The crazy world of brain music with Arthur Brown

The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

‘The God of Hell Fire’ plans to make the world’s first musical performance with his brain at this weekend’s Bestival

est known as the man behind the 60s No 1 single Fire, Arthur Brown is making music with his mind and will be making the world’s first performance of its kind at Bestival this weekend. Using a special electrode covered helmet that monitors his brainwaves, colours and sounds are assigned to the movement of these waves and are expressed on visual screens and through loudspeakers.

Brown first came up with the idea in the early 70s, when he wanted to hook The Pope up to an EEG machine and have his brainwaves play a solo with them on stage. However, it took until 2013 for the technology to become a possibility, after seeing an advert for a hat that would monitor brain activity. After an introduction to Neurofeedback artist Luciana Haill, and the technology’s inventor Masahiro Kahata, the three of them began to experiment together.

“The compositions of this technology will be able to gradually encompass every possible way the human can experience the world, and make a new creation from it. Perhaps even eventually creating a new universe,” explains Brown. “Some people will say it is only virtual but in these times even some scientists are proposing that this whole world we live in is in fact only a holographic projection in a presence we are not yet aware of. In which case what is the distinction between real and virtual? ‘What is music?’ then becomes a very good question indeed.”

Brown will be presenting a live show incorporating all of this with his band The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, at Bestival on 12 September. For more about the festival, visit bestival.net and for more on Arthur Brown go to arthur-brown.com

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