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The connections between music and Matt Howarth's work are constant, manifesting in many forms. Early exposure to music of Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa sent Matt in search of even weirder auralscapes, like Hawkwind, King Crimson, and Roxy Music. And then he found the European electronic scene, discovering Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Tempel, Can, Gong, Heldon, Magma, Conrad Schnitzler, and Klaus Schulze. Long before Matt would do his first cassette cover art or begin reviewing music, he brought together fantastic fiction and his favorite music by featuring real musicians in his Bugtown stories. Nash the Slash was the first such, with his brief appearance in CHANGES, followed up soon after by Nash in his own comic ROCK HORROR 3 (later reprinted in THE CONTAMINATED ZONE 3) which also featured a cameo appearance by the Residents. Before long, Matt had his SAVAGE HENRY comicbook series going, which became the major vehicle for these type of stories with guests including David Borden, Foetus, Ron Geesin, Hawkwind, Moby, Richard Pinhas, Steve Roach, Klaus Schulze, Wire, and Yello. (See Musical Guest List for more details.) By this time, Matt had begun his SONIC CURIOSITY series of music reviews in comic strip form. These were originally published weekly in the Quakertown Free Press newspaper, later syndicated out to a variety of different publications. (Some examples of these and more recent music reviews in text can be seen in Sonic Curiosity.) Matt has also done a wide variety of cover art for indie releases on CD, LP, and cassette. (See Cover Art for more data.) With so many musical notables visiting Bugtown, it goes to follow that Bugtown would have its own weird musicians, like the Bulldaggers, the Bee-Bop Girls, and the Quiet Space. While their adventures are chronicled in his Bugtown stories, Matt documented their albums by producing and releasing a series of 7-inch Picture Sleeves for nonexistent music from Bugtown. (Some examples of these can be seen in Bugtown Music.) There are numerous strong connections between Matt and the Residents--from their appearance in several of his Bugtown stories--to his The Comix of Two Cities series--to his involvement in their Freak Show comicbook. (See The Residents for more data.) But--by far--the strongest link between music and Matt's work is one of absolute invasion. Even when three stories are non-musical in nature, the work, language, visuals and very tone exude obscure sonic influences. For his Konny & Czu series, the name Konny is derived from noted German electronics producer Konny Plank's name, and Czu comes from the name Holger Czukay, Can's ex-bassist. In Matt's Keif Llama story Fayth (from Particle Dreams 5), all the chapter titles are old Cure songs, with many more Cure song titles hidden throughout the story's dialog. |
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Like what you see? You can buy Matt's work at the Bugtown Mall |
![[Craig's World]](/images/home.gif){kind=small}