Backworld

Joseph Budenholzer Grew Up In Nebraska Immersed In The Rural Lore And Religious Traditions Of The Region. As A Boy He Attended Parochial School Where He Was Taught By Nuns To Play Guitar For Folk Mass. In Addition To Leading A String Of Local Bands He Also Joined The Omaha Magic Theatre An Offshoot Of The Open Theatre In New York As Composer In Residence. He Eventually Left Nebraska And Set Out For New York City Arriving In The East Village In The Mid-1980s. Soon After He Began Participating In Readings At St Mark's Poetry Project And Before Long He Was Collaborating With Dance Performer Brian Moran Blood Boy Creating Sampled Soundscapes For Confrontational Actionist Assaults. This Led Into The Cinema Of Transgression Scene Where He Worked With Filmmakers Richard Kern Beth B And Tessa Hughs-Freeland And Musician J.G. Thirlwell Foetus . Eventually A Series Of Live Collaborations With Lydia Lunch Resulted Culminating In The Double CD Matrikamantra A Work Of Psycho-Acoustic Theatre In The Form Of A Homage To Romanian Philosopher/poet EM Cioran. In 1990 He Enrolled In NYU's Gallatin Division Focusing On Eastern European Theatre Traveling To Study In Russia And Bulgaria And Later Touring Poland And The Czech Republic. Backworld Was Formed In 1993 Owing To Budenholzer's Growing Passion For English Folk Music Minimalist Classical Composition Christian Mysticism And A Desire To Make Music That Could Reflect These Interests And Hopefully Be As Spiritual And Beautiful. Since Joining Forces With World Serpent Distribution London In 1995 Four Studio Albums Have Resulted Holy Fire 1996 Isles Of The Blest 1997 Anthems From The Pleasure Park 1999 Of Silver Sleep 2001 And A Live Album The Fourth Wall Recorded At The Bloomsbury Theatre London 2001. And 2 MoreLPs Good Infection 2007 And Come The Bells 2011 On His Own Discalucla Label Backworld's Albums And Early Performances At CBGB's 313 Gallery And The NYU Experimental Theatre Wing And More Recent Concerts At House Leipzig Germany Grandson Castle Switzerland Bloomsbury Theatre And St. Olave's Church London Have Featured A Changing Roster Of Players But The Course Is Still Steered By Budenholzer's Constant Vision. Arrangements Of Guitar Strings Percussion Flutes Electronics Revolve Around Lyrics Concerned With Ecstatic Religious Yearnings And Tales Of Otherworldly Visions. Notably Jarboe Swans Has Been A Recurring Figure In This Story As Well. Her Presence Can Be Felt Lurking Around Certain Tracks On The Second And Third Albums. Recently While Recording The Upcoming Album Good Infection He Enlisted The Talents Of Isobel Campbell Belle & Sebastian Gentle Waves David Tibet Current 93 And Drew McDowall Coil To Contribute Vocals And Other Textures To The New Songs. read less