Environmental Encroachment
Encyclopedia
Environmental Encroachment (also known as "EE") is a Chicago
-based marching band and performance art troupe. Its origins date back to 1994 with the mission to create site-specific adult playground installations. In its current incarnation, EE fuses traditional Latin and North African rhythms with folk, jazz, and rock melodies, along with incorporating circus antics, costumes, and dance, to provide a spectacle which has been described as “incomparable to anything in the world.”
, a revolving see-saw, and also a crude set of drums and barrels for providing music. This installation was the start of many guerrilla-style events through the year, including a net and swing hanging under the 18th Street Bridge over the Chicago River
, and a guerrilla playground on a lagoon island in Humboldt Park (Chicago park)
. More installations became more elaborate and performance within the installation evolved. Interactive sculptures, as well as the style of net hangings and zip-line rides, were a fresh addition to Chicago's art and music scene.
Dave Christensen's "Freak Bike", a four-person drum bicycle, which Smith and Christensen smuggled onto Navy Pier
for that year's Art Chicago
International Exposition, became another mode of mobile and interactive art. They also rode it in the 1996 Democratic National Convention
protest parade.
EE was performing within its installations in order to test them for safety before foisting them upon the general public. Masks and costumes started to be worn, and eventually video and other documentation was taken of these installations and performances.
In 1996, EE started its three year participation in HADES Haunted Houses, the Midwest's largest haunted house. EE created its own room with the nets, and sculptures, and then also performed and acted within its own installation room. There were 18 total 4-hour performances over the course of the run. It had elements of loud music, such as bass and drums running through sound effects. It also had people swinging around in scary costumes and make-up from and in nets. These three years of installations at HADES established music and costume, as well as shadow puppetry, as a main ingredient in EE.
In 1997, EE was invited to DEFENESTRATION, a large-scale performance festival in San Francisco, based on environmental sculpture. Hundreds of performers performed in an abandoned building turned live art environment in the Mission District, San Francisco, California
. At that point, the late artist Peter Kadyk was putting together a marching band for the event, and members of Environmental Encroachment took part. EE brought back the idea of a mobile marching musical band to Chicago, to involve these elements and fuse them into the group.
Some of the early members, including John Santoro, Deron Cavaletti, Smith, Scott "Whitey" Larson, and Charly Barbera, had been seriously studying African and Caribbean drumming. Smith took up the trombone, Larson the tuba, and others such as saxophonist Kurt Iselt, North African-style percussionist Quentin Shaw and trombonist Bret Lortie joined EE, providing a musically-sound basis for the group's future. Iselt is credited with writing some of the first melodies for EE, a number of which are still currently used. Shaw is credited with the group's Moroccan influences.
The group was invited as a main performer in the now-defunct Cleveland International Performance Art Festival, a run in Pittsburgh at the Black Sheep Puppet Festival, and in Chicago as a regular at their Summer Solstice Performance event.
. Within 8 months, he succumbed to the disease. He was 28 years old at the time of his death. David died in Richmond, VA. His work was on display days after his death in the Shockoe Bottom section of Richmond, VA. His friends and family attended two services for David, one in Richmond, VA and the other in Chicago, IL. He is currently buried in the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
After Christensen's death and Cavalletti's eventual departure from EE, the theatrics of the group were altered by the introduction of new energies. Percussionist Peter Mueller, a graduate of Northwestern University
with a degree in Performance Studies, helped to engineer scripted puppetry. Designer and projectionist David Ruiz, along with fellow designers T.J. Darwin and David Marine, created elaborate sets, costumes and puppets. This set EE up to eventually be invited to perform at Pittsburgh, PA's annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, appearing each year from 1999 to 2002. Thanks to David Marine's efforts as coordinator and set builder, they were also invited to participate in Chicago's Puppetropolis, a one-off puppetry festival held in 2001 at various locations in the city. As a puppetry troupe, EE staged various shows: "The Ancient Astronauts of Ohm-Bah", "The Legend of the Piasa Bird", and an aquatic-themed puppet play called "Tofishy". It was at this point that the group hit an all-time professional peak, participating in a number of city-sanctioned special events and even being asked to appear at a NASCAR
event at the Chicagoland Speedway
.
