Charlie Looker (born May 23, 1980) is an American composer, improviser, vocalist, and guitarist known for his work in

experimental metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

avant-jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

, and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

musical forms.

Education and career

Looker is a graduate of

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, where he studied with

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...

and Alvin Lucier. Alongside his work as a solo artist, Looker also leads an Early/Renaissance-music inspired project, Seaven Teares; performs improvised "death-jazz" with Period, whose rotating cast includes Darius Jones, Chuck Bettis, and Mike Pride; and leads the industrial-metal duo Psalm Zero, formerly alongside

Castevet Castevet was an American black metal band formed in 2006 in New York City, New York. The band announced their breakup on July 21, 2014. The last line-up of the band featured Andrew Hock on vocals and guitar, Ian Jacyszyn on drums and Krallice m ...

's Andrew Hock. He is the songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist for avant-rock band

Extra Life In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. It is sometimes called a chance, a try, rest ...

and a former member and co-founder of

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

band Zs. He worked with

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The ...

and appears on their record '' Rise Above''. Other collaborators include M Lamar, Mariel Roberts, Ty Braxton, Mary Halvorson, Mick Barr,

Tim Berne Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...

Nat Baldwin Nat Baldwin (born February 21, 1980 in Rochester, New Hampshire) is an American bassist, improvisor, and songwriter. He's released several solo albums since 2003 and is also known for being a former member of Dirty Projectors. In 2020 he released ...

Earle Brown Earle Brown (December 26, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems. Brown was the creator of "open form," a style of musical construction that has influenced many composers since� ...

Sam Mickens Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

, Kelly Moran,

Dax Riggs Dax David Riggs (born October 15, 1973) is an American musician, best known for fronting the sludge metal band Acid Bath in the 1990s. He has been a part of many projects since then, including Agents of Oblivion and Deadboy & the Elephantmen ...

, Lingua Ignota,

Matthew Welch Matthew Welch (born 1976) is an American bagpiper and composer. Welch took a bachelor's in music at Simon Fraser University in Canada and then enrolled at Wesleyan University, where he studied under Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier. He has releas ...

, Stu Watson, William Parker, and

Glenn Branca Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settleme ...

. He founded Last Things Records, a label that has released recordings by Extra Life,

Larkin Grimm Larkin Grimm (born September 18, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician based in New York City. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Early life and career At age 20 Grimm dropped out of Yale University and moved to Alaska, where sh ...

, The Parenthetical Girls, Psalm Zero, and Sculptress. In 2011, Looker was named one of NPR Music's "Top 100 Composers Under 40".

Discography

As leader

As co-leader

As sideperson

References

External links

Charlie Looker Bandcamp

AllMusic.com credits
Dirty Projectors members Musicians from New York City Wesleyan University alumni Living people 1980 births {{US-musician-stub