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My first Full Length Album, Chik'n & Waffles

4/18/2019

22 Comments

 
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​Chik'n & Waffles - Penny Grune-Fae
Prepared Guitar 
First full length album by Penny Grune-Fae
Seven songs, ranging from 7 min 12 seconds to 16 seconds long. 

1. Haunted City 
2. 2 Grunches 
3. Le Feu Follet (winter) 
4. Rougaroux of East Slattery 
5. What We Buried On St. Ann Street 
6. The Ghosts of the Delta Queens
7. 30.9843° N, 91.9623° W 
Chik'n and Waffles was recorded over the last six months onto my Sony ICD-PX470 Stereo Digital Voice Recorder, then mastered at Barnes and Noble's Cafe in St. Petersburg, Florida. DJ Hollow Life was human duct tape, assisting me get it all nice and neat for y'all's souls.
Some of the Toys and Instruments used on this album: Electric Guitar, Personal Portable Fans, Absinthe Spoons, Various Chopsticks, Cymbal Mallets, Dictaphone, 808 Bluetooth Speaker, Fidget Spinners, Bullet Vibrators, and a Slinky .. there is probably more..lol  
It was Summer time, on East Slattery Street, Shreveport.. I was born a Louisianian... Monsters are real. Some run wild in the woods, some live under your bed, some are forced to suffer in closets, and some,,, Escape!!!
​I believe in ghosts. I do think there are some cities that are haunted. Every time I visit a city, I try to let myself go and feel who the city is.. I go on a walk-about, taking in the energy of the space and hearing what the spirits could be saying to me. Each city has a Spirit all its own. The city of New Orleans has a major Ghost Airport. So many Spirits travel there for pleasure and some are trapped because of the unjust acts of mankind. The City of New Orleans is also filled with wonder, magick, and story upon stories are told for those who would like to hear them.. If you ever make it there, please spend some time listening to the old ones of the city. Also..when you visit, go treat yourself to a cup of Coffee with Chicory and some fresh beignets at Café Du Monde. 
Winter on the mighty Mississippi. Up and down the shores of this wonderful woman, you can sometime see the ancestor fires burning. Winter winds roaring through the ancient places, feels like a bit o' wonder for me. Yes it is bitterly cold, yes the wind can smack you right in the face..lol.. but.. it is so worth it. I feel alive.. The French Quarter is not as busy the weeks around the Holidays, so that is definitely a great time to go enjoy her.
When I visit this wonderful Crescent City I usually stay at Place d’ Armes. What an enchanting place. They say it is haunted.. Legend says it is the most haunted place in New Orleans.. If you throw a rock in any direction in Louisiana there is Ghost Story and they are all true. 
​One early morning I was up reading and I heard the clop-clops of a horse-drawn carriage going down the street. That was odd. It is 3 AM and the horses should be sleeping and off for the night. The sound of clop, clop, clop, clop kept getting louder... so I got up and went the window where I heard the sounds of the horse and carriage. I then opened my window in my room and looked out... No horse and carriage anywhere.. I could still hear the horse's walking sounds and the wheels of the carriage.. I leaned out the window more, to see the street. The street was empty. 
The next day when I arose I walked over to the Square and asked a carriage driver if there was an event last night on St. Ann Street? He said with an odd look on his face "The Carriage does not run that late at night". We looked at each other and both smiled. 
Chik'n and Waffles for me is a self portrait. I claim to be a Southern Gal with a city girl's heart. I was born in LA; the stories of wonder are apart of my DNA. Each song on this album is about that.. I really do believe in the reality of the Paranormal. Life is too wonderful for there not to be.
The title came from enjoying a plate of Chik'n and Waffles with a good friend, and yes, like a good Southern Miss I was enjoying a glass of Sweet Tea with 'em. I said time to do a full album. This album popped out. I could give y'all every story from behind each track, but what would be the fun in that. Instead come sit with me, I will pour a glass of Tea, chat a bit and I will tell you some real Ghost Stories.. 
22 Comments

prepared guitar art and notes

3/13/2019

4 Comments

 
here is a slideshow of documentation of various prepared guitar art configurations and devices of mine. if you want to look at a photo a little more closely, hover your mouse over the slideshow and you will see controls such as pause, back, forward, play, etc. 

for me it is all about fun.. when i adventure out.. i see these innocent objects and go, hmmm!! i wonder what u will sound like..
4 Comments

Techno Illogical Sketchbook mini-zine

3/12/2019

4 Comments

 
Hover your mouse over the slideshow below to activate controls such as Pause, Play, Forward, and Back. Pages change at nine second intervals.
4 Comments

