Queer Trash Presents: Black Leather Jesus

For their second program as 2018 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow, Queer Trash is elated to present Black Leather Jesus, (A)sex, Mad Recital, and Rachika S. Queer Trash turns to refuse in both senses of the word: refuse of discarded detritus, and refuse as in “no fucking way.”

Promising a rousing evening of cuts and stitches, collage of space and sound and body, Queer Trash has assembled an evening that plunges deep into the marginal excesses of dominant values.

Black Leather Jesus (BLJ) have been Queer Trash’s “noise daddies” since before they can remember. Founded in 1989 by Richard Ramirez, for Queer Trash, BLJ will consist of Ramirez and his husband Sean E. Matzus. Harsh and minimal, BLJ performances are anti-music rituals of entropy and sonic decay, informed by both religion and sadomasochistic gay male sexuality. Innovators of Harsh Noise Wall, BLJ envelops the listener and environment in a thick sonic palette that, like in sadomasochism itself, is as deeply vulnerable as it is emotionally overwhelming.

Black Leather Jesus is the harsh noise unit formed in 1989 by Richard Ramirez. Originally based in Texas, BLJ is currently in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The group has had over thirty members. BLJ’s imagery primarily has been gay leather erotica and pornography. Images that has caused criticism and hate at times. The group is mainly fronted by married couple Richard Ramirez and Sean E. Matzus. Their sound is mainly “junk” noises with heavy feedback. Very minimal set up (no vocals). BLJ has also worked with such artists Smell & Quim, MSBR, Smegma, Kadaver, Nihilist Assault Group, Merzbow, Le Cose Bianche, and Andrew Liles. Black Leather Jesus was invited by Sonic Youth to open for them in 2007 in Marfa, TX (sponsored by Chinati/Donald Judd Foundation). Black Leather Jesus has toured the U.S. from coast to coast as well as Europe.

Sean E. Matzus began working in the Houston, TX experimental music scene in 2001, as a member of the improvised electronics group In the Land of Archers. He soon gravitated towards the harsh-noise faction of the scene and began his long-term collaboration with Richard Ramirez--later to become his partner and husband--as a member of numerous projects including [untitled], Nuits Rouges and Black Leather Jesus. Sean creates with a combination of field recordings, synthesizers, electronics and contact mic manipulation. His solo work ranges from harsh noise walls (HNW) in projects Thewhitehorse and The Shudder of Anguish, extreme minimalist wall noise as theNIGHTproduct to the sound-collage based experimental project A Week of Kindness and the traditional harsh noise of Red Hook. He also produces work as founder and curator and frequent artist of ongoing Queer Agitprop project Pink Triangle Series. Major influences include Chop Shop, The Haters, Etant Donnes, John Duncan and M.B. Just as important has been the “non-musical” influence of creative film sound-design, from the nightmare soundscapes of horror films to the more sculptural sound-worlds of Tarkovsky and the chaos of noise and buried dialogue in the work of Godard.
Sean lives in Southwestern Pennsylvania with his husband.

Richard Ramirez began his work in 1989 in Houston, TX with the harsh noise project Black Leather Jesus and Flesh Puppets. He began recording under his own name in 1992. The same year he began his label, Deadline Recordings (which continues today). Ramirez work was influenced by artists like The Haters, Kapotte Muziek, The New Blockaders, Merzbow, Hijokaidan, and Nurse with Wound. Openly gay, Ramirez took a lot of “heat” from the noise scene especially in his early years. He used gay erotica and extreme leather scene images in his work. At times still gets criticism and hate mail over his sexuality and art. Ramirez has toured/performed in the U.S., Canada, Japan, UK, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. He has collaborated with many experimental artists including Merzbow, G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, Thurston Moore, CON-DOM, Skullflower, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, PBK, The Rita, Prurient, MSBR, Smell & Quim, Vomir. Ramirez has many side/collaborative projects including Werewolf Jerusalem, Nuits Rouges, An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter, Fouke, & Martyr of Sores. Currently his project Nuits Rouges is working on a collaboration release with Edward Ka-Spel (The Legendary Pink Dots) to be released on Matzus-Ramirez’s label, Next Halloween Records. Ramirez resides in Southwestern Pennsylvania with his husband/collaborator.