Erik Ljung
Exploring death and celebrating life.
The end is near for the Death Blues project.
The collaborative, multimedia venture of Milwaukee-based percussionist Jon Mueller (best known for his work in bands like Collections of Colonies of Bees and Volcano Choir) will hold a final performance at Spring Green’s Shitty Barn on June 10, just three years after the release of its manifesto.
The document, written by Mueller and published in November 2012, affirms that life is finite. It’s also a call to action, serving as a catalyst for celebrating life.
“We know our time is finite, yet rather than give in to hopelessness, we celebrate and pursue happiness through our relationships, through our ideas and through our actions,” Mueller writes in the manifesto.
How he would turn the message into music mystified many. “It was difficult to get some people to wrap their heads around because it was a stretch in some ways,” Mueller says in a recent phone interview.
The first hint came with Death Blues’ self-titled LP, released the same day the manifesto was published. It’s a minimal, repetitive six-song effort based around the sound of a hammer hitting an acoustic guitar. The following weekend was Death Blues’ first performance, an engaging two nights that included music, dance, food and a labyrinth.
Over the next two years, with more than 50 contributing members, Death Blues continued to deliver its message using multiple mediums of expression, including companion essays — a focus that made the project more rewarding for Mueller and for the audience.
“I feel [that by] working in contexts that involved a bigger picture, or more potential areas of interest, there were definitely ways to capture people’s attention and get them to at least think about some of the ideas that are being presented,” says Mueller.
While Death Blues consists of bare instrumentals meant to represent the finality of death, 2014’s Ensemble is a sweeping nine-track suite that attempts to capture different life stages using percussion, woodwinds and stringed instruments. It’s a complicated recording that, when paired with its seven essays, provides an emotionally rewarding experience.
Mueller decided to conclude his project to avoid rehashing its singular vision on another record. And that’s understandable because Death Blues has come full circle: What began as a meditation on the power of being present evolved into a multimedia effort on life’s vast complexities.
Says Mueller: “I think that duality is a great way to end the project.”
