Many Small Functions is an electronic band located in the Boston area of Massachusetts. The band has existed for over 4 years and has played many live shows and amassed quite a collection of recordings (though not many have been released).

Many Small Functions (MSF) consists of four core members who make noise. Josh Brandt and Joe Devlin are the "charter" members of the band, and formed it while attending Northeastern University. Noise sculptor Noah Vawter joined forces with MSF some time later when Joe transferred to WPI. Originally serving as the band's live sound mixer, Steve Richardson was eventually doing more than adjusting levels and effects by mid-1996.

MSF tends to work in a somewhat chaotic fashion. There are no "songs," per se. Just about everything we do is live improvisation and playing off of one another. The tracks that are on CD and available for download are some complete (and sometimes accidental!) ideas from improvisation sessions in the studio or live at a show.

There are no "fixed positions" for the band members in MSF. We each generally do a little bit of everything -- drum machine editing, effects, synth programming, live keyboard playing, noise generation, etc. However, we do each tend to specialize a bit with what we do. Josh tends to play live keyboards (generally his Korg Wavestation or his Korg Prophecy). Joe often can be found programming beats banned by the Geneva Convention. Noah is often working magic with microcassette recorders, delay units and custom DSP hardware. Steve sometimes fiddles with Rebirth, drum machines, keyboards, or mixes and does effects manipulations. This is never a set assignment, though. Often some of our most interesting work comes out when we switch roles and experiment.

MSF produces music that has been described as "organic" and "complex." It is generally not "techno" in the four-on-the-floor disco scene sense, but it is almost entirely based on electronic sounds. Complex rhythms, trance-inducing synth lines, and reality-shattering noisescapes are just some of the elements that make up the band's multi-layered sound. Sometimes the music is laid-back, ambient, and subtle. At other times, it can be a full-out onslaught of distorted drum machines and samples mixed with a screaming sort of noise warfare. Add to the equation the chaos that improvisation brings and you have a rough idea of what's behind the music. But the only way to really get a feel is to listen for yourself.

For more information, check out the interview for the Boston Society of Mechanics that we did. This is our original edit, so the one on the BSM page may be slightly different.