Long before electronic wizard Dan Deacon released his commercial debut, 2007’s Spiderman Of The Rings, he’d gigged with a high-school ska band, earned a computer-music-composition degree from SUNY at Purchase, blew tuba for Langhorne Slim, shredded improv grindcore guitar with Rated R, started a chamber ensemble, co-founded Baltimore’s Wham City arts/music collective and released a series of experimental computer-music/sine-wave recordings. Deacon continues to pursue an eclectic musical course—his Carnegie Hall debut in March was part of a John Cage tribute—but his greatest successes have been in the electronic/dance scene. America (Domino), Deacon’s new album and the follow-up to 2009’s highly regarded Bromst, could cement his status as one of the country’s most adventurous and inspired electronic architects. Deacon will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on him.
Deacon: I remember the first time I saw a Bruce Bruce video it was one of those weird nights of hanging out that devolve into showing each other YouTube videos. We went through the classics of the guy breaking the Edison cylinder, “funny women falling” (champions of the video world) and somehow we shifted to stand-up comedy. His comedy isn’t groundbreaking per se, but it’s just really fucking funny. Interactions with the crowd figured prominently in the first video I saw and are a highlight of his sets. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the views he espouses. But a lot of great comedy takes controversial concepts and disarms them; it takes the controversy out of an issue and allows it to be considered in a detached way. These are things that Louis C.K.—who I also love—does more overtly, but they’re totally present in Bruce Bruce’s comedy in a subtle way.
Video after the jump.
