Psychic Liberation

Psychic Liberation (PL) is a label founded in 2013 that originally ran with Miguel Alvariño under the title Primitive Languages as a cassette and record store project in New York City. Since 2019, Nick Klein has been running it solo out of the EU under the title Psychic Liberation. On November 30th Tongue Depressor, Jake Muir and Max Eilbacher will perform at the monthly concert series of the same name in the Roter Salon – curated by Nick Klein.

Max Eilbacher works with sound. That work materializes in various forms; compositions, musical performances, conceptual systems, perceptual choreography, installations, and theoretical sculpture. No matter how the final work may be categorized, the art typically utilizes speakers and sound waves. A frequent concern throughout the works is an inquiry into the inextricable and complex relationship between sound and experience. He has performed with various groups, presented solo compositions, abstracted electronic mediums, and installation work in venues such as the Kennedy Center, the Kitchen, Issue Project Room, the Guggenheim, the Center Pompidou, and SOUP. He has released, collaborated, and contributed to many records on labels such as Portraits INA GRM, Spectrum Spools, Editions Mego, RVNG, Catch Wave, Superpang, Thrill Jockey, Drag City, Unseen Worlds, and PL.

Jake Muir is a Berlin based sound artist, DJ and field recordist. He approaches his practice as a listener first, carefully curating, layering and processing sounds that help him deconstruct and contextualize his lived experiences and influences. Using investigative software methodologies, DJ techniques and engineering dexterity, Muir makes deeply personal sonic art that fluidly traverses genre membranes, encouraging reflection and sometimes prompting psychedelic states. Muir devised his most personal statement yet in 2023, examining gay cruising culture and its implications with Bathhouse Blues. Inspired by a series of lengthy mixtapes that Muir pieced together to evoke the sensuality of the gay bathhouse experience, the album itself was birthed after an invitation from Paris’s GRM to perform at their FOCUS #4 concert. Muir took this opportunity to examine the cultural undercurrents within the gay lifestyle and its implied pleasures, sourcing his sounds from vintage porn soundtracks. Struck through with his mischievous sense of humor, the material is a testament to Muir’s dedication to self-observation and constant research, a distinctive statement that promotes deep listening without ever forcing it.

Tongue Depressor (New Haven, CT) is the duo of Henry Birdsey and Zach Rowden. Using a wide array of instruments they write, improvise, and perform music that draws from the fields of drone, harsh noise, and church music, often using microtonal tunings.
tonguedepressor.bandcamp.com/music