Jeff Witscher
{{short description|Electronic musician}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Jeff Witscher
| image = Jeff Witscher in 2019.png
| image_size =
| landscape = yes
| alt =
| caption = Jeff Witscher in 2019
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name =
| alias = Rene Hell, Secret Abuse, Marble Sky, Abelar Scout, Impregnable
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1983|8|13|mf=y}}
| birth_place =
| origin = Long Beach, California, U.S.
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| years_active = 2001–present
| label = {{flatlist|
}}
| associated_acts = {{hlist|Oneohtrix Point Never|James Ferraro|Sun Araw|Pete Swanson|No Age|Daren Ho|Jack Callahan}}
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
Jeff Witscher (born August 13, 1983) is an American electronic musician.
Biography
Witscher has recorded and performed under many aliases, of which the best-known is Rene Hell.{{cite interview|url=https://www.dummymag.com/features/rene-hell-interview/|title="Hello, Rene Hell!"|accessdate=26 April 2020|first=Jeff|last=Witscher|interviewer=Charlie Jones|date=2 May 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/rene_hell_explains_conscious_unconscious_shift_of_terminal_symphony|title=Rene Hell Explains the Conscious and Unconscious Shift of The Terminal Symphony|accessdate=26 April 2020|first=Mark|last=Rich|date=4 May 2011}}{{cite interview|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/13511-rene-hell-interview-pan-vanilla-call-option|title=INTERVIEW: Rene Hell|accessdate=26 April 2020|interviewer=Ned Raggett|first=Jeff|last=Witsher|date=4 October 2013}}{{Cite interview|last=Witscher|first=Jeff|interviewer=Steve Smith|date=20 February 2015|title=Jeff Witscher brings hardy, heady electronic music to Boston|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/02/20/rene-hell-raiser/eylPSC3LplMaJiRJOZCpFO/story.html|access-date=2020-06-03|newspaper=The Boston Globe|language=en-US}}
Witscher got his start in the underground music scene in Los Angeles, CA in the early 2000s performing with his brother Greg in groups such as Rainbow Blanket and Cruel Face. In 2004 he started the label Callow God, releasing music by many important west coast Harsh Noise artists. Following a move to Iowa City in 2007 Witscher began using the moniker Rene Hell. During this time he began the label Agents of Chaos, on which he released the earliest Rene Hell releases along with releases by Keith Fullerton Whitman, Greg Davis and many others.
In 2013 he released Vanilla Call Option on PAN.{{cite web|url=https://p-a-n.org/release/pan-40-rene-hell-vanilla-call-option/|title=Rene Hell "Vanilla Call Option"|accessdate=26 April 2020|website=PAN}}
In 2018 he released Approximately 1,000 Beers under his name on his own imprint Salon.{{cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/jeff-witscher-approximately-1-000-beers|title=Jeff Witscher "Approximately 1,000 Beers"|accessdate=26 April 2020|date=6 August 2018|website=www.tinymixtapes.com}}
In April 2019 he performed at the festival Neo-Pastiche: Changes in American Music at Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center in Asheville, NC alongside Petr Kotik, the S.E.M. Ensemble and other contemporary experimental artists.{{cite web|url=http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/neo-pastiche-changes-in-american-music-festival/|title=NEO PASTICHE: CHANGES IN AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL|accessdate=26 April 2020|date=2 January 2019|website=Black Mountain College + Arts Center}}
In May 2019 Witscher and Jack Callahan performed their collaborative piece What Happens on Earth Stays on Earth at ISSUE Project Room.{{cite web|url=https://issueprojectroom.org/event/jeff-witscher-rene-hell-jack-callahan-die-reihe-what-happens-earth-stays-earth|title=JEFF WITSCHER (RENE HELL) & JACK CALLAHAN (DIE REIHE): WHAT HAPPENS ON EARTH STAYS ON EARTH|accessdate=10 June 2020|date=4 May 2019}} In late 2020 Callahan and Witscher founded the contemporary music label Flea.{{cite web|url=https://boomkat.com/products/the-past-present-and-future-of-experimental-music-uncut-grm|title=Jack Callahan & Jeff Witscher The Past, Present and Future of Experimental Music (Uncut GRM)
|accessdate=12 August 2021|date=1 October 2020}}
Discography
=As Rene Hell=
- Vanilla Call Option LP (PAN, 2013)
- Music for Reliquary House / In 1980 I Was a Blue Square (split with Oneohtrix Point Never LP (NNA Tapes, 2012)
- The Terminal Symphony LP (Type, 2011)
- Porcelain Opera LP (Type, 2010)
=As Jeff Witscher=
- Bifurcating A Resounding No! CD (Salon, 2014)
- Approximately 1,000 Beers CD (Salon, 2018)
- Cob Music Cassette (Bánh Mì Verlag, 2019)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.discogs.com/artist/719332-Jeff-Witscher Discogs entry for Jeff Witscher]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witscher, Jeff}}
Category:American electronic musicians