Dan Merlo - trombone, trumpet, percussion
Rich Capalbo - trombone, bass guitar
Jimmy Vonesh - saxophones, vocals
Carlos Pecciotto Jr. - percussion, vocals
Blake Beckstrom - percussion, props
Peter Mueller - percussion, hooping
Bob DeVore - percussion
Joe Correia - Sousaphone
Robert Katovich - Tuba
John Santoro - bass guitar
Kate Riegle-van West - flute, percussion, acrobatics, fire spinning
Cale Piepenburg - flute, piccolo, trombone, saxophone, fire spinning
Tzippy Rhodes - flute
Adam Clark - trumpet
Jeff Wichmann - trumpet
Yahn Van de Walle - trumpet
Abel Marin-Laflèche - trumpet
Adam Zeisler - juggling, movement art, fire manipulation
Members currently residing outside Chicago/Regular special guests:
Tara Teppen-Vonesh - trumpet
Mike Morton - saxophone, trombone, percussion
Laurel Sache Garrett - percussion
Nathan Torrence - trombone, alto saxophone
Bret Lortie - trombone
Joseph Lahdenperä Sheedy (Yellow Hat Band, Seattle) - saxophone
Jay Laubscher - tuba
Eugene Dane aka Fukashima (Dallas) - Trumpet
David Marine - percussion, theremin
Adam Loudermilk (Hungry March Band
, NYC) - percussion
Michelle Hardesty - (Rude Mechanical Orchestra, NYC) - bass drum
Markus Launsburry (Blood of Martyrs, Baba Yaga) - percussion
Tom "Breakfast" Dennehy (Love Gutter, Santa Cruz, CA) - saxophone, percussion, vocals
T.J. Darwin - Native American flute, props, percussion
David Silverman
(Burning Band, L.A., S.F)- flaming sousaphone
Amanda Legner - percussion
Charlie Malave - percussion
Lollapalooza
, HONK!
, HONK! West, Chicago Folk and Roots Fest, Burning Man
, Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Chic-a-go-go
, Chiditarod, Boneyard Arts Festival, Houston Art Car Parade, WZRD Pheremone Friday Outdoor Festival, Undershorts Film Festival, Puppetropolis, MovieSide Film Festival with Jim Jarmusch, Swing House: Brooklyn Lyceum, Version Fest, Rotary International 100 Year Anniversary, Michigan Peace Festival, City of Chicago's Frozen Fun Fest, SOURCE Maui, Dos Equis Most Interesting Academy Flash, New York City Decompression
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based marching band and performance art troupe. Its origins date back to 1994 with the mission to create site-specific adult playground installations. In its current incarnation, EE fuses traditional Latin and North African rhythms with folk, jazz, and rock melodies, along with incorporating circus antics, costumes, and dance, to provide a spectacle which has been described as “incomparable to anything in the world.”
Origins
Environmental Encroachment was founded in Chicago, in late 1994 for the purpose of providing site-specific, playground environments, with interactive sculpture and music. On New Year's Eve, 1994, the founders of Environmental Encroachment—Dave Christensen and Mike Smith—along with a group of friends, built the first open-to-the-public art playground environment with a hanging cargo net for climbing, a zip-lineZip-line
A zip-line consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline...
, a revolving see-saw, and also a crude set of drums and barrels for providing music. This installation was the start of many guerrilla-style events through the year, including a net and swing hanging under the 18th Street Bridge over the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
, and a guerrilla playground on a lagoon island in Humboldt Park (Chicago park)
Humboldt Park (Chicago park)
Humboldt Park is a park located on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois at 1400 North Sacramento Avenue.The park was named for Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist. William Le Baron Jenney began developing the park in the 1870s, molding a flat prairie landscape into a "pleasure ground"...
. More installations became more elaborate and performance within the installation evolved. Interactive sculptures, as well as the style of net hangings and zip-line rides, were a fresh addition to Chicago's art and music scene.
Dave Christensen's "Freak Bike", a four-person drum bicycle, which Smith and Christensen smuggled onto Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
for that year's Art Chicago
Art Chicago
Art Chicago is an international contemporary art exhibition held each year in Chicago, Illinois. It is Chicago's longest-running and only remaining major contemporary art exposition.-History:...
International Exposition, became another mode of mobile and interactive art. They also rode it in the 1996 Democratic National Convention
1996 Democratic National Convention
The 1996 Democratic National Convention of the was held at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois from August 26 to August 29, 1996. Incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton was renominated for President of United States.-Site selection:...
protest parade.
