James C. Brand (1976-2010) was an American musician. Moz was Brand's dark ambient,

power electronics Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power. The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconducto ...

project. Founded in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, in 1997, transplanted to

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

in 2000, and dubbed Post Power Electronics by Gary of Bed Molt/a sonic deterrent. Early releases were in the

harsh noise Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...

genre and had no clear themes, but later works were not only less harsh but tended to deal with social and

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

political issues. Most recent work is influenced by

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and other Asian spirituality, due to Brand's increasing involvement with Buddhism (including stints living in monasteries in both America and Asia). However even though devoted to

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

, Brand still maintains his previous anarchist political views and identifies himself as a "Dhammic Socialist". James Brand died unexpectedly at the age of 34 from a brain aneurism in Anchorage, Alaska on August 30, 2010.

Releases and Collaborations

MOZ has had numerous releases on 4 continents, most notable were splits and collaborations with

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

KK Null , known by his stage name KK Null, is a Japanese experimental multi-instrumentalist active since the early 1980s. He began as a guitarist but learned how to compose, sing, play drums, and create electronic music. He also studied Butoh dance at ...

Zeni Geva Zeni may refer to: * Zeni (letter), a letter of the Georgian alphabet * Zeni, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Zeni Husmani (born 1990), Macedonian footballer * Zeni (surname), surname See also * Zenigata Heiji , usual ...

, (Man is the)

Bastard Noise Bastard Noise is an American noise band founded in 1991 by musicians Eric Wood, Henry Barnes, and W. T. Nelson. The project started as a type of sister band to the trio's previous group Man Is The Bastard. While Man Is the Bastard broke-up in la ...

, Government Alpha, a sonic deterrent,

the Haters The Haters are a noise music and conceptual art troupe from the United States. Founded in 1979, they are one of the earliest acts in the modern noise scene. The group is primarily the work of the Hollywood, California-based musician, artist, w ...

and

Hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

. Most MOZ releases are Split releases with another artist, keeping a sort of collectivist attitude to releasing albums. Brand was married, but at one time was the ex-boyfriend of Houston experimental/noise artist

Richard Ramirez (musician) Richard Ramirez is an American noise music artist originally from Houston, Texas, recording and performing both as a solo artist and as part of several groups, including Black Leather Jesus, Priest in Shit, An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter, Hous ...

. He also has worked with Ramirez in a project called, d/S.

Other work

Besides releasing music as MOZ, JC Brand has composed music for several films for Trisomy Films all of which were produced by

Kim Henkel Kim David Henkel (born January 19, 1946) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He is best known as the co-writer of Tobe Hooper's horror film ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre''. Early life Henkel was born in Virginia and g ...

the writer of the screen play for the original

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, w ...

two of which were released by SHOCK-O-RAMA Cinema and the latest, ''

The Wild Man of the Navidad ''The Wild Man of the Navidad'' is a 2008 Bigfoot horror film written and directed by Duane Graves and Justin Meeks. It was picked up by IFC Films shortly after its world premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, and re-released in 2021 by MPI ...

'' by IFC. He is also a published author and currently devotes most of his creative output to writing though continues to record for Belgian experimental label: Silken Tofu.

Partial discography

*CD "The Broken Tusk of Ganesha" on Silken Tofu (Belgium) *Split CD with

on crionic mind (USA) *Split/Collaboration CD with

"Tribute to Martin Luther King JR." on breathmint (USA) *Split CD with Daruin on NEUS (Japan) *Split CD with Government Alpha on Verbrante Erde (Germany) *Split CD with Armenia on bizarre audio arts (Ecuador) *Split 7" record with a sonic deterrent on anti-everything/maladjusted (USA) *Split 7" record with A) Torture Mechanism on Balefire/ MT6 (USA) *Split 10" record with Flatline Construct on maladjusted/ Let it Rot (USA/Canada) *Collaboration 7" with

and

on Balefire/

CRUCIAL BLAST Crucial may refer to: Brands * Crucial, a consumer products brand used by semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology Music *''Crucial'', album by Ali (British singer) (1998) * ''The Crucial Conspiracy'', an album by The Dingees (2001) * ''The C ...

(USA) *Compilation 7" record "Soun: An Anonymous and Random Compilation/Composition" on Game Boy (USA)

Filmography

*''

'' (2008) *'' Voltagen'' (2003) *''

Headcheese Head cheese ( Dutch: ''hoofdkaas'') or brawn is a cold cut terrine or meat jelly that originated in Europe. It is made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig (less commonly a sheep or cow), typically set in aspic, and usually eaten cold, ...

'' (2002)

References

External links

J.C. Brand

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

page
The Wild Man of the Navidad at IMDbTrisomy FilmsSHOCK-O-RAMA CINEMAcrionic mindSilken Tofu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, James Noise musical groups American experimental musical groups 1976 births 2010 deaths