NEQUAQUAM VACUUM is a post-asiatic free ensemble, founded in 1999 by Mssrs. Noah Mickens and Tyler Armstrong. Over time a sound has emerged from their hours of improvisation which recalls asian and
middle eastern traditional musics, avant-classical percussion, and the noisier end of new jazz - comparisons include Harry Partch, gamelan, Einsturzende Neubauten, noh theater, John Cage, 23 Skidoo, and the music of the sufi. Their method involves the accumulation and construction of instruments from scrap metal and other found objects, played in congress with more conventional musical instruments from around the world.

They play with no premeditation, no arrangements, no composition; tapping instead into what they have come to understand as an ongoing thread of music that things and can be channelled when the mind is empty. With exposure to the Japanese dance form known as butoh through collaborations with Seattle's P.A.N. and others, Nequaquam Vacuum have grown to understand many commonalities between the two methods, and sought to combine their Work with this relatively new performance tradition.

The creation of a butoh music is one of the major directions they have taken over the years, first providing the musical soundtrack and now learning ways of merging the music and the dance. Nequaquam Vacuum has toured and recorded with a number of different line-ups; most notably as a trio featuring Armstrong, Mickens, and multi-instrumentalist Travis McAlister. Other full-time members at one time or another have included James Davis (prepared guitar), David Miranda (singing bowl, samplers), J (flute, violin, mouth harp), Brian Crowl (sitar, umbush), and Brighten Richardson (synthesizer).

In addition, Nequaquam Vacuum has recorded with The Master Musicians of Hop-Frog, Noancer, Sikhara, Ripit, and master saxophonist Steve MacKay; and performed live in collaboration with all the aforementioned projects, Soriah, Bill Horist, Moe! Staiano's Moe!Kestra,
Smegma, Linda Austin, Nathan Hubbard, Sleighted, Kamilsky, John Wiese, Fuck the Facts, Markus Wolff, Suzy Kazawa, Sam Mickens, Jherek Bischoff, Obe'Skupla, Jonathan Sielaff, and a myriad of others who share their lust for new forms of beauty in music
and movement.Along the way, they have left three
self-released full-length CDs (Nequaquam Vacuum, |0|, and Ku); and appeared on compilations from Anomalous Silencer, Psychform Records, Pan-Zen Konspiracy Nettwyrk, IBOL Magazine, and Sonick Sorcery. Their first official Radon release, Fallout Over Peking, will see the light of day in 200?.In one form or another, they will continue."

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