The HEARTWORM (aKa 31 year old San Francisco, California resident Brandon Taylor) discovered the Sonic Youth and the Residents at age 14. Shortly after that, he began playing bass, drums and guitar in countless bands and experimenting with electronic instrumentation both solo and in numerous experimental collaborations, with appropriately mixed and generally hilarious results.
After learning of the miracle of breakbeats, he moved to NYC in 1998, and immersed himself in the electronic music scene, becoming a regular in the drum and bass, experimental, noise, industrial and downtempo scenes.
It was during this time that the HEARTWORM "sound" was wrenched forth from the fevered, hyperactive brain of a thouroughly disturbed man. Shattered breaks, pounding hardcore rythms and decimated time signatures combine with a healthy dose of skewed, absurdist humor and oddly arranged melody to create a brain-churning dancefloor assault. Drawing more from punk rock and noise than actual dance music, has been known to clear dancefloors just as often as rocking them.
The HEARTWORM spent 5 years in new york promoting events, dJing and playing live sets across the Northeast, hosting the long running "Opiate" experimental night with cohort Aaron Spectre, holding down several DJ residencies, as well as maintaining a hectic schedule of music releases and collaborations.
During this time he also co-founded the grassroots weblabel/artist collective Slum.org and worked closely with New York's underground illegal soundsystem party scene, most notably with the Renegade Virus soundsystem crew.
In early 2003, armed only with a thouroughly trashed laptop and a kaoss pad, he embarked on a tour across Canada, travelling with members of the Renegade Virus crew, the late Wai Cheng (aKa Optic) of Isolate records, and DTRASH compatriot miQ. (aKa Zymotic, noCore and Schizoid's ex-live guitarist.)
Winding up in san francisco, the HEARTWORM hooked up with Bay Area soundsystem collective 5lowershop, and has been working with them (as well as several other bay area soundsytems and organizations) promoting and planning events, illegal parties, political actions and various nefarious schemes for the past 4 years, as well as performing and recording with several bands and collaborative projects.
In summer of 2006, he embarked on a North American tour with the Havoc Soundsystem crew, travelling in a vegetable oil powered bus. this 3 1/2 month journey saw the crew playing over 30 shows, two festivals and seeing the country powered by a completely renewable energy source (dumpstered restauant veggie oil.) He hopes to tour in this fashion again in the summer of 2007.
The HEARTWORM has released recordings for Teen Suicide records, Digital Hardcore Recordings, Aklass Records, Nexialist, Noiseusse.org, Double Threat records, 5lowershop, Faklabs Audio, Mode Of Proof, DTRASH recordings, and the Slum.org imprint, and has performed alongside such artists as Panacea, Jega, Otto Von Scirach, Richard Devine, the Executioners, Ed rush and Optical, Duranduranduran, Xanopticon, Aaron Spectre/Drumcorps, Jason Forrest (aKa Donna Summer), Society Suckers, Venetian Snares, Fanny, The Zod Records crew, and countless underground artists across the country.
The HEARTWORM continues to work with the 5lowershop collective in San Francisco, and is trying not to drink so fucking much all the time.
Band Members:
Brandon Taylor (aKa the heartworm aKa dJ sleeper cell aKa your fucking mom)
...programming, noises, composition, crankiness, heavy drinking, all manner of general surliness.
David Petrelli (aKa dvd8)
... visual stimulation, eyeball rape, moral and mental support. he also cooks so we don't die of malnutrition.
Instruments/Gear:
A seemingly never ending stream of piece of shit computers, Korg legacy cell collection vsTi pack with ms-20 controller, various MIDI controllers, Japanese fender strat, korg kaoss pad (I've had like 6 of these. I keep catching them on fire or spilling beer in them.) "youthtronics" keyboard circuit bent by the prion, unethical d-verb unit circuit bent by 666gangstaZ, various dJ and line mixers used for feedback loops and fader destruction, various effects pedals, boxes and the like, piles and piles of percussion gear, and my secret weapon: the love and support of my friends and crew.
...
The HEARTWORM would like to thank the North American soundsystem and free party underground, without who he would still be in New York trying to get a bullshit major label record deal, and Jeremy Planetsize (r.i.p.) who taught me that the music is the only thing that really makes any sense...
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…shrink me down again