Konx-om-Pax knows how to build scenes from different galaxies, where maybe it’s normal and casual for jets of rainbow flames to shoot through tribal festivals and for pinwheels to have heartbeats and for jellyfish to be covered in jewels. Maybe he even hangs out in those galaxies, getting there by way of a rocket made of Silly-Putty or a chrome chariot pulled by anthropomorphic geometric shapes.
You might even know him, or at least know of him,. The Glasgow-based artist, whose real name is Tom Scholefield, has made videos for the likes of Hudson Mowhawke, Mogwai, Martyn, Jamie Lidell, Kudeo, and Lone, and he’s done sleeve art for Oneohtrix Point Never, Rustie, and King Midas Sound. His work has been featured in festivals and publications all over the world, and most recently, the digital arts organization Onedotzero toured his “Advanced Beauty” piece as an HD screening.
When Konx-om-Pax isn’t down to don his astronaut suit and collect treasures from the psychedelic corners of space, he makes music. He’s been making tracks since he was a teenager, and not only has he toured with Mogwai as a DJ, but he also runs an experimental studio/label project called Display Copy. Recently, he recorded the sounds of elephants walking across glass ponds on stilts and of monsters in lo-fi kids’ computer games from the 90s, and he sped up the theme song to Fraggle Rock, then made a record that can produce holographic images in the air when spun at the right time of day.
Or, maybe that’s what his space soundtrack is like. According to Planet Mu, “Tom explains that he makes music to chill out, a form of creative self medication.” So, more accurately, he crafted tracks consisting of “tape-hiss and unsettling spoken word” and “musique concrete space and drops” and “slow-motion nostalgia” and made an album called Regional Surrealism, which will be out on July 23 via Planet Mu.
Regional Surrealism tracklist:
01. Intro
02. Isotonic Pool
03. At Home with Mum and Dad
04. Twin Portal Redux
05. Sura-Tura-Gnosi-Cosi (ft. Steven Retchard)
06. Zang-Tumb (ft. Stuart Braithwaite)
07. Glacier Mountain Descent
08. Pillars of Creation
09. Slootering
10. Lagoon Leisure
11. Hurt Face
12. Chambers
13. Silent Reading
14. Let’s Go Swimming
• Konx-om-Pax Visual Work: http://displaycopy.net
• Konx-om-Pax Video Work: http://vimeo.com/konxompax
• Planet Mu: http://planet.mu
More about: Konx-om-Pax
