Vorhees
Location: New York, NY
Website: http://myspace.com/vvoorrhheeeess
Bio: This is my story, a.k.a.”one sheet”/”getting to know you” story. I don’t have money to hire a press agent. Hi...nice to meet you.
My ... (more)
name is Dana Wachs and I’m playing music under the name Vorhees. People ask me if I like Friday the 13th, but despite enjoying the television series of the same name in my youth, the answer is no and the reason for the name is not as obvious. “Vorhees” is actually the name of the town I first grew up in South Jersey. I’ve changed the spelling slightly, removing one “o”, but only for graphic design purposes maybe.
I am probably best known in the music industry as a sound engineer to call for touring work. Luckily the people handling such talent as Cat Power, M.I.A., Grizzly Bear, Jamie Lidell, St. Vincent, Lykke Li, and so many others have let me share the world’s sonic possibilities for the past 10 years. Other hardcore music obscurists may remember me as the last bass player for Dischord Record’s Holy Rollers. Friends in New York know I learned part of my craft interning, and eventually engineering at the sadly defunct Greene Street Studios in Soho, NYC (home of some of the original Def Jam recordings). However, don’t let the name-dropping describe any songwriting or performing influence I may have calculatingly collected over the years. While my tour-mates and friends have indeed inspired me to make my own music, very little I do has anything in common with the people I’ve shared vans, buses, or hotel rooms with. Instead my musical influence draws more from my experience in shaping sound waves and textures, making guitars sound like synths for example, but without the aid of computers. I definitely do pride myself on my acquiring an original, Eno-endosed Eventide Harmonizer H-3000. Beautiful sounding stuff that I could write 17 pages on, but this isn’t what you want to write about..is it? I also appreciate that as a solo musician, I have to rely on one of my favorite writing techniques…repetition. So if pressed to give an answer, my closest influences would be more like Terry Riley or Steve Reich or Philip Glass. But hell…I would never be so audacious as to compare myself to the masters.
So that’s me quickly. I am playing shows while taking a break from touring and currently recording a 7” single I will self release. Have any ideas for a record label name? No…seriously...I am taking suggestions.
Thanks for listening.
You are the best.
Sincerely,
Dana
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