Boyd Blake Rice (born December 16, 1956) is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s,

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

, actor, photographer, author, member of the ''Partridge Family Temple'' religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and former staff writer for the formerly defunct but now active ''

Modern Drunkard ''Modern Drunkard'' is a glossy color periodical humorously promoting the lifestyle of the "functional alcoholic". History Frank Kelly Rich founded ''Modern Drunkard'' in 1996. The first issue was 16 photocopied pages with made-up ads; in 20 ...

'' magazine.Modern Drunkard Magazine Online staff writer list

Biography

Rice became widely known through his involvement in V. Vale's

RE/Search Publications RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanz ...

. He is profiled in RE/Search #6/7:

Industrial Culture Handbook RE/Search No. 6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook from RE/Search Publications, 1983 is a book about industrial music and performance art edited by V. Vale and Andrea Juno. It features interviews and articles with Throbbing Gristle, Mark Pauline, Ca ...

and ''Pranks!''Juno, Andrea (Editor), Ballard, J. G. (Editor), ''Re/Search #11: Pranks'' (1987) In ''Pranks'', Rice described his experience in 1976 when he tried to give

President Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

's wife, Betty Ford, a skinned sheep's head. In this interview, he emphasized the consensus nature of reality and the havoc that can be wreaked by refusing to play by the collective rules that dictate most people's perception of the external world. In the mid-1980s Rice became close friends with Anton LaVey, founder and

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...

of the Church of Satan, and was made a priest, then later a magister in the

Council of Nine __NOTOC__ Council of Nine can refer to: In Greek mythology In Greek mythology, when Prometheus gave Fire to mankind, he infuriated Zeus, so to punish Prometheus, Zeus had him chained to a rock and every day an eagle came down and ate his liver. Be ...

of the Church. The two admired much of the same music and shared a similar

misanthropic Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...

outlook. Each had been inspired by ''

Might Is Right ''Might Is Right'' ''or The Survival of the Fittest'' is a book by pseudonymous author Ragnar Redbeard, generally believed to be a pen name of Arthur Desmond. First published in 1896,Gilmore, Peter H.; Introduction, Might is Right: The Authorit ...

'' in fashioning various works: LaVey in his seminal ''

Satanic Bible ''The Satanic Bible'' is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It is the central religious text of LaVeyan Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been describ ...

'' and Rice in several recordings. Rice's

Social Darwinist Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in W ...

outlook eventually led to him founding the Social Darwinist think tank called The Abraxas Foundation, along with co-founder Nikolas Schreck. The organization promotes authoritarianism, totalitarianism,

misanthropism Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Ancient Greek, Greek ...

, and

elitism Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructi ...

, is antidemocratic, and has some philosophical overlap with the Church of Satan. Rice has documented the writings of

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

in his role as contributing editor of ''The Manson File''. Rice was a featured guest on ''Talk Back'', a radio program hosted by the Evangelical Christian

Bob Larson Bob Larson (born May 28, 1944) is an American radio and television evangelist, and a pastor of Spiritual Freedom Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Larson has authored numerous books critical of rock music and Satanism. Life and career Larson was bo ...

