1979: Began playing acoustic steel string guitar, influenced by blues & folk & rock & jazz. Eventually, found own style, which was improvisational, rooted in the blues, a bit messed-up and sloppy, a bit funky and noisy and rhythmic but with a lack of serious timing. All this almost exclusively using alternate tunings.
1998: Began to make "experimental music" under the name "skycrow" with borrowed equipment, radios found in the trash, computer software and samples.
1999: Continuing investigations of abstract radio sounds, electromagnetic interference in the AM band. Also noisy stuff involving feedback and contact mics and floors. Treatments of phonographies (field recordings). First live performances backing up Matt Bain, providing noisescapes to his spoken-word "one-sentence stories" readings, under the name the Live Wires. These involved various setups such as manipulated & mangled cassettes, contact mic through effects, prepared electric guitar (mallet-style), and wires. Creation of faux genre & faux label Muzik Aktiv with Philippe Gibelin. First self-released solo CD-Rs.
2000: Abandoned "skycrow" name to work under own name. First solo shows with contact mic/effects or prepared electric guitar & radios. Provided some music for a Dummies Theatre production. Meeting of the No Type gang, which resulted in the formation of Yves Hudon Et Son Équipe, a free-jazz/noize-improv-meets-ambient project with members of Napalm Jazz. This provoked a rediscovery of electric guitar, through the use of various preparations. Also participated in informal outdoor guerilla concerts with Philippe Lambert (A.K.A. monstre)) and Jon Asencio. Finally purchased a mixer and a minidisc recorder, which opened up further possibilities.
2001: Further adventures with Yves Hudon and Philémon and A_Dontigny. Also various live collaborations with Magali Babin and others. Residence at Avatar studios in Quebec City to produce a piece based entirely on radio sounds and interference for the CKIA-FM radio program Excavation sonore.
2002: Concerts with various people, in particular a duo with Jacques Gravel, and a duo with Nathalie Dion (alias Zazalie Z.). These involved playing prepared electric guitar, and sometimes prepared zither.
2003: Continuing live performances with the Jacques Gravel and Nathalie Dion (alias Zazalie Z.) duos (and sometimes combining those into a trio). Also played live on prepared zither in a duo with Alexandre St-Onge. Performed in a headphone concert in my backyard organised by the periphériques collective, in a duo with Alexis Bellavance. Performed in the duo Micro Désastre with A_Dontigny, using mangled cassettes and effects. Performed live on prepared electric guitar in a duo with Francis Arsenault.
2004: Liquidated all collaborations to concentrate on solo studio projects, only playing live with the Rivers and Mountains collective and the GlitterSoul Orchestra.
2005: Continuing solo studio projects, notably Ringen. Formation of the conceptual electronic duo Le Black Noise with Olivier Borzeix. 2 concerts & 2 CD-R releases then dissolved, forming instead an all-acoustic duo Heavy Eye of the Sun, recorded an album, released December 2005.
September 2005: Semi-Retired?
2006-2008: A couple of album releases and a few concerts with Heavy Eye of the Sun. Forced to quit playing guitar Spring 2007 (probably forever) due to wrist/arm problems (computer programming is a dangerous job). Solo one-off performance as Master of the Seven Spoons (voice/mandolin).
2008-2009: Formation of string drone quartet (later quintet) 44 Ensemble A.K.A. The Strings Are The Things Wherein We'll Catch The Conscience Of The King Of Drone, which performed three concerts, two of which with visuals by L'Œil de verre. Involvement with the Experimentallica collective.
January 2010: Retired from public performance.
2010- Continued irregular involvement with the Experimentallica collective and some of its members including Alexandre St-Onge, Simon Brown and Émilie Mouchous (A.K.A. Gmackrr). Occasional live performance on CKUT FM radio, solo or with others. Dabbling in handmade electronic sound boxes.
2014: Returned to public performance... solo or with others: Alexandre St-Onge, Émilie Mouchous (A.K.A. Gmackrr), Th3rd Eye Candy, The CKUT Circuit Workshop Ensemble, Will Eizlini's Eta Kooram Nah Smech! Ensemble, and a duo with Éric Gingras A.K.A. Enfant magique.
