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Lord Tang
Lord Tang aka Dominic Cramp’s love for electronic music was crystallized at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the mid-‐90s when he took the history of electronic music with legendary composer/inventor Gordon Mumma. That immersion combined with the tutelage of resident genius engineer/professor, Peter Elsea, who designed the studio from the ground up in a converted classroom, had an everlasting impact. Countless nights were lost in the service of the departments’ collection of modular synths including the Moog and the relatively unknown Dutch modular the Synton. This immersion coupled with a discovery of old dub and its many incarnations would shape Cramp’s musical output forever.
In 1995 Cramp produced his first commercial release with San Francisco’s Deeper Than Space, entitled Drift for the Silent Records label. The duo performed live in a variety of venues in the heady club daze of the 1990s. Cramp left for New York in 2000 to work for pioneering audio software developer Arboretum Systems helping to develop early plug-‐ ins for Pro Tools and other such systems. Cramp returned to the Bay Area in 2004 and began performing his one man outer-‐dimensional electronic act Borful Tang in the blooming noise and experimental scenes. Soon after, Cramp met Jared Blum and sharing a common love for old electronic music, launched the Gigante Sound label to promote their own idiosyncratic take on the music.
In 2008, Cramp hooked up with Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista after bass player Tara Barnes saw him playing keys and electronics with the improv trio Modular Set. Recognizing a sympathetic soul, the crew brought him on board and 2 US tours, 7 European tours and 2 records later they are still going strong. In 2011, Blum started an instrumental project with Faith No More founder and bass player, Bill Gould, as The Talking Book. They brought Cramp on to hold down the low end and and add some analog electronics for their debut at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. After a successful show they asked him to join the group and the trio has now completed 2 South American tours through Brazil, Chile and Argentina and are working on a new album.
In the last couple of years Cramp has been busier than ever. He started a free improv group, Tiberius, with himself on organ and electronics and Mike Guarino (Mike Watt, Oaxacan, Richard Bishop band) on drums and electronics. They have also been performing regularly with choreographer Leyya Tawil of Dance Elixir. In 2012 he began a new chapter with his project, Lord Tang. Fusing his love of dub and electronics with the construction and dismantling of more traditional song structures and beats. It takes its guideposts from a variety of genres and blends it all into a highly personal sound. In 2014, he embarked on a Lord Tang 3 EP series in partnership with the German label Alarm and plans are being laid for a European tour at the end of 2014.
“[Cramp’s] music carries a timeless quality to it that is far outside the bounds of convention, and his delivery and execution can’t be likened to anybody else. In a world of ‘hit single’ artists, it’s a cherished moment when I happen upon an artist who stands out
as an individual, and who cannot be defined by the sum of their works.”
Patrick Delaney -‐ dubmonitor.com
A must-‐see live, this guy reeks of creativity and is sheer joy to experience
Bill Cuevas – Music Director for KZSU 90.1 FM
lordtang.bandcamp.com
