Richard Francis (aka Eso Steel) has been active as an experimental musician since 1996. His sound work is primarily concered with recording and manipulating acoustic and electronic sounds from the surrounding environment. He has released solo and collaborative sound works on labels such as Drone Records, Stateart, Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, Digitalis Industries, Absurd and Scarcelight, as well as his own label CMR. Currently CMR is focused on releasing limited edition lathe cut records by sound artists living in the Auckland region. As a performing artist he has toured in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada, USA and Europe. From 2003-2006 Francis co-operated ACROMA, an organization that coordinated a series of experimental music events in Auckland hosting local and visiting experimental sound artists. From 2004-2007 Francis was a member of the Alt.Music committee - New Zealands long running experimental music festival and performance series, and in 2005 joined the board of the New Zealand Audio Foundation. He has collaborated for recording and/or performance with many artists including Francisco Lopez, Jason Kahn, Mattin, Birchville Cat Motel, Gate, MSBR, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lawrence English, Rosy Parlane, Howard Stelzer, Jason Lescalleet, Jay Sullivan, Empirical, Pumice, Kuwayama Kiyoharu, Phil Dadson, Anthony Guerra, Sean Meehan, Ishigami Kazuya, Antony Milton, James Kirk, MHFS, Tim Coster, Paul Winstanley, Takefumi Naoshima, Toshihiro Koike. |