El Deth is an art collective, recording studio and publishing house in Knoxville, Tennessee. It has developed and grown through the efforts and abilities of many people over many fruitive years. Here is an approximate timeline tracing from its inception to its present form:

1994 - After a childhood of making open air, boombox cassette recordings, Arrison Kirby uses a glitchy cassette deck to chop up and manipulate other people's music. At this time, they also begin experimenting with their father's video camera. They meet David Dalton through a mutal aquaintance and their similar musical tastes makes them quick and inevitable friends (however touch and go considering their separate schools and lack of drivers licenses). Arrison's sister, Ashley, receives a Singalodeon Dual Cassette Karaoke Machine from their parents for Christmas.

1995 - Arrison usurps the Singalodeon upon realizing its overdubbing capabilities, and learns that a guitar or keyboard can be plugged into it just as well as a microphone. And so, naturally, they invite their friend, Daniel Brown, over to start a band and record some improvised songs. With nary an understanding of music between them, and armed with guitar and voice, they puke out eight horrible "concept pieces" in about twenty minutes. The duo call themselves Wednesday's Obsession. After that, Arrison uses the Singalodeon to create solo songs that are just as awful, but a bit more measured; adding a keyboard, as well as samples. All of this is stored on cassette and cataloged under the El Deth name.

1996 - Arrison's father gives them a small four channel mixer, which they connect to two cassette recorders. This improves their sound and ability to experiment. Arrison finishes the collection of manipulated works, calls it Remixes Old and Bizarre and categorizes it under the El Deth imprint. In high school, Arrison befriends real musicians with actual technical skill: Larry Palais, Justin Miller and Eric Wiggs. They also befriend Shane Keith who is as much of a fellow music enthusiast. Together with some other students, as part of a school project, they form a "fake band" called The Wall Ants and record a fictional documentary about said band. This includes the recording of two Wall Ants songs (one that is improvised by Larry with everyone else singing along and one that consists of Eric and Justin jamming over a preprogrammed keyboard beat). Inspired, Arrison attempts to reform Wednesday's Obsession with Larry and Shane. As with its prior incarnation, it is a largely improvisational "studio project," but with better direction, as well as overdubs and edits. Also, Larry's actual ability to sing and play guitar in tune provides a new brightness and definition. Wednesday's Obsession, in this form, produces a handful of tracks and is never spoken of again. Arrison begins experimenting with sound editing on a computer.

1997 - While working at Celebration Station in Knoxville, Arrison meets Dustin Basalla. Music production ceases in favor of video production as the two seek out and document urban exploration of Knoxville and surrounding areas. This collection of footage is catalogued under a new imprint, Adventures in Knoxville. Meanwhile, Shane Keith becomes the first kid in the club to own a CD writer and thusly assists Arrison in burning all of the El Deth recordings to compact disc. The material, ordered chronologically, is enough to fill two such discs. Arrison creates an album jacket for each, with liner notes and a tracklisting, and dubs them Crack Rock #1 and Crack Rock #2.

1998 - Arrison enrolls at the University of Tennessee and, prior to beginning classes, takes on a late night summer radio program on WUTK 90.3 FM. It's called The Winners Show and features Arrison making most of the musical selections, with Dustin as a cohost. Blake Lemons, a friend of Arrison's from highschool, also begins to attend and contribute to airings of The Winners Show. Once classes begin, Arrison meets Aaron Shugart-Brown (as well as Aaron's future wife, artist Dorothy Verbick) in freshman English 101. Aaron, a guitarist, begins recording occasional collaborative tracks with Arrison. Arrison also records a few solo songs performed by Larry Palais, who was preparing to relocate to Flagstaff, Arizona. Most of Arrison's time, however, is spent with Dustin, attempting to actively build a thirty minute television series called Dustin and Arrison's Adventures in Knoxville. It features a mix of footage from the Adventures in Knoxville pool, as well as newly created fictional sequences. There are appearances by Shane Keith, Blake Lemons, Aaron Shugart-Brown, and Nathan Brown (Aaron's cousin from North Carolina), among others. Arrison and Blake record the short track, "Karl and Jeremy Go to a Party" to accompany a section of the show. They feel positively about their collaboration, however silly. Jason Everett enters into the larger social circle that has amassed around Adventures in Knoxville, appearing in an episode. A frantic and versatile guitarist, he leads sing along sessions both among friends and in the streets, resulting in the first field recordings to become part of the El Deth collection. There is also an uptick and slight maturation of Arrison's own solo recordings at this time. By the autumn, Dustin quits working at Celebration Station and takes a job at a newly opening "family fun center" called Funscape. He convinces Arrison to do the same soon after. Aaron and Dorothy are also hired there. Also on that opening team is someone else who would come to be an important friend and collaborator: Josh Lunsford.

