Electric Beethoven

Hear No Evil Electric Beethoven

Electric Beethoven is two things: 1.) A four-piece

band 2.) A groove-based improv game that uses

the framework of Beethoven's iconic songwriting

as the playing field. Reed Mathis and his fellow

musicians embark on the musical ropes through a

series of vamps (looping sections to stretch out and

improvise) and ramps (utilizing a series of chords to

move from one section to another). If the resulting

music is funky and all of the moves have genuinely

surprised one another, then they have won the game.

Hear No Evil finds the band recording six Beethoven

games, live in a room together, directly to tape, at

Color Red Studios in Denver, Colorado. While the

band's previous albums consisted of deeper cuts in

Beethoven's vast volume of repertoire, 'Hear No Evil'

focuses on six of Beethoven's most famous and wellknown tunes. "Elise" gives Beethoven's piano method

book standard "Für Elise" a funky facelift and dance

floor makeover. "The Path" uses Piano Sonata No.8

best known as "Pathétique," as it's muse as Mathis

envisions a present-times scene of the 1994 film

Immortal Beloved where Beethoven, portrayed by

Gary Oldman comes to terms with his hearing loss.

The team effort in the studio, playful improvisation,

and experimental remixes lead listeners down a path

of unknowns, ultimately connecting elements that

ignite their minds, bodies, and spirits