Also, public exhibition of sound and light installations: Built the Sweet32 Speaker Interrupter-Switcher Installation Thing which was exhibited at STABLE and OBORO in Montreal, and Atelier Silex in Trois-Rivières. Built some pinball-themed electronically-animated lightboxes for the North Star pinball bar in Montreal.
Contact : james "dot" schid at gmail
Cookie Magique (2017-present) : Psychopoetic trance explorations centered around Ian Ferrier (spoken word, guitar) with the musical guidance of Will Eizlini (tablas, clay pot), and featuring the talents of Sarah Albu (voice & fx), James Annett (viola), Dina Cindrić (keyboard, voice), Éric Gingras (double bass), Elizabeth Lima (voice), Marie-Douce St-Jacques (electric organ, voice), John "Triangles" Stuart (guitar), and myself on guimbardes.
Éric Gingras & James Schidlowsky (2014-present) : A mostly acoustic duo with Éric Gingras A.K.A. Enfant magique [Fly Pan Am, Pas chic chic, Avec le soleil sortant de sa bouche...], playing and singing songs (in English and French), with acoustic guitars and integrating some electronics.
Th3rd Eye Candy (2014-present) : Duo with Will Eizlini, wherein we play rhythmic psychedelic-trance music using table(!) + effects + guimbardes (AKA jews harps -- mouth-resonated plucked idiophone). Linkage: Th3rd Eye Candy facebook page, Th3rd Eye Candy soundcloud page.
Experimentallica (2009-present) : Collective involving core members Alexandre St-Onge, Simon Brown and others. Various configurations and instrumentations.
The Live Wires (1999-present?) : Matt Bain and Paul Berry (spoken word) and James Schidlowsky (various things that make noise).
44 Ensemble A.K.A. The Strings Are The Things Wherein We'll Catch The Conscience Of The King Of Drone (2008-2009) : String drone quintet with James Schidlowsky (violin-uke A.K.A. ukelin), Leon Lo [White Flower] (violin), Will Eizlini [Shalabi Effect, Land of Kush] (violin), Iain McMaster [Kolumkilli] (violin), and James Annett (viola).
Heavy Eye of the Sun (2005-2008) : An acoustic duo formed by James Schidlowsky and Olivier Borzeix. Psychedelic drone music featuring toy organ, prepared banjo, voice, guitar, zither, chitrali sitar, charango, cymbals, chinese bowls....
Druid Style A.K.A. Los Druidos (2006) : a stoner-rock jam-band formed with Francis Amireault [Cian Éthrie, Ste-Sophie, etc.] (drums), Jacob Chelkowski [Jerry Lopez, Ste-Sophie, Heart & Soul, Gin Gin Sussex] (electric guitar), and James Schidlowsky (electric guitar).
Le Black Noise (2005) : a no-input electronics duo formed by Olivier Borzeix (no-input laptop) and James Schidlowsky (no-input mixers).
Micro désastre (2003) : electronic noise duo formed by a_Dontigny and James Schidlowsky.
Les 3 Nathalies (2003) : a trio formed by Nathalie Dion (alias Zazalie Z.) (voice), Nathalie Derome (voice) and James "Nathalie" Schidlowsky (prepared guitar).
[no name] (2001-2003) : a duo formed by Jacques Gravel (bass trombone) and James Schidlowsky (prepared guitar). "No harsh noises, barely any notes at all; rumblings, murmurs, the subtle breathing of some yet unknown aquatic deity." -- a_D.
[no name] (2000-2003) : a duo formed by Nathalie Dion (alias Zazalie Z.) (voice), and James Schidlowsky (prepared guitar or zither). Exploration of experimental voice, sonic poetry, auditory atmospheres, strange and meditative textures using sound.
Trio Saccacomie (2001-2002) : an electronic noise trio formed by Érick d'Orion (laptop PC, sampler), Guillaume Théroux-Rancourt (tapes, equalisers), and James Schidlowsky (radios & interference).
Qui Joue Quoi? (2001) : heavy minimal electronic drone duo formed by Magali Babin and James Schidlowsky.
Yves Hudon Et Son Équipe (2000-2001) : free-jazz/noise meets ambient meets noise with a_dontigny (turntables, etc.), Philémon (alto sax, drums, etc.) and James Schidlowsky (prepared electric guitar).
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Last updated: 2018.05.03.
