anticon. records

artist info

David Bryant was born in 1979 in Boston, Massachusetts to a steam engineer of the same name and a craftswoman named Carole, then later called New Hampshire home. It was in his six-town district grade school in New Hampshire where Bryant met co-horts, the bomarr monk (Matt Valerio) and teljimjesus (George Chadwick). They were immediately drawn to each other through their taste in music, since few kids around them shared the same interests. By age thirteen Byrant was serving as a vocalist in various punk rock bands, often including Valerio and Chadwick. After various incarnations, the trio would later form restiform bodies. Bryant's musical interest quickly expanded to include hip hop and and then electronic music, ultimately leading him to make a number of "ill-formed purchases of cheesebag equipment." The results of his experimenting with his new equipment were, however, promising. Before long, passage was one of the first bard hoppers to be inspired by the anticon sound, and the last to be absorbed by its machine. After slipping an enthusiastic sole (of anticon) a restiform bodies demo tape at Cincinnati's hip hop festival Scribble Jam, the jingle-core, golden-voiced, passage soon took the dark humor hard way out of New Hampshire. Arriving to California in 2000 with a demo no one could refuse, he and his fellow restiform bodies, telephone jim jesus, and the bomarr monk, quickly proved that they were missing from the anticon swell. With a penchant for darkness, sarcasm and self-loathing, passage embodies what's both awkward and endearing about the cynical nice guy. passage sites his musical influences as Tubeway Army, Joy Division, Geto Boys, Guided By Voices, Wu Tang Clan, De La Soul and Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark. His songwriting and production reflect and reference a sophisticated and diverse musical palette. Part punk rock, part new wave, part hip hop, and part indie pop, the force field kids is such an amalgamation of influences that it is incomparable to anything before it.

passage has toured the United States twice. Once with sole, and once with restiform bodies. He's performed with: DJ Krush, Kid606, Cex, Stars As Eyes, Gold Chains, Broken Spindles, The Unicorns, Blectum from Blechdom, Jay Lesser, Books on Tape, Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, Atmosphere, Animal Collective, Grand Buffet, Dahawney Troof, Barry Andrews (of Shriekback) and in his own words, "one time disgraced the mic at an Herbaliser show when he was eighteen," but then admits "actually, they were kinda into it." In 2002 passage appeared on anticon-we aint fessin (double quotes) CD/10" and on DJ Krush's The Message at the Depth in 2003.

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photos

related releases

the forcefield kids
abr0038 CD/2LP (2004)

creature in the classroom
abr0039 12

complete discography

artist news

May 07, 2009

Our friend Passage has just released a free mixtape from his new side-project, Brothers Backword. It's fun, danceable, and includes and Eazy-E cover. Download or stream here.