Devin Sarno (born in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

in 1966) began CRIB in early 1990 as a solo bass sound project focusing on improvised subsonics. Over the course of a decade (and over a dozen recordings) his music evolved from high volume feedback experimentation to a sonic examination of the meditative properties of low-end

drone music Drone music, drone-based music, or simply drone, is a minimalist genre of music that emphasizes the use of sustained sounds, notes, or tone clusters called '' drones''. It is typically characterized by lengthy compositions featuring relativel ...

. In 2003, the CRIB moniker was retired & Sarno now performs & records under his own name. Sarno was a founding member of the Los Angeles, CA art-rock band Waldo The Dog Faced Boy and in 1989, along with partner/producer Tom Grimley, he also co-founded the experimental label WIN Records, which was home to artists such as:

Petra Haden Petra Haden (born October 11, 1971) is an American musician and singer. She is the daughter of the jazz bassist Charlie Haden and Ellen David, and is the triplet sister of bassist Rachel Haden (her bandmate in that dog.) and cellist Tanya Ha ...

, Alicia J. Rose, The Centimeters, Upsilon Acrux & many more. As a bassist, Sarno has collaborated/recorded with a range of diverse acts including:

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born April 11, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and musician. He has won several accolades, including a Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and has been nominated for the Palme d'Or, the Golden Lion, and the Bronze Horse. Gallo was ...

, Joe Baiza,

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

, Jack Brewer,

Z'EV Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser, February 8, 1951 – December 16, 2017) was an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of indu ...

, that dog.,

Abby Travis Abby Travis (born November 10, 1969) is an American musician. In the 1990s, she began working as a touring bass player. She has worked with The Go-Go's, The Eagles of Death Metal, Masters of Reality, The Bangles, KMFDM, Beck, and Elastica. A ...

, Danny Frankel, G.E. Stinson, Jeff Gauthier, Tom Surgal, Upsilon Acrux,

Carla Bozulich Carla Ragin Bozulich (born December 24, 1965) is an American musician based in Los Angeles, known as the lead singer, lyricist and founder of Geraldine Fibbers, The Geraldine Fibbers and Evangelista as well as a founding member of Ethyl Meatplow a ...

, Brandon LaBelle, Jason Kahn,

The Watson Twins The Watson Twins are an Americana band based in Nashville, TN formed by identical twin sisters Chandra and Leigh Watson. Biography Chandra and Leigh were born on March 17, 1975, in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. They atten ...

, Jessica Catron, Celer,

Tim Biskup Tim Biskup (born 1967), is an American visual artist and designer. He is known for illustration, painting, sculpture, and product design. Early life and education Tim Biskup was born on September 21, 1967, in Santa Monica, California. He reali ...

, Randy Randall (of

No Age No Age is an American noise rock duo consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt. The band is based in Los Angeles, California, and was signed to Sub Pop records from 2008 to 2013. No Age's fourth studio album, '' ...

), Angela Frances Wilson and others. Sarno's lyrics were used by the band

Saccharine Trust Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...

for the song "Devin's Poem" which appeared on their 1989

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was first founded in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Transmitters, a small business through which he sold elec ...

album Past Lives. In addition, his lyrics were featured on the track "Tight Heat" by Universal Congress Of from their 1991 Enemy Records release The Sad and Tragic Demise of Big Fine Hot Salty Black Wind. Sarno was a featured "noise" bassist on the track "To Keep Me" from band

That Dog That Dog (stylized as that dog.) is a Los Angeles-based rock music, rock band that formed in 1992 and disbanded in 1997, reuniting in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar an ...

on their 1995

DGC Records DGC Records (an initialism for the David Geffen Company) was an American record label that operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group. In 1999, after the PolyGram merger into UMG which crea ...

album Totally Crushed Out!. He has also contributed guest bass work on releases from

Slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...

and Upsilon Acrux. Sarno's music was featured on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

network program The Courier (micro-series) which aired nationally in January 2006 and found itself broadcast over New York City's

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

JumboTron A jumbotron, sometimes referred to as jumbovision, is a video display using large-screen television technology (video wall). The original technology was developed in the early 1980s by Mitsubishi Electric and Sony, which coined JumboTron as a ...

