Tony Conrad was a pioneering figure in both experimental film and music, whose influence spans several decades from the 1960s until his death in 2016. Born Anthony S. Conrad in 1940, he found his footing in the avant-garde scene of New York City, becoming a key player in the development of minimal music alongside contemporaries like La Monte Young, John Cale, and Angus MacLise. Conrad’s most famous musical contribution is perhaps his involvement in the Theatre of Eternal Music, also known as the Dream Syndicate, which laid the groundwork for drone music — a genre characterized by sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone clusters.

Not confined to musical experimentation alone, Tony Conrad made significant contributions to experimental filmmaking, most notably with his film "The Flicker" (1966), an early structural film that consists of only black and white frames, creating a unique flickering effect to induce visual sensations in the viewer. His repertoire in music includes influential works such as "Four Violins" (1964), which deconstructed the boundaries of string performance, and albums like "Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain" and "The Celestial Monochord," showcasing his long-lasting engagement with sustained tones and the exploration of sound over time. Aside from his artistic endeavors, Conrad was also an esteemed educator, imparting his knowledge and experimental ethos to generations of students. Through his multidisciplinary work, Tony Conrad remains a seminal figure in the avant-garde community, remembered for both his boundary-pushing art and his philosophical inquiries into the nature of art and perception.

Genres

Drone

Laboratorio

Minimalism

Latest Release

In The Merry Month Of May

Tony Conrad•

Jennifer Walshe

Album - 9 Tracks - Released May 24, 2024