Thursday, November 27, 2008

Grateful for the Dead

Grateful For The Dead

Grateful for the Dead is St. Paul artist and performer, Michael Donahue. His project is unique in that he is paying homage to artists who are no longer with us, exclusively, by sampling recordings of their musical output, and adding them to samples of recordings of other artists who have also shuffled off this mortal coil. Special attention is paid to partnering those artists who might not have thought to work together, while living.

He's been performing since 1984 with a variety of projects such as Primadonahue and Repulsar. He's also collaborated with a number of artists, and has worked on multiple projects with the Twin Cities' Bedlam Theater.

Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with Grateful for The Dead...


*Name: Grateful for the Dead

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: Michael Donahue

*Do you use a pseudonym? DJ Squid Viscous. I also have a one man band called Primadonahue performing experimental Electronica.

*Members: Michael Donahue

*Founding Members: Me… but all samples are from dead famous musicians, so you can get the sample credits at www.myspace.com/gratefulforthedead

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: Digital deconstructions (or “reconstructions”).

*Another genre descriptor: If you got a good name for it I’m all ears!

*Location: St. Paul, MN

*Original Location: Same

*What is your creative/artistic background: Visual Arts, Graphic Design, Theater Arts, Rock and Roll bands (Art Rock/Punk/New Wave/Punk Jazz/Electronica).

*History: I’ve been performing for less than a year in this project but have been publicly performing since 1984.

*Born: 1963, Minneapolis, MN

*Motivations: This was inspired by the idea of “Rock and Roll heaven.” If all the dead rock stars are jamming somewhere, what does it sound like?

*Philosophy: Using electronic sound shaping tools, I am producing audio collages that are comprised exclusively of sampled material from dead musicians. Any appearance from a living musician is purely incidental. I want to pay tribute to great musicians who have passed. I like the idea of combining the work of musicians who would have never worked together as living musicians.

*How would you like to be remembered: Frank Zappa once said that being remembered isn’t important. I would agree.

*Web address:
www.primadonahue.com
www.myspace.com/gratefulforthedead



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