Ian Dominick Fernow is an American

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

musician, poet and

multimedia art Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

ist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow and Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement. His first releases date back to 1998, the same year in which he founded the record label

Hospital Productions Hospital Productions is an American record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages s ...

Life

Fernow was born into a Roman Catholic household, and was raised in Madison, Wisconsin. He recounts his entrance into public school and his exposure to death metal and

tape trading Tape trading is an unofficial method of distribution of musical or video content through the postal system, which was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. Although most commonly used to distribute and publicize limited-release musical demo tapes i ...

as early sources of musical interest. In particular, Fernow cites the death metal band Deicide's album ''

Once upon the Cross ''Once upon the Cross'' is the third studio album by American death metal band Deicide. It was released on April 18, 1995, by Roadrunner Records. The samples at the beginning of the opening track "Once upon the Cross" and "Trick or Betrayed" are ...

'' as, "frightening ... A huge record for me, still to this day." Fernow has resided in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

, New York City, Los Angeles, and Berlin, and runs the labels

and Bed of Nails.

Career

In his early work as Prurient, Fernow worked primarily with a microphone and

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...

, and sometimes drums. He eventually began utilizing more electronics, and currently works primarily with laptop and synthesizers. In the past, he collaborated with artists like John Wiese, Jeff Plummer (of Immaculate:Grotesque and Shallow Waters), Kris Lapke (of Alberich and MCMS), Wolf Eyes, Macronympha, and

Philip Best Philip Neil Best (born 15 June 1968) is an English industrial musician, visual artist, and author. A pioneer of power electronics, he formed the band Consumer Electronics in 1982 at age 14. Best joined the group Whitehouse, in 1983. After a nine ...

(of

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993 ...

and Consumer Electronics). Fernow has also performed in various bands, such as Football Rabbit, Vegas Martyrs, Taylor Bow, Ash Pool, and formerly as part of

Cold Cave Cold Cave is the moniker for the music of Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of darkwave, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Joy Division and New Orde ...

. Prurient has released material on numerous independent record labels, such as Hanson Records,

RRRecords RRRecords is a record label and used and new record shop based in Lowell, Massachusetts. RRRecords was the first American record label to publish underground "noise music" in the early 1980s, and published the first American vinyl by Merzbow, Mas ...

Load Records Load Records was an American experimental music-oriented independent record label based out of Providence, Rhode Island. "Load Records might possibly be in possession of the world's most challenging record roster," writes Mark Hensch of Thrash Pi ...

Troubleman Unlimited Troubleman Unlimited Records was a record label specializing in indie rock and similar genres. Founded in 1993, the label was based in Bayonne, New Jersey and owned by Mike Simonetti. History The label started as an offshoot of a fanzine called ...

, Chrondritic Sound, Kitty Play Records, American Tapes, and his own label

. Fernow has also recorded music under a variety of aliases, including Vatican Shadow, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement, Exploring Jezebel, River Magic, Winter Soldier, Window Cleaning By Ian, December Magic, and Tortured Hooker. Prurient has been covered in outlets such as The New Yorker,

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

, The Village Voice, and Resident Advisor.

Partial discography

As Prurient

As Vatican Shadow

Studio albums

EPs and singles

Compilations

As Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement

Studio albums

*''Papua Land Where Spirits Still Rule'' (2012) *''Folklore Venom'' (2013) *''Green Graves'' (2016) *''Ambient Black Magic'' (2017)

EPs

*''The Plant with Many Faces'' (2013) *''Black Magic Cannot Cross Water'' (2013) *''Water Rose Above the Head'' (2013)

Compilations

*''Water Witches'' (2017)

As Christian Cosmos

Studio albums

*''Enthronement by God as the First-Born of the Dead'' (2012)

EPs

*''Cadence upon the Threshold of Judgement'' (2012) *''The Sharp Lines That Delineate His Robes'' (2012) *''Which Echo Again and Again'' (2012)

As Exploring Jezebel

Studio albums

*''On a Business Trip to London'' (2015)

References

External links

* Prurienton AllMusic
Prurient discography
on RateYourMusic
Prurient discography
on Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernow, Dominick Living people American electronic musicians American noise musicians American industrial musicians Musicians from Wisconsin Load Records artists Dais Records artists 1981 births Profound Lore Records artists Power electronics musicians American techno musicians