SpaceTruckingMogul Records
electro acid hop & hard pop from the outer realms
SHOWCASE! New Pill Hill Deans and ZipZapZop tracks release party at Abbey Burger MW, Nov 4, 2023, 9:30 p.m.
Pre-Save: ShakeYourDeuce - Out October 8, worldwide!
https://hypeddit.com/zipzapzop/shakeyourdeuce
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ARTIST BIOS
ZipZapZop
Back after a 15 year-long hiatus, electronic music pioneer, Clark ov Saturn aka ZipZapZop drops bass & beats that will melt your face & speakers. The latest a/v project from Space Trucking Mogul, ZipZapZop is the ever evolving eclectic genre-defying electronic alchemy of sound, blending influences of electro, bass, trip hop, breakbeat, dub, drum n bass, industrial, indie, techno and house music, from the Baltimore, Maryland, USA underground.
ZipZapZop is a long-awaited return to solo producing quick and dirty tracks after an extended break. In his small random bits of free time, in between parenting, baseball coaching and his full time higher ed tech career, veteran electronic producer from Socks and Sandals, pH10, Electrode Dingus 2026 and LD-50, Clark ov Saturn, employs both synthesized and analog sounds from live instruments and recordings with spontaneous stream of consciousness vocals to create unique, textured, spacey, danceable headnodding tracks that cover the range of his musical likes. Generally eschewing sample packs, the tracks don't fit neatly into any templated genre. Saturn builds a personal auditory universe for listeners to explore - both his darker (ZipZapZop) and lighter (Clark ov Saturn) sides. Saturn envisions and dreams of a live act that incorporates live bass guitar, guitar, saxophone, and percussion along with the electronic backbone, mind-bending visuals and always new/entertaining antics.
History
ZipZapZop.com was started by Clark ov Saturn, Space Trucking Mogul, while living in Brooklyn, New York and simultaneously performing and releasing records (minimal techno with Socks and Sandals on Microcosm Music; drumnbass and breakbeats with pH10 on Terraform Records), DJing for the Sunday dub/ambient "Undercity" party at Halcyon, performing standup comedy at Comedy Cellar & Carolines, taking improv lessons at Upright Citizen's Brigade and People's Improv Theater with folks like Ellie Kemper, Kurt Braunohler and Andrew Hubschmann, and jetting between NYC, Hollywood, Madrid & Toronto as a SAG actor in commercials, TV and films.
Originally a silly no budget videoblog that started after Saturn auditioned for the Weatherman slot on Rocketboom, ZipZapZop ran in the 2005-2006 era, before Saturn moved to the Catskills mountains to pursue a second life career in higher education technology and online learning. (During that era, he also jammed electronics with the Catskills' own jam masters, "Joan Group.")
Now, over a decade later, after raising two sons with his wife and working several higher ed admin jobs (State University of New York at Delhi, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of Maryland) and earning a doctorate in business administration, Dr. Saturn returns to the a/v fold with new tracks and new vibes, as ZipZapZop (but also releasing lighter, house-ier tracks as Clark ov Saturn.)
Musical Roots
Piano at 5
Saxophone at 10
80's: playing Fender Bullet guitar with Aurelia Iowa's premiere rock band, The Fury;
early 90's: playing Rickenbacker bass with "The PryOrrities", Decorah Iowa progressive rockers who toured all over the Midwest (w/ Mike McAbee, Dave Orr, Gary Fisk);
early-mid 90's: recording tunes on a 4 track cassette recorder with nothing more than a microphone and a digital delay guitar pedal in Denver, Colorado (Electrode Dingus 2026)
1995-98: vocals and electronics for Denver's ledendary LD-50 industrial rock band before heading to New York City to record and perform live drum n bass with Recone Helmut as:
pH10, who toured 7 countries playing 23 shows in Europe supporting Dr. Israel and the Trumystic Sound System in 1999. pH10 subsequently played the NXNE music festival in Toronto (with a Much Music TV interview), and eponymous venues all over New York, like the Knitting Factory, Baby Jupiter, The Tunnel, the Frying Pan and many others, while putting out a full length record and a couple singles on vinyl/CD with Terraform Records. (See pH10 web below - https://youtu.be/hk9vfT_VIhM)
Saturn then branched off and formed Socks and Sandals with Sean Smith (aka Nicolas Sauser), who proceeded to play epic minimal techno at venues such as The Bunker, Northsix, and others and produce EPs, singles and remixes for Ezekiel Honig's Microcosm Music imprint.
