Christopher and Benji (Simmersbach) "THE DURGAS"   THE DURGAS is the latest musical project from the musical leaders of A Subtle Plague, and A Drastic Measure.. Their music mixes American Pop with an intercontinental flavor, reflecting their up-bringing as a world-travelling family (documented in the award winning ZDF/ARTE documentary "The Big Pink"), and their experiences gathered during their many travels as musicians. Their previous bands "A SUBTLE PLAGUE" (1984-1998) and "A DRASTIC MEASURE" (1998-2003), achieved notoriety through their extensive european and US tours, sans arret, with kids, sisters, brothers, mothers, grandmothers, and friends, earning them comparisons to "the Greatful Dead of the nineties" by Rolling Stone Magazine in Germany. Benjii and Christopher have been a seminal part of the San Francisco music scene, as well as the european music scene, having home bases both in San Francisco and Budapest. Their notoriety reaches beyond the music industry to the Film/art communities in both hemispheres (They have worked on award winning soundtracks and have had their music presented in several international films/documentaries). Most recently they participated in a series of successful concerts in Kosovo as part of the ongoing United Nations peace initiative and reconciliation efforts between the Kosovo-Albanians and Kosovo-Serbs. They have recorded many cd's and singles, and have been presented in numerous compilations.   Lazarus   www.williamlazarus.com   Formerly and integral part of Tarentel and The Drift, Trevor Montgomery is now Lazarus, the voice that sings with projected whispers while a lonely acoustic guitar trails slowly behind. With an intimacy so direct you can feel the breath on the back of your neck. Lazarus is here to help you when youčre having trouble getting that first tear to roll over your eyelids. A sadness that is catotonic, a hopelessness that is fleeting, and an optimism that is waiting to strike you through the heart when you least expect it. Lazarus has released an album, on Temporary Residence, www.temporaryresidence.com, The album is described as the shimmering, striking confessions of a man tired of telling stories.   Nate Denver's Neck   http://www.dirtythree.net/kcnd.htm   Fusing elements of folk music, full fledged death metal, and pure unadulterated pop, into something wholly unique, Denver's music is as catchy as it is disturbing. Like a child of Slayer, as a member of the Peter, Paul, and Mary, Denver veers from fanciful narrative folk-pop to demonic death-metal missles all the while making the transitions between seem not only natural but logical. He often performs in a variety of death masks (he also adds a scepter to his guitar) to accent the edge of his musical performance. His first album, Preparte to Die, was released by Dirty Three guitar player, Mick Turner's label, King Crab (http://www.dirtythree.com). His Second album, No One is Coming To Help You, will be out in March on Dark Yoga (formerly Black Apple Records).   Radius   www.radiusmusic.net   Jeff Ray who was the principal songwriter for the San Francisco post art-punk band, Zmrzlina, http://www.zmrzlina.com, has created a project, along with keyboardist and sound engineer, Mark Edwards, called Radius, http://www.radiusmusic.net. Radius's unique version of folk is often described as folktronica., which is a hybrid of ambient and melodic laptop electronica, and folk stylings. There are beautiful ethereal melodies, samples, and sounds coming from the electronics that well up from underneath the sweet vocals, and warm acoustic guitar. Think a combination of John Fahey, Nick Drake, Lou Reed, Syd Barret, Aphex Twin, and Fennesz. Radius's debut album, Please Hold On, will be out in March, 2004. Jeff Ray has also been accepted into a prestigious residency for the Headlands Center for the Arts, (http://www.headlands.org), to pursue his Radius project, as well as his sound installations, which includes a piece he is creating for the Project Room in Philadelphia.     The Tour may also feature one or more of the following *rotating acts:   PALLINDRONE (Swe) Improvised concrete lo-fi madness with hidden melodies, distant noisy drones, field recordings, broken sounds, toy instrument, contact microphones, kitchen equipment and food... Pallindrone is a new soloprojekt from Christian Pallin (ex Hypertoni) from Gothenburg. In November 2003 he released the EP "Sing Sang" (Fukk god 028) on the great mp3 label "Fukk god Lets create" And in the end of Februari Fukk gog will release the second EP (fukkgod 031), with is a collabration with the Smyglyssna (Vertical Form/Plug Research)   http://www.fukkgod.org   Mike Donovon Palindrone (Sweden) Paddington Distortion Combo (Sweden) Kiila (Finland)   *These are acts that have shown strong interest in playing on this tour and may join during a portion and/ or all of the tour.               ©2004 Mission Creek Productions. Illustration by Veronica de Jesus, site design by Daphne Bernard.