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INDIE ROCKER BEN CHASNY SETTLES INTO SEATTLE’S PASTORAL SCENE

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Seattle Timeschasny
Not only is Seattle the epicenter of indie rock’s current obsession with all things pastoral, but we’re a destination for like-minded musicians. Meet 34-year-old Ben Chasny, a recent transplant from San Francisco best known for his work as Six Organs of Admittance. Over the last 10 years, Chasny has taken Six Organs into shamanic, shambolic realms. Un-pigeonhole-able, Chasny also contributed blistering electric guitar on the last two Sub Pop albums by psychedelic metalmeisters Comets on Fire. Chasny relocated to Seattle in November and is now focusing on Six Organs, whose new album, “Luminous Night,” comes out Tuesday, coinciding with a release party at the Crocodile that night. “Luminous Night” is his initial collaboration with celebrated local producer/bassist Randall Dunn, who recorded the album in West Seattle in March and enlisted a Who’s Who of Northwest avant-gardists to flesh it out: drummer Matt Chamberlain (Tori Amos, Pearl Jam), flautist Hans Teuber (Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet) and violist Eyvind Kang (Secret Chiefs 3, Animal Collective, John Zorn).

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Ben Chasny Can’t Shake His Golden State Roots, but He’s Still Happy to Call Seattle Home

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Seattle Weekly:
Ben Chasny, who relocated to Seattle from the Bay Area last September, was freak folk before it was a term. In addition to playing unhinged psych-guitar for Comets on Fire, the 34-year-old has released 10 proper albums as Six Organs, all of which run the gamut from Japanese folk, Middle Eastern drones, British folk guitar, and West Coast naturalism to the spiritual avant-jazz of the ’70s. Though his music is informed by these sounds, he doesn’t follow or buck trends; he’s a rare genuine specimen in a market choked with one-dimensional sponges.

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