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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