Secret Chiefs 3

Secret Chiefs 3
Secret Chiefs 3 performing in New York, 2009
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Avant-garde
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Web of Mimicry, Amarillo
Associated acts	Mr. Bungle, Estradasphere, Faith No More
Website	Official Site
Members	See "Band members"

Secret Chiefs 3 (or SC3) is an avant-garde group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (formerly of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More). Their studio recordings and tours have featured different line-ups, as the group performs a wide range of musical styles, mostly instrumental, including surf rock, Persian, Arab, Indian, death metal, film music, electronic music, and various others.

The band's name was inspired by the "Secret Chiefs" said to inspire and guide various esoteric and mystical groups, and is a reflection of Spruance's interest in such philosophies.

Satellite bands

In 2007, it was announced Secret Chiefs 3 has always been a general name for seven different bands, each representing a different aspect of Spruance's musical and philosophical interests.^[1] The seven bands are Electromagnetic Azoth, UR, Ishraqiyun, Traditionalists, Holy Vehm, FORMS, and NT Fan.^[2] Spruance has stated that the sound collages of Electromagnetic Azoth serve as the center of Secret Chiefs 3.^[3]

The albums Book of Horizons (2004) and Satellite Supersonic Vol. 1 (2010) were conceived as compilation albums featuring the satellite bands under their own names. All bands have appeared on at least one of these albums. Some satellite bands have also released records on their own. So far, five of the satellite bands have had tracks featured across a series of six 7" singles and Traditionalists have delivered a full-length album.

Trey Spruance performing in 2009

Band members

Spruance formed the band in the mid-1990s with fellow Mr. Bungle members Trevor Dunn on bass and Danny Heifetz on drums. Some of the many musicians who have since recorded or toured with SC3 include violinist Eyvind Kang, percussionist William Winant, drummer Ches Smith, bassist Shahzad Ismaily, former Mr. Bungle member Clinton "Bär" McKinnon, and Estradasphere members Timb Harris, Jason Schimmel, and Tim Smolens. Musicians tend to float in and out of SC3, so the concept of "current" and "former" members isn't entirely applicable. Below is a list of past and present members, guests and collaborators:

Trey Spruance — guitars (electric guitar, bass guitar, baritone guitar, microtonal guitar, 12-string guitar, sympitar, Pythagorean guitar), keyboards (keyboard, electric piano, acoustic piano, tack piano, clavinet, organ, celesta), percussion (dumbek, shaker, tambourine, glockenspiel, daf, etc.), santur, rabab, banjo, mandolin, zither, tar, cümbüş, saz, carillon, dulcimer, autoharp, trumpet, sheng, synthesizer, sampler, programming, Foley sound effects, electroacoustic treatment, vocals Lucas Abela — power drill Dave Abramson — drums Laura Allen — vocals Anonymous 13 — viola, vocals Jennifer Cass — harp April Centrone - drums, percussion Matt Chamberlain — drums Paul Dal Porto — sitar Mike Dillon — vibraphone, tabla Rich Doucette – sarangi Toby Driver – bass guitar Trevor Dunn — bass guitar, vocals Phil Franklin - drums, percussion Laurie Goldstein — cello Jesse Greere — vocals Kenny Grohowski - drums Timb Harris — violin, viola, trumpet Danny Heifetz — drums, percussion (riq, zil, tambourine, shaker, dumbek), trombone Kris Hendrickson — autoharp, vocals Bill Horist — prepared guitar

Shahzad Ismaily — bass guitar, percussion (dhol, mridangam, ghatam, zil, etc.) Eyvind Kang — violin, viola, cello, erhu Fatima Khanoam – santur Jai Young Kim — keyboards, B3 organ Jessica Kinney – vocals Kevin Kmetz – shamisen Ursula Knudson – bowed saw Peژ Mon – drums John Wayne Law – bass guitar Matt Lebofsky – keyboards Clinton "Bär" McKinnon — saxophone, flute, keyboards, percussion John Merryman – drums Mike Patton – vocals KT Pierce – vocals Jesse Quattro – vocals Jason Schimmel — acoustic guitar, fuzz guitar, cümbüş mandolin, vocals Monica Schley – harp Shamou — percussion (darbuka, riq) Ches Smith – drums, congas Tim Smolens — bass guitar, upright bass, cello, contrabass, cello Adam Stacey – clavinet Hans Teuber — flute Gregg Turkington – vocals Unhuman – vocals William Winant — drums, percussion (frame drum, tabla, marimba, vibraphone, shaker, glockenspiel, gong, tubular bell, kanjira, timpani, cymbal, bell, zil, hammered dulcimer, etc.)

