Sunday April 25
ROBERT RICH
Co-presented with The Ambient Ping

Doors 6:30pm, concert 7:30pm
Tickets $25 regular, $20 member + senior
or $20 advance at TicketWeb — BUY NOW!

Across three decades and almost 40 albums, California-based Robert Rich has helped define the genres of ambient, dark ambient, and "tribal" electronic fusions, yet his music remains hard to categorize. Part of his unique sound comes from using homemade acoustic and electronic instruments, microtonal harmonies, custom software, chaotic systems and feedback networks. Rich began building his own analog synthesizers in 1976, when he was 13 years old, and later studied for a year at Stanford’s prestigious CCRMA while earning a degree in psychology.

Rich released his first album Sunyata in 1982. Among these early releases, the 1986 Swedish LP Numena found its way into some of the earliest London chill rooms and influenced DJs like Jonah Sharp and Mixmaster Morris. Rich then began a string of 11 critically acclaimed releases for the Hearts of Space label. His two collaborations with Steve Roach, Strata (1990) and Soma (1992), laid the groundwork for what became known as techno-tribal music. His collaboration Stalker (1995) with B. Lustmord became a defining landmark of dark ambient.

Rich has performed in caves, cathedrals, planetaria, art galleries and concert halls throughout Europe and North America. His all-night Sleep Concerts, first performed in 1982, became legendary in the San Francisco area. He occasionally revives his all-night concert format, using live nocturnal radio broadcasts to extend the audience range. In 2001, Rich released the 7 hour DVD Somnium, a studio distillation of the Sleep Concert experience, possibly the longest continuous piece of music ever released at the time.