EE was performing within its installations in order to test them for safety before foisting them upon the general public. Masks and costumes started to be worn, and eventually video and other documentation was taken of these installations and performances.
In 1996, EE started its three year participation in HADES Haunted Houses, the Midwest's largest haunted house. EE created its own room with the nets, and sculptures, and then also performed and acted within its own installation room. There were 18 total 4-hour performances over the course of the run. It had elements of loud music, such as bass and drums running through sound effects. It also had people swinging around in scary costumes and make-up from and in nets. These three years of installations at HADES established music and costume, as well as shadow puppetry, as a main ingredient in EE.
In 1997, EE was invited to DEFENESTRATION, a large-scale performance festival in San Francisco, based on environmental sculpture. Hundreds of performers performed in an abandoned building turned live art environment in the Mission District, San Francisco, California
Mission District, San Francisco, California
The Mission District, also commonly called "The Mission", is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, USA, originally known as "the Mission lands" meaning the lands belonging to the sixth Alta California mission, Mission San Francisco de Asis...
. At that point, the late artist Peter Kadyk was putting together a marching band for the event, and members of Environmental Encroachment took part. EE brought back the idea of a mobile marching musical band to Chicago, to involve these elements and fuse them into the group.
Some of the early members, including John Santoro, Deron Cavaletti, Smith, Scott "Whitey" Larson, and Charly Barbera, had been seriously studying African and Caribbean drumming. Smith took up the trombone, Larson the tuba, and others such as saxophonist Kurt Iselt, North African-style percussionist Quentin Shaw and trombonist Bret Lortie joined EE, providing a musically-sound basis for the group's future. Iselt is credited with writing some of the first melodies for EE, a number of which are still currently used. Shaw is credited with the group's Moroccan influences.
The group was invited as a main performer in the now-defunct Cleveland International Performance Art Festival, a run in Pittsburgh at the Black Sheep Puppet Festival, and in Chicago as a regular at their Summer Solstice Performance event.
Death and Transformation
In June of 1996, Christensen was diagnosed with lymphomaLymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
. Within 8 months, he succumbed to the disease. He was 28 years old at the time of his death. David died in Richmond, VA. His work was on display days after his death in the Shockoe Bottom section of Richmond, VA. His friends and family attended two services for David, one in Richmond, VA and the other in Chicago, IL. He is currently buried in the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
After Christensen's death and Cavalletti's eventual departure from EE, the theatrics of the group were altered by the introduction of new energies. Percussionist Peter Mueller, a graduate of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
with a degree in Performance Studies, helped to engineer scripted puppetry. Designer and projectionist David Ruiz, along with fellow designers T.J. Darwin and David Marine, created elaborate sets, costumes and puppets. This set EE up to eventually be invited to perform at Pittsburgh, PA's annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, appearing each year from 1999 to 2002. Thanks to David Marine's efforts as coordinator and set builder, they were also invited to participate in Chicago's Puppetropolis, a one-off puppetry festival held in 2001 at various locations in the city. As a puppetry troupe, EE staged various shows: "The Ancient Astronauts of Ohm-Bah", "The Legend of the Piasa Bird", and an aquatic-themed puppet play called "Tofishy". It was at this point that the group hit an all-time professional peak, participating in a number of city-sanctioned special events and even being asked to appear at a NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
event at the Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, USA, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and currently hosts NASCAR racing including the opening event in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Until 2011, the speedway also hosted the IZOD IndyCar Series, recording...
.