The Was

3/11/2019

11 Comments

 
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Was: The past of be.
Be: Exist.
Was a moment that happened.
How did I start doing The Was?
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Origin:
Food Porn, The start of my Was photos came from Food Porn. Everyday we are bombarded with social media instant gratification look at me moments. You are on FB minding your own business. You are scrolling down and one of your friends, or some stranger places up this amazing looking treat. You see this tasty morsel in all it's glory. Dang!!! mmmnn!!! Wow!!! I want that. But, u can't.. It is Food Porn. It is fleeting. You picture their spread and want to bite. But, you can not have the exact same tempting mistress. You do think of your lunch now and it was not as good as their pictured treat.
Or..maybe...
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Origin:
Did the idea of my Was photos come from my love of seeing decay, disorder and chaos in a beautiful way? I love seeing rust on metal, pieces of colorful glass on a multi-colored gray streets, melted crayons, splashes of paint on walls, faded images on wood..etc. I see beauty in this. These items all had stories. They all hold some kind of memory. When I see the left overs, decay, memories get conjured in my own soul.
Why do some celebrate the beauty of the new in front of us, discarding the beauty of decay?
Or...did The Was show up..or Was it always there?
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Origin:
My Daddy when he was fighting Blood and Bone Cancer there were some days he could not tell you the day of the week, but he could give full memory of my Mum and his first kiss. The aroma of her perfume, the feel of her dress. Memory is powerful. Memory can bring the one who remembers fully back to the start.
And..if we tell the story of The Was it that captured us it creates life in others. Then they tell their story and something wonderful erupts deep in us. We all have wonderful stories in us, they are waiting to come out more. The Was acts a primer. It is the first word on an empty page, the first stroke of paint left on a clean canvas.
The Was asks the questions. What was it, where was it, who was it done by, when was it, and why was it.
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Origin:
I was on Instagram one day. I just placed a picture of a show , performed with some friends and Instagram read, PennyGruneFae ..
That is where The Was placed its roots deeper in me.
The Was. The remembering of an event you had. The memory of a happening. The taste of that damn good cup of coffee. That tear on the cheek, the spilling of blood on a street, the slice of Orange rind on a green table and so much more.
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​One can see something different when one takes time to take in The Was. There are details we will see, when we slow down long enough to see the captured moment.
What you may see in The Was may be different than someone else's look into The Was.
I placed up the after event of something i enjoyed on Instagram. I typed Was. That was the name that pop'd into my noggin.
When I went back to look at the image. Instagram read..
Pennygrunefae. Was.
I was there. The event happened.
My next thought was. Wow.. I hope when people see The Was, it would kindle a memory unique to the watcher's Was for them as well.
When my Daddy told me of his first kiss to my Mum's lips.. it opened the door of adventure me to see him as whole, romantic, high school kid in love with a future ahead of him.
The celebration of past events through what is left behind.
We are now and we all lived The Was.
11 Comments

Asemic Manuscripts inspired by "Meanderings" by Dylan Houser

1/7/2019

19 Comments

 
Hi y'all,
​I just purchased Dylan Houser's Album Meanderings from Dylan's Bandcamp page.
​Please click below to enjoy Meanderings.
I decided to do the review of Dylan's Album in an art/writing style called Asemic Manuscripts. Each song for me holds a unique feel and a continuity as a whole to the other songs. Over the last few days I did each piece, in various places,  finishing up doing "Queen Spider" and "Sunset Beach" at a laundromat in Saint Pete.
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Vela
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Queen Spider
I enjoy doing art in normal public spaces vs. the confines of my bedroom. Each piece moved me in a different way. My favourite song off the album is "Queen Spider". My second fave is "Sunset Beach". Meanderings is a really tight album. I was moved and surprised. To me when I think of Noise in the genre that some of us play in, Dylan comes to mind first as hard and heavy. Then Hal Harmon next. ​
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Loduten
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Sunset Beach
Meanderings was in parts very elegant and beautiful. It added to the picture I have of Dylan doing what Dylan does. There may be another write up on this album...but..at the present moment I am still pondering on the sounds Dylan created. Don't take my words on it. I drew how I felt. Please go and slip on head phones..(my fave way to enjoy music) meditate on the Asemic Manuscripts and enjoy. 
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Meanderings album artwork on Bandcamp
19 Comments

