Preston Lea "Trey" Spruance III (born August 14, 1969) is an American composer, producer, and musician who co-founded the experimental rock band

Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California in 1985. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for music created during their most experimental era. During this time, ...

. He is also leader of the multi-genre outfit

Secret Chiefs 3 Secret Chiefs 3 (or SC3) is an American avant-garde group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (of Mr. Bungle and formerly, Faith No More). Their studio recordings and tours have featured different lineups, as the group performs a wide ran ...

. Originally a guitarist and trumpeter, in the early 90s Spruance began playing vintage electronic organs, analog synthesizers, saz, santur,

electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the tradition ...

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...

, and various other string and percussion instruments. In the mid 90s he founded Forking Paths Studio where his production techniques were applied to

and

records among many others. Since 2007 Spruance's

has been a very active live entity, performing well over 500 shows in more than 50 countries. Spruance's playing and composition style is influenced by many diverse genres of music, such as surf rock, Anatolian folk,

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...

, film music, Afghan rebab music, ska,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and Japanoise. Musique concrète and foley work also play a large role in his recordings.

Career

Spruance was a founding member of

, along with Mike Patton and Trevor Dunn. He has focused on his band

for the last 15 years (though it began in 1996), and its seven "satellite" groups first introduced on the 2004 album ''

Book of Horizons ''Book of Horizons'' is the fourth studio album by Secret Chiefs 3, released May 25, 2004.Web of Mimicry: SC3
acc ...

''. Though once secular, Spruance began exploring religious and philosophical themes in Mr. Bungle and Secret Chiefs 3 in the mid-1990s, after joining the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

. In 2013 he arranged his music for the 61-piece Traditional Russian Orchestra of Krasnoyarsk and performed with them in Kansk, Siberia, alongside other members of Secret Chiefs 3. He has performed regularly with

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of j ...

and has arranged two releases of works from Zorn's Masada Songbooks for Secret Chiefs 3: "

Xaphan Xaphan is one of the fallen angels that rebelled with Satan against God, and is a demon of the 2nd rank. During the rebellion against Heaven, he proposed to set fire to heaven before he and the other fallen were cast out. After being cast out of ...

" in 2007, and " Beriah". He contributed guitar and tubular bells to two albums by the drone metal band Asva, with whom he toured the US and Europe. He also recorded with Patton and

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist ...

on their 1995 album '' King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime''. In 2016 Spruance composed a three movement string quartet titled "Séraphîta" for San Francisco's Kronos Quartet. The piece was premiered by Kronos at the Haydnsaal at

Schloss Esterházy Schloss Esterházy ( hu, Esterházy-kastély) is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622. Under Paul I ...

in Vienna, and at SFJAZZ Center in the USA. Kronos has also performed the piece at Carnegie Hall and for an engagement with the Alonzo King LINES Ballet. In Australia "Séraphîta" has been performed by the Black Square String Quartet.

As a producer

Besides his own bands, Spruance has also worked as a producer for others. In 2020 he produced "Alphaville" for NYC avant garde black metal group Imperial Triumphant, and is currently producing their next record. He produced the album ''Death After Life'' for Oakland, CA death metal group Impaled. Production duties for other bands include Neil Hamburger, Dengue Fever, The Tuna Helpers, Faxed Head, Tub Ring and many others.

Record label

Spruance is the founder of Web of Mimicry, which has released albums from a variety of different bands, including Cleric, Fat32, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Brazzaville, Matt Chamberlain, Dengue Fever, and ASVA, amongst others.

Discography

* ''The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny'' (1986) * ''Bowel of Chiley'' (1987) * ''Goddammit I Love America!'' (1988) * ''OU818'' (1989) * ''

'' (1991) * '' Disco Volante'' (1995) * ''

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

'' (1999) * '' The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo'' (2020)

* '' First Grand Constitution and Bylaws'' (1996) * '' Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws: Hurqalya'' (1998) * '' Eyes of Flesh, Eyes of Flame'' (1999) * '' Book M'' (2001) * ''

Book of Horizons ''Book of Horizons'' is the fourth studio album by Secret Chiefs 3, released May 25, 2004.Web of Mimicry: SC3
acc ...

'' (2004) * '' Path of Most Resistance'' (retrospective and rarities album) (2007) * '' Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9'' (2008) * '' Traditionalists: Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini'' (2009) * '' Satellite Supersonic Vol. 1'' (2010) * ''Book of Souls: Folio A'' (2013) * "Perichoresis" (2014)

Weird Little Boy ''Weird Little Boy'' is a one-off album by a band of the same name, performed by John Zorn (alto saxophone, keyboards, samplers), Trey Spruance (guitar, drums, keyboards), William Winant (percussion), Mike Patton (drums, vocals) and Chris Cochra ...

* ''

'' (1998) With Eyvind Kang *''

Theater of Mineral NADEs ''Theater of Mineral NADEs'' is an album by the violinist/multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang, released in 1998 on John Zorn's Tzadik Records as part of the Composer Series. Reception ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' reviewer Randall Roberts stated: "On ...

'' (Tzadik, 1998)

* '' King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime'' (1995) Faxed Head * ''Uncomfortable But Free'' (1995) * ''Exhumed at Birth'' (1997) * ''Chiropractic'' (2001)

Band membership

Faxed Head Gregg Turkington (born November 25, 1967) is an Australian-born American entertainer, actor, musician and writer. He is known for his performances as Neil Hamburger, a stand-up comedian persona he developed in the 1990s. Alongside Tim Heidecker, ...

(as "Neck Head") *Noddingturd Fan (also NT Fan) *Scourge * Asva *The Three Doctors Band *Plainfield *The Bon Larvis Band *

References

External links

The Trey Spruance Gallery
– a comprehensive list of Spruance's live and recorded projects
Web of Mimicry

Mimicry Records
– Spruance's record label
Official Site of Secret Chiefs 3
– official website containing member line-up and photos. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spruance, Trey 1969 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists American people of Hungarian descent Record producers from California Eastern Orthodox Christians from the United States Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy People from Eureka, California Place of birth missing (living people) Guitarists from California Faith No More members Mr. Bungle members American multi-instrumentalists 20th-century American guitarists