NEWS
November 8th 2025
Hello Friends!
It was great seeing some of you at Noise Brunch this morning!
My slow withdrawal from the internet continues. Instead of using web searches to track celestial objects, I now have a copy of the 2026 Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Earlier this week, we had a full moon at perigee. During perigee, the moon is approximately 10,000 miles closer to the Earth than usual.
On the solar calendar, this weekend also marks the start of winter. The Midwest gets its first blast of arctic air right on time. With winter descending, it is important for me to remember winter dormancy isn’t just for trees—humans benefit as well.
November continues with astronomical events. On November 10th, Jupiter and the Moon share celestial longitude (conjunction). On November 20th, Mercury and the New Moon are in conjunction. These nights present excellent chances to pause and look up.
Meanwhile, 2026 stalks.
In the new year, Subvert.fm expects to be fully functional. If you aren’t familiar, Subvert is a collectively owned music marketplace. When you sign up as an artist, label or supporter, you automatically become part owner of the platform.
Members receive the Manifesto for the Artist-Owned Internet, a compelling vision for the future of music distribution drawing inspiration from Spain’s MONDRAGON Co-op.
Founding members are alpha-testing Subvert as we speak.
With few exceptions, my new releases will be exclusive to Subvert. I will let everyone know when Printshift (re-recorded) and Recanning — a new release featuring the infamous 28 oz tin can, plus a couple smaller cousins — are available.
I regret to inform you that, after the Kansas City Noisefest, these cans are non-operational.
2026 will also be my first mini tour in late June. More to come on that!
Below are a few more updates:
My work on Being Unformed has paused because of work and family obligations, but January and February will offer time to test ideas and prepare for a physical release and art exhibit.
Would you like to receive mail?
In 2026, I will move this to a physical newsletter. No subscription needed. Just your address and willingness to receive occasional mail.
September 21st 2025
Hello Friends,
It's been a couple months since I wrote you. It happens to be a New Moon, but this month that was a motivation, not an intention.
I have a surprise for you. Live Acoustics is now available on Bandcamp
Live Acoustics is a collection of three live recordings over the last 15 months showing the developmental arc of the acoustics series.
The expedition moves from rudimentary experiments to deeper introspection of the soul of both the artist and the instrument.
July 24th, 2024, was a defining moment.
Up to that point, my work with the guitar was intentional. Forced. The guitar strings were scraped with a pick. Objects were forced between the strings and the neck or the sound hole. Apparatus including a jaw hard, wooden tone block, wah-wah tube, and rubber mallet were implemented to distress the sound of the guitar.
While these experiments led to new insights, something was off. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I knew there was some obstruction between what I heard and what it could be.
Then came the performance on July 24th. That may be the closest I've ever gotten to free improvisation. I left surprised, with renewed curiosity.
By the time November arrived, I was opening for Matthew Daher on his Midwest Tour. I intended the performance to close the acoustics chapter with that performance.
My creative focus was already shifting to "being unformed" - a work exploring the "beginning before the beginning" through sound and visual art.
On that November evening at The Church / Art House, the delicate play between the guitar and the PA speaker created shifting feedback. This shifting feedback gave rise to beautiful harmonics. At its crescendo, the oscillating vibrations of the strings brought on that state of forgetfulness I hope to cut calmly toward.
When I say I am inviting the listeners into a place deep within themselves, I left the November performance satisfied I'd hit the mark. The acoustics work felt complete.
And it was complete until I was invited to play opening night of Ex Nihilo at Joslyn Castle. It was time to bring the acoustic out of hibernation.
Inspired by the opening moment of Strings, the thought came: "I'll string the guitar."
After over a year of abuse, the strings were mangled, kinked, and ready to snap. I also saw a video of someone playing a guitar with a clamped-on contact mic and was excited to experiment with the idea.
So there we were, contact mic clipped to the headstock. As I strung the acoustic, that moment of intrigue struck again. This guitar that I've been playing for 20 years — the guitar I once got bored with because I thought I'd done everything I could with it — once again shone brightly with new possibilities.
Cracked, splintered, and splattered with blood from when I would strum without a pick, it was brand new again.
I should pause and tell you a story.
