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Kevin Blechdom (born Kristin Grace Erickson; 1978 in
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
) is an American experimental
electronic musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
and
performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
. She is based in Santa Cruz, California.


Early life and education

Kristin Grace Erickson was born in 1978 in Florida and raised in
Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. She studied piano and classical music at
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
however she was unhappy with the nature of her studies and transferred to
Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...
in 1997 to study experimental music. She has a BA degree and MFA degree in electronic music from Mills College. While she attended
Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...
in
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, she co-founded
Blectum from Blechdom Blectum from Blechdom is an electronic music duo, formed in 1998 by Kristin Erickson ( Kevin Blechdom) and Bevin Kelley ( Blevin Blectum). Erickson and Kelley met at Mills College in Oakland, California. They initially performed locally, in the ...
with
Blevin Blectum Blevin Blectum (born Bevin Kelley) is an American electronic musician and multimedia composer. She is celebrated as an "icon of deviant and cerebral electronic music". The pioneering musician and composer otherwise known as Bevin Kelley has been a ...
(born Bevin Kelley), an experimental electronic group. The two performed together as Blectum from Blechdom for four years, ending in 2002 when Blechdom moved to Berlin, Germany. Blechdom's work changed when she started creating music solo, becoming more personal and about heartbreak. In 2013, Blectum received a
Doctorate of Musical Arts The doctor of musical arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in su ...
degree in the Performer-Composer Program from the
California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...
(CalArts).


Career

Blechdom played in an art-rock band, Adult Rodeo, with her brother lumberob, a.k.a. Rob Erickson, and his wife mephany stankins. They released records on
Shimmy Disc Shimmy-Disc is a New York City–based independent record label founded in 1987 by Mark Kramer. Before it was sold to the Knitting Factory, artists like Bongwater, Daniel Johnston, Low, Fly Ashtray, Galaxie 500, King Missile, Boredoms, Ruins, W ...
and Four States Fair. Kevin Blechdom's solo release ''Eat My Heart Out'' features a 13-minute "musical movie" called '' Countdown to Nothing'', a collaboration with Lucile Desamory. Blechdom produced two albums for New York City
anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes spelled antifolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in New York City, founded by the musician, author and comedian Lach, as a reaction to the commercialization of folk music. It is characterized by its DIY ethos, ...
/
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
group Ching Chong Song; their debut album, ''Little Naked Gay Adventure'', and their second album, ''Everything is for Babies''. Blechdom recorded, toured, and performed with
Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...
in 2007. Blechdom also performs with Christopher Fleeger as the computer-country band Barnwave. She collaborated with
Chicks on Speed Chicks on Speed is a feminist art music ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997 at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status throughout the 2000s and became most well known as catalysts of the musical genre electroc ...
on the song "
Wordy Rappinghood "Wordy Rappinghood" is the debut single by American new wave band Tom Tom Club, from their 1981 self-titled debut album. It uses part of a traditional Moroccan children's song and game, "A Ram Sam Sam", made popular by the 1971 Rolf Harris re ...
" from their album '' 99 Cents'' in 2003 along with other female musicians such as
Miss Kittin Caroline Hervé (born 15 July 1973), known professionally as Kittin, is a French electronic music producer, DJ, singer, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worke ...
,
Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...
, Adult.'s
Nicola Kuperus Nicola Kuperus is an American musician and artist. She is a member of the band ADULT. with her husband Adam Lee Miller (formerly of Le Car (band), Le Car). ADULT. owns and manages Ersatz Audio, a record label based out of Detroit, Michigan. In 20 ...
, and
Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth ( ; born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, ...
of the
Tom Tom Club Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include the UK top 10 hit " Wordy Rappinghood" and the US top 40 hi ...
. "Wordy Rappinghood" became a moderate dance hit in Europe, peaking at number five on the Belgian Dance Chart, and at number sixty-six on the UK Singles Chart.


Honors and awards

In 2011 she was
artist in residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...
at
WORM Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...
, a Rotterdam-based institute for avant garde music and art. In 2001, Blectum From Blechdom won an Award of Distinction for digital music at the Prix
Ars Electronica Ars Electronica Linz GmbH is an Austrian cultural, educational and scientific institute active in the field of new media art, founded in Linz in 1979. It is based at the Ars Electronica Center (AEC), which houses the Museum of the Future, in t ...
.


Discography

* 2001 – ''I Heart Presets'' - CD EP on
Tigerbeat6 Tigerbeat6 is a San Francisco and Berlin based independent and (mostly) electronic record label run by Kid606 (Miguel De Pedro). The label is run as a DIY operation and releases a variety of electronic music styles, including noisecore, intel ...
* 2001 – ''The Inside Story'' - 3" CD on Tigerbeat6 * 2002 – ''Jelly Donuts'' - 7" vinyl on Four States Fair Records * 2002 – ''And The Tempo Of Doom'' - 7" vinyl on
Unbearable Recordings Unbearable may refer to: * "Unbearable" (''CSI''), an episode of the American crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' * ''Unbearable'' (short story collection), the fifth in a series of collections of short stories by Australian author Pa ...
* 2003 – ''Your Butt'' - on Dudini * 2003 – ''Bitches Without Britches'' - CD album on
Chicks on Speed Chicks on Speed is a feminist art music ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997 at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status throughout the 2000s and became most well known as catalysts of the musical genre electroc ...
Records * 2005 – ''Eat My Heart Out'' - CD album on Chicks on Speed Records * 2006 - ''Kevin Blechdom Live At PBS'' - CD on
Dual Plover Dual Plover (stylized dualpLOVER) is an Australian independent record label founded in Sydney in 1995 by Lucas Abela and Swerve Harris. Dual Plover's first release called "a kombi – music to drive-by" consisted of recordings from a Volkswagen ...
* 2008 – ''The Children's Suite'', with Ad Hawk - 7" vinyl on Dual Plover * 2009 – ''Gentlemania'' - CD album on Sonig


References


External links


An interview with Kevin Blechdom

A Viennese Acoustic Video Session with Kevin Blechdom
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blechdom, Kevin American electronic musicians Living people Musicians from Florida 1978 births American women in electronic music American avant-garde musicians California Institute of the Arts alumni Musicians from Santa Cruz, California Mills College alumni 21st-century American women