1999 - Dustin leaves Funscape after only a few months and opens a hip hop club, Second City, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Dustin and Arrison's Adventures in Knoxville is put on indefinite hold with three episodes completed, though the larger Adventures in Knoxville footage pool continues to grow. Arrison's father gives them a Roland VS-880 8-track digital recorder, which allows them to significantly increase the quality of song production. Pleased with their collaboration on "Karl and Jeremy Go to a Party," Arrison and Blake begin to collaborate regularly, under the name The B.O.G. (or Big Orange Gangstaz). In May, Arrison leaves Funscape - Aaron, Dorothy and Josh Lunsford follow shortly thereafter. Aaron moves into the Fort Sanders area of Knoxville with his cousin, Nathan Brown. Their apartment becomes a social hub, frequented by future collaborators such as Charlie Kemp, April Cooper, Nathan Tipton, Melissa Fagan, Jeff Maynard, Ross McCallum and Jeremy Law, among others. Arrison and Josh Lunsford become regular prescences there, themselves. Arrison makes both field recordings and produced pieces in the apartment (which was located on the corner of 17th St and Highland Ave in Knoxville) with Aaron and sometimes Charlie. Arrison also purchases their own CD burner and creates two more editions of Crack Rock. Josh Lunsford creates remixed versions of tracks by Arrison and also by The B.O.G.

2000 - Dustin withdrawls his stake in Second City and moves back to Knoxville where he takes a job on the Tennessee Riverboat. There he meets Chris "Dink" Allman and Chris Hoose among others. Chris Hoose and Dustin take up an apartment in Knoxville's Bearden area. That June, Arrison, Aaron, Dustin and Hoose rent a Mercury Sable and drive west with no particular plan, timeframe or destination. They stay several days in Flagstaff, Arizona, with Larry Palais - this being the first time any of the group aside from Arrison has met him. Larry bonds particularly well with Dustin, and several field recordings are made in the living room. Continuing on beyond Flagstaff, the quartet makes it all the way to Tijuana, Mexico, before turning up the coast to San Francisco, and eventually returning to Knoxville. By the end of the year, Larry leaves Flagstaff to come back to Knoxville, himself, and live with Dustin and Hoose. Aaron and Nathan move out of their Fort Sanders apartment and into a brick cottage in Knoxville's Island Home area. The revolving door of creative friends moves with them, and the social circle expands with the addition of the Riverboat group. Parties are frequent and well attended. This is where the first free-for-all improvisational El Deth jam ("A Party to Come") is recorded and also where the name The Bubble Orchestra originates (the music room was full of bubbles at the time). The B.O.G. recordings slowly taper off as Blake is reluctant to assimilate within the larger group that is being amassed. Jeff Maynard, who has the same birthday as Blake (August 4th), begins showing up with Jeremy Law at airings of The Winner's Show. Jason Everett also attends these broadcasts (initially under the pseudonym, Dick James) and the three Leos perform semi-improvised collaborative pieces on the show, in between Arrison's musical selections. This is where the determination is made that The Bubble Orchestra "band name" would be used to note any such session that included three or more musicians in an otherwise unaffiliated musical context. These live sessions lead to more collaborators passing through the Bubble Orchestra namesake and the WUTK studios. The weekly output from the show covers about four volumes of Crack Rock archives. Through Chris Allman, Dustin meets the Immaculate Hedz hip hop collective, which includes Wes Rader, Jusston Hale, Andy Jaynes (as Inertia), and Arrison's old friend David Dalton (as The Illiest). Shortly thereafter, Dustin and Wes Rader take up a radio show on Knoxville's now defunct pirate radio station, KFAR. Around this time, in the art department at the University of Tennessee, Aaron becomes aquainted with Taylor Wallace - who is already friends with Immaculate Hedz (and at this point, Dustin as well). Taylor owns the Arc House, where he hosts parties that bring together both social circles. These parties also introduce future collaborators Josh Russell and Kenny Gilbert (among others) to the El Deth collective. That November, Arrison begins working at the iconic Lost and Found Records in Knoxville, where they meet Nathan Moses. In October, Arrison, Aaron, Nathan Brown and Josh come together at the Island Home house to record the first session of The Homeless, a band formed strictly for the sake of creating "scary sounds" for an upcoming Halloween party. Between this, The Winner's Show, a few B.O.G. tracks, a live set by Larry Palais, and some Arrison solo recordings, the Crack Rock archives skyrocket up to a total of eleven volumes by the end of the year.

