03/13 @ 8:00pm - Sissy Spacek + Gerritt Wittmer and Paul Knowles

Although the mysterious Sissy Spacek existed in various forms from summer 1999 to their last known gig in Los Angeles, they are practically unknown in—let alone out of—California. Their recorded output is incredibly rare and highly priced and interviews or articles in the music press virtually non-existent. Tie that in with extreme sensory assault at live shows, links to radical ideologies, and a general aura of confusion and you have the ultimate cult group.
This band had their beginnings at CalArts in summer 1999 with their first demo—four grindcore songs which are featured on the Troubleman Unlimited-issued “Gore Jet” 7″. While their recordings from this early period are still relatively controlled, their live shows reputedly featured massive volume to extreme levels, something that can somewhat be seen on the video of their infamous Il Corral gig in 2005.
While the project was largely active in the studio, there has never been a consistent live presence in their history. Sessions and live recordings recorded early in St. Louis, Missouri were used ad infinitum via recycling and collage to produce much of the early releases. Live appearances were so rare in fact that the bulk have been released on various small edition lathe cuts. In 2001 a self-titled CD was released, then “Scissors”, both by the band and in severely limited numbers. These disappeared at once and like anything else associated with the band are highly-priced on the collector’s market. Shortly afterwards “Remote Whale Control” was released in 2003 and also sold out almost instantaneously. Late 2003 Misanthropic Agenda reissued “Scissors” as a deluxe gatefold LP to make it available briefly, meanwhile praise from the late Koji Tano (MSBR) in the Japanese magazine Studio Voice declared the band a new genre and seems to have sparked interest in the group.
Renewed interest seems to stem from the recent Dual Plover issued “French Record” and the bands self-produced “California Ax” 4xCD, which stands as one of the ultimate documents of extreme music. This massive affair features pieces of collage, grindcore, intense feedback, electro-aucoustic music, all with a particular concrete feel … very weird and extreme, influenced by surrealism and avante-garde/radical texts as well as other musics. While various attempts have been made to reissue the first three albums, the band have yet to give permission. Meanwhile documents of live shows and studio recordings surface and disappear abruptly. The last documented sighting of the band, their entire, and very rare, appearance at the No Fun Fest in New York in 2007, was released as a split 7″ with the band The Gossip. Members have shown up all over the underground scene, but the band itself remains a complete and total mystery.

Gerritt Wittmer Paul Knowles

Multi-disciplinary artist Paul Knowles joined Gerritt Wittmer in 2009
to explore the fringes of man’s sciences through the medium of sound and performance art. Their work combines elements of movement, light and sound to produce an abstract narrative on subjects such as out-of-body experiences and alchemy.