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Killick

Killick Hinds lives in Athens, Georgia. His music is Appalachian Trance Metal made on unusual stringed instruments with an emphasis on unquantifiable rhythms, intuitive intonation, and shamanistic ROYGBIV. Despite its eclectic nature the sounds are surprisingly familiar and accessible to audiences of all ages and levels of musical involvement. The primary sonic influences on Killick are animals, wind, water, fire, electrical hum, and silence. Killick’s preferred performance vehicle is the solo concert, a “One (Sha)Man Band” channeling the muse in the fashion of shamanic ritual of old. Every performance is different, factoring the instrumentation and energy of the audience and space. Various strains of Killick’s training and enculturation appear in bespoke combinations with the likelihood of something (an approach, a texture, a rhythm, a juxtaposition) entirely new emerging. Shamanic presentation is characterized by sometimes abrupt shifts in mood, pulse, and harmony yet Killick prioritizes inviting dialogue infused with levity and sudden beauty. Killick has played hundreds of concerts in clubs, galleries, and concert halls since the age of 13. He has given masterclasses and forums in musical improvisation at the University of Colorado Boulder; CalArts in Valencia, California; Alfred University in Alfred, New York; the University of Georgia Athens; Frantasia Festival in Livermore Falls, Maine; City University of New York’s New York City Electroacoustic Improvisation Summit; and through Conserere in Milan, Italy. Killick has co-presented with luthier Fred Carlson at the University of California, Santa Cruz as part of the International Society of Improvising Musicians 2009 conference. In 2016, Killick received an Athens, Georgia Flagpole Music Award for the category of Avant-Garde. Killick is a 2020 Willson Center Shelter Projects Micro-Fellow and a 2022 Hambidge Fellow. Killick has played with many great creatives from around the world, including guitarists Nick Vander, Christian Vasseur, Álvaro Domene, Se'nam Palmer, Sandy Ewen, Sándor Szabó, Henry Kaiser, Mary Halvorson, Francesca Naibo and Susan Alcorn; bassists Martin de Lassaletta, Peter Kowald and Michael Manring; horn players Blaise Siwula, Liz Allbee, and Larry Ochs; vocalists Monique Osorio and Martin Howth; and drummers Ravish Momin and Brann Dailor; plus extensive work with his Thunder O(h)m! and Pocketful of Claptonite ensembles. Recently he is one of the founders of Habitable Records, an international initiative born from Javier Subatin's Composers & Improvisers Community Project, itself a forward-looking response to the challenges facing musicians during the Covid era. More than 300 Killick albums can be found through www.killick.me.


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Take Five With...

Take Five With Killick

Read "Take Five With Killick" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Killick: On June 4th, 2008 I was admitted into the hospital with a life-threatening bleeding duodenal ulcer. I'd never been through a physical ordeal on this scale. My body continues to recover but something greater happened. I was given a glimpse of the absolute, a space of peace where contradictions resolve. The conditions were ripe for some insight: I'd long been working towards a music and way of living beyond categorization. Not to be difficult or contrarian, ...

129
Album Review

Killick: Bull****

Read "Bull****" reviewed by Jim Santella


Based on the story of Ferdinand, a children's book written by Munro Leaf in 1936 and the basis for Disney's animated film Ferdinand the Bull (1938), Killick (né Erik Hinds) brings us twelve improvised pieces that follow the anti-fight sentiment of this lovable character's adventure.

Set in Spain, the story lends itself to classical guitar impressions; however, the artist isn't using an ordinary guitar. His instrument, Big Red, carries the timbre of an acoustic guitar-bass, which allows him to apply ...

174
Album Review

Erik Hinds: Reign in Blood

Read "Reign in Blood" reviewed by Andrey Henkin


It would seem on the surface that the visceral, hyper-masculine ambience of death metal would be at odds with the intellectual musings of free improvisation. However, since much of what Peter Brötzmann ever did is as violent as any metal, and many of today's free improvisors are young and grew up listening to the stuff, the gap has narrowed.Which is where this album comes in. Erik Hinds is a musician out of Atlanta who grew up on Slayer ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Empowered Kind

Habitable
2023

buy

Imbricate

Habitable Records
2021

buy

Catuskoti

Hindsight
2014

buy

Bull****

Solponticello
2007

buy

Reign in Blood

Solponticello
2005

buy

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