Jeremy dePrisco (aka Shivasongster) is a Pennsylvania musician, composer, performer, and sound artist using improvisation, collaboration, and noise to examine and recontextualize the alienation inherent in media influence, socially constructed reality, conspiracy, and myth.
He works with field recordings, guitar, electronics, synthesizers, radios, found sounds, home-made gadgets, and processed video.
A fixture in the electro-music community for the past decade, Jeremy currently presents solo and collaborative sound explorations throughout the Tristate area.
Jeremy dePrisco grew up listening to Echoes and Hearts of Space and the signals beaming from his father’s attic Ham Radio workbench. After being a closet sound experimentalist for 15+ years, Jeremy embraced his electro side and love of audio manipulation via the Shivasongster moniker in 2010. Since then, Jeremy has been attending electronic music events and collaborating with other electro artists.
For a time, his monthly electro-music.com radio program, Signals with Shivasongster, explored improvised and generative electronic music, and composed pieces that ranged from conventional guitar pieces to works written for alternative controllers, field recordings and found sounds. Shivasongster has allowed Jeremy to bring his “after midnight” studio experiments to the stage, such as an evening of “Far Out Space Music” with Explorophonic, a Central PA experimental music group and subsequent electro-music.com festivals.
Select collabs:
RoDoJede – with Syracuse, NY artist Robert Dorschel.
Binary Brainwaves – with PA artist Clone 334.
Much of Jeremy’s work draws on Soto Zen Buddhist dharma teachings, political speeches, NPR radio interviews and his own private collection of found sounds and hacked devices. Jeremy also now builds many of the devices he uses in performance and recording. Other interests of the years have included Percussa AudioCubes, an infrared controller that adds visual interest to otherwise static-looking computer music (but carried a heavy cognitive overload that detracted from performance enjoyment). Using rigs composed of both computer-based tools and rigs without laptops, these days Jeremy is more often seen with a combination of non-computer tools ranging from piezo devices to effect pedals.
In June 2015, Jeremy performed his piece “Sunspot Cycle” with visuals by Michael O’Bannon at the Kutztown University Computer Music & Visualization Conference at the Kutztown University Planetarium. You can listen to studio demos here.
From 2010 – present, Jeremy has performed at the family of electro-music festivals throughout NY, NJ and NC.
Presenter: Second Life workshop & volunteer (2010)
Propellerhead Reason/Record software tips (2011)
Propellerhead Reason Advanced Techniques (2012)
Zero-Input Mixer Collaboration (2013, 2014, 2015 (Huguenot), 2015 (Kutztown))
Pittsburgh Modular System 10.1 Demo Presentation (2015)
Asheville electro-music Festival (2016) – Jeremy opened the festival with a debut of a new piece, Sonic Conspiracy Theories 528 vs 741, with visuals by Michael O’Bannon. Read my event synopsis here.
Electro-Music 2016 – Featured two performances, including one with the Electro-music Chamber Orchestra, and Jeremy’s solo piece Sonic Conspiracy Theories. Improvised visuals provided by Steve Mokris.
In 2016 Jeremy presented his piece, “Sonic Conspiracy Theories: 528 vs 741 Hz,” derived from a popular late night radio interview program. In the studio, Jeremy added sonic manipulations from a variety of instruments including Pittsburgh Modular System 10.1, Meeblip Anode, Arturia Microbrute, Korg SQ-1, EHX pedals, StepPolyArp for iPad and other devices. The piece evolved more in 2017 with improvised sonics, and continues to evolve.
Pajama Factory Works Gallery (Spring 2017)
Improvised/processed electro-acoustics and piezo devices.
Northeast Electro-Music 2017 – Homer, NY
Sonic Conspiracy Theories with improvised/processed electro-acoustics and piezo devices. New improvised visuals provided by Steve Mokris. Also performed Zero Input Mixer with Mario-enrique Paoli and Karl Fury.
NEEMFest 2018 – Homer, NY
In addition to collaborations with the Electro Music Chamber Orchestra (nylon guitar/effects) and a second presentation of Signal to Noise with Mario-enrique Paoli and Karl Fury (analog electronics and ZIM), Jeremy presented two new semi-improvised laptop pieces Shampoo and Truth found below. More picts from the event here.
2018 Big EZ (Electrozone), Ithaca, NY
Held in Risley Theater at Cornell University and co-sponsored by the Cornell Sound Arts and Sciences initiative, the event featured more than two dozen musicians from the local, national, and international electronic music community.
2018 Electronica Music Fest
National Electronics Museum, MD
Held annually at the National Electronics Museum in Maryland, the Electronica Music Fest was a gathering of MD, DC, VA and PA electronic and experimental video and music artists.
2019 – EEEMfest19, Rutherford, NJ
Held April 27 & 28 2019 EEEMFEST was a 2 day experimental electroacoustic electro-music festival. From an underground musician’s and artist’s gathering to an art form that inspires a diverse public attendance, this style of music continues to grow in popularity. Hosted at the William Carlos Williams Center for the Performing Arts in Rutherford, New Jersey.
2019 – Mountain Skies, Black Mountain, NC
First appearing on the White Horse stage in 2016, Jeremy returned to Black Mountain, NC.
Video recordings by Steve Mokris:
Finale group performance “Skies”
Live from Nick’s Garage
In August 2019, Jeremy performed a VCV Rack set on the live streaming program “Live from Nick’s Garage” produced by New Jersey videographer Nick Mellis. The resulting live recording was released on Bandcamp as Tales from Imperial Towers: Live from Nick’s Garage. You can also watch the video here. Thanks to Ken Palmer for providing visuals. And yes, it really was in a garage!
NEEMFest 2019, Homer NY
Performances included a collab with Karl Fury, and an impromptu noise jam with Dan Gray. During his solo set Jeremy explored VCV Rack, a virtual modular environment. He also led a workshop on VCV Rack and how it was used in his live album release from Nick’s Garage.
2020 and beyond…
NEEMFest 2022
In addition to solo and collab performances, I presented workshops on VCV Rack and Touchdesigner.