A Story of Rats

Multimedia artist Garek Druss uses A Story of Rats as a vehicle to expand his interests in polyphonic tones, repetition, and distorted environmental recordings. This project investigates the poignant effect that audio can produce on preconceived time structures and the idea of listening as both an act of performance and participation. A Story of Rats utilizes a minimal sound palette which is both electronic and acoustic. Live performances are anchored by synthesizers, manipulated sound-scapes, and intonations.

With his work as a solo sound artist and performer, Garek Druss, uses A Story of Rats as a vehicle to explore his interests in repetition, ephemeral tones, and audio experimentation. A Story of Rats to investigate the similar patterns that were occurring in both his visual and audio work. A Story of Rats approaches the creation of music in the same manner that Druss approaches the act of drawing, open with subtle textures.

Druss lives in Seattle and has performed as A Story of Rats around the Northwest Plateau. He is also a member of Dull Knife and the Portland OR power drone quartet Tecumseh. A Story of Rats collaborated with Pussygut (now known as Wolvserpent) on the Sea of Sand LP released on the Olde English Spelling Bee label and has a number of CDR and cassette releases.

Relinquishment is a cassette tape manufactured by FSS in a limited edition of 100 copies. Like "_/\_", the A Story of Rats contribution to the 2010 FSS digital compilation, the two tracks on Relinquishment are extended, cavernous and gritty. "Composition ii" is heavy organ drone while the slurried tones of "Composition iii" features a contribution on guitar from Matthew Merris.

This one's really crushing me, I don't usually expect drone recordings to be this heavy and soul-consuming. But yet it's not noisy, or anything close to doom or black metal. It's just extremely intense and beautiful and life-affirming.
Foxy Digitalis

...total dreamdoomdrone bliss for sure..
Aquarius Records March 25, 2011

...frigid keyboard pulses and drones piled on top each other to give birth to mysterious and enchanting overtones and a deluge of reverb and feedback.
Pacific Northbest Dec. 29, 2009

A Story Of Rats' M.O. is crawling atmospherics, investigating polyphonic tones, repetition, and distorted field recordings.
Sonic Masala Feb. 22, 2011

Discography

Thought Forms LP [Eiderdown Records]
"_/\_" on They Don't Know Unless You Tell Them Digital Album [FSS]
Of The Antler CDR [O.O.O. Recordings]
Sonnets for Unamuno II CDR w/ 10 page book of illustrations [Debacle]
Pussygut and A Story of Rats Sea of Sand LP [Olde English Spelling Bee]
A Story of Rats/ Native American/Insect Seawall Split Cassette [O.O.O. Recordings]
A Story of Rats/ Black Friday Birds Split Cassette [O.O.O. Recordings]

Available from FSS



Relinquishment
FSS-015
Ltd. Ed. Cassette
SOLD OUT

Websites

Obejet Sonar
Garek Hess