. Film composing works have included the score for "Postmortem Bliss" by noted director

Floria Sigismondi Floria Sigismondi (, born 1965) is an Italian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, music video director, artist, and photographer. She is best known for writing and directing '' The Runaways'', for directing music videos for performers includ ...

as well as "Eve" and "DadaDum" for Canadian-based director/fine artist Britt Randle. "DadaDum" screened at the

2007 Toronto International Film Festival The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007. The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissio ...

as a Best Short Film nominee. From January 2011 - December 2014, Sarno curated the independent

netlabel A netlabel (also online label, web label, digi label, MP3 label or download label) is a record label that distributes its music through digital audio file format, formats (such as MP3, Vorbis, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, or WAV) over the Internet. While s ...

br>Absence of Wax
. Since 1989, Sarno has also worked as a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Music Video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

commissioner and

Executive Producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

at:

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

, and

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. He executive produced the music video for

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" which won 2005's top

MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the most prestigious competitive award and the final award presented at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. The award was created by the U.S. network MTV to honor artists with the best music video ...

. In 2007, Sarno received the Kratz Award for Creative Excellence from The Music Video Producer's Association, an award which recognizes superb talent and exceptional accomplishments in music video production. In 2008, he executive produced the long form documentary project 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads which was nominated for

Grammy Award for Best Music Film The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an annual accolade for performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. It is presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 when it was called the Gramophone Aw ...

at the

50th Annual Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonie ...

. Sarno came away with a Bronze at the 2016

Clio Awards The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The award ...

and Platinum at the 2017

Hermès Hermès International S.A. ( , ) is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, silk goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Since the ...

Creative Awards for his work on the documentary project "iRise" for

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

and artist

Andra Day Cassandra Monique Batie (born December 30, 1984), known professionally as Andra Day, is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy ...

. In 2019, he was nominated as Producer at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Ali ...

for the Gary Clark Jr. music video "This Land." Recently, Devin Sarno has photographed the band

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance is an American Rock music, rock band from New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way. They are considered one of ...

for their current 2022 tour, with one of his photos being displayed as a promotional photo at a few of the venues.

Selected discography

*2023 Devin Sarno "Misshapen Heart
(Perceived Sound)
*2021 Devin Sarno "Evocation
(Self Released)
*2020 Devin Sarno "The Liquid Real
(Self Released)
*2019 Devin Sarno "Archive
(Self Released)
*2018 Devin Sarno "Visitor
(Self Released)
*2016 Devin Sarno "Fall
(Self Released)
*2015 Lone Echo "Noize
(Self Released)
*2011 Devin Sarno "First-impression" for 1.1.1
(Absence of Wax)
*2010 Devin Sarno "Three Twenty Eight Twenty Ten

*2007 Devin Sarno "Full dynamics-frequency Spectrum

*2007 Devin Sarno & G.E. Stinson "Heart Cell Memory
(Squirrelgirl)
*2005 Devin Sarno "Variations

*2004 Nels Cline + Devin Sarno "Buried on Bunker Hill

*2002 CRIB "Remnant
(True Classical CDs)
*2000 CRIB "Forward Back" (WIN Records) *1998 CRIB "She Is Church" (WIN Records) *1998 Nels Cline + Devin Sarno "Rise Pumpkin Rise" (Volvolo) *1998 Nels Cline + Devin Sarno "Edible Flowers" (WIN Records) *1992 Waldo The Dog Faced Boy "Tingle" (WIN Records) *1989 Waldo The Dog Faced Boy "Gifts of Finest Wheat" (WIN Records) *1987 Waldo The Dog Faced Boy "Wood" (Flux Records)

Musical Influences

Deep Listening Band The Deep Listening Band (DLB) was founded in 1988 by Pauline Oliveros (accordion, "expanded instrument system", composition), Stuart Dempster (trombone, didjeridu, composition) and Panaiotis (vocals, electronics, composer). David Gamper (keyboard ...

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

William Basinski William James Basinski (born June 25, 1958) is an American avant-garde composer based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a clarinetist, saxophonist, sound artist, and video artist. Basinski is best known for his four-volume album '' The Dis ...

Stars of the Lid Stars of the Lid is an American ambient music project that formerly consisted of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. The duo formed in Austin, Texas, in 1992. They have been acclaimed for their music incorporating droning, effects-treated guitars a ...

References

External links

Official WebsiteLA Weekly Feature ArticlePresent Soundings Interview

Vimeo Feature Article
*
Devin Sarno's music video producer listings (mvdbase) (partial)Devin Sarno's music video producer listings (IMVDb) (partial)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarno, Devin American experimental musicians American ambient musicians American male composers 20th-century American composers Free improvisation 1966 births Living people Loyola Marymount University alumni Guitarists from Los Angeles American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians