rick reed

electronics (austin)

Born in 1957, Rick Reed came to music by way of the visual arts. He had originally studied painting and graphic design during the 70's, but after moving to Austin,Texas in 1980, he was inspired by, but not influenced by, the liberating punk rock DIY mentality that was so prevalent around this time. He soon found himself rekindling a love affair with electronic sounds that he began as a child playing with his parents reel to reel tape recorder and short wave radio. At the time, it seemed to be a better fit artistically for him than painting, so in 1981, he made the switch and began recording his own music of drone noise using cheap tape recorders and analog synthesizers, which by then were just starting to become affordable for the average person.

Laboring in almost total obscurity for 15 years, he was discovered by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore in 1996 and finally had his first official record, "Experimental and Improvised Music From Austin, Tx." released on Ecstatic Peace the following year. Since then, he has continued to work not only on music, but video art, installations, field recordings, soundtracks, and for a while, even hosted a local experimental music radio show for a few years

Since beginning his journey in sound, he has appeared in numerous local groups with names such as FTC, The Abrasion Ensemble, The Ethereal Bastards, Field, The Deep Dream Decoders, Frequency Curtain and most recently, The Voltage Spooks (with Keith Rowe and Michael Haleta). He continues to perform frequently as a solo artist, sometimes calling his act, "Careful With That AKS Eugene", named after his most current synthesizer, The EMS Synthi AKS.

Reed's work can be heard on labels such as Beta Lactam Ring, Bremsstralung Recordings, Pale Disc/Japan and Elevator Bath.