"The Magic Circus Band"
EE took on this subtitle in early 2009 with the arrival of Kate Riegle-van West, a young performer with circus/acrobatic experience. Prior to Riegle-van West's involvement, the group had already incorporated feats such as hooping while playing an instrument as well as dedicated jugglers. The subtitle now gives proper credit and billing to the full spectacle that the group currently presents.Bunny Ears
Taking their inspiration from the Billion Bunny March, which is held yearly at the Burning Man Festival, bunny ears have become synonymous with the band. The band began to adopt bunny ears as a full-time costume accoutrement in April 2006, after an Easter "space bunnies"-themed performance. The band is friendly to all furry creatures.Unique Personnel Makeup
The personnel of Environmental Encroachment is so numerous and fluctuates so much so (due to the lives and outside responsibilities of individual members) that it is virtually impossible to include all current members in any given appearance. Over the years, many former mainstays have moved on while the group seems to be constantly replenished by new, younger talent. This has been the continuing trend ever since the beginning. Additionally, it is worth noting that EE is also an intergenerational group: Some of its current members are grandparents, some are parents, and some are college-age and younger. At least 2 father-and-son combinations have been part of the group at one point, as well as at least 3 husband-and-wife combos.Current Roster
Mike Smith - bandleader, trombone, percussion, acrobatics, fire spinningDan Merlo - trombone, trumpet, percussion
Rich Capalbo - trombone, bass guitar
Jimmy Vonesh - saxophones, vocals
Carlos Pecciotto Jr. - percussion, vocals
Blake Beckstrom - percussion, props
Peter Mueller - percussion, hooping
Bob DeVore - percussion
Joe Correia - Sousaphone
Robert Katovich - Tuba
John Santoro - bass guitar
Kate Riegle-van West - flute, percussion, acrobatics, fire spinning
Cale Piepenburg - flute, piccolo, trombone, saxophone, fire spinning
Tzippy Rhodes - flute
Adam Clark - trumpet
Jeff Wichmann - trumpet
Yahn Van de Walle - trumpet
Abel Marin-Laflèche - trumpet
Adam Zeisler - juggling, movement art, fire manipulation
Members currently residing outside Chicago/Regular special guests:
Tara Teppen-Vonesh - trumpet
Mike Morton - saxophone, trombone, percussion
Laurel Sache Garrett - percussion
Nathan Torrence - trombone, alto saxophone
Bret Lortie - trombone
Joseph Lahdenperä Sheedy (Yellow Hat Band, Seattle) - saxophone
Jay Laubscher - tuba
Eugene Dane aka Fukashima (Dallas) - Trumpet
David Marine - percussion, theremin
Adam Loudermilk (Hungry March Band
Hungry March Band
The Hungry March Band is a brass band with approximately 15 active musicians and performers. In performance, the group's size can vary from five to fifty: from an intimate quintet to a giant entourage of musicians, dancers, baton twirlers, hula hoopers, and second-liners...
, NYC) - percussion
Michelle Hardesty - (Rude Mechanical Orchestra, NYC) - bass drum
Markus Launsburry (Blood of Martyrs, Baba Yaga) - percussion
Tom "Breakfast" Dennehy (Love Gutter, Santa Cruz, CA) - saxophone, percussion, vocals
T.J. Darwin - Native American flute, props, percussion
David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
(Burning Band, L.A., S.F)- flaming sousaphone
Amanda Legner - percussion
Charlie Malave - percussion
Notable Gigs
Over the years EE has performed at a variety of festivals and events including:Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
, HONK!
HONK!
HONK! is a series of music festivals held in various cities across North America. These festivals showcase ambulatory, acoustic bands playing music in public spaces.-Description:...
, HONK! West, Chicago Folk and Roots Fest, Burning Man
Burning Man
Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Monday before the American Labor Day holiday, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...
, Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Chic-a-go-go
Chic-a-Go-Go
Chic-a-Go-Go is a Public-access television cable TV children's dance show that airs on Chicago Access Network Television . The show bills itself as "Chicago's Dance Show for Kids of All Ages".-Show description:...
, Chiditarod, Boneyard Arts Festival, Houston Art Car Parade, WZRD Pheremone Friday Outdoor Festival, Undershorts Film Festival, Puppetropolis, MovieSide Film Festival with Jim Jarmusch, Swing House: Brooklyn Lyceum, Version Fest, Rotary International 100 Year Anniversary, Michigan Peace Festival, City of Chicago's Frozen Fun Fest, SOURCE Maui, Dos Equis Most Interesting Academy Flash, New York City Decompression
External links
- Official website
- YouTube Channel
- Facebook Profile
- Myspace Profile
- CD Baby
- NPR Weekend America Special "Marching Bands in the Street" - a radio interview with John Moe featuring Mike Smith
- "Environmental Encroachment" by Jon Graef - ChicagoINNERVIEW
- "Environmental Encroachment Marching Band takes over UI campus" by Missy Smith - Daily Illini
- "They got the funk" By Leah Pietrusiak - Time Out Chicago
- "Black Sheep Puppet Festival returns - Environmental Encroachment" by Derek J. Fuchs - Pittsburgh Tribune
- "Chicago's bunny-loving marching band hops into Kraftbrau Brewery" by John Liberty - Kalamazoo Gazette