For more history, especially of the Denver era, see this 1 hour documentary on Clark called "Clark Saturn: Incidentally Genius" by Nicolas Sequeira, of Nicolas Comics, embedded below.
Musical Influences:
Chicago 80's acid house ala WBMX + Detroit techno + Industrial (Front 242, MBM, Ministry, RevCo, Nine Inch Nails, Nitzer Ebb) + Minimal Techno + Drum n bass + Trip Hop + Dub reggae + Frank Zappa + Ween + LCD Soundsystem + Boards of Canada + Autechre + Aphex Twin + Beastie Boys + A Tribe Called Quest + Daft Punk + Plastikman + Monolake + Lil Louis + Sleaford Mods + Gesaffelstein + Tones on Tail + Bauhaus + Sun Ra + Cannabliss + Rezz + pheel. + Chmura + Saka + Arovane + Kid Cudi + Deadbeat + Future Sound of London + Recondite + Isan + 808 State + Meat Beat Manifesto + Higher Intelligence Agency + King Tubby + Mad Professor + Little Dragon + A Guy Called Gerald + Jungle Brothers + Pixies + Sonic Youth + Medicine + My Bloody Valentine + Lee Scratch Perry +King Tubby
Who Is This Person Behind the Music by Principles?
Pronouns: he/him/his
Hetero cis male (anti-toxic masculinity)
Married, 2 sons
Speak English, moderate German, Norwegian; little French/Spanish
Leftist social democrat
Religion/Spirituality: Vipassana meditation/Buddhism
Pro-human rights/choice
Pro-LGBTQIA+ rights/ally
Pro-DISCO ally (disabilities community)
Pro-Environment/Nature ally
Pro-plant medicine/neural exploration freedom for adults
Anti-Fascist
Snowboarder, Mountain biker, hiker
Dog/animal lover
World traveler (Continentally, still haven't been to South America, Australia/NZ or Antartica. )
Eclectic multi-genre music lover
Day career: Higher education administration, school of social work, Doctor of Business Administration
SpaceTruckingMogul Records presents... Earth's freshest sensation, born in 2023. Mount Washington, Baltimore, Maryland SuperDadDuo bringing vocal rock drum n bass to SpaceTruckingMogul Records! See more on the PHD page.
ALL MUSIC VIDEOS + STORIES
WhyaGottaGaslight? (February, 2023) https://youtu.be/Bfhs60FaECQ This video was created by David Fodel, Curator and Director of the Lafayette Electronic Arts Fest (LEAF) in Lafayette, Colorado. David is an old friend from my Colorado days, and was kind enough to bring me into the Radiovalve fold with a live call-in electronic DJ talk show "ChatterValve" back in 1998/99. I shared a set of images and videos from my past life & travels, and he edited them all up into this wicked cool video.
RecognizeMyself / It's Still Me (November 2022) https://youtu.be/dik7pvbncDk I met Chris Jordan (aka Seej from seej.net) at a college friend's dinner party in Brooklyn, ca. fall 1999 and found out that he is an amazing video artist, maker, tinkerer, light projectionist, creator and human! He has since done live visuals at shows for pH10 (the Tunnel and several other venues), Socks and Sandals (The Bunker and other venues!) and myself/our family (wedding party at Galapagos, Brooklyn). Chris has created visuals for tons of my work & I'm so honored to be able to share his creativity in this format. For this one, Chris experimented with LED lights & mirrors to wondrous effect. You will see more of his videos below.
StuckInTheMachine (November 2022) - https://youtu.be/Df68SYDp5Oo - created by Nic Sequeira of Nicolas Comics in Denver, Colorado. Nic noticed some very old grainy videos I had posted on YouTube from Denver in the 90's - which he found to be very nostalgic and interesting, since he was born in the early 2000's. Nic creates all kinds of wild and interesting videos on his YouTube channel, and took the themes of the track: AI, machines, human-computer interfaces - and created an epic multi-modal layered iconic video. I added some analog video feedback loops as a layer on top - and voila!