Asemic Manuscripts

11/30/2018

10 Comments

 
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10 Comments

Sketching my gear and I love percussion

7/25/2018

10 Comments

 
​Part of my process is sketching out my gear set up for each show i play..
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​My sketch for my portion of collaboration with Vallam, June 12, 2018 ..
22 inch gong with various toys to caress the brass, Digitech 300 vocalizer pedal, Delay, and EQ..
Glockenspiel, two Woodblocks with contrasting tones
Cedar Flute played through second Digitech 300 vocalizer, delay, multi fx pedal. 
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I love percussion. U can find instruments everywhere. I also enjoy inviting the audience in and playing along side of them and vice versa. I played a show up at Quolab in Savannah, Ga. Each cup/shaker contains different spices, seeds, nuts and foods. During one of my songs each member of the audience had their own and added sonic color to the rest of the set.. ​
Read an interview with Penny by Ditlev Buster at Electronic Cottage
10 Comments
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    penny grune-fae

    Name: Penelope Rebecca “Penny”

    Born: Shreveport, Louisiana
    Location: Saint Petersburg, Florida
    Formerly: Massachusetts, Rhode Island

    Present Music Project: Penny Grune-Fae

    Sound, it fascinates me, haunts me, and moves me. My entire life has been the exploration, application, and pursuit of sounds.

    One question people have asked me over the last three years of my life in regards to my Experimental Music / Anti-Music creations is, “How long have u been doing this?” My heartfelt answer... as long as I have been alive. Until three years ago I just did not know what I was doing was part of a movement, community, or “A Thing” I just thought it was what it was, Having fun creating. I knew of Cage, Dada, Eno, Glass, and others. There are a few people I have come to know and respect in the Experimental Community that can tell us the entire family tree of a gazillion artists, their relationships to what we do and how it all got to here. That was never me. I am constantly learning.

    It was about three years ago when I started focusing on penny music: taking down my sketchbooks, notebooks, napkins and started to see how it led me here. When I was younger, I made tape loops, tape manipulation on reel to reel tape recorder, captured field recordings, created soundscape recordings, did weird things to my percussion gear, and built contraptions to play with on stage because why not! I wanted to see how they would sound and how I could apply them to whatever music project I was working on at that time in my life.

    I never knew all of this was really a thing. It was just fun.

    Origin Point:
    I was at a place called the Venture Compound, supporting a friend's project and started hearing and seeing some incredible shows. I started hanging out and meeting these creative people. I felt a connection to what they were doing and who they are. I felt a part of something bigger than me. I felt I could maybe belong. Then I saw SPNF, Pre-Inc and other insane shows. Mind Blown!!! Then one day I was looking up Mail-Art sites and came across Hal McGee and then I saw some of the same people who I
    met on his YouTube account performing. Connections to Connections, like how a tree is connected to her roots, branches, leaves, ground and all that earthy nature stuff (LOL)

    I grew as I was challenged. I wanted to create something my own. I started playing a few collaborations alongside people that were already actively creating. During this time I was doing poetry, playing drums, and trying to support others. I was asked one day if I wanted my own set. I said yes!

    This is where Penny Grune-Fae evolved from. My first solo set was made of contradicting sounds mixed
    into a soundscape. I used 4 mp3 players because they were cheaper than 4 Micro-Cassette Recorders. I saw Hal McGee's Dictaphonia Fest. That is where I wanted to start. That sounded so wicked Rad!!! The pursuit sounds and combining sound together. I started searching for Microcassette Recorders... man they were expensive though!! Mp3 players. So I got four, a mixer, did some insane research on pedals, bought some and started creating. I played my first set...it worked... it freaking worked!! People liked it. I
    even liked it...LOL...I am, constantly hard on my self. Later that night, a few people compared me to
    others out there who have been doing something like I just did... just with different gear... and professional as I said... I did not know it was a thing. I was asked to play other shows, met more killer people and I started to grow more. LOL... Since the start of this leg of adventure I now have one Micro-
    cassette only 3 more to go...LOL... Hal McGee turned me on to another recording device, but that will be another story.

    While there was an entire universe of experimental musicians doing their art I was growing through it.
    When I was younger I was raised in the church. OOOOOH no!! not religion... Yup... LOL... In that time
    of my life, I was given the choice to sit with my folks or go sit in the sound booth and learn sound. I choose to learn sound. During that time I also learned how to run lights, do spots, fixed stuff when it broke build stages, build instruments, program light boards, lay lots of duct tape, and get electrocuted, I was hungry to learn. I also choose to do technical support first before I had spots on me. I wanted to lift others up rather than just be "Look at me". I learned so much during that time, and I feel I am a better musician for it.

    Percussion: I love drumming, I have been having a relationship with drums my entire life. From my Mum's heartbeat to playing pots and pans on my Mum's floor to doing some touring I have been
    drumming. My foundation as a percussionist has greatly added to what I have been creating.

    ​Other points of Interest that I enjoy exploring: Making friends, Mail-Art, Creating Asemic Manuscripts.
    Sketching Future Noise Instruments. Roaring 20's Culture, Radio Dramas and doing Stand Up Comedy.

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