Wounds ReOpened is a retrospective collection of recordings STIGMATA produced during the 1984 to 1988 period. The tracks cleaned up beautify when digitized from the analog masters. This collection is available on request.

STIGMATA was an audio collaboration I had with my friend Michael Davenport who I had met while we attended The Philadelphia Collage of Art.

Art school in the early 80's was a fertile environment for garage punk bands. Being a musician was not a prerequisite for an audience. I fit that bill, and fortuity Michael was a schooled guitarist. But our interests were more of a cerebral expression of ambient texture and collages of irony. The result was a volume of genuine and uncompromising work I'm very proud of.

The first effort was recorded on a portable four track. The technical aspects of the work were limited to: how many buttons can we push, and filling up all four tracks with something. A little over zealous and subsequently noisy. But it was a good start to devise a process in witch to communicate our ideas too each other.

The second effort was a real attempt to produce a cohesive volume.

We where involved in the founding of an artist cooperative to help us and others in our circle of friends with the administrative needs in producing independent work. "Collective Enterprise Productions" was realized with a great deal of effort from our friend Drew Keegan. Drew is a born visionary. His organizational skills and "why not" attitude are unstoppable. He was greatly responsible for what was to become possible from here.

C.E.P. provided connections with artist of other disciplines to enhance and participate in our projects.

Another aspect of "Stains." was we recorded on 8 track reel to reel, providing less crowded mixing and a substantially cleaner end product.

Stains also had a good presentation, cover art, liner notes, and a press kit seem enough to get air play on WXPN late night psychedelic programs. We forged a personal relationship with some of the collage disk-jockeys, and were invited in for a live on air interview. Defiantly a highlight and a great validation.

Michael Davenport: engineering, mixing, digital processing, all guitar and treatments, homemade biwa, kilimba, chimes, and field recording.

George Wolstenholme: arrangements, tape edits, environmental, acoustic and synthetic percussion, synthesizer and voice.

Mark Colleens: bass guitar on "Waking the Baby", "the Ascension" and "Constructive Engagement"

Mami Chida: Japanese story teller on "Decisions of Consequence"

Shirley Guy: vocals on "Shamans Rain"

Mavis Turley: vocals on "Constructive Engagement"

C.E.P. had sacred a small grant from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, and the Pew Charitable Trust for an interdisciplinary performance piece. All members of the collective participate in the performance at the Painted Bride Arts Center on May 25 and 26th in 1987.

The sound track Michael and I created was the spring board for the performance. Dancers, puppets, and readings punctuated the mayhem. I directed the first half and Michael the second. The turn out was overwhelming, anyone who know of use even in the most remote way seem to be there. Family, friends, and mentors were all enthusiastically supported this effort. I have never experienced this type of notice before or since. It was naive and amateurish, granted but that's what made it pure.

Michael Davenport: arrangements, engineering, digital processing, all guitar and treatments, melodic, and field recording.

George Wolstenholme: arrangements, tape edits, environmental, acoustic and synthetic percussion, synthesizer and voice

Mark Collins: bass guitar on "Waking the Baby"

Susan Davenport: violin on "Enculturation"

Mark Hills: 1st persona on "Interlocution"

Drew Keegan: 2nd persona and script writer

Mavis Turly: 3rd persona

Peter Senty: Acoustic Percussion on Time -Place-Displace

1988 : Fallen From Grace:

After the Dreamscape projects we both needed to do a stand alone indulgent expression, works void of considerations for live performance or outside collaborations. This luxury help produce, in my opinion some of the strongest tracks we ever accomplished. We also afforded ourselves solo tracks, a chance to stake individuality and a personal statement.

Michael Davenport: all guitars and treatments, digital processing, field recordings, engineering, vox, and old man .

George Wolstenholme: synthesizer, tape edits, arrangements, sequencer and percussion programming, environmental, vox, and green monster.

Barbara Naska: vocals on "Lazarus"

Chip Cypress: base on "Lazarus"

Mami Chida: script writer on "Green Monster"

Drew Keegan: narrator on "Green Monster"

The Whipping Machine was a return to a collaborative stage production and attempt to out do the Dreamscape project. Through C.E.P. we enlisted the talents of Van Grimmes as a choreographer, and Walter Smith a video/computer artist when that medium was still in it's infancy.

There was a substantially larger budget for technical staging and again the Painted Bride had booked us for two nights.

My archive at the time of this posting has failed me regarding the players and play list. Perhaps this conscious or unconscious, for I can't regard this effort as a highlight. Lets just say I received an education in the pitfalls of collaborative art.

With that said W.M. was, in a nut shell, a Kafkaesque story of public excesses.

"Funny stuff aye"

Took some time for the sting of the Whipping to ware off.

Michael wanted to work alone for a while and that

was fine. He produced a solo work of four pieces with Barbara Noska (at the time the vocalist of the Relashe New Music Ensemble). Since the recording equipment was his anyway, I persuade other endeavors, Then I purchased a portable four track and started working on audio sketches and more complicated rhythms.

I had acumen a large number of these sketches and played the better ones for Michael. They became the preliminary tracks for this new volume. We adopted a new way of working this time, basically meeting briefly, discussing the currant mixes and planning what to add, but working more remote and individually.

I do feel this work has a more mature sound.

Michael Davenport: arrangements, engineering, digital processing, all guitar and treatments, melodica, and field recording.

George Wolstenholme: arrangements, tape edits, environmental, acoustic and synthetic percussion, synthesizer and voice

Jamison Jones: rap and scat on Culture