Jonathan Segel

Jonathan Segel first gained recognition as violinist, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of Camper Van Beethoven. Since the mid-1980s he has worked as a professional musician, issuing recordings under his own name and with Hieronymus Firebrain as well as Jack & Jill. His activities also extend into avant-garde and free-improvisation circles. He earned a Master’s Degree in Music Composition at Mills College, where his teachers included Fred Frith, Alvin Curran, and Pauline Oliveros; earlier, as an undergraduate, he studied with Gordon Mumma. Since 2004 he has maintained the electronic/improv project Chaos Butterfly, and from the early 1990s onward he has written music for several dance companies. Although he remains active with Camper Van Beethoven, Segel moved to Europe in the 2010s and began performing with the improvising space-rockers Øresund Space Collective. He subsequently formed the improvising trio Sista Maj with Andreas Axelsson and Mikael Tuominen; the group’s debut recording appeared at the end of 2016. His solo album Superfluity followed in February 2017.