."My Dinner with Bob Larson"
, ''Snake Oil'' magazine (1994) In total, Rice made five appearances on Larson's program. During an interview, Rice described the basic philosophy of his foundation as being "The strong rule the weak, and the clever rule the strong". Although Rice was sometimes reported to possess the world's largest Barbie collection, he confessed in a 2003 interview with Brian M. Clark to owning only a few.From ''The Black Pimp Speaks'', 2003 interview with Boyd Rice appearing in ''Rated Rookie'' magazine No. 6, 2004. Viewable online: In 2000, along with Tracy Twyman, editor of ''Dagobert's Revenge'', Rice filmed a special on Rennes-le-Château for the program ''In Search of...'' on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television. (The segment was later included in the 2002 version of '' In Search of...'' on the Sci Fi Channel.) Rice has done extensive research into Gnosticism as well as Grail legends and Merovingian lore, sharing this research in ''Dagobert's Revenge'' and ''The Vessel of God''. There is controversy regarding Boyd Rice's authorship and the authenticity of his contributions about Gnosticism and the Esoteric in writings during the phase with Tracy R. Twyman. There are letters which surfaced on the internet after Tracy's death, where she states that Boyd Rice took credit for her ideas, and that Tracy wrote the materials which Boyd Rice claimed for both ''Dagobert's Revenge'' and ''The Vessel of God.'' The website ''davincicodecoded.com'' fficial website for ''Da Vinci Code Decoded'' by Martin Lunncontains references to these letters regarding the authorship of ''The Vessel of God'' and Boyd Rice's working habits with regard to scholarly writing. Rice was involved in creating a Tiki bar called Tiki Boyd's at the East Coast Bar in Denver, Colorado. Rice decorated the entire establishment out of his own pocket due to his fondness of Tiki culture, asking an open tab at the bar in return. Rice has long expressed a love of Tiki culture, in contrast to the other elements of his public persona. Tiki Boyd's was given its name in his honor. Due to disagreements between Rice and the owners, Rice pulled out of the deal and reclaimed all of his Tiki decorations. The future of the bar as it remains now is uncertain. Rice plans to re-establish another Tiki Bar elsewhere in Denver. October 26, 2018, the teen magazine Galore premiered a music video for the song "''Resort Beyond the Last Resort"'' by the band Collapsing Scenery that Rice starred in. The video was directed by

Kansas Bowling Kansas Bowling (born August 2, 1996) is an American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and actress. She is best known for directing '' B.C. Butcher'' (2016) and acting in '' Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' (2019). Early life Bowlin ...

and parodies Boyd's essay from '' Answer Me!'' "''Revolt Against Penis Envy".'' In the video Rice goes to

Casa Bonita Casa Bonita (Spanish for "pretty house") is a Mexican restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado, at the JCRS (Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society) Shopping Center, now known as the Lamar Station Plaza. It was originally part of a chain of Mexican-themed en ...

in Denver and then is drugged and raped by a woman.

Music

Rice creates music under his own name, as well as under the moniker of NON and with contributors under various other project names.

Early sound experiments

Rice started creating experimental noise recordings in 1975, drawing on his interest in tape machines and

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States i ...

sung by female vocalists such as Little Peggy March and

Ginny Arnell Virginia Mazarro (born November 2, 1942), known professionally as Ginny Arnell, is an American former pop and country music singer and songwriter who recorded in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Life Born in New Haven, Connecticut, she attended ...

. One of his earliest efforts consisted entirely of a loop of every time

Lesley Gore Lesley Sue Goldstein (May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), known professionally as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, she recorded the pop music, pop hit "It's My Party (Lesley Gore song), I ...

sang the word "cry". After initially creating recordings simply for his own listening, he later started to give performances, and eventually make records. His musical project NON grew out of these early experiments; he reportedly selected the name because "it implies everything and nothing".

Techniques and implementations

From his earliest recordings, Rice has experimented with both sound and the medium through which that sound is conveyed. His methods of expanding upon the listening possibilities for recorded music were simple. On his second seven-inch, he had 2–4 extra holes punched into the record for "multi axial rotation". Another early LP was titled ''Play at Any Speed''. While working exclusively with vinyl, he employed locked grooves that allowed listeners to create their own music. He was one of the first artists, after

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

, to treat turntables as instruments and developed various techniques for scratching. Rice has been treating sounds from vinyl recordings as early as 1975.

NON

Under the name NON, originally with second member

Robert Turman The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, Rice has recorded several seminal

noise music 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 ...

albums, and collaborated with

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

dark folk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...

artists like Current 93, Death in June and

Rose McDowall Rose McDowall (née Porter; born 21 October 1959) is a Scottish musician, forming Strawberry Switchblade with Jill Bryson in 1981. History McDowall was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959. Her first venture into music was in the Poems, an art-pun ...

