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On March 7 of this year, Guild Cinema had what its owner called “the loudest performance in the history of the theater” when Droni Eye Omi performed live for the first time. And they brought some of Burque’s most eclectic sound connoisseurs out of the woodwork for the ride, both in the audience and on the stage. Now you can get a taste of what the show was like by grabbing your own copy of the new record Live at Guild Cinema, an auditory snapshot of the seat-rattling show. Droni Eye Omi’s baritone guitarist Brad Frye says the experience was intoxicating, whether you partook in mind-altering substances before their set, or rolled to the show with a clear head.
“It’s just easier for me and Ronaldo to perform that music totally sober, because it gets me fucking high.” Frye says.
To give you a little context, although Droni Eye Omi is an instrumental project orchestrated by dual electric guitarists Brad Frye (Red Mesa) and Ronoldo Baca (Swing Magique), Live at Guild Cinema doesn’t exactly contain a melody you can hum to. The pair’s past musical endeavors have usually been groove-oriented, but the new album actually echoes some of what Frye says is one of the oldest forms of music.
“My definition of drone is when you are taking a single note or frequency and having that play consistently over and over,” he says “With drone metal, you’re dealing with lots of distortion and other guitar bass effects. You’re creating something that will resonate for a long time, building up frequencies and also harnessing feedback with distortion.”
The result is an immersive sound encounter that produces a variety of psychological, emotional and even physiological effects. Frye says it’s never just smooth sailing with psychedelics – whether that refers to a musical journey or a psilocybin experience – but he doesn’t think that’s the point. He admits that just like a hallucinogenic mushroom trip, watching and listening to Droni Eye Omi live wasn’t a completely pleasant experience for everyone in attendance during the live recording.
“It either made them very uncomfortable and they didn’t like it, or they felt that it was really spiritual and transcendental and relaxing and was something that they’ve never seen before. So it’s a really dividing experience for people,” Frye says. “I knew that going in, and that doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I really like that. We’re doing something that maybe you’ll like sometimes or maybe you’ll hate it forever.”
The final track on the album is called “Drone Circle” and captures a moment when some of Albuquerque’s favorite musicians joined Droni Eye Omi on stage for an improvised jam.
Roman Barham (Red Mesa, Scroll) broke out the drums, Steve Schmidlapp (Blue Heron) added another electric guitar, and Kristen Rad mixed things up with her electric violin. Frye says performing the exhilarating and emotional finale with his dear friends was something really special to have captured on a recording.
“It wasn’t a rehearsal type of situation. It was completely improved,” Frye says. “And there’s a lot of sentimental things involved there. Steve played his late father’s guitar for the first time live on that performance.”
Droni Eye Omi Live at Guild Cinema was recorded on a Zoom H6 by Droni Eye Omi and mixed and mastered by guitarist Ronaldo Baca. If you are brave enough to close your eyes as you listen, and fully immerse yourself in the psychedelia, you can visualize what the video art by Quannumthrows (Michael Pino) might have looked like during the concert. Images were projected on the Guild’s movie screen – and the performers’ white-hooded sweatshirts – as Droni Eye Omi took the audience on a trip they probably won’t forget any time soon.
“When we were playing it, there were times when I’d say, ‘This is an uncomfortable part, I can tell.’ It’s impossible, especially when improvising, to make it all pretty, I guess. And I think that would be boring. I think the uncomfortable parts make the beautiful parts better.”
If you’d like to freak out on the record, Live at Guild Cinema is available to jam or purchase on bandcamp (dronieyeomi.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-guild-cinema) and on streaming platforms here (found.ee/dronieyeomi_liveatguildcinema).
Earshattering, Intoxicating and Captured Live is a story from The Paper.. Publishing from New Mexico’s largest city, The Paper is your source for local, independent news, covering politics, arts, culture, and events.
