Bending Time

Montgomery Knott was the owner and curator of Monkeytown, the former visually-immersive dinner, performance and projection venue in Brooklyn, NY that set a new standard for what a dinner and art experience can be. He was also vocalist for the avant-jazz and free improvisational band Stars Like Fleas. For the Avant Garde Diaries, Montgomery introduces us to Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie. Adam is the American-born composer behind two decades worth of transcendent ambient classical projects including 'Stars of the Lid', 'The Dead Texan' and 'Aix Em Klemm'. When we asked Montgomery about why he considered Adam’s music and performances unique, he excitedly explains, “What is translating from what (Adam) is playing on guitar, a rock instrument, and how he creates this giant cinematic sound… That is being processed live… He is able to construct these sounds… He’s really bending time as he’s processing this rock instrument.”

Adam’s past collaborations are with some of the world’s best-known avant-garde pop artists such as 'Sparklehorse' and 'The Flaming Lips'. Adam’s latest project, 'A Winged Victory For The Sullen', pairs him with LA-based composer Dustin OʼHalloran. The recordings for the new album were created in unusual spaces throughout Europe, from the Grunewald Church in Berlin to secluded studios in Italy, and combine eccentric pianos, strings, horns and guitar into a drifting and dreamy atmosphere that implores you to create within it’s haze. We hung out with Adam as he was rehearsing in Greenpoint Brooklyn in preparation for 'A Winged Victory For the Sullen’s' current North American tour and later drifted away at the band’s performance in Manhattan.

See here for more on A Winged Victory For The Sullen’s release and tour schedule.

Produced and Directed by Christopher Ambrose and Fatking Films / Sound by Michel Tsagli / Lighting by Ignacio Caraballo / Music by A Winged Victory For the Sullen / Sound Mix by Brian Rund at Mind Smack