SpaceTimeDream (November 2022) - https://youtu.be/dik7pvbncDk - I created this one myself using old analog video feedback loops and some captures from fractal software.
Runnin Out: https://youtu.be/cy1Ts0c8tNM - this was repurposed from Chris Jordan's awesome drone video for "Rabidity Rules - Clark ov Saturn's Runnin on Acid Remix)" - and I added in some footage shot on a hike outside and driving around Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Our Bodies Collide - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arlhGoo83PU - I made this using images/footage from NASA and the Space Telescope.
HiberNation (2022) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXLM5eilj74 - I made this using footage I made in the 90's/early 2000's from a trip to Europe (just after the pH10 Europe tour in spring 1999, Germany & Norway mostly) - along with 16mm film loops I had made in Denver in the 90's by scratching images and scribbles onto film and creating loops to be played with an old 16mm film projector - then captured on video. It also uses footage from Burning Man, 1996/1998.
Vaccine Day (2022) - https://youtu.be/Sctg0tb94U4 Another superduper Chris Jordan creation - he made these trippy oil projection videos and I added some vocal face footage and guitar, etc...
Supersonic & Freewheeling Technicolor Dream - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSt_PoCF2F0 a very old track I made in ca. 2002, that was lost & found 20 years later. Simple mix from sampler to 2 tracks, not really mastered/mixed... But a fun track and I used Chris Jordan's oil videos combined with my own silly singing face & antics.
Many more videos on the YouTube channel...
STM DISCOGRAPHY (+)
July 2023 - ZipZapZop "TheTruthParasite" (5th/final release for AlienPoleDance EP)
June 14 2023 - Pill Hil Deans "GTTFFU" ; ZipZapZop "ThrowItAway" 4th release for AlienPoleDance EP) - Release Party at Abbey Burger on 6/9!
May 17 2023 - Pill Hill Deans "PHD Theme Song" ; ZipZapZop "WhatYouNeedWhatYouGet" (3rd release for AlienPoleDance EP)
April 20/21 2023 - ZipZapZop "AVisitation" 2nd release for AlienPoleDance EP (official video releases 4/21/23 - secret official release party); Pill Hill Deans "SendingMeFlyingInTheSky" single
February 14 2023 - ZipZapZop "WhyGottaGaslight?" single (1st from AlienPoleDance EP)
November 17 2022 - ZipZapZop "LucidDreamWalking" EP
July 30 2022 ZipZapZop "Our Bodies Collide" single
May 17 2022 Clark ov Saturn "Runnin Out" single
***2022 - ZipZapZop - Pandemic Outer Space Jams EP
2021 - Amaal Saturn EP (Clark ov Saturn)
2021 - e23 and Chris Mosdell "Rabidity Rules" (Clark ov Saturn's Runnin on Acid Remix)
2021 "Cheetos Found in Space" - this prank call recording was actually made around 2005-2006 in ZZZ days. I added it to Socks and Sandals Found in Space and just released.
2007-2011 Joan Group recordings on YouTube/Macjams, Last.FM, etc.
**2007 Socks and Sandals - "Rishi Saturn EP" on Microcosm Music (vinyl, digital) Kompakt distribution and streaming apps
**2006 Socks and Sandals - Shatter EP on Microcosm Music (vinyl, digital), Kompakt distribution and streaming apps
**2005 Socks and Sandals self-released 7" vinyl "Topfit" b/w "Schnee"
2001 (?) pH10 - Quarks and Gluons on Terraform Records (CD, vinyl single)
1999 pH10 - Sci-Fidelity on Freedom Zone (CD)
1998 (?) pH10 - Recone Helmut vs. Clark ov Saturn self-released CD
***1997 FluffBubble 2026 Nitrogen Jukebox live recordings self-released on cassette
***1997 LD-50 "Firmware" self-released cassette
1996 Clark ov Saturn - Majic Carpet self-released cassette
***1994 Electrode Dingus 2026 - Hydrogen Jukebox self-released cassette (4 track cassette recorder + digital delay pedal + microphone + instruments)
***1991 Clark ov Saturn "The Floor of Happiness" self-released cassette (4 track cassette recorder with Dr. Rhythm drum machine, bass, guitar)
1990 The PryOrrities "Firelands" self-released cassette (1st studio recording)
***Many of these archival tracks from past projects are available on SoundCloud.
**Some pH10 and Socks and Sandals tracks are also available on many streaming apps such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal & Pandora.
