Eli Keszler | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Brookline, Massachusetts |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, visual artist, multi-instrumentalist |
| Instrument(s) | Percussion,guitar, etc. |
| Years active | early 2000s–present |
| Labels | Pan Records, REL Records, NNA Tapes,Forced Exposure,ESP-Disk, Dancing Wayang, Rare Youth Records,Lucky Me |
| Website | EliKeszler.com |
Eli Keszler is an Americanpercussionist,composer, andvisual artist based inNew York City.[1] Known for his complex and intricate style of drumming, as well creatingsound installations involvingpiano wire and other mechanisms to accompany his live performances, his shows have involved visual elements such as Keszler's drawings, diagrams, screen prints, and writings. In 2012,Pitchfork wrote that "Keszler deserves recent attention for his large-scale sound art installations, which not only force musical ideas to interact with an acoustic environment but, in turn, for flesh-and-bone musicians to interact with both of them."[2]
Keszler has also toured or collaborated with artists such asTony Conrad,Jandek,Loren Connors, theIceland Symphony Orchestra andOneohtrix Point Never, and has released several solo albums since 2008. He has also performed and released music asPedagogy, with producer Nate Boyce.[3]Alps in 2014, was a collaboration with guitaristOren Ambarchi. In 2012 Keszler debuted a sound installation project where he mounted wires up to 800 feet long off theManhattan Bridge.[1]
He has had exhibitions of his visual work, installations and performances at museums and galleries such as theVictoria & Albert Museum,The Kitchen,South London Gallery,LUMA Foundation, Tectonics Festival inReykjavík,Centraal Museum inUtrecht, andBoston Center for the Arts. He andDavid Grubbs recently debuted a piece at theMIT List Center.[1]
He composed the soundtrack for the 2021 horror-thrillerThe Scary of Sixty-First.[4]
Eli Keszler was born inBrookline, Massachusetts. By the age of eight he was learning drums, and he began composing his own music at age twelve. He began playing in various rock andhardcore bands in his teenage years,[1] and later graduated from theNew England Conservatory of Music inBoston.[1] Upon graduation he moved toProvidence, Rhode Island and then toNew York City.[1] He isJewish.[5]
Working as a drummer,guitarist, and composer in New York, Keszler soon became known for accompanying his music performances with live installations and visual elements, sometimes utilizing drawings, diagrams, screen prints, and writings. Hissound installations and visual pieces "often use microprocessor-controlled motors to strike, scrape and vibrate various lengths ofpiano wire as well as other materials."[1] He released his first album,Livingston, in 2008 on Rare Youth Records, which was followed byOxtim in 2010 onESP-Disk.
Keszler released his albumCold Pin in 2011, on Pan Records. In the summer of 2011,Wire Magazine hosted streams of Keszler's live music on their website.Wire described one track as "a recording of a quintet performing with Keszler's 14 string, 40 x 15 foot mechanical sound installation,Cold Pin. The installation consists of 'three to five 25 foot long strings with motors, wire, a curved wall, micro-controllers, pick-ups and phono cables'." His ensemble included Ashley Paul onsaxophone, Geoff Mullen on guitar, and others.[6] In 2012 another of his sound installations was featured inPitchfork, who wrote that "Keszler deserves recent attention for his large-scale sound art installations, which not only force musical ideas to interact with an acoustic environment but, in turn, for flesh-and-bone musicians to interact with both of them."[2]
| External videos | |
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 "Collecting Basin" installation in Shreveport, Louisiana in October 2011 | |
| "L-Carrier" - solo performance on drums w/ installation in 2012 |
He has released a number of solo albums since then, and has toured or collaborated with other such as Ashley Paul,C. Spencer Yeh,Loren Connors, and theIceland Symphony Orchestra.[7] He has performed at number of national and international festivals, includingTransmediale Festival in 2013, where he performed with theIceland Symphony Orchestra.[1] In 2013 some of his drawings were replicated in the art bookNeum, in tandem with a 2013[7] exhibit of his work at theSouth London Gallery.[1] He recently debuted a project where he mounted wires up to 800 feet long off theManhattan Bridge which was commissioned byNational Public Radio.[1]
In November 2014, Keszler released the collaborative albumAlps, which he recorded withOren Ambarchi, an experimental guitarist and composer.Alps was written as a two-part suite divided into two tracks. Music critic Fred Thomas ofAllMusic gaveAlps 4/5 stars, writing that "these duets merge Ambarchi's symphonic and sometimes storytelling feedback with nonstop blasts of scattershot drumming from Keszler for an attack of noisy improvisation. Keszler's fluid and anxiety-ridden percussion style is a perfect companion for Ambarchi's grizzly guitar stabs and horror movie drones."[8]
2016 saw the release ofLast Signs of Speed, Keszler's eighth studio album, through the German label Empty Editions.
In 2018, Keszler released his ninth studio album,Stadium, through Shelter Press to positive reviews. That same year, Keszler was a collaborator on American electronic musicianOneohtrix Point Never'sAge Of. He also toured with him among other artists for the album's accompanying performance installation,MYRIAD. In 2019 Keszler released the Empire EP, his final release with Shelter Press.
In July 2021, Keszler released his tenth studio album,Icons, onLuckyMe.[9]
Keszler provided the musical score for Alex Lee Moyer's filmAlex's War and attended the premier in Austin, Texas with his partnerAnna Khachiyan.[10][11]
Keszler collaborated with American electronic producerSkrillex on his albumQuest for Fire for the track "A Street I Know".
In conjunction with his performances he has had exhibitions of his visual work installations at theVictoria & Albert Museum,The Kitchen,South London Gallery,LUMA Foundation, Harpa Hall at the Tectonics Festival inReykjavík,Centraal Museum inUtrecht,Boston Center for the Arts, Barbican - St. Lukes amongst other places. He recently debuted a piece along withDavid Grubbs at theMIT List Center.[1] An article on his work was featured inModern Painters Magazine, focusing on his drawing, score writing and installation.[7]
| "Mr. Keszler’s work presents several paradoxes. A percussionist with roots inpunk rock andfree improvisation, he fuses chaos and order in his drumming: a burble and clatter akin to what European drummers likeTony Oxley andHan Bennink invented in the late 1960s to distinguish their work from Americanfree jazz...."[12] |
| —The New York Times (2012) |
Keszler is known for incorporating the sounds of diverse genres, includingpunk rock,free jazz, andfree improvisation. About his tendencies as a composer, Keszler has stated "Oftentimes, musically I find myself attracted to things that are so slow they seem fast and so fast they seem slow—when you have so many hits that they eventually turn into a long tone."[7] He explained toNPR'sAll Things Considered, "I like to work with raw material, simple sounds, primitive or very old sounds."[1]
His live performances often are fused withsound installation and visual art, and various guest artists have contributed.The New York Times described Keszler's work as "using rigorously conceived scores to harness the inchoate energy of improvisation and its capacity for surprise."[12]
| Year | Album title | Release details |
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| 2008 | Livingston |
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| 2010 | Oxtirn |
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| 2011 | Cold Pin |
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| 2012 | Catching Net |
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| 2012 | Split LP |
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| 2014 | Alps (withOren Ambarchi) |
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| 2016 | Last Signs of Speed |
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| 2018 | Stadium |
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| 2021 | Icons |
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