Stump Removal

Although there were many other amazing sets, Saturday night at No Fun Fest was owned by The Nevari Butchers at the early hour of 8PM. When Aaron Dilloway told me last week that "I've just been in the driveway playing a wheelbarrow and shovel and it sounds GOOD. I think I'm gonna ditch the synth and bring this stuff to No Fun", I thought he was joking. When I began making my way up the stairs to the main stage, halfway through a great set by Pax Titania, I had no idea that I would actually see said garden equipment all miked up, next to a table of electronics and a synthesizer. Having the right combination of gear is one thing, but what Dilloway and cellist Hans Buetow unleashed was nothing short of genius Modern Composition. The set began with Dilloway scraping the insides of the wheelbarrow with a large metal shovel, and slowly evolved into ominous cacophony. Buetow, mostly known for his role in John Olson's Graveyards, coaxed sounds out of his cello that no one in the room thought possible. Dilloway spent the middle section of the piece adding sparse shards of noise to doom-laden synth patterns reminiscent of his Spine Scavenger project. By the end of the set he was back cultivating aural mayhem with the wheelbarrow, bringing the piece to a dizzying finish. It's heartening to see that becoming a father has only given him new, and quite unique, inspiration for his art. Don't let him near your shrubbery though...