Youve found your way to the homepage of Mr. Meridies, the fictional alter-ego of Bob Boster. This is the other way to arrive. Feel free to wander around and get the feel for the place. If you only need a quick snapshot of the artistic life of the both of them, this bio ought to do it for you. Whatever the case, thanks for coming...
welcome | announcements | releases | performances | rants & raves | machines | bio |audio bits | other projects | contact | links | back to detritus
Bob Boster is a composer, performer, and multi-media artist from the SF Bay Area. Previously based in Chapel Hill, NC - where Bob ran the award-winning radio station WXYC and founded the visionary independent record label, Friction Media - Bob came to Oakland to attend Mills College in 1995 and has studied with Chris Brown, Alvin Curran, Maggi Payne, Christian Wolff, Fred Frith, and Pauline Oliveros. Working in live electronics, aleatory and graphical composition, performance art, improvisational traditions, desk-top audio, and traditional processing-art, Bob has recorded and/or performed in a wide variety of circumstances for a diverse set of audiences.
In this time period, one of Bob's primary musical outlets is his "underground music" pseudonym Mr. Meridies, who exists as an alter ego who performs appropriative sound collage which can be consumed in a "pop" manner, but outside of the current modes of appropriation (hip-hop, sample-oriented dance music, commercials, etc.) It was important to develop an identity to associate with this work, as well as a "cover", should it ever be necessary to hide from the overzealous defenders of corporate capital's "right" to own information. Mr. Meridies has a recent eponymous release on Friction Media, 3 cuts featured on Illegal Art/ Seeland's Deconstructing Beck CD, and a cut on Friction Media's groundbreaking compilation Cognitive Mapping Vol. 2. Bob has scored dance, theatre, film, and video, collaborated with a wide range of visual artists, directed and constructed theatrical events, conceived and developed live radio art events, and taught performance practice.
Regular collaborators include: Wobbly (Jon Leidecker), Steev Hise, A.L. Dentel, Cheryl Leonard, and Scott Rosenberg. Bob is also a founding member of the Cultural Labyrinth collective, a group devoted to presenting a wide range of musical and artistic endeavors in an accessible context.
Various current projects: bouche: a duo featuring the extended vocal technique of Kristi Martel with vocals and processing by Bob. SignWave: a extreme electronics duo with synthesist Vance Galloway (Sound Traffic Control). Armageddon String Ensemble: an ever-evolving line-up of acoustic string players with processing, usually known to include: A.L. Dentel, Cheryl Leonard, Patty Liu, and John & Tim Blue. Idea of Fun: an ongoing project for mixing standard consumer CD players as manipulated by groups of up to 20 performers. Virtual Trios: an improvisational trop where an virtuostic collaborator picks some other performer on CD to play along with, thereby forming a trio. Former participants include: Matt Ingalls (clarinet), Philip Gelb (shakuhachi), Cheryl Leonard (viola), Chris Palmatier (guitar), Aurora (vocals). Mr. Meridies/David Tristram: an ongoing project with video artist David Tristram, performances and studio construction of interactive sound/video pieces.