. Most of his music has been released on the

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

label. Rice has also collaborated with Frank Tovey of

Fad Gadget Francis John Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), known also by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured ...

, Tony Wakeford of Sol Invictus and Michael Jenkins Moynihan of

Blood Axis Blood Axis are an American band, made up of journalist and author Michael Moynihan (journalist), Michael Moynihan, music producer Robert Ferbrache, and musician and author Annabel Lee.Liner notes of the ''Ultimacy'' compilation Overview Early B ...

. His later albums have often been explicitly

conceptual Conceptual may refer to: Philosophy and Humanities *Concept *Conceptualism *Philosophical analysis (Conceptual analysis) *Theoretical definition (Conceptual definition) *Thinking about Consciousness (Conceptual dualism) *Pragmatism (Conceptual pr ...

. On ''Might!'' (1995), Rice layers portions of Ragnar Redbeard's

harangue, ''

'' over sound beds of looped noise and manipulated frequencies. 1997's '' God & Beast'' explores the intersection in the soul of man's physical and spiritual natures over the course of an album that alternates abrasive soundscapes with passages of tranquility. In 2006, Rice returned to the studio to record raw vocal sound sources for a collaboration with Industrial, modern primitive percussionist/

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Z'EV. In addition, he and long-time friend of twenty years Giddle Partridge planned an album titled ''LOVE/LOVE-BANG/BANG!'', under the band name of Giddle & Boyd. After the limited edition release of a bubblegum pink, heart-shaped vinyl E.P. titled, ''Going Steady With Peggy Moffitt''. In early 2010, Rice announced that he and Giddle Partridge would focus on solo projects/albums for the time being.

Crowd control

Early NON performances were designed to offer choice to audience members who might otherwise expect only a prefabricated and totally passive entertainment experience. Rice has stated that he considers his performances to be "de- indoctrination rites". Rice has performed using a shoe polisher, the "rotoguitar" (an electric guitar with an electric fan on it), and other homemade instruments. He has also used found sounds, played at a volume just below the threshold of pain, to entice his audiences to endure his high decibel sound experiments. Rice coupled his aural assaults with

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...

torture on audiences in The Hague, the Netherlands, by shining in their faces exceedingly bright lights that were deliberately placed just out of reach. As their frustration mounted, Rice states that he:

Art

After dropping out of high school at the age of 17, Rice began an in-depth study of early 20th-century art movements, producing his own abstract black and white paintings and experimental photographs. Early on, he met European

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and gallery owner Arturo Schwarz, with whom he began a long correspondence. Schwarz, a biographer of Duchamp and Man Ray, encouraged Rice to pursue his art, no matter what. And he did. Though he would later shift his focus to sound, he has never stopped creating visual art and has given a number of one man shows over the years.

Photography

In the mid-1970s Rice devoted a great deal of time to experimental photography, developing a process by which he could produce "photographs of things which don't exist". He had a one-man show of the photos in the early 1980s at Richard Peterson's Pink & Pearl Gallery in San Diego, which was documented in the local press, the ''San Diego Union'' and ''Evening Tribune''. He has never revealed the means by which he made these photos, and has stated publicly that the secret will go to the grave with him. Some of these photos can be seen in his book ''Standing in Two Circles'' (Creation Press, 2008).

Writings

Over the years, Boyd Rice's writings have been

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

into at least six languages. His collected writings were published in 2008 by Creation Press. A French language edition followed on Camion Noir. In 2009, his book ''NO'' was published by

Heartworm Press Wesley Eisold (born February 15, 1979) is an American musician, poet and author. He records music under the name Cold Cave, and runs the publishing house Heartworm Press. Career Wesley Eisold is the vocalist of the synthpop darkwave band Cold ...

