Charlie Looker Ensemble Charlie Looker Ensemble

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Charles A. Looker has been active in underground music circles for the past decade as a composer, vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist. His music brings together diverse influences and styles including metal, pop, industrial, early music, experimental and classical composition. Born and based in New York City, he has received commissions from various ensembles, however most of his output has been with his own bands.

Looker was a founding member of the now-world-renowned experimental collective Zs, establishing his roots in the early 00s Brooklyn DIY scene. He left Zs in 2007 to form his own band Extra Life which recorded three albums and several EPs, toured the US and Europe extensively and built a devout international following before disbanding in 2012. Since then, Looker’s main performing vehicle has been metal/electronic project Psalm Zero. Other ongoing projects include Seaven Teares, a mostly acoustic quartet featuring medieval instruments, and Period, an improvisational trio with drummer Mike Pride and electronic musician Chuck Bettis.
Looker’s credits as a sideman guitarist and/or featured guest vocalist include work with Dirty Projectors, Tyondai Braxton, Mick Barr, Jherek Bischoff, Sam Mickens, the Wordless Music Orchestra, the SEM Ensemble, Dax Riggs, Tim Berne, William Parker, and Glenn Branca. As an arranger, producer, and remixer, Looker has worked with Kate Miller-Heidke, Amanda Palmer, Mivos Quartet, and M Lamar.

As a composer in a classical context, Looker has received fellowships and commissions from the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Yarn/Wire, the Ostrava New Music Days festival, and Experiments in Opera. In 2015, Looker was an artist-in-residence at The Stone (New York City). In 2011 he was voted one of the top 100 American composers under 40 by WNYC. Looker’s music has been performed at festivals around the world including Primavera Sound (Spain), Bad Bonn (Switzlerland), Villette Sonique (France), Moers Jazz (Germany) and Sound Forest (Latvia) and is documented on labels including Northern Spy, Profound Lore, Planaria, LOAF, Africantape, Shatter Your Leaves, ThreeOneG and Troubleman Unlimited, as well as his own limited edition vinyl imprint Last Things.

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