PRESS
It's been a while! Just getting back into this... Rebirth in 2022! ...
A love affair with a well-placed sample gave birth to pH10 -Denver, Colorado, Westword, 2009
"Betts and Saturn became pH10, a chemistry-inspired name that evolved from the former moniker. The sound evolved along with the name: Industrial no more, pH10 embraced the dance underground and became a drum-and-bass/breakbeat outfit, a shift Betts acknowledges as happening largely because of Saturn's influence. Together they put out two albums — Sci-Fidelity in 2000 and Quarks and Gluons in 2002 — and had some success touring, including a six-week tour of Europe. In the course of working on another record, Betts began to feel that the partnership was no longer working out, so he and Saturn parted ways after writing an album and a half's worth of material and then scrapping it.
Saturn started a minimal techno outfit called Socks and Sandals but had one more major contribution to make toward pH10. It was he who introduced Betts to Sarah, the woman who is now his partner in both music and life."
-Corey Casciato
Dancing in Your Sleep: Label Microcosm Calms the Nerves - New York City, Village Voice, 28 Feb 2006
"(Ezekiel Honig) - The 28-year-old producer has two full-length CDs on his label (which also includes releases by artists Socks and Sandals and Someone Else), People Places and Things, and his collaboration with Morgan Packard, Early Morning Migration. The two discs inhabit an REM-like dream state—what sounds like water leaking trickles over the vibrating hum of a synth while rhythms fade and reappear without warning."
-Tricia Romano
Weatherperson Wanted. Bring Own Map. And Jokes. - New York Times, 2005
Then Clark Saturn ambled into the room. Freckled and antic, with a beaklike nose, he was wearing a ripped Schlitz bowling shirt and immediately confessed that "I'm not feeling very pretty today" because he had just come from a softball game. His weatherman jokes ("It's very smoky in Amsterdam") generated chuckles, but it was his quirky, non-TV persona that most appealed to Ms. Congdon. And Mr. Saturn was a fellow citizen of the Web, to boot.
"I teach German over the Internet," he explained, in all seriousness. "That's what was attractive about this to me."
After Mr. Saturn departed, Ms. Congdon declared him her favorite. "Clark Saturn," she cooed. "The best weatherman name ever!"
-John Freeman Gill
Listings - NYC, Village Voice, January 1, 2002
"After a hectic week of partying and ringing in the New Year, most folks probably want to relax. The best chill-out night in town turns two: Grab a cup of java and massage your brain cells (or what’s left of them) at the Second Anniversary Undercity party at Halcyon. No out-of-towners, just the stellar locals who fiddle with decks and effects from 3 in the afternoon till “late.” With Mercy_killaH & Hazmaat, BPM0, Klevervice, Clark ov Saturn, DJ Spinoza, Sean Smith, Sheldon Drake, and Instruction Shuttle presenting all manner of ambient, experimental, and minimal techno. Sunday @ 3, Halcyon, 227 Smith, Carroll Gardens, Bklyn"
-Tricia Romano
"Best Career Upgrade by a Former Local" - Denver Westword - Best of Denver, 2001
"Clark ov Saturn was a multifaceted contributor to Denver's scene before his 1999 move to New York City. His local-access cable show -- one teaching German, no less -- never seemed to get in the way of his ambient DJ gigs or the touring schedule of his techno/industrial unit, ph-10. Now ensconced as a DJ in Brooklyn coffee shop/vintage store Halcyon (its global prestige goes far beyond the dark roast), Clark has found time to expand his portfolio. Which explains why the Clarkster was found strolling through Manhattan, coffee in hand, in the guise of a dot-com superstar in one of Visa's Christmas commercials. Go, Clark."