. This was widely regarded as a book defining Rice's personal philosophy. Rice defined the book as merely a "laundry list" of things he didn't believe in. He later stated in an interview with WFMU's ''Beware of the Blog'', "sometimes the things you don't believe are more important than what you do believe". In October 2011, Heartworm Press published Rice's ''Twilight Man'', a noir memoir about his life in 1980s San Francisco.

Controversy

In 1989, Rice and Bob Heick of the white nationalist American Front organization were photographed for '' Sassy'' wearing uniforms and brandishing knives. While Rice would later recall it as a prank, the photo has caused boycotts and protests at many of Rice's appearances. When asked if he regrets the photo, Rice stated, "I don't care. I don't think I ever made a wrong move. The bad stuff is just good. America loves its villains." More controversy has resulted because of Rice's appearance on ''Race and Reason'', a public-access television cable TV show hosted by white supremacist Tom Metzger. Rice has claimed not to be a Nazi in numerous interviews whilst his friend

has claimed he has never said anything

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

nor endorsed Nazism to her. However, Stewart Home has claimed that Rice is a supporter of Nazism. Boyd Rice was associated with Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey and has collaborated with Adam Parfrey, who was Jewish. On August 8, 1988, Boyd Rice was among the performers at 8/8/88 at the Strand Theater in San Francisco, which was locally heavily advertised and sold out, billed as "An Evening of Apocalyptic Delight". Rice appeared with the band

Radio Werewolf Radio Werewolf was a musical collective active in Los Angeles, California, and Europe from 1984 to 1993. History Radio Werewolf was founded in Los Angeles in 1984, by Nikolas Schreck (vocals), Evil Wilhelm (percussion), James "Filth" Collord (bas ...

as well as Zeena Lavey, daughter of the founder of the Church of Satan, and Adam Parfrey. Rice reports that, "Minutes after they took the stage in their Teutonic garb, the audience fled in droves" though others present that night did not see anyone leaving.

Discography

Films

* ''Pranks! TV!'' (1986, VHS), directed by V. Vale, RE/Search Publications * ''Tyranny of the Beat'' Mute Records (1991) * ''Speak of the Devil'' (1995, VHS), about Anton LaVey, directed by

Nick Bougas Nick Bougas (born 1955) is an American documentary film director, illustrator and record producer. As a cartoonist, he has used the pen name A. Wyatt Mann to produce racist, antisemitic, antifeminist and homophobic cartoons. Career Bougas d ...

, Wavelength Video * ''Boyd Rice Documentary, Part One'' Joel Haertling (1994) * ''Boyd Rice Documentary, Part Two'' Joel Haertling (1998) * ''Pearls Before Swine'' (1999), directed by Richard Wolstencroft * ''Nixing The Twist'' (2000, DVD), directed by Frank Kelly Rich, High Crime Films * ''The Many Moods of Boyd Rice'' (2002, VHS), Predatory Instinct Productions * ''Church of Satan Interview Archive'' (2003, DVD), Purging Talon * ''Baptism by Fire'' (Live performance in Bologna Italy) DVD Released by NERO2 (2004) * ''Frank Tovey by Fad Gadget'' (documentary) Mute Records (2006) * ''Iconoclast'' (2011 release date) Directed by Larry Wessel (www.iconoclastmovie.com) * ''Modern Drunkard'' (In Production), directed by Frank Kelly Rich * ''In Satan's Name'' BBC documentary by award-winning director Antony Thomas * ''In Satan's Name'' Bob Larson's 31 episode television series for the Trinity Broadcasting Network *''"Resort Beyond the Last Resort"'' by Collapsing Scenery, music video directed by

Performance

* ''Live in Osaka'' (DVD) Features a concert performance from Osaka, Japan, in 1989, with Michael Moynihan, Tony Wakeford,

Douglas P. Douglas Pearce, known professionally as Douglas P (born 27 April 1956), is an English folk musician, record label owner, photographer and actor who is best known for his neofolk project Death in June. Pearce was born in Sheerwater in Woking, Surr ...

