Focus 23

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Focus 23
Jeremy Morrow under a sou'wester.
Background information
Origin	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Genre(s)	Experimental
Years active	1993 – present
Label(s)	Mutant Records
Associated acts	Parasites, Industrial Strength Noise, Idiot Spaceman, Whirl, Thank You For Not Smoking, The Semen Heads, Penishead, The Mutation Weekend, Cancerhead, Gorf, Rodel Cast, and Shit Ass Panic
Members
Jeremy Morrow (with contributors)

Focus 23 is a Canadian musical group that was formed on December 25, 1993 in Hamilton, Ontario. This one-man group primarily consists of Jeremy Morrow (aka. Coyote 29) although other people have worked with him in collaboration on this project. The group was formed as a Christmas present to himself. Focus 23’s primary musical style is instrumental experimental. Originally it made extensive use of found sound, field recordings, tape loops, and strayed away from traditional instrumentation in favor of sound manipulation as instrumentation. In recent years, a stronger attempt has been made to include more traditional instrumentation and melody.

1 Ideology
2 Influences and Associations
3 History
4 Live Performances
5 Discography
6 Trivia
7 Links
8 Notes

[edit] Ideology

The original website for Focus 23 stated the following about the group: "The main thrust of the music is based largely on ideas steming from chaos, exploration and meditation. Music is one of the best mediums for expressing the communication of experimental thought. Focus 23 is a project for which there is no concrete goal except the exploration of musical experimentation and ideas. Hopefully, a learning experience can be achieved for each of its participants. Focus 23 have no strong interest in distribution or fame and produce purely for personal pleasure."^[1]

[edit] Influences and Associations

Influences on Focus 23 would most notably include Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Nurse With Wound, The Infant Cycle and above all, The Hafler Trio (aka. Andrew MacKenzie). Focus 23 have also had loose associations with similar artists or groups. Some of these include Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (most notably during the early days), Orphx (good friends during the 1990s), and Cancerhead. Focus 23 is the product of Jeremy Morrow's label, Mutant Records.

[edit] History

Formed on Christmas Day of 1993, the first album, 50/50, was originally released on cassette in 1994. It collected old material rejected and reworked from Morrow's early days in bands like Parasites and Industrial Strength Noise. In an attempt to collect the old with the new, the first side of the cassette consisted of material recorded during the first four months after the creation of the group, while the second side of the cassette reworked old and rejected material from years of experimenting previous to the inception of the group. Most of the material was created from tape submissions and manipulations done both by Morrow and the other contributors to the project. 50/50 was later issued in an even more limited print run on CD as a two CD package including over fifty minutes of live material from Morrow's contributions to the Tape Delay radio show on CFRU 93.3 FM in Guelph, Ontario. This began a series of extremely limited edition releases, largely forming a longstanding joke about the pointlessness of groups releasing things in numbers so limited that nobody can reasonably own them.

Focus 23's second release, A Snake In The Glade was promised for so long that Morrow has since stopped saying when the next release will arrive. Released straight to CD, it was not limited to a print run, but printing of it ceased when the next album arrived. This started a pattern in which no Focus 23 album would be printed after the release of a follow-up. Where the first album centered mainly around found sounds and thematic moments based in personal reflection, Snake is far more rhythmical. Where the early material is disjointed and Nurse With Wound-like, this second release shows a more rhythmic minimalism that lies somewhere between Lustmord, Nurse With Wound, and The Hafler Trio.

In between the second and third album, two albums were recorded but scrapped before being completed when Morrow became upset with their progress. The working titles for these albums were Sources 1 and IP1. A video art project called Sources 2 was also in the works before being cancelled.

The third album, I'll Think That Way Too contains a single 71 minute track and is a long, meditative piece of work. In contrast to the previous albums, there is almost no rhythmical core to the album at all. This also marks the start of Focus 23 releasing one-off/limited releases with the album being encased in some kind of art. In this case, the album was released in a second cover, wrapped in black velvet, which was then wrapped in 140 grit sandpaper, which was then bound with a white ribbon. An unmarked copy was also left in an art gallery as a joke.

