Updated: 19-January-2010
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First, sorry if I haven't accepted your friends request. I don't really do the Myspace thingy. It's better to contact me directly than through this. Oh, and my last name is 'Staiano', in case you need to know my last name for a friends approval. And if you didn't know that, then you are, in fact, not paying attention. As I really don't check this and am very slow on responding to persons and bands here, I would prefer if you contact directly through my email at moestaiano1 at yahoo dot com. Thanks!
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Moe! Staiano was a percussionist who usually uses found objects, but had moved to doing drumming on found objects on his trap set (i.e. prepared percussion). Moe! (yes, he includes the exclaimation mark in his name) has experimented through the years though solo percussion using pipes, food pans, pressure caps, sheet metals, nick-nacks & other stuff that has been found, given or stolen (mainly from Pizza Hut when he worked there including a nifty Spatula that he bows). One can expect to see Moe!'s show as a visual eye pleaser: running around throwing pipes on concrete, walking on pans with his feet to mute sounds or running amok, throwing his body into old cassette tapes or two dozen cymbals in any given performance. His shows can sometimes expect a big mess in one fashion or another (which he replies that the aftermath of his performances represents his life) with implements of mixers & vibrators on objects spewed throughout the set. He's been a good boy cleaning up after himself, too. He has three CD's out of his solo/collaborative recordings. The second CD, "The Lateness of Yearly Presentations" was released in 2002 on his micro-label Dephine Knormal Musik, a release split with a French label, Amanita Records. The first solo CD The Non-Study of First Impressions, is now out of print. His last solo release, entitled The Absolute Tradition of No Traditions and was released through Psychform Records in April of 2007.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~He's collaborated with many musicians including Ron Anderson (the Molecules, RonRuins, PAK), Tom Nunn, David Slusser, Karen Stackpole, Ches Smith, Michael Evans (God Is My Co-Pilot), Caroline Kraabel & John Edwards (Shock Exchange), Gino Robair, William Hooker, Z'ev, Terrie Ex, and has performed with all these plus Nurse With Wound, Henry Kaiser, Mark Growden's Electric Pinata, Amy Denio, Cheer-Accident, sfSoundGroup, Ettrick, Shinich Momo Koga/inkBoat, among others. He has performed a duo with Vicky Grossi called Duo Referal, Cougar Chasers Duo with guitarist Ava Mendoza, Duo Pisano, an audio generator duo with Alan Anzalone, and has performed with Thomas Dimuzio and Kanoko Nishi called KaMoTo Trio. He also is a member musician of Theater of Yugen since 2006 performing music along with Noh dance plays. His last band was Mute Socialite, that featured Ava Mendoza. Alee Karim, Shayna Dunkleman, and Liz Allbee. More info on that band below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Formaly, Moe! was a member of two important bands: Vacuum Tree Head (formerly doing metal percussion and then playing trap set) and with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (doing THE metal percussion), a band that consist of Carla Kihlsteadt, Nils Frykdahl, Dan Rathbun (all from Charming Hostess, two from Idiot Flesh) and Mathias Bossi. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum has one release on Seeland (Negativland's label) and a live CD on Sickroom Records from Chicago as well as a second studio album out on Web of Mimicry, Of Natural History. Many of the members, including Moe!, collaborates with the butoh dancer Shinichi Momo Koga under that company name Inkboat & have performed around Seattle, Mendocino & San Francisco.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moe! last performing unit was a band called Mute Socialite with guitarist Ava Mendoza and bassist Alee Karim, second drummer Shayna Dunkleman, and trumpeter Liz Allbee. Moe! played drums and percussive guitar and guitar. They broke up in the Summer of 2009.