Bill Brovold’s talents as a composer, musician and sound experimenter are evident in his recordings and performances. But it’s the depth and scope of his career that make his musical history a worthwhile read.
Long before he and his band, Larval, were signed to John Zorn’s record label or compared to King Crimson, Glen Branca and Godspeed You Black Emperor, Brovold was building his sound and sensibility. Performing and recording with some of the most influential artists in modern music as early as the 1970s, Bill was an important player in the New York No Wave scene.
After studying painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York – where he was invited by Cyndi Lauper to create the backdrop for the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” video – Bill took a hiatus. He returned to his home state, Washington, where he composed
music in an old barn.
In the 1980s, Bill was back in New York, where he played guitar with the Rhys Chatham Ensemble, the East Village Orchestra, Fast Forward, and the Zen Vikings (with Modern Lovers bassist, Ernie Brooks, and saxophonist, Otto Kentrol). He was also exhibiting his visual art throughout the United States and in Europe.
By the time he got to Detroit in the 1990s, Bill had a strong sense of what was going on in the world of modern music and in his own work. He was ready to take his sonic experiments and deconstructed rock riffs and form the band, Larval.
“I try, in my visual art and my music, to stay away from pure stylized work,” Bill said in a 1997 interview. “I try not to become neo-expressionist or abstract whateverist. I try to keep the music from being pure minimalism or avant-garde contemporary classical.
“I try not to pigeonhole what I am doing. I use whatever tools I need from either a style or a form or whatever and disregard whatever I don’t.”
True to Bill’s need for constant movement and evolution, Larval became more of an ongoing collaboration with a range of musicians who could best interpret and contribute to his genre-defying compositions.
Layered combinations of guitar, bass, saxophone, violin, cello, harp, percussion and more build his dense mathematical soundscapes. Often players will arrange their own parts to create the swirling torrents of classical, straight-on rock, surf guitar and noise that have become Larval’s signature sound.
Bill continues to record and produce his own music and other artists at his Larville studio in Royal Oak, Michigan. A new Larval double CD, “Surviving Death/Alive Why?” will be released by Cuneiform in 2006.
Bill Brovold/Larval Discography:
2006 Bill Brovold/Larval, Double CD Surviving Death/Alive Why?(Cuneiform)
2003 Bill Brovold/Larval, Obedience (Cuneiform)
2002 Troy Gregory, Sybil (Fall of Rome Records)
2000 Bill Brovold, Childish Delusions (Tzadik)
2000 Larval, Predator or Prey (Knitting Factory)
1999 The Witches, Universal Mall (Fall of Rome Records)
1998 Larval, Larval 2 (Knitting Factory)
1997 Bill Brovold/Larval, Larval (Avant Records)
1989 Zen Vikings, Zen Vikings (Rash Records)
1986 Rhys Chatham, Die Donnergotter (Dossier Records)
Bill Brovold Recording & Production:
Bill Brovold/Larval, Lozenge, The Real Kids, Xenharmonic Orchestra, Blind Spot Trio, El Boxeo, John Lamb, Troy Gregory, Destroy All Monsters, Monster Island, Transmission, Poignant Plecostamus.
Performed With:
Rhys Chatham, Arthur Russell, Fast Forward, East Village Orchestra, Ben Neill, Konrad Kinard, Ernie Brooks, David Linton, Zeena Parkins, Ned Rothenberg, Kroyt, James Lo, Colin Stetson, Frank Rosaly, Glenn Branca, Stuart Bogie, Elliot Sharp.
Bill Brovold/Larval in the Press:
"Larval makes smart music that never turns into a logic problem. (Obedience) is a disc that will work on your heart and your body as much as on your head; it will take you places that the brain alone can't go." -- Jennifer Kelly, Splendid Ezine
"Bill Brovolds music blows me away. Larval is the shit." -- John Zorn
“Bill Brovold’s Larval represents one of the most accomplished sounds in music today.” – Alternative Press
“Bill Brovold’s complex compositions smash the border of rock and classical music.” – Avant, Japan
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