The fourth album, The Last Silent Wave Crashes The Hardest moves into new territory by including traditional instruments in the mix, such as electric guitars, an electric bass, drums, and piano. Continuing in the tradition of fun/art packaging, four one-off releases were made for the album, none of them playable. Each version saw the album encased in fire, earth, air, or water. In the case of fire, the disc was placed in a large pile of charred matches, then encased in wax. In the case of air, the disc was encased in wax, but came with a photo of the disc floating in mid-air. In the case of water, the disc was encased in a clear, water-tight, perspex box filled with water. In the case of earth, the disc was encased in dirt, then in wax. Each version came with a complimentary copy of the album in a jewel case for playability. Each copy also came with a tinfoil stamp bearing the product code, which was sealed in wax. Other than that, there are no other formal markings on the discs or packaging. In the case of the water edition, the stamp appears in the water with the disc.

The fifth album is currently under construction.

[edit] Live Performances

Focus 23 are not a band that likes to appear live. They have done one live appearance in total, which was on October 3, 1995 on the Dead City Radio show on CFMU 93.3 in Hamilton, Ontario. Instead of actually playing live, they told the audience they were playing live, then put on a tape. The track they played was called Live and also appears on A Snake In The Glade. This was intended as a joke, questioning the nature of what "live" really means in the context of experimental music. Focus 23 will never play live again, and this is apparently a strong promise.

[edit] Discography

50/50 (cover)

50/50 (1994)

Label	Year	Format	Product Codes	Info
Mutant	1994	Cassette	MUCA247	Limited edition of 29. Some of these were also distributed by Third Force.
Mutant	1997	2 x CD-R	MUCD248	Limited edition of 1 (intended as a joke). Expanded to include some earlier material recorded prior to 50/50 while involved with Parasites, Tape Delay, Industrial Strength Noise, and others.

A Snake In The Glade (cover)

A Snake In The Glade (1997)

Label	Year	Format	Product Codes	Info
Mutant	1997	Cassette	MUCA249	Out of print (printing ceased in 2000). Some of these were also distributed by Third Force.
Mutant	1997	CD-R	MUCD250	Out of print (printing ceased in 2000). Some of these were also distributed by Third Force^[2].

I'll Think That Way Too (cover)

I'll Think That Way Too (2000)

Label	Year	Format	Product Codes	Info
Mutant	2000	CD-R	MUCD255	Out of print (printing ceased in 2003).
Mutant	2001	CD-R	MUCD256	Limited edition of 1, wrapped in a black plastic bag and left in an art gallery with no cover art or markings of any kind. More of a joke than anything.
Mutant	2001	CD-R	MUCD257	Limited edition of 3, wrapped in 150 grit sandpaper, which is then wrapped in black velvet, which is then tied with a white ribbon. Includes completely different cover art displaying the nose of a sleeping cat pressed against the base of a gold lamp.

The Last Silent Wave Crashes The Hardest (cover)

The Last Silent Wave Crashes The Hardest (2003)

Label	Year	Format	Product Codes	Info
Mutant	2003	CD-R	MUCD258	Currently out of print (printing ceased in 2007).
Mutant	2003	CD-R	MUCD259	Limited edition of 1, sealed in a clear water-tight perspex box filled with water and a tinfoil stamp. While totally unplayable, it came with a complimentary playable copy in a jewel case.
Mutant	2003	CD-R	MUCD260	Limited edition of 1, sealed in a wax encased mound of earth with tinfoil stamp. While totally unplayable, it came with a complimentary playable copy in a jewel case.
Mutant	2003	CD-R	MUCD261	Limited edition of 1, sealed in wax with tinfoil stamp. While totally unplayable, it came with a complimentary playable copy in a jewel case. Also comes with a photo of the disc floating in mid-air.
Mutant	2003	CD-R	MUCD262	Limited edition of 1, sealed in a wax encased pile of burnt matches with tinfoil stamp. While totally unplayable, it came with a complimentary playable copy in a jewel case.

The Golden Age (2008 tentative release)

Label	Year	Format	Product Codes	Info
Mutant	2008	Double CD-R	MUCD268	N/A

Appearances on compilations

Compilation Title	Label	Year	Format	Product Codes	Featured Tracks	Notes
Xcreteria Volume One	Xcreteria	1995	Cassette	N/A	Black Spot	This is largely the same version as the one that appears on A Snake In The Glade but the ending is slightly different. This was the first release of this track.

[edit] Trivia

The title, 50/50 is a reference to Schrödinger's cat.
The photo on the cover of, A Snake In The Glade is of Jeremy Morrow, wearing a souwester at an Eclipse rave.
The photo on the cover of, I'll Think That Way Too is of the black walnut tree in Jeremy Morrow's backyard.