Illusion Of Safety

Illusion Of Safety is a collective of six people producing experimental music. They've been described as creators of ambient, post- industrial, improvisation, power electronics, sound collage and decomposition.
Since 1991 IOS has had a total of 9 full- lenght CDs released by the labels Staalplaat, Tesco, Silent, Odd Size and Complacency. Each release has been unique while still retainng the undefined characteristic of an IOS recording.
The primary goal of IOS is to explore the nature of sound and the relationship between sound and emotion. With an interest in the psychological aspects of audio and information, IOS seeks to elicit an emotional response through editing, processing and restructuring. Thruogh improvisation they attempt to develope a coherent language that exists outside of conventional musical forms, combinng electronic, acoustic and natural sources. With the use of sampling technology and sequencing, they explore deviations of structure in "music". Whether creating textural sound works or confronting serious social, political or psychological topics in composition, the sound and information are often in extreme contrast, providing a pevasive sense of irony. They explore a segmental or linear approach using obscure sources, juxtaposing the beautiful and the disturbing.
Illusion Of Safety has been the ongoing project of Dan Burke since 1983. Originally formed with the avant- rock band Dot Dot Dot to do live improv performances, in 1984 Burke began to work with Mark Klein, Mark Sorensen, and Mitch Enderle, employing a post- industrial compositional approach. Sorensen left the Chicago area in 1988 and at the same time Jim O'Rourke began to wotk with IOS. Since that time Burke has been joined by a fluctuating lineup of Thymme Jones and Chris Block (ex Dot Dot Dot), Klein, Enderle and O'Rourke. Early in 1993 O'Rourke stopped working with IOS in order to pursuse his own solo projects and in 1994 Burke began working with Kurt Greisch, a new member of IOS. Every performance and recording has had different combinations of one to six members.
The Complacancy label was founded in 1986 by Burke and Jones to release the music of IOS and Cheer- Accident.

A few excerpts from interviews:
"The very name Illusion Of Safety indirectly implies an underlying desire to shock ? - I like to use questionable subject matter (kidnapping, murder, devitation, torture, etc.) but I do not find it shocking, and I don't believe most people who listen to IOS would either. I assume most people who are into IOS know what is happening on this planet. My intention is not to shock, I think of this material as a documentary or investigation of the darker side of humanity, within which there are many contrasts and subtile ironies at play. If our music makes someone question or feel or think about something a little more or in a new way, then it has been succesful (on that level). I am looking for some kind of reaction to our music in myself as well as the listener, whether it's physical, emotional or psychological."
"A very small % of IOS output has to do with social/ political themes. There are many levels that IOS functions on and if i had to break it down to 2 of them, they would be beauty and honesty. Most of our music is quite dark and sometimes abrasive, but I find almost all of this still has a sense of beauty and aesthetic continuity. We are concerned with the overall essence of the music, how the music interacts with us and the listener, and that the elements work together texturally, emotionally and compositionally."
"As for my interest in honesty ("grim soundbites" and politically suspect subject matter), it reflects my fascination with human psychology, the dichotomy within us all, the "struggle between the violent and the sublime". Sometimes it is hard to believe what people are capable of. That is the point of a piece like 'In 70 Countries' (about political torture), anyone can be made to do almost anything under the right circumstances. Another point with this kind of subject matter is a comment on how cold people can become, especially here in America where there is so much violence we are numbed after years of media conditioning. The name Illusion Of Safety implies a recognition of the cocoon most people surround themselves with, insulation from the world, society, institutions, people and especially themselves, all of which are likely to cause harm."

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