Angus MacLise

Thanks to Paul Ashby and Midheaven for permissions to reprint the following bio of Angus:

"The late percussionist, poet, calligrapher, mystic, shaman and visionary Angus MacLise was pure '60s free spirit all the way. He was a founding member of the Velvet Underground -- but promptly quit as soon as he found out they were being paid to play their first gig. He claimed the band was too structured (!!) for his tastes, anyway.

A list of MacLise's collaborators and compadres reads like a who's who of American counter-culture mavericks: La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, Terry Riley, Tony Conrad, Henry Flynt, Jack Smith, Andy Warhol, Gerard Malanga, Charlemagne Palestine, Jonas Mekas, Sheldon Rochlin and Ira Cohen. MacLise's work has made him a bona fide legend among vintage psychedelia enthusiasts; his intricate, India-influenced drumming propelled any number of tranced-out jams in New York's lofts of the era. This Milford Graves for the psychedelic set (if you will) was very meticulous about his recording; however, very little of MacLise's music has been made legitimately available. Until recently, that is. The vaults have been opened, and the first installation, MacLise's The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda, was made available in late 1999 via a collaboration between Tim Barnes/Quakebasket and the Siltbreeze label."

-Quakebasket/Siltbreeze/Midheaven (the ultimate Angus website)

See Jack Magazine, which featured a chapbook by MacLise titled Subliminal Report. Also, see Big Bridge (click the Ira Cohen link) for more about Ira Cohen and his work with Angus MacLise.