, and

. Also includes Rice's films ''Invocation (One)'' and ''Black Sun''.

Print

* ''Perpetual Permutation Poetry'', International Artist's Cooperative, (1976) * ''Painted Black'', Carl Rashke * ''Tape Delay'', SAF Publishing, (1987) * ''Pop Void'', Pop Void Publications, (1987) * ''RE/Search No. 6:

'', RE/Search Publications (1983, ) * ''RE/Search No. 10:

Incredibly Strange Films ''RE/Search No. 10: Incredibly Strange Films'' is a book about American underground and other films. It was guest edited by Jim Morton, with associate editor Boyd Rice, in the RE/Search series edited by V. Vale and Andrea Juno, originally publi ...

: A Guide to Deviant Films'', RE/Search Publications (1986, ) (joint author) * ''RE/Search No. 11: Pranks!''. RE/Search Publications (1986, ) * ''The Manson File'' edited by Nikolas Schreck, Amok Press (1988, ) * '' Apocalypse Culture: Expanded & Revised Edition'' edited by Adam Parfrey,

Feral House Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Early history The company's first book was '' The Satanic Witch'' (1989; originally published in 1971 by Dodd, Mead & Company) by A ...

, (1990, ) * '' ANSWER Me!'', issue No. 3 (1993, ) * '' ANSWER Me!'', issue No. 4 (1994) * ''Death in June: le livre Brun'', Camion Blanc, (1994) * ''Death in June: Misery & Purity'', Jara Press, (1995) * ''The Exit Collection'',

Tacit Tacit knowledge or implicit knowledge—as opposed to formal, codified or explicit knowledge—is knowledge that is difficult to express or extract, and thus more difficult to transfer to others by means of writing it down or verbalizing it. This ...

, (1998) * ''Taboo: The Art of Tiki'', Outre Press, (1999) * '' Lucifer Rising'', Plexus Publishing, (1999) * ''Cinema Contra Cinema'', Fringecore, (1999) * '' Apocalypse Culture II'', edited by Adam Parfrey,

(2000, ) * ''Paranoia: The Conspiracy Reader'', issue 32, Spring 2003. * ''The Book of Lies'',

Disinformation Press Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

, (2003) * ''100 Artists See Satan'', Last Gasp Press, (2004) * ''The Vessel of God'', Terra Fria, (2005) * ''.45 Dangerous Minds'', Creation Press, (2005) * ''Art That Kills'', Creation Press, (2006) * ''Noise Music: A History'', Continuum International Publishing Group, (2007) * ''The Book of Satanic Quotations'', Purging Talon Press, (2008) * ''Bubblegum & Sunshine Pop'', Les Cahiers du Rock, (2008) * ''Iron Youth Reader'', Underworld Amusements, (2008) * ''Standing in Two Circles: Les Ecrits de Boyd Rice'', (French translation) edited by Brian M. Clark Camion Noir, (2009, ) * ''Standing in Two Circles: The Collected Works of Boyd Rice'', edited by Brian M. Clark, CTBKS, (2008, ) * ''No'',

, (2009) * ''Death in June: Hidden Behind the Runes'', Aldo Clementi, (2010) * ''Mondo Movies'', Baazar & Co., (2010) * ''Charles Manson: Le Guru du Rock'', Camion Noir, (2010) * ''

Twilight Man ''Walk a Crooked Path '' is a 1969 British crime film directed by John Brason and starring Tenniel Evans, Faith Brook and Patricia Haines. The film is set at a boarding school where a man plans to murder his wealthy teacher wife. It is somet ...

'',

, (2011) * '' Vlad the Impaler'', Ian Allan, (2011) * ''No'', Expanded and revised edition

* ''Death in June Songbook''