Bombhead by El Hombre Al Agua

Back in February of 2022 I was invited by the Nanaimo Art Gallery to perform a set during the opening of their ‘Bombhead’ exhibit, which focused on the atomic bomb age of the mid 20th century. Wanting to keep things minimal, I put together a drone/loop set using only a Yamaha Reface CS synthesizer, a Korg Volca FM, a Boss RC30 looper, and my trusty Boss DD7 delay pedal, all run through an Ampeg bass head and 1x15” speaker. A 36 minute excerpt of the music presented is released now digitally and on a limited CD-R and is meant to capture all the dread, horror and sadness felt worldwide surrounding the two horrific atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 that ended WWII and plunged the world into a then-new era of fear. May we never see such events unfold ever again.

Words on the exhibit from the Nanaimo Art Gallery website: “BOMBHEAD is a thematic exhibition organized by guest curator John O’Brian and circulated by the Vancouver Art Gallery. It explores the emergence and impact of the nuclear age as represented by artists and their art. Encompassing the pre- and post-war period from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, the exhibition brings together paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, photographs, film, video and ephemera that deal with this subject matter strongly associated with obliteration and destruction.

In the mid-1980s reports of American nuclear powered and nuclear armed submarines visiting Nanoose Bay sparked widespread protests in the community, and in 1987 the City declared Nanaimo a Nuclear Free Zone. There have been fewer disarmament protests in Nanaimo since the end of the Cold War, but the themes explored in BOMBHEAD continue to be relevant in this region and around the world. Exploring the profound impact of nuclear technologies, BOMBHEAD is the final exhibition in a year in which Nanaimo Art Gallery asks What is Progress?”

https://nanaimoartgallery.ca/exhibition/bombhead/

Tracklist

1.	Bombhead	36:02

Credits

released October 7, 2022

All music and artwork by Dave Read aka El Hombre Al Agua
Cover photo by Valentina

License