My acoustic guitar's name is Esmerelda. I bought her when I was a junior in high school. I worked all summer at a law office, filing paperwork in the attic. After saving my money, I went to Ron's Guitars in Groton, CT. I played every acoustic there. The Takamine kept calling my name. The mid-tones, the crisp highs, the booming sound of that solid cedar top with its mahogany back and sides. It was the perfect fit.
During college, music slipped farther and farther away. I worked full time and went to school full time. Money got tight. I sold my gear.
First, the pedals. Then the electrics - the Ibanez, the Vantage. I sometimes tell people that I have no regrets, but the truth is I regret selling that Vantage.
Then the recession hit. In 2009, I took a 50% pay cut. Someone offered to buy Esmerelda. I was barely playing. I sold it.
I couldn't stop thinking about it. I thought of all the times my dad had sold his old trucks, sold his guitars, and regretted it. I thought of that Vantage. Then I called the guy back.
"I can't do it. I'll give you the money back."
For the next few years, Esmerelda took me through some of the darkest years of my life. I wrote my way through it, singing songs about being confused, paranoid, and disconnected from the world.
Over the last couple years, that guitar has once again given me new life. Exploring sonic frequencies with Esmerelda makes me think of Cook Ding from Zhaung Zhi.
"Whenever I come to a complicated place, I size up the difficulties, tell myself to watch out and be careful, keep my eyes on what I'm doing, work very slowly, and move the knife with the greatest subtlety, until - flop! the whole thing comes apart like a clod of earth crumbling to the ground. I stand there holding the knife and look all around me, completely satisfied and reluctant to move on, and then I wipe off the knife and put it away."
This is the freedom I hope to find, and over the last 15-24 months, I am grateful that I've found it more frequently.
This is the metaphysical dimension we are invited to tap into when we forget ourselves in the creative process.
To those of you who've taught me how to do this, who've encouraged me on the path, and who share the experience with me when I perform, there aren't enough words to express how grateful I am.
To those of you who've listened to Resonance, Resonant, Strings and Northern Lights, thank you for listening.
I appreciate those of you who came to the shows, gave honest feedback, and helped me become a more embodied artist.
Most of all, I am truly grateful that when life felt unbearable and I sold that guitar, I listened to that intuitive thought and I bought it back.
July 24th 2025
Hello Friends,
Tonight is a New Moon. In Leo. For those of you who are horoscope nerds, you probably knew that. I am not a horoscope nerd, but it is a unique feature of this month’s lunar phase.
Northern Lights is out now!!
Head over to Bandcamp to buy a CD or digital download. You can also listen to Northern Lights on all your favorite streaming services.
You should also check out the most recent music video for geomagnetic one on YouTube.
In the last newsletter, I mentioned my newest purchase – the Tascam Model 12. I spent the last two weekends recording. Look for more information toward the end of the year, but I did a new recording with a tin can and rerecorded Printshift.
It is a busy month and a half of shows.
This Sunday, July 27th, I will be opening for Collapsing and Francis Thornton as they stop at Project Project in Omaha while they are on tour.
On Saturday, August 30th, I will be performing at Miseryfest, Kansas City’s 5th Noise Festival.
Then, on September 11th, I will be performing at Joslyn Castle in Omaha on the opening night of Ex Nihilo Festival.
One final thought. The big endeavor exploring the creation through sound art and visual art moves one step closer to completion. After debating whether the title should be “without form” or “unformed”, I’ve settled on “Being Unformed.” This has a parallel between the Jewish Publication Society’s translation of Genesis and John S. Major’s translation of Chapter 3 of the Huainanzi.
Being Unformed is a reminder that we are unformed. This meditation on creation has shown me that we can reconnect with that beginning before the beginning, dissipate into formlessness, and reconnect to the Source – whatever that is.
Here is a list of things to look forward to:
Fall/Winter 2025: Acoustics (Live) (Self-Released)
2026 – RECANNED (New work with Tin Can)
2026 – PRINTSHIFT (Rerecorded)
2026/2027 - Being Unformed - Exhibit / Immersive Performance
June 27th 2025
Hello Friends,
Happy late Summer Solstice. We also had a New Moon on the 25th and Mercury reached its highest point in the evening sky last night.
This month also brought a new review of Strings on Raised By Cassettes .
Regarding the closing track, Joshua wrote, "The droning can also feel like a dial tone at times. We're beeping now as if in an alarm. This is once again crashing down into that distorted destruction. And then it just ends. Everything."
