RCAH theater hosts experimental music collaboration

In the basement of Snyder-Phillips Hall, is the Michigan State University record label, Bogue Street Records. One of the first albums released under the label is Day Zero Breakdown, by Lansing local Dennis Hinrichsen. In collaboration with two other Michigan artists, Worm Moon and bioPrism, the album was performed in the RCAH Theatre on Wednesday. 

The performance was an experimental one, combining different styles of art to convey an environmental message. After the performance of Day Zero Breakdown, Hinrichsen held a book signing at the Lookout! Gallery for his latest book Dementia Lyrics. 

“The accompanying album from Bogue Street Records, Day Zero Breakdown, captures this merging of spoken word with experimental music,” Hinrichsen said. “But the book is also seriously focused on systematic failure, not only of the body but of our ways of thinking about the planet with particular focus on the diminishing source of fresh water.”

Showcasing his art isn’t new for Hinrichsen, as he has been writing for much of his life.

“I’ve done book signings many times before. I’ve been writing for nearly 50 years and published 12 books, so lots of practice,” Hinrichsen said. 

Hinrichsen is based in Lansing and often works and collaborates with others in the community, such as Josh Epperly — bioPrism and Dylan Rogers — Worm Moon.

“I hope that the audience leaves with a greater appreciation of the connections between poetry and experimental electronic music. Both forms deal with many similar themes, but one explores those themes through language and the other through sonic architecture,” Epperly said. “For example, a big theme in Dennis’s poems on Day Zero Breakdown is how our relationships to water can quickly become exploitative when we forget how connected we are to water.”

Getting the opportunity to be apart of creating these experimental forms is something both Epperly and Hinrichsen value. Being apart of the Lansing community is important to this creation. 

“On one level, I think it’s just wanting to communicate the joy of being alive and having consciousness and making art and collaborating with other disciplines to see what happens. There is a very exciting experimental music scene in Lansing and it was fun to participate with two artists from that scene, Worm Moon and bioPrism,” Hinrichsen said. 

Outside of his experimental music, Dennis Hinrichsen plays a role in spreading the awareness of poetry and what poetry can be. He did this through serving as Lansing’s Poet Laureate. 

“I was the first Lansing Poet Laureate before the pandemic and did a lot of work in the three county area with workshops and open mics. I’m continuing to do that work now at The Robin Theatre with workshops focused on core aspects of poetry and publishing,” Hinrichsen said.

The Robin Theatre, located in REO Town, hosts multiple events important to these experimental creators. Epperly highlighted The Robin Theatre as a place that’s accessible to the music community in the area. 

“One of the main outlets for this Lansing scene is Ambient Annotations at The Robin Theatre. Every time I attend or perform at Ambient Annotations, I meet another person who’s putting mind-blowing stuff into the world, usually under the radar. So I want to underscore that my music as bioPrism is just one voice in the crowd,” Epperly said “When I first moved to Lansing in 2021, I’d naively assumed that I was the only one in town who was interested in experimental electronic music. Now, I feel a lot less lonely.”

Despite being next door neighbors, Epperly and Hinrichsen didn’t realize their shared interest in music until meeting at an Ambient Annotations event. 

“That was the start of more porch-side conversations that led to him (Hinrichsen) asking if I’d like to provide soundscapes for some poetry that ended up becoming the tracks on Day Zero Breakdown. Day Zero Breakdown is technically split into two halves. The first half is Dennis’s collaboration with Worm Moon and the second is his collaboration with me,” Epperly said. “Each half has a unique vibe and were recorded independently of each other. It was a delight to finally get to hear the amazing work that Dennis and Worm Moon did together after I’d wrapped up my half of the album.”

Hinrichsen and Epperly both appreciate the experimental music community in the area and how it exposes people to art and music they may have never experienced before. 

“When people think of electronic music in southern Michigan, they usually think of Electric Forest or Detroit techno. However, there’s a thriving subculture of Michigan-based artists who use the same kinds of digital technologies to make music that isn’t necessarily geared towards the dance floor. Lansing is definitely a hub for this kind of electronic musician. Many of us are into DIY electronics, many of us have ties to MSU and many take inter-genre and interdisciplinary approaches to their music,” Epperly said.

“My teacher’s mantra was ‘Learn the rules, break the rules. Learn the new rules, break the new rules,’ so I’m really interested in anything that pushes at the edges,” Hinrichsen said.  

Communications senior and Lookout! Gallery employee Defne Levi worked the book signing event. 

“It was really interesting to see the blending of poetry with electronic music elements involved. It just really put everyone watching in some sort of emotional trance, really getting into the story that he [Hinrichsen] was trying to tell with his poems,” Levi said. “It was very experimental, I really appreciated it. I feel like everyone in there was definitely inspired in some way from everything.”