A/V is a one-man synth-wielding, punk-rocking, tambourine-smashing new-wave hot action dance party all the way from Gaspereau Forks, New Brunswick. Since the turn of the millennium, A/V has been at the forefront of the Atlantic electronic music scene, having released three CDs and toured from St. John's to Vancouver.
A/V sets up right in the middle of the dance floor with a rack of vintage analogue synths, drum machines, effects pedals and an old hardware sequencer. Sweaty dancers crowd around on every side, singing along and freaking out. Fifty feet of mic cable allows plenty of space for spontaneous mischief.
No laptops, no iPods, no setlists. Just pure dancefloor chaos and hot science electro tracks until the lights come on.
Along with the latest CD Hot Action comes a data DVD with all of the CD's original project session files in GarageBand format. So anyone with a Mac can reverse-engineer and remix the entire A/V disc.
A/V has hit the road with: The Kettle Black, Wax Mannequin, Windom Earle, OK Cobra, Books On Tape. And has shared the stage with these fine acts: Peaches, Chicks On Speed, Think About Life, Holy Fuck, Rockets Red Glare, Buck 65, Xiu Xiu, Moneen, Controller.Controller, Giselle Numba One, Mayor McCa, The Death Set, Gary Flanagan, VHS Or Beta, Peer Pressure DJs and a hundred others.
There are three A/V CDs to date. "There Is A God In A/V Heaven." "Control Change." "Hot Action."
Feb. 1 2008: Dudes, I just moved to Montreal and I live at this place.
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Alternating between bashing buttons on his custom synth rig with jumping into the crowd and climbing on tables, A/V's performance was my (and my friend's) pick of the festival.
--The New Pollution (ECMA weekend 2006, Charlottetown, PEI)
A/V pulled a flawless set of his signature "new wave/electro/punk" out of the stack of electro gear he danced behind the whole set, which went way-late (3 am-ish) due to requests for "MORE!"
--The Scope (St. John's, NL)
His blend of pop and electronic music is so accessible that it didn’t take long for the dance floor to start moving.
--Exclaim (Fredericton, NB w/ Books On Tape and Windom Earle) p.s. my lyrics are dope
There's no way to predict what will happen when A/V turns on his vintage synthesizers and drum machines.
--Coast Weekly (Halifax, NS)
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A/V is Philip Clark.
When not performing music I am a writer, audio engineer and video artist. For years I was right at the centre of the Halifax music scene, doing sound for bands at the city's hottest rock clubs. In March 2005 I threw it all away and left to go be a hermit in the woods in a seven-bedroom farmhouse in Gaspereau Forks, NB. I love touring and playing shows but other than that I prefer to be alone in the country.
Sometimes I perform a live PA under the name 9Volt Sound System and do instrumental sets of straight-up electro or tech-house. Do I have to make a whole separate MySpace account for that? I'm too lazy.
nice set last saturday! i remember seeing a/v around 2000, and it's good to see you've only gotten better with time. your synth sounded phat that night, what did you use?
I used to watch you a long long time ago. I think we used to play shows together when we played in Punk Bands. I was in HGM. I think the first time I saw A/V Selewyn was up there to. AM I Right?
sorry i couldn't make it out to the show this time around (being out in a tent working on an arch dig for 8 weeks would do it) BUT I'll defiantly be at the next one ...i even had A/V on the mp3 player along with me in the field
Here's JOHNNY! You need to get out of that house of yours a little, before you dismember any more important limbs. Do you find it harder to program with one arm? That film actually disterbed me. Very effective. See you on the highway.
