Long Distance Poison

The Brooklyn-based outfit Long Distance Poison specializes in crafting immersive, extended drone pieces through modular synthesizers and additional analog electronics. By relying on generative processes combined with improvisation, the ensemble generates vast hypnotic sonic environments that burst with unforeseen textures and harmonic changes. Drawing strong influence from vintage horror and science-fiction soundtracks, their work maintains an atmosphere of darkness and enigma while avoiding undue gloom or terror. Consistent with the cinematic nature of their compositions, Long Distance Poison pairs live appearances with experimental visuals. Beyond appearances at experimental festivals including New York's End Tymes and Voice of the Valley in West Virginia, the members have participated in the recurring Modular Synthesizer Solstice/Equinox series, which has presented sets by Drew McDowall (Coil), Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, and Max Ravitz (Patricia). The group has issued more than a dozen cassettes and LPs, among them Signals to a Habitable Zone (2012) and Knock Magh (2018), with material appearing on imprints such as Digitalis, Ecstatic Peace!, and Hausu Mountain.

Long Distance Poison originated in 2009 when Nathan Cearley and Erica Bradbury formed the project. Casey Block entered the lineup in 2010, beginning on guitar before shifting focus to synthesizer. Their introduction to listeners came that same year via a self-titled cassette on Fred Thomas' Life Like label. Following favorable coverage, the ensemble quickly placed additional tapes with other outlets, among them Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace!, Digitalis, and Constellation Tatsu. Their initial vinyl efforts consisted of the one-sided 12" The Bog Nebula (Prison Tatt Records) together with the LP/DVD Signals to a Habitable Zone (Fin Records), both surfacing in 2012. The next year brought Gliese Translations, another Fin LP/DVD that incorporated remixes from McDowall and Steve Moore.

In 2014 the project refocused on the founding pair of Cearley and Bradbury. After further cassette releases, the LP Human Program appeared on Deep Distance in 2015. During summer 2016 the duo created the audio-visual installation Rheomodes for the N.Y.C. institution Printed Matter, with a cassette of identical title emerging on Oxtail Recordings the subsequent year. Knock Magh, Long Distance Poison's second Hausu Mountain release, surfaced in 2018; Deep Distance issued the LP Astro Topoi later that same year. Technical Mentality, another Hausu Mountain title, arrived in early 2020.