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The HooKHeaD Project is the name for the music of Eric A. Peacock and it's occasional contributors. The music is an ongoing evolution of attempted ideas and processes with sound. This music exists almost as a journal of the composer's life. However not all the music is about personal experience, especially in the early years where socio-political themes prevailed.
Originally known only as "HooKHeaD" (a name taken from a series of paintings by the composer), Eric A. Peacock began to assemble cut-up sound collage around 1987 mostly as a way to fill up extra space on mix cassettes given away to friends. At this time he worked with almost no equipment, instead manually starting and stopping a tape deck to stitch together found loops and sounds into a sequence. Eventually a computer was also used to trigger sounds and as an oscillator. Having some background in electronics, Eric mixed his sounds via wire splicing or "sound-on-sound" between two tape decks - sometimes up to six layered tracks. Muddy and cacophonous music resulted but was somehow acceptable even in it's amateur glory. Everything was practically recorded live and improvised even though using the cut-up tape method couldn't be done in real-time. In these early years Eric had not yet specifically experienced the tape manipulators of the 1960's or been aware of the growing electronicia genre.
At this time Eric was mostly influenced by industrial music - think Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails or Controlled Bleeding - but there were also influences from contemporary "art" music and ambient soundscapes. This phase of composition was highly personal, dark or angst ridden - an outlet for survival that helped the composer survive his teenage years intact in order to move on to other things. Other sonic themes were highly socio-political, criticizing ethics and morality in our culture. The last recorded piece from this phase is the cut-up social commentary Submission (available on the MP3 samples page), from the last full cassette album produced: The Not of the Want.
Eric would also discover MIDI and began to move away from tape manipulation in favor of digital audio editing on a computer. Much of this was out of necessity from lack of funds for studio space and real analog equipment.
Eventually Eric moved into using more acoustic sources basing on his experience playing a trumpet and violin as a young boy, but taking it further with homebuilt percussion along with (broken) guitars played with wood files or reeds and woodwinds. As an undergraduate Eric took a break from his own music and played with a Brazilian batucada and Indonesian Gamelon which served as a path into new sounds and ideas. Much of this more organic/acoustic work culminated in the difficult release of A Partial Reconstrucion of Days in 1996. A Partial Reconstruction of Days is still the only true vocal piece ever recorded by The HooKHeaD Project. It also uses the most acoustic instruments overall. Unfortunately the music was produced over three years in a number of tiny dorm rooms on a 4-track while annoying neighbors and suffering from poor acoustics. To this day A Partial Reconstruction of Days exists as a raw and revealing idea that never quite got the treatment it deserved. Nevertheless some listeners have claimed that it's still Eric's best work.
It was during these undergraduate years that the "project" was added to the namesake and several years of highly prolific composition took place. Out of this work came rhythmic experiments and a higher focus on ambient soundtrack music devoid of song or vocal structure. Advances in technology allowed the cassette media to be replaced with digitally produced CDs. Duplication became less of an issue and it became easier to distribute the music to listeners while raising the bar on sound quality.
Always changing, this music is hard to associate with any single genre. The most common feedback brings phrases like "very cerebral" or "thinking music". This isn't music for everyone, but that can also depend on which CD or track one listens to.
The HooKHeaD Project has had light comparisons to such known acts as Dead Can Dance, The Art of Noise, Bill Laswell and the pre-industrial SPK. Others have referenced Brian Eno and of course the electronica genre.
All of these "releases" are independantly produced and distributed. All cover artwork and media is also designed and produced by Eric himself. At this time not a lot of promotion goes into this work, as it is there is little time to consistantly focus on the compositions themselves. In time that may change, but until then the curious or otherwise will have this web site. Inquiries are welcome, and CDs are always available on CD-R media by contacting the author.
Eric A. Peacock can be emailed here