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Boyd Rice (born 1955) is an American experimental sound artist, archivist, actor, photographer, prankster and writer best known for his pioneering industrial noise music under the name NON.

Early sound experiments

Rice started creating experimental noise recordings in 1975, drawing on his interest in tape machines and bubblegum pop sung by female vocalists such as Little Peggy March and Ginny Arnel. One of his earliest efforts consisted entirely of a loop of every time Lesley Gore sang the word "cry". After initially creating recordings simply for his own listening, he later started to give performances, and eventually make records. His musical project NON grew out of these early experiments; he reportedly selected the name because "it implies everything and nothing."

Techniques and implementations

From his earliest recordings, Rice has experimented with both sound and the medium through which that sound is conveyed. His methods of expanding upon the listening possibilities for recorded music were simple. On his second seven-inch, he had 2-4 extra holes punched into the record for "multi axial rotation". While working exclusively with vinyl, he employed locked grooves that allowed listeners to create their own music. He was one of the first artists, after John Cage, to treat turntables as instruments and developed various techniques for scratching. It is difficult to prove that Rice's turntablism preceded its connection to rap music. He was treating sounds from vinyl recordings as early as 1975.

NON

Under the name NON, originally with second member Robert Turman, Rice has recorded several seminal noise music albums, and collaborated with experimental music/dark folk artists like Current 93, Death In June and Rose McDowall. Most of his music has been released on the Mute Records label. Rice has also collaborated with Foetus, Tony Wakeford of Sol Invictus and Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis. His later albums have often been explicitly conceptual. On Might! (1995), Rice layers portions of "Ragnar Redbeard"'s Social Darwinist harangue, Might is Right over sound beds of looped noise and manipulated frequencies. 1997's God and Beast explores the intersection in the soul of man's physical and spiritual natures over the course of an album that alternates abrasive soundscapes with passages of tranquility. In 2006 Rice returned to the studio to record raw vocal sound sources for a collaboration with Industrial percussionist/ethnomusicologist Z'ev.

Crowd control

Early NON performances were designed to offer choice to audience members who might otherwise expect only a prefabricated and totally passive entertainment experience. He has stated that he considers his performances to be "de-indoctrination rites". Rice has performed using a shoe polisher, the "rotoguitar" - an electric guitar with an electric fan on it - and other homemade instruments. He has also used found sounds, played at a volume just below the threshold of pain, to entice his audiences to endure his high decibel sound experiments. Rice coupled his aural assaults with psychological torture on audiences in Den Haag, the Netherlands by shining exceedingly bright lights in their faces that were deliberately placed just out of reach. As their frustration mounted, Rice said that he "continued to be friendly to the audience, which made them even madder, because they were so mad and I didn't care! They were shaking their fists at me, and I thought that at any minute there'd be a riot. So I took it as far as I thought I could, and then thanked them and left."

Re/Search Books

He became widely known through his involvement in RE/Search Books. He is profiled in Industrial Cultural Handbook, which provides lengthy profiles, pictures, and reference pages for all its entries. In Pranks! *, a collection featuring the raucous antics of such notables as John Waters, Joe Coleman, Mark Mothersbaugh, Mark Pauline, and Timothy Leary, Rice described his experience in 1976 when he tried to give President Ford's wife, Betty Ford, a skinned sheep's head on a silver platter. In this interview, he emphasized the consensus nature of reality and the havoc that can be wreaked by refusing to play by the collective rules that dictate most people's perception of the external world.

Connection to LaVey

In the mid-1980s Rice became close friends with Anton LaVey, founder and High Priest of the Church of Satan, and was made a Priest, then later a Magister in the Council of Nine of the Church. The two mutually admired much of the same music and shared a similar misanthropic outlook. Each had been inspired by Might is Right in fashioning various works: LaVey in his seminal Satanic Bible and Rice in several recordings. Rice's involvement with the Church of Satan largely diminished after LaVey's death in 1997. Recently, when asked how much contact he has with the CoS, he replied, "Virtually none." He maintains occasional contact with current CoS High Priest Peter H. Gilmore, and still speaks fondly of LaVey.

Studies in Gnosticism

Recently, Rice has done extensive research into Gnosticism as well as Grail legends and Merovingian lore, sharing this research in Dagobert's Revenge and The Vessel of God[http://www.thevesselofgod.com/. In 2000, along with Tracy Twyman, editor of Dagobert's Revenge, Rice filmed a special on the Rennes-le-Chateau for the program In Search of... on FOX television.