Discography

This is a list of all releases by SC3 and the satellite bands. The column "artist" states under what name the recording is released, not who is credited with the individual songs. Some releases, like the album Book of Horizons, are noteworthy in this regard because they are released under the name Secret Chiefs 3, but the tracks they contain are each credited to a satellite band, giving the release the appearance of a compilation album.

Studio albums

Year	Title	Artist	Notes
1996	First Grand Constitution and Bylaws Labels: Amarillo (1996), Web of Mimicry (2000)	Secret Chiefs 3
1998	Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws: Hurqalya Labels: Amarillo (1998), Web of Mimicry (2000)	Secret Chiefs 3
2001	Book M Label: Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3
2004	Book of Horizons Label: Web of Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3	First part of the Book of Truth trilogy Individual tracks are credited to the satellite bands
2007	Path of Most Resistance Label: Web of Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3	Retrospective and rarities album
2008	Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9 Label: Tzadik	Secret Chiefs 3	Arrangements from John Zorn's second Masada songbook
2009	Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini Label: Web of Mimicry	Traditionalists
2010	Satellite Supersonic Vol. 1 Label: Web of Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3	Individual tracks are credited to the satellite bands
2013	Book of Souls: Folio A Label: Web of Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3	Second part of the Book of Truth trilogy. Some individual tracks are credited to the satellite bands.
2014	Perichoresis Label: Web of Mimicry	Ishraqiyun	The satellite band's full-length album.

Live album and DVD

Year	Title	Artist	Notes
1999	Eyes of Flesh, Eyes of Flame Label: Web of Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3	Recording of a live performance at Slims in San Francisco on August 18, 1998
2009	Live at the Great American Music Hall Label: Web of Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3	Recording of a live performance at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on June 3, 2007

Singles and EPs

Year	Title	Artist(s)	Notes
1995	The Legendary Paper Project Label: Warner Bros.	Secret Chiefs 3 / Mr. Bungle	Split 7" promo including Mr. Bungle's "Platypus" Packaged with US vinyl copies of Mr. Bungle's Disco Volante LP
1998	The Theatrum of Suprasensory Universes Vol. 1 Label: Amarillo	Secret Chiefs 3	Live EP with material from Australia tour
1998	Zulfikar II/Zulfikar III Label: Web of Mimicry	Secret Chiefs 3
2007	The Left Hand of Nothingness / Personnae: Halloween Label: Web of Mimicry	The Electromagnetic Azoth / UR
2007	Balance of the 19 / Ubik Label: Web of Mimicry	Ishraqiyun / The Electromagnetic Azoth
2007	Kulturvultur / Drive Label: Web of Mimicry	UR
2007	Circumambulation / Labyrinth of Light Label: Web of Mimicry	UR
2011	Saptarshi / Radar Label: Web of Mimicry	Ishraqiyun / FORMS
2012	La Chanson de Jacky / The Western Exile Label: Web of Mimicry	Traditionalists
2014	Medium Aevum / Stars and Stripes Forever Label: Web of Mimicry	UR / FORMS
2014	Apocryphon of Jupiter / Danse Macabre Label: Web of Mimicry	FORMS featuring the Golden State Theater Mighty Wurlitzer
2016	Telstar / The New Daylight (Welcome to the Theatron Animatronique) Label: Web of Mimicry	UR

Planned releases

Title	Artist	Notes
2017	Secret Chiefs 3	Folio B: The Second part of the Book of Souls album, part of the "Book of Truth" trilogy, coming soon.
TBA	Secret Chiefs 3	The Third part of the Book of Truth trilogy.
2017	Holy Vehm	A full-length album from the satellite band.
TBA circa 2020	EM Azoth / FORMS	From the Peacock Emerges a Fountain of Truth

Footnotes

1. Mullen, Jawsh (March 1, 2007). "The Secret Chiefs 3". Denver Westword Music. Denver Westword. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
2. York, William. "Book of Horizons". Allmusic. Rovi. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
3. Murphy, Tom (January 24, 2012). "Trey Spruance of Secret Chiefs 3: "I started studying the musical systems of antiquity to try to understand what made them tick"". Denver Westword Music. Denver Westword. Retrieved January 25, 2012.

External links

Media related to Secret Chiefs 3 at Wikimedia Commons

Official

• Secret Chiefs 3 official website
• Secret Chiefs 3 at Web of Mimicry

Free live recordings

• Secret Chiefs 3 at the Live Music Archive