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 whe ...

musician, poet and

multimedia art Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as writing, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. This is 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, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement and Christian Cosmos. 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 founded in 1998 by Dominick Fernow Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, ...

Life

Fernow hails from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and his mother is the poet and former

Wisconsin Public Radio Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 38 public radio radio station, stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct services, the ''WPR News Network'' and the ''WPR Music Network''. History Wisconsin Publ ...

host

Jean Feraca Jean Feraca is an American poet, journalist, and radio host. Biography She was born in New York state, majored in English at Manhattanville College, and received an M.S. degree from the University of Michigan. After college she lived in Rome and ...

. He recounts his entrance into public school and his exposure to

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, 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 death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

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 in ...

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

Deicide Deicide is the killing (or the killer) of a god. The concept may be used for any act of killing a god, including a life-death-rebirth deity who is killed and then resurrected. Etymology The term deicide was coined in the 17th century from ...

's album ''

Once upon the Cross ''Once upon the Cross'' is the third studio album by American death metal band Deicide, 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 taken fr ...

'' 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 some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and runs the labels

and Bed of Nails.

Career

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

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

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 is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...

, 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 __NOTOC__ Wolf Eyes is an American experimental music group from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1996 by Nate Young. Currently a duo, Wolf Eyes are a prominent act within contemporary noise music. They have collaborated with a variety of artists fro ...

, Macronympha, and

Philip Best Philip Neil Best (born 15 June 1966) is an English industrial musician, visual artist, and author. A pioneer of power electronics, he formed the band Consumer Electronics in 1982. Best joined the group Whitehouse, in 1983. After a nine-year h ...

(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 ...

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 solo project for musician Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of dark wave, darkwave, noise music, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Jo ...

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

Hanson Records Hanson Records is an American independent record label founded in Brighton, Michigan and now based in Oberlin, Ohio. It is operated by the musician Aaron Dilloway, formerly of the band Wolf Eyes. History The label's first release was a 7-inch ext ...

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 as well as publishing the first American vinyl by Mer ...

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 Kitty Play is a New Jersey–based record label formed in late 2003. The label's acts covers a wide variety of genres from straightforward rock music to abrasive noise. The label returned from hiatus in the spring of 2010 with a new full-length LP ...

, 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 ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

, and

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

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) *''Red Ants Genesis'' (2018) *''Simulated Thunderstorm'' (2019) *''Flying Fish Ambience'' (2021) *''Gray Eucalyptus Tranquility'' (2023) *''Killer Whale Atmospheres'' (2023)

EPs

*''The Plant with Many Faces'' (2013) *''Black Magic Cannot Cross Water'' (2013) *''Water Rose Above the Head'' (2013) *''Venus Flytrap Exotica'' (2019) *''Panama Canal Left-Hand Path'' (2019) *''Jellyfish Reproduce Black Magic'' (2021) *''Saga Of Capsizing Dolphins'' (2022)

Compilations

*''Water Witches'' (2017) *''Seashell Altars'' (2021)

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)

As a Contributor/Guest Artist

References

External links

Prurient Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental music, experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow, Rain ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Prurient discography
on

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{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