Brett Naucke

Mainly using modular synthesizers, experimental musician Brett Naucke creates abstract soundscapes inspired by lucid dreaming. His recordings range from minimal drones to dense, chaotic pieces, sometimes lapsing into pulsating rhythms. A fixture of the Chicago underground music scene, Naucke has toured with post-rock pioneers Tortoise and played in cult experimental rock collective ONO. He ran the Catholic Tapes imprint from 2007 to 2015, and has released albums on labels like Spectrum Spools, Hausu Mountain, and Umor Rex.
Naucke moved to Chicago to finish college during the 2000s. He founded the Catholic Tapes label in 2007, and released several cassettes as Face Worker in addition to collaborations with Ben Billington (Quicksails, Tiger Hatchery), Michael Pollard (Arbor Records), and Wyatt Howland (Skin Graft) before issuing material under his own name beginning in 2010. He released tapes on labels like Arbor and Field Studies before his sparse, haunting debut LP, The Visitor, was issued by Nihilist in 2013. The 7″ EP Transparency appeared on Catholic Tapes/Notes and Bolts in early 2014, followed by the full-length Seed, released by John Elliott’s Editions Mego-affiliated Spectrum Spools imprint. All of the album’s pieces were recorded using the same synth patch, yet none of them sound alike.
Mexican label Umor Rex released Naucke’s cassette Executable Dreamtime in 2016, and Mugen, Vol. 9, a split tape with Pulse Emitter, appeared on Hausu Mountain the following year. The label also released Naucke’s solo cassette Multiple Hallucinations in 2017. Naucke returned to Spectrum Spools for 2018′s The Mansion, which featured guest contributions from Natalie Chami (TALsounds, Good Willsmith) and Whitney Johnson (Matchess). His EP Electronic Hypnosis Program was issued by Make Noise Records in 2019. EMS Hallucinations, recorded using Buchla 200 and Serge Modular synthesizers during a residency at Stockholm’s Elektronmusikstudion, appeared on American Dreams Records in 2020. ~ Paul Simpson