Kymatik

Kymatik (from the original German spelling of Cymatics) was originally founded in Stoke Newington squat in the 1980s using the name of their studio space CNS, playing and engineering live P.A.s with several bands in North London, the only permanent members being McNaughton and Dave Mulligan. By the end of the 1980s CNS switched from mainly engineering other bands' music to small live gigs and studio work of their own, using microphones, a 16-channel mixing desk, effects processors, and found objects, treated guitars and anything that came to hand, with sets often governed by the length of the performers' psychedelic experiences. Cassette copies of the performances on their own label NonServiam Recordings were distributed free. CNS released a compilation "Nephesch" in 1991 including members of The Worry Dolls, The Johnsons, The Palookas, and other North London independent bands. A updated version of the track "Gaia Distress Call" also appeared around this time under the name CNS/Kymatik as part of a proposed release with engineer Ivor Maldek, who introduced McNaughton to Mark Tamea and Dan Reade, Reade departing the UK after only a few months. As Kymatik (McNaughton, Mark Tamea), they released the cassette compilation "The Ultimate - Kymatik 1991-93" in 1993 with Richard Baker at Von's Studio Islington. A collection of sequencer based tracks, it did not demonstrate the immediacy or invention of the live recordings, and by the end of 1993 the group was back down to one original member when Tamea left the UK for work abroad. ®Tisendi (McNaughton, Tamea), which saw a late return to hands-on improvisation, processing of found sounds, effects processors, and the mixing console, albeit in a 'Techno' style, remains "....the signal piece of that period. Mark had given Kymatik a crisp overall sound; but now to abandon the drum machine, sequencer and keyboards so we went downstairs and sampled the spin dryer with some kitchen utensils on top of it, using a Sony ECM-909 I think, went back upstairs and switched on the feedback!.. we were completely in harmony" (McNaughton). After the departure of Tamea, during the mid-nineties Kymatik appeared live at Keep 3 (London), the London South Bank Centre with Rolf Gehlhaar, and with Morphogenesis at the B.B.C. studios in Portland Place, London, also playing live surround sound sets for The Face Magazine and Channel 4, at The Tardis Clerkenwell, whilst McNaughton also made several ambisonic live recordings with a variety of musicians including Peter Sheppard Skærved's 'Kreutzer Quartet', sampling composer John Wall, and Keith Tippett's Tapestry.. Live works and collaborations have included musicians as far apart as the aforementioned Gehlhaar of Karlheinz Stockhausen's group, Devon folk musician Seth Lakeman, and Alabama 3 front-man Wayne D. Love. From the beginning Kymatik has seen members come and go with each new project, playing several live gigs in Europe over the last 2 decades, McNaughton being the only ever-present member. Some live performances of "Lorenz Attractor" from the CD Dar-As-Sulh Volume I took place with the audience floating on airbeds in a swimming pool. A good portion of the work is based heavily around the idea of inducing dissociation and altered states of consciousness in the audience, through complex atonal and/or aleatory processing of environmental recordings. Since 1996 Kymatik have used ambisonic processors and microphones for both live and studio work, and perform live in surround sound. English electronics wizard Chris Richards (Raipec Ltd), has been considered the invisible but indispensable member of Kymatik since 1997.