Social Darwinism

Boyd Rice's Social Darwinist outlook eventually led to him founding the Social Darwinist think tank called The Abraxas Foundation, named after the ancient god Abraxas.

The organization promotes authoritarianism, totalitarianism, misanthropism, elitism, is antidemocratic, and has some philosophical overlap with the Church of Satan. During an interview with Christian talk show host Bob Larson, Boyd Rice described the basic philosophy of the foundation as being "The strong rule the weak, and the clever rule the strong". The organization generally feels that any action leading to human depopulation, regardless of scale, is good in that humans are a dangerous strain on the environment. They maintain that large scale violence is inevitable, and to be strong, humans should succumb to their animal instincts to survive. Racism is not necessarily promoted, but fully acceptable in that it promotes these ends. The organization does not consider itself good or evil, and sees its philosophy as transcending these dualities. Followers of this philosophy are enlightened, and in so being are elite.

Accusations of Nazism

Rice says he's a fascist, not a Nazi. In 1989, Rice and Bob Heick of the American Front were photographed for Sassy Magazine wearing Nazi-like uniforms and brandishing knives. Done mostly as an in-your-face prank, the photo has caused boycotts and protests at many of Rice's appearances. When asked if he regrets the photo, Rice stated, "I don't care. I don't think I ever made a wrong move. The bad stuff is just good. America loves its villains."

Various contributions

Rice has documented the writings of Charles Manson in his role as contributing editor of The Manson File. Rice was a featured guest on Talk Back, a radio program hosted by the Evangelical Christian Bob Larson *. In total, Rice made three appearances on Larson's program.

Homelife

He began a romantic relationship (now defunct) with Lisa Crystal Carver, editor of Rollerderby fame, resulting in several recordings, performances and a son named Wolfgang. Although Rice was sometimes reported to possess the world's largest Barbie collection, he recently confessed in an interview with Brian M. Clark to owning only a few.

Tiki Boyd's

Boyd Rice was recently involved in creating a Tiki Lounge in Denver, Colorado. Rice decorated the entire establishment out of his own pocket due to his fondness of Tiki Culture, asking an open tab at the bar in return. Boyd has long expressed a love of Tiki culture, in somewhat sharp contrast to the other elements of his public persona. Tiki Boyd's was given it's name in his honor. Tiki Boyds Due to the bar owners treating Rice's friends poorly and not holding up their end of certain agreements, Rice recently pulled out of the deal and reclaimed all of his Tiki decorations. The future of the bar as it remains now is uncertain. Rice plans to re-establish another Tiki Bar elsewhere.

Discography

Year Title Under the name
1977 The Black Album Self-Released LP Boyd Rice
1978 Knife Ladder / Mode Of Infection Self-Released 7" Non
1978/1981 Pagan Muzak LP-7" Non
1980 Non + Smegma Split 7" Non + Smegma
1981 The Black Album Mute reissue Boyd Rice
1982 Physical Evidence Non
1982 Rise EP Non
1984 Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing (w/ Frank Tovey) Boyd Rice and Frank Tovey
1987 Blood and Flame Non
1990 Music Martinis and Misanthropy Boyd Rice and Friends
1991 Easy Listening for Iron Youth (Best of Non Compilation) Non
1992 In the Shadow of the Sword Non
1993 Big Red Balloon (12"/CD single) Spell (w/Rose McDowall)
1993 Seasons in the Sun Spell (w/Rose McDowall)
1993 I'm Just Like You (10") The Tards (w/Adam Parfrey)
1993 Ragnarok Rune Boyd Rice
1994 The Monopoly Queen (7") The Monopoly Queen (with Mary Ellen Carver & Combustible Edison)
1995 Might! Non
1995 Hatesville The Boyd Rice Experience
1996 Heaven Sent Scorpion Wind (w/ Douglas P. & John Murphy)
1997 God & Beast Non
1999 Pagan Muzak (reissue) Non
1999 Receive the Flame Non
2000 The Way I Feel Boyd Rice
2001 Wolf Pact Boyd Rice and Fiends
2002 Children of the Black Sun Non
2004 Selected Ambient Works, 1975 to Present Boyd Rice/Non
2004 Alarm Agents Death In June & Boyd Rice

Films

Performance

Print works

References

External links

Official

Unofficial

1955 births | Living people | American writers | Archivists | Industrial musicians | Noise music | Satanists | Transgressive artists

Boyd Rice | NON (groupe) | Boyd Rice

 

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