Big thank you for the write up!
Northern Lights is out in four weeks. CDr's will be available on Bandcamp. Look for a special CDr Multipack to be available as well.
In other news, I recently got a TASCAM Model 12. I am excited to re-record CAN and Printshift over the next couple months with the new mixer and the EQ pedal.
If you are in Omaha, my next show is July 27th at Project Project to support Collapsing and Francis Thornton on their tour.
Here are some recent releases
Here is a list of things I am working on:
July 25th 2025: Northern Lights (Self-Released)
Fall/Winter 2025: Acoustics (Live) (Self-Released)
2025/2026 - Rerecording CAN
2025/2026 - Rerecording Printshift
2026/2027 - Unformed Art Exhibit / Release
May 11th 2025
Hello Friends,
I hope all the moms had a Happy Mother’s Day!
Tonight is a Full Moon, the Flower Moon to be precise. For some of you, this marks the beginning of summer.
This week also marked the one-year anniversary of the biggest geomagnetic storm of the last 20 years. Determined to see auroras after missing two prior opportunities, I drove over an hour north. On an isolated gravel road in the middle of sprawling fields of soy and alfalfa, I sat on the roof of my car watching the sky.
When the auroras were their brightest, the insects became deafeningly loud. Every cicada, cricket, and grasshopper buzzed and chirped as waves of white rushed overhead.
Earlier today, I finished mixing and mastering Northern Lights , an upcoming forty-minute release anchored by field recordings of the chorus of tiny creatures. The release also incorporates experiments with acoustic guitar and the East Beast semi-modular synth, the foundations of much of my work last year.
Look for Northern Lights to come out on July 25th on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms.
Besides completing Northern Lights , I continue meditating on my work, imagining what “before the beginning” might’ve looked and sounded like. The opening verse of Huainanzi, Chapter 3, has stuck with me.
“When Heaven and Earth were yet unformed.”
I was struck by a thought earlier this week. The universe is still unformed. It is still reforming itself.
Earth is still unformed, constantly being reformed. Here is a look:
We are still unformed, constantly reformed. Through apoptosis and autophagy, our bodies are reformed over the course of our lives. Some reforming results from aging, some results from our bodies responding to their environments. Through neuroregeneration, our brains are reforming themselves.
In my last newsletter, I compared the human experience to black hole cosmology:
“It is interesting to think that we also seem to be periodically collapsing in ourselves to be reorganized in new and sometimes unrecognizable ways.”
I’ve spent most of my life desiring to be formed.
This week, I am reflecting on being unformed.
Here are some recent releases
Here is a list of things I am working on:
July 25th 2025: Northern Lights (Self-Released)
Fall/Winter 2025: Acoustics (Live) (Self-Released)
2025/2026 - Untitled Can Project
2025/2026 - Rerecording Printshift
2026/2027 - Unformed Art Exhibit / Release
March 30th 2025
Hello Friends,
It is hard to believe that we are through the first quarter of the year.
Yesterday was the third New Moon of the year. Hopefully, those of you in the Northeast and Europe were able to witness the partial solar eclipse that came with it.
On Friday, I released a split with ZWIAN. The first track, Alchemy Laboratory, was the session on the Crea8audio East Beast that felt worthy of sharing. The second track, With No Destination, started with remnant delay from an Acoustics recording session. The experience reminded me of Zhuangzhi’s “Free and Easy Wandering” or “The Radiance of Drift and Doubt” (Whether you prefer the Watson or Ziporyn translation).
April 5th will be the release show. Hope to see some of you there.
Click Here to Check Out the Split
The other thing that’s been on my mind is the article “Is our universe trapped inside a black hole?” from Space.com.
This article reveals observations of the James Webb Space Telescope that around two-thirds of the galaxies in our universe spin clockwise. One explanation for this is that our universe was born in a black hole.
As I continue working on Unformed/Without Form, this serves as an interesting metaphor for the human experience. It is interesting to think of ourselves as mini universes within a universe: Unformed. Still-Forming.
It is interesting to think that we also seem to be periodically collapsing in ourselves to be reorganized in new and sometimes unrecognizable ways.
