John Fell Ryan, aka Excepter’s “JFR”, on the above collection of three ink drawings, displayed last month among other visual sweat meats at Fingered Gallery in Bushwick:
“These are all from the Spring of 1998. I was living alone on the corner of Metropolitan and Driggs in Williamsburg, trying to merge cartooning and abstract design with concepts of American Folk mythology and Jungian sex magick. No real art world aim in mind; these were done for reasons of personal development.”
I can honestly say that there is nothing in this world that messes with my sense of time as much as an Excepter live show — not even marijuana, which I stopped partaking in a long ago because the feeling of getting trapped inside a split second for 100 years was simply too much to bear. But seriously: whether they play for 17 hours straight (as they did at their notorious Election Day show in November of 2008), or deliver a tight 45-minute song cycle (as they did this year at the Pawtracks showcase at CMJ), I always walk out of their shows a little confused as to what time of the day it will be and what year. In recent days, Excepter seem to be all about the long haul. Last month, John Fell Ryan took off his signature double Ray Bans, leafed through a forgotten haystack of old drawings, concert posters, and random scribblings dating even farther back than his No Neck days, and displayed his favorites at Harrison Owen’s Fingered Media space in Bushwick. The show’s closing last week coincided with Excepter’s equally retrospective Presidence release, a compendium of looooooong duration live performances spanning 2003-2008 in 130 minutes — or approximately 2.2 minutes per month.
After spinning a preview of the album last week, Arthur Radio is excited to announce an unbridled freeform Excepter transmission tomorrow afternoon on Newtown Radio, preceded by a live Q&A with the band. Visitation RItes, Hairy Painter, Ivy Meadows, and friends will be your hosts for the segment, and you’re all invited to come along for the ride. Just don’t forget to leave your wristwatches at home.
Listen in on Sunday, February 21 from 4-6 EST on Newtown Radio. Some food for your eyes and ears in the meanwhile:
Excepter, “Teleportation: KAL” video, shot and edited by Harrison Owen
Words: Emilie Friedlander
Math: Jon Williams
GreenerMags Multimedia Package: Camilla Padgitt-Coles (Ivy Meadows)
Tags: Arthur Magazine, Arthur Radio, Excepter, Fingered Media, Harrison Owen, Pawtracks, Presidence