Photoset Flashback: DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid in Seattle 2012
Multi-hyphenate artist, Paul D. Miller did a DJ set at the 200 cap, Barboza, followed by a film screening the next day. Here are the never-before-seen photos
When the owners of Seattle‘s NEUMOS opened the smaller 200-capacity room, Barboza, under the venue, one of the first acts they booked was DJ SPOOKY. Any time I’ve ever attended a performance by the man born Paul D. Miller, there is always something uniquely different than the last. I once saw him team with the Seattle Chamber Players to offer a multi-media experience in Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall. Integrating electronic music with their strings, Miller presented a small collection of live-edited video footage, which included jazz drum solos, a French Marxist documentary analyzing the effects of consumerism degrading modern society, and a 16mm experimental short from 1948 that focuses on the Wu-Tang ritual to blur concepts of Chinese boxing and violence with expression and beauty. I’d later see the DJ/Producer promoting the Drums Of Death project he created with slash-metal drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Fantomas), with a concert that Wolf Eyes opened. It was either at that show or another where the manga film Ghost in the Shell played behind him.
Any time I would see him live, it would be a completely different experience, but it was always forward-thinking and memorable. His Barboza show was more of a straight-ahead DJ set, but nothing is ever truly standard with Spooky. The visuals looked bonkers, and the photos that I came away with reflect that.
Paul D. Miller is a multidisciplinary artist in every sense. That is to say, he aims to provide both cognitive and sensory experiences while employing various disciplines in his work. I got really into his 2002 DJ Spooky LP, Optometry, shortly after it came out, initially enjoying it for its hip-hop approach to jazz. I’d later discover how it was constructed from improvised sessions that were later remixed and shaped through samples and edits. Miller even contributes upright bass on the release.
If you ever look at his list of upcoming events on the DJ Spooky website, you’ll find a list of international appearances ranging from concerts to lectures, art exhibitions, speaking engagements, and artist residencies. During the 2016 Ween reunion shows, I ran into Miller in a Boulder, Colorado, vegan restaurant. He told me he had a spot in town and came out there when he needed to get away from NYC to write. I have no idea how many books he’s published over the past 10 years since that encounter.
Spooky‘s June 2012 stop in Seattle was about more than just his DJ show at Barboza. The following day, Miller presented his film project, The Rebirth Of A Nation, which re-imagines D.W. Griffith‘s notoriously racist 1915 film about the KKK through a hip hop lens, by adding music and chopping up and rearranging the footage. The final image below, which shows Miller in a beret, was taken at that event, held at The Moore Theatre.
The rest of the photos shown here were taken during that Barboza performance. I don’t always bother to set up a photo pass or intend to cover every event that I attend, but if there’s no photo restriction, there’s a good chance that I’m going to walk in with my camera and shoot it regardless. I have collected thousands of images over the years, because of this, most of which have never been seen, let alone published. Nobody outside of my household has ever seen them. I’ve always liked these shots, though, so it feels weird not to share them. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like them, too.
