Deft Esoterica

Deft Esoterica is an international zine periodical focused on experimental music and sound art.

Growing up somewhat geographically isolated in the mostly pre-internet era, and developing tastes that often ran counter to the prevailing culture of the time, it was the lovely and close-knit NNY punk/hardcore music scene that exposed Claude to zine culture.  Later, founding the only “Independent” music section for over 150 miles at the record store he worked at, he had access to indie distributors who seemed to carry everything he was looking for. This included scads of independently produced magazines (“zines”), along with obscure vinyl releases and CDs.  The zines were a vital resource, a finger on the pulse of a thriving underground culture.  Something took root.

Fast-forwarding to the present, Deft Esoterica is a bit of an oddity.  A print-only publication in an internet world.  It’s also something of a success, with sales in twenty countries and pushing three-quarters of these United States.  The formula is straightforward: a few unhurried interviews with fascinating artists working at the fringes of experimental/electronic music/sound art, succinct reviews of obscure albums worthy of attention, and maybe an essay, all with Ola’s abstract drawings and illustrations.  The print is big enough to read easily and the design standards are consistent.  Every issue is folded and stapled by hand at our kitchen table, as nature intended.  Individual and pairs of issues ship internationally as a “letter” or “large envelope”, which means you aren’t charged “package” rates and customs isn’t involved.  There are discounts for ordering bundles of two issues.

We are committed to keeping every issue “in print” and back issues are as relevant as the day they were published.  In today’s fast-paced world, Deft Esoterica strives to be a welcoming invitation for discovery on the printed page.

https://deftesoterica.bandcamp.com/

Additionally, Claude has written for the Italian blogzine Horizontalpitch about his relationship with the modular synthesizer. This features some of Ola’s illustrations.

http://www.horizontalpitch.com/2020/01/my-relationship-with-eurorack/

Cooking breakfast for Figure From Ground at our host Marc Drinkwater’s place after playing a couple shows with his improvisation collective Fable Grazer in the Boston area lead to the publication of the recipe for Claude’s “Indian-inspired Breakfast Curry” in the United Kingdom’s premier experimental music and cuisine zine, ChewN, also with an illustration by Ola:

https://chewnzine.bigcartel.com/product/issue-4

Claude also contributed a “Top Five” list of noise revelations in the Toronto, Canada-based Walls of Confinement zine.  Noah might have some of these left, you can contact him to ask: wallsofconfinement@gmail.com

It’s of note, too, that Deft Esoterica issue three-and-a-half is a dual publication split issue with England’s illustrious TQ zine.  It’s a great way to get a feel for both publications and to order from whichever continent is closer to your mailbox.

Unsolicited praise for Deft Esoterica from around the interwebs (and the world):

“Really really nicely written - respectful and to-the-point, with none of the density or heavy academic-lite one encounters so often in writing about experimental music. Interviews...all wonderfully longform and given the space and breath not just to discuss their composition practice, but more importantly HOW they came to it, and how histories and situations inform their development...plus record reviews - again refreshingly clear and illuminative, without showy prose or clunky arthouse references...also Ola's abstract accompanying illustrations are AMAZING! Love so much!” -Matt Fifield, CHEWn zine

“another wonderful issue that I can’t recommend enough. Claude's ‘voice’ in his writing is inquisitive, passionate, and positive...these little zines are just so refreshing.” -Connor Bell, Shedding

“Long form, in depth interviews and beautiful pen and ink art make it different from anything in the ziniverse” -Chris Whitehead, TQ Zine

“A cracking zine in general” -Simon Klee, Anticipating Nowhere

“...wonderful interviews, essays, and reviews that lead to plenty of musical discovery.” -Jerod Sommerfeldt, composer and true gentleman from Wisconsin

Okay, these were solicited as I submitted issues for review:

“Claude Aldous sent the first two copies of his zine, Deft Esoterica, a couple of months ago to Waveform HQ and we’ve been enjoying them during breaks between working on our own literary publication. Interviews with experimental artists like FernLodge, NUM, and the like encapsulate the heartbeat of this zine. With music reviews, abstract line drawings, the aforementioned interviews, and download codes to check out new music, if you like deftness, and Esoterica-ness, be deft and check it out.” -Ellison Wolf/Waveform Magazine

“...how I love my fanzines best. Every time I get a new fanzine, and unfortunately way too many, I am jealous that these Vital words no longer exist on paper. They did, from 1986 to 1995, and while it was a hassle to produce a fanzine and ship it out to subscribers, it was also 'easy' to go digital back then and stick with that, now for almost 25 years. But looking at the sixty A5 sized pages of Deft Esoterica Issue Two, I would love to go back and do one again myself. The content of this issue are three lengthy interviews with Fernlodge and Raoul van Herpen, both of whom I had not heard (and the latter being Dutch, which made it even more peculiar) and Calineczka, whose music has been reviewed a couple of times in these pages, plus a bunch of reviews that include one released by Roland Kuit, also Dutch, never heard of. How Vital is Vital actually, when a US fanzine introduces me to Dutch artists? The interviews are about motivations, ideas, equipment used and 'the scene'

in which they operate (or not) and not the usual 'I recorded this, released that' type of questioning. Issue one, so Bandcamp learns me included Angelo Vincent Jr, NUM and Phil Maguire and on offer is the possibility to buy both fanzines in one bundle, which I highly recommend, even when I haven’t read volume one myself.” -Frans De Waard/Vital Weekly