Speaking of collapsing on ourselves, I am realizing there is no need to be as ambitious with releases I previously stated. To give everyone more time to enjoy things, and to give myself more time to promote what I am working on, I am slowing down the pacing for my upcoming releases.
Here is an updated estimate:
Summer 2025: Northern Lights (Self-Released)
Fall/Winter 2025: Acoustics (Live) (Self-Released)
March 1st 2025
Hello!
February 27th marked a new moon, an invisible supermoon. The sky will be very active this month with some planetary alignments and a Full Lunar Eclipse on March 13tth and 14th.
Strings has been out for a month now. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Vital Weekly and Soundohm for their reviews.
Frans of Vital Weekly wrote "I enjoyed this interaction between the guitar and the electronic part quite a bit… it stays away from the more apparent approaches that could have been taken… it's not always a conventional noise release, going off in a brutalist form of electro-acoustic music."
Rigo of Soundhom added, "The second, again buzzing and humming, varies this with extreme maltreatment of the woody, spiky, skeletal acoustic guitar, reminiscent of Eugene Chadbourne's Rake."
Admittedly, I had to give Chadbourne's Constellation Rake a listen, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Now for some news!
I've been working on a split with ZWIAN. Cassettes and CDr's will be available March 28th on Bandcamp.
The two tracks I contributed are no-input and modular synthesis—perhaps the most musical thing yet for those of you wondering why I squander my musical talents playing with feedback and straining your ears. We will support the split with a release show on April 5th at Project Project in Omaha, NE.
I've also been working on a release featuring field recordings from the Mother's Day Solar Storm of 2024. Excited to share more about this. Then, in the late summer, I will release Acoustics (Live), capping the acoustics series.
List of Things:
Friday, March 28th: Split w/ ZWIAN (Self-Released)
Saturday, March 29th2025: New Moon
Saturday, April 5th: ZWIAN / Cast Off Form Release Show (Project Project)
Friday, May 23rd: Northern Lights (Self-Released)
Friday, July 25th: Acoustics (Live) (Self-Released)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cast Off Form Releases Strings on Eh?
[ Omaha, Neb. ] – Cast Off Form and Eh? are proud to announce the release of Strings.
On the latest installment in the Acoustics Series, hear a solid cedar acoustic guitar accompanied by no-input mixing and modular synthesis.
Cast Off Form spent the latter part of 2023 and the entirety of 2024 exploring unconventional uses of the acoustic guitar. This experimentation resulted in a collection of densely layered, meditative soundscapes that showcase Cast Off Form's approach to electro-acoustic improvisation.
On Strings, the result is a percussive and droning album for fans of electro-acoustic improvisation, offering an immersive listening experience.
Jan 12th 2025
Hello!
The first full moon of the year is tomorrow if you live in the northern hemisphere.
The start of the year has been very cerebral. For reasons yet obscure, I am down the rabbit hole of astrophysics and contemplating the implications of Cosmic Microwave Background in my current work, Without Form (or perhaps Unformed).
It started with a thought: I wonder what the beginning sounded like. This is where I landed:
A quick summary: John G. Cramer, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Washington in Seattle used data from Cosmic Microwave Background to estimate “the sound of the Big Bang.”
Hope to see you on February 7th at the soon to be rebranded Studio 62 in Omaha. I will continue exploring static, tape looping, and the newly added Theremin.
Here is a List of Upcoming Releases:
Strings (Eh?) - Coming in Jan/Feb 2025
Live Acoustics (Bandcamp) - Coming in March/April 2025
Nov 16th 2024
Strings is an upcoming release on Eh?. The work is an exclamation point on the acoustics series, an 18-month adventure exploring the possibilities of an acoustic guitar.
I continue to uncover fresh surprises. On Strings, the guitar opens as a percussion instrument before making a return to its earlier form as a feedback generator.
In this release, I also incorporated no-input mixing and modular synthesis, creating rich and dynamic soundscapes. Check out Strings soon on Eh?.
While working on the Acoustics series, I began another project with the working title Without Form.
Inspired by creation stories, I started making densely layered sonic walls that imagined what it sounded like before the beginning.
Without Form has also been an opportunity to practice painting. Primarily using different variations of black paint, I’ve been exploring what “formless and void” might have looked like.
Join me at Studio 62 at 8 p.m. on February 7th to experience the sights and sounds of Without Form.
© 2021 - 2025 by cast off form