Jason grew up further in Garden City with an open mind to a diversity of cultures, and to diversity in music. Los Minstrels Del Diablo' is the twisted audio-visual live performance 'weapon' created by Pete Coe and Jason McCombs. The two...
[more]Jason grew up further in Garden City with an open mind to a diversity of cultures, and to diversity in music. Los Minstrels Del Diablo' is the twisted audio-visual live performance 'weapon' created by Pete Coe and Jason McCombs. The two formed the group in 2001 when they realized that a type of show they wished to experience was severely lacking, that of the desire to experience live performance combining audio rhythmic sculpture with machine-gun paced video presentations.
After having experienced audio/visual assaults from the likes of Skinny Puppy, Emergency Broadcast Network, and Severed Heads, they knew they had to create something local to Detroit to represent this feverish form of entertainment.
The duo have developed their technique over many years of research and development. The musical style is a blend of electronic and industrial, with dub and ambient moments interspersed. The visual presentation is not just a backdrop, as the audio is tightly integrated with the video, and both are controlled live, both in the studio, and in front of an audience. This is made possible by an 'instrument' called VJamm, which is an audio-video sampler program originally developed for Coldcut's live shows. Los Minstrels Del Diablo are beta testers for VJamm 'Pro', having provided input towards development and functionality of the tool, alongside a handful of other hardcore VJamm performers.
"Visuals have always been important to me", says Pete. "As a painter and illustrator, I used to do a lot of artwork to music, and performing our music with video is much like painting and scuplting with sights and sounds". The band name is also sometimes misleading, as it's purpose is to be both fun and 'evil' sounding. "The Minstrels of the Devil", laughs Jason, "the name originated from Theatre Bizarre, which is a massive Halloween event that we started to DJ at in 2000. The name was made for its 'Halloween' feel, and it stayed on with us. As for the name being in Spanish, well... it sounded better in Spanish! Since the groups inception, we've grown into what we are today, performing our own original musical works, and not DJ'ing. We are not DJ's, not anymore".
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