
5/4/25
Hey! How are ya?
Team Building In The Extinction Burst by KalloHumina
Once again we sat down with DJ Larstonovich on the occasion of a new KalloHumina album release. Available here: https://kallohumina.bandcamp.com/album/team-building-in-the-extinction-burst Skullcrusing Hummingbird: Hey, I suppose we should establish that I am he as you are he, as you are me and we are all together… and then just dive into it! DJ Larstonovich: That works! SH: I’m looking at your Bandcamp page, there have been 8 releases starting in February, 2024. DJL: That is correct! That includes a combination of collaborative studio albums, live improvised ensemble eps, and solo studio albums. SH: You guys describe yourself as “a collaborative music and noise project specializing in live composition.” Do you think it can be confusing to people when you release solo albums under the same name? DJL: Yeah, it’s probably confusing for anyone who reads things or pays attention. SH: Have you ever thought about releasing your solo work under a different moniker? DJL: I certainly have! SH: … DJL: … SH: Can you tell me about your latest LP? DJL: Sure! I went and saw Pink Floyd at Pompeii on the gigantic IMAX screen. That was a formative “concert film” of my youth and it looked and sounded great in this setting. I realized how much the music I still love and try to make has origins in that era of Pink Floyd. This was post-Syd Barrett and pre-Dark Side of The Moon. They were jammy and experimental but not wanky. There was a nice amount of discordance. So I came home inspired and made the 21 minute title track, Team Building In the Extinction Burst. I was going to just release that as an EP on its own. SH: Then what happened? DJL: I moved my studio upstairs and recorded three more pieces. SH: Do you ever think that you maybe you are releasing too much music? That maybe you're sacrificing quality for quantity? That people who were interested in KalloHumina at one point are now just overwhelmed and checked out? DJL: Yes, no, and yes. SH: Have you considered releasing less? DJL: Briefly. But why should these things I record sit around somewhere? I’ve recorded plenty of unfinished things that won’t see the light of day. Everything I release on Bandcamp is something I’m proud of and I’d listen to. SH: You sound defensive. DJL: I am defensive! But I’m glad you brought this up. Every time I make a digital album it allows me to use art I’ve made in different mediums. I can find a photo I took and use it as the cover, snippets of poems can be song titles etc. On one hand the quantity and ease in which you can release things digitally can seem like it will dilute things or overwhelm the handful of folks who’ve listened to previous releases. On the other hand, we’re all gonna die. I plan on releasing a record on vinyl at some point. It may be a compilation of favorite previous-released tracks or something new. In the meantime I’m not gonna slow down because people like you ask me to! SH: Hey, whoa, I just asked if you considered it! DJL: …
Chapbook Release!
Next Sunday!
Hit me up for the address of this one!
Salon Rouge is basically someone’s garage in the Montavilla neighborhood of Portland, OR.
Poem
Prosepoem One
Make a sandwich, unguarded, as in nightmare. Feeling slighted, never end it with a flourish. It’s as if the unmitigated shouters would like a shot at a future. I want to belong inside bended notes, sustained sharps. Notable breezeways fill to capacity, it’s May Day. No umbrage taken, roads are paved, a scrub jay attempts to eviscerate a guileless squirrel.
I’m of two minds, maybe twelve. Unforced entry, duly noted. Mirrored pyramids, lost camels, lists of places you don’t want to go. Life’s gradient failures filtered through unnecessary pollinators. Come, now, hi, have we met?Visual Noise
Excerpt from the title track to the new KalloHumino LP “Team Building In The Extinction Burst.”
Excerpt from “This Is My Name Forever” off the new LP.
Excerpt from “Unfair Practices In Prenatal Astralgeography” also from the new LP
Cat Poop Studios - RIP
“Cat Poop Studios,” the half of an unfinished basement that housed my musical and recording equipment is no longer.
It had its charms. Crazy 80’s tapestries and cheap ass mini-rugs made it a little more homey, but they didn’t truly distract from the hot water heater and gas furnace that shared the space.
The cat litter boxes did not limit their wafts to the other half of the basement. I had to stop opening one of the windows due to an insane kitten. I had to move my Japanese room dividing screens due to an insane kitten.
I’ve moved upstairs into the erstwhile TV room / failed guest room. The logistics of the new TV placement in the front room are still in the works
Being upstairs is truly a game changer. I can just pop in and lay down some ideas in a cat-turd-free flash!
It’s the little things in life, right?
Thanks for reading and I’ll see ya next week in the ‘stack! - LWL