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moreover, he did text/graphic scores for a collective ensemble for what he calls MOE!KESTRA!, which employs many musicians, well at least between 15-45 players (and sometimes more, sometimes less than those numbers), and play scores Moe! has written including a piece for destroying a piano (Piece No.1: Death of a Piano), sex toys (Piece No.2: Death by Dildo; which once got sponsored by Good Vibrations.seriously, they printed the posters) among four other pieces that have been performed though 1997-2009 (seven pieces in all; about 57 performances & slowly counting). Fellow employees has included ROVA's Bruce Ackley, George Cremaschi, Michael de la Cuesta, Cheryl Leonard, Matt Ingals, Fred Frith, William Winant, John Shiurba, Bill Horvitz, Tom Yoder, Aaron Bennett, Dan Plonsey, Garth Powell, Peter Valsamis, Kris Force (Amber Asylum), Jonas Muller, Adam Lane, Matthew Sperry, Jonathan Segel (Camper Van Beethoven), Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu, They Might Be Giants), Michael Evans (God Is My Co-Pilot), Sean Meehan, Shelley Burgon, Danny Tunick (Guv'ner), David First, Mark E. Miller (Toy Killers), all past and present members of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum among many other musicians. In 1999, he wrote & conducted a piece written for the Seattle ensemble, the Degenerate Art Ensemble, entitled "Piece No.6: And They Swore They All Slept Soundly", which was also performed by the Moe!kestra!. The debut disc of Moe!kestra! was released in June of 2003 of two conducted improvisations entitled "Two Forms of Multitudes: Conducted Improvisations". He's currently planning on releasing more Moe!kestra! material in the near future and hope's to write more in the near future. One piece entitled "Piece No.7: An Inescapable Siren Within Earshot Of Hearing Distance Therein And Other Whereabouts", was written for guitars (played with all low E-strings played with a coiled implement), strings, percussion, u-bolts, wine glasses and sirens. A recording of that piece along with another large orchestra piece is now out and available on CD through Rastascan Records/Amanita Records. He completed a piece that was performed at the San Francisco International Arts Festival called Piece No.8 for strings, percussion and prepared guitar. May of 2007 marked the 10th anniversary of Moe!kestra! and premiered Piece No.9: When Terrie Had Six, a piece dedicated to the Dutch band the Ex. Upcoming plans will be a studio recording of Death of A Piano along with a DVD documentary of the piece throughout the years as well as a recording of two other compositions. Moe!kestra!'s last album, 'Two Rooms of Uranium Inside 83 Markers', an album of two conducted improvisations from 2003 and 2004, was released in May of 2007 on Edgetone Records.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moe!'s next project is a studio project of old song ideas that never made it to the Mute Socialite realms. It is a studio project (and a possible blueprint for an ideal band he want to be) called Surplus 1980 and is being recorded by Dan Rathbun. It will feature six originals and three covers and maybe a secret track. Musicians (tentatively) include Ava Mendoza, Alee Karim, Kyle Bruckmann, George Cremaschi, Liz Allbee, Vicky Grossi, Angela Hsu, Andy Moor, Carla Kihlstedt, and Matthias Bossi. Don't expect this to be like Moe!'s three previous solo percussion albums as this one take on more of a post-punk vein, probably taking off where Mute Socialite stopped. Recording is now in session.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moe! has still not yet gone through any music theory.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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You can now purchase CD's and records of Moe! Staiano and/or Moe!kestra! here direct:
Solo CD's are $12.00 postpaid in the US and Canada; $14.00 elsewhere. Moe!kestra! CD's are $14.00 in US/Canada; $16.00 elsewhere.
7" are $7.00 postpaid in the US/Canada; $10.00 elsewhere.
MOE! STAIANO: THE LATESNESS OF YEARLY PRESENTATIONS CD:
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MOE! STAIANO: THE ABSOLUTE TRADITION OF NO TRADITIONS CD:
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MOE! STAIANO's MOE!KESTRA!: TWO FORMS OF MULTITUDES: CONDUCTED IMPROVISATIONS CD:
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MOE! STAIANO'S MOE!KESTRA!: AN INESCAPABLE SIREN WITHIN EARSHOT DISTANCE THEREIN AND OTHER WHEREABOUTS CD:
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MOE! STAIANO's MOE!KESTRA!: 2 ROOMS OF URANIUM INSIDE 83 MARKERS: CONDUCTED IMPROVISATIONS VOL.II CD:
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KNORMALITIES - EXCLAIMITORIES VARIOUS ARTIST 7" (with Moe!kestra!, Nels Cline and Alboth!):
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KNORMALITIES - POSTHUMORITES V.3 VARIOUS ARTIST 7" (with The Ex, Voodoo Muzak, Cheer-Accident and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum):
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