Backwash - Denver, Westword, 2001
The planets must be aligning. That's one way to explain the one-night-only return of pH10, which headlines a multi-bill show at Club Sanctuary on Thursday, November 22. Ever since "Space Trucking Mogul" Clark ov Saturn and "Professional Speaker Killer" Recone F. Helmut (late of LD-50) left the Front Range for the newly hipsterized, brownstone-lined streets of Brooklyn, the electronic duo's appearances here have been rare. But that's not to say that all ties to the area have been cut. This summer, pH10 released its second full-length album, Quarks and Gluons, on local electronica indie Terraform Records; so far, the album has helped heighten the group's status in its adopted New York home as well as in progressive dance-music circles around the country. Live shows are a playful and irreverent blend of party-time ambience and vaudeville theatrics: Thursday's gig promises strip-tease performers, pulsating helmets, and vacuum cleaners serving as stage props. That's all topped by an original, vigorous form of drum-and-bass christened "fungle."
PH10 has proved itself to be one of Denver's most fun and upwardly mobile exports; we're just happy that the duo returns to the farm every now and then. Brought to town by the local New Vision America crew, pH10 appears with live acts Emptyhead and GloLab and drum-and-bass DJ Nightstalker. Welcome home, you strange boys."
-Laura Bond
HitPick - Denver Westword, 1999
"pH10, Friday, October 15, at Seven South, will return to the state but not the planet at their first show in the area since relocating to New York City earlier this year. The eclectic duo -- a curious collaboration between former LD-50 members Recone Helmut and Clark ov Saturn -- combines electronica, drum and bass, ambient and even the occasional lounge theme into a musical stew that's as danceable as it is smart. It's a style that's gained the twosome the hard-earned respect of crowds in European and New York clubs, including the infamous Knitting Factory, that bastion of avant-garde and experimental music. With DJ Jackalope on the bill, Friday's show should prove a worthy adventure in turntabalism, with Helmut and ov Saturn as your trusty sonic tour guides."
-- Laura Bond
(Just after playing Knitting Factory with Trumystic Sound System) - Village Voice
Feedback - Denver Westword, 1998
CLARK OV SATURN VS. RECONE HELMUT, THE DEBUT BY PH10, PROVIDES YOU AND YOURS WITH FOUR SONGS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC THAT'S WITTY AND PROPULSIVE. "CORPUSCLE" MATES CONVINCING SLAMS WITH COSMIC BUBBLES, "7TH BOTTOM" IS AN ADVENTURE IN QUASI-AMBIENCE WHOSE CHANGES IN DIRECTION ARE ALWAYS WORTH FOLLOWING, "AMBULANCE DRIVERS" SPEEDS INTO DRUM-AND-BASS TERRITORY, AND "PROVERBIAL KICKS" DRAGS FRANK SINATRA INTO THE TECHNO ERA. SATURN AND HELMUT ARE FULL OF IDEAS BUT NOT FULL OF THEMSELVES."
-Michael Roberts
"Chemistry Class" - Denver Westword, 1997
"We always conceptualize the look of our shows," Saturn says. "We use LCD pixel projections, track spots, computer video mixing, fog and smoke."
"You gotta love smoke," Helmut pipes up. "Smoke works wonders."
"And who knows?" Saturn continues mischievously. "You might see live wrestling, ant farms, Jell-O sploshing, animal tricks...The sky is the only limit."
CONTACT
Bookings, licensing, etc: info@spacetruckingmogul.com
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VIDEO/AUDIO HISTORY
pH10 Live drum n bass on Much Much @ NXNE, Toronto
Mixed reel - standup, film, commercial
Documentary on Clark's music, etc. history by Nicolas Sequeira of Nicolas Comics
All standup reel at Carolines, Comedy Cellar
pH10 live drum n bass on SoulLook Japan TV
Reel of SAG commercial acting (NYC, Hollywood, Madrid, Toronto; Abrams Artists)
Teaching German on cable access in Denver, mid-late 90's
9News in Denver story
Socks and Sandals
minimal techno,
ambient house
Vinyl/Digital Releases on
Microcosm Music
Sean Smith and Clark ov Saturn
Clark ov Saturn
acting reels:
commercials, film, TV
NYC/LA/Madrid/Toronto
2000's
Tele What? How Clark got his start on the ed tech career path in 1990's
Denver, Colorado...
Thanks for stopping by the SpaceTruckStop!