In One man band x n, a group of performers don MP3 players and, through headphones, play along to tracks picked at random from favourite song playlists, whilst their instrumental outputs pass freely out into the venue. There is no restriction on song style and instrumentation, and the maximum duration for any single playing of One man band x n is five minutes.
The technique of separating a performer from performance environment via headphones is by no means original: such a technique has been employed by the likes of Gavin Bryars, Alvin Lucier, John Lely and Joshua Fried.
One man band x n employs this technique of performer separation to comment on ways in which technology has impacted our use of music, from a social perspective. Also of interest is the use of a fixed recording to create something the performer can call their own.
This video shows a cycle of three performances of One man band x n, and featured Peyee Chen on vocals, Pat Allison on electric guitar, Adam Jansch on bass guitar, and Scott McLaughlin on drums.
One man band x n