2001 - The B.O.G. records their final session at Blake's grandfather's home, with Ross McCullum and Nathan Brown sitting in. Arrison begins to make recordings of Jeff Maynard outside of The Winners Show. Arrison, Aaron and Nathan frequent a home in nearby Maryville, rented by Josh Lunsford. Josh sets up a simple recording studio and the quartet forms a scruffy, abrasive, drunken, "just-for-fun" band called Shiver Me Timbers. Dustin, Larry and Hoose move out of their apartment. Dustin buys a school bus with the aim to travel and sell food at festivals, the first of such being a 420 Festival held in Sweetwater, Tennessee by NORML and DJ Goldenboy. Hoose moves into the Fort Sanders area and begins hosting long, experimental noise sessions with Arrison and guitarist, Chris Harris. These sessions relocate to a popular practice space on Knoxville's Central Avenue and expand to include Bryce Carron on bass and Nathan Moses (Bitter Pills frontman and Arrison's workmate at Lost and Found) on drums. This configuration of musicians calls themselves Rev, only for the sake of entering a "Battle of the Bands." Their set is approximately 45 minutes with no song breaks or prepared material. As anticipated, they clear out the bar and lose the battle. They reconvene for several more sessions after this, changing their project name to Everything. Arrison uses music from these sessions to accompany footage from their ever-expanding Adventures in Knoxville Hi8 pool to assemble and release the film, Life is But a Dream. Everything books a live performance at DJ Goldenboy's second festival that year (on September 1st, 2001). They perform for nearly two hours with no song breaks and minimally prepared material. DJ Goldenboy, as well as Aaron Shugart-Brown sit in on the encore. In October, The Homeless reunite for a second "Halloween music" session. This one is recorded at Josh's Maryville house and includes more electronic studio elements than the previous year. Aaron and Nathan move out of the Island Home house. Aaron and Arrison rent a three bedroom apartment behind a flea market in Louisville, Tennessee, purposing the third room as a shared studio space. This makes them neighbors with Jeff Maynard, his brother Dave, Nathan Tipton, April Cooper and Melissa Fagan. The move also puts them closer to Josh Lunsford's home. Arrison, Aaron, Josh and Hoose get together there for several sessions. They record a handful of slow burn, moody, electronic pieces under the name Obadiah. In December, Obadiah releases Voda on the El Deth recording label. Though this is the first proper release of all original content on the label, the Crack Rock archives reach a total of 25 volumes in this time.

2002 - Obadiah plays their first show on January 24th at Knoxville's Pilot Light. Two days later, Nathan Brown throws a birthday party for himself, and artiste, Lindsey Noble. The party (with Josh Lunsford serving as DJ) takes place at a chalet in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and is so raucous that puke must be cleaned from the walls in multiple locations. The party becomes known as the Vomit on the Walls party. Obadiah continues to play more shows and house parties, often sharing the bill with their brother band, Next to Never (Jeff Maynard on vocals and guitar, Nathan Tipton on guitar, Tyler Newton on bass and Ross McCallum on drums). In May, Arrison graduates from the University of Tennessee, effectively ending The Winners Show. Josh Lunsford moves to a larger house and Obadiah recordings continue there. Meanwhile, Arrison records Next to Never demos on the VS-880, at Ross McCallum's apartment in the Fort Sanders area. This is where they meet future collaborators Samuel Williams and Colin Sanders, among others. Back at their own apartment, Arrison also holds live sessions for The Bubble Orchestra, Planet Icon (a beat project by Nathan Tipton) and Skippy and the Bellbottoms (an acoustic project by Jeff Maynard). Finally, they lay the groundwork for their first solo release and also collaborate with Aaron on experimental sound montages. Rhiannon Coulombe is brought into the collective through Nathan Tipton and is eager to collaborate. The Homeless record their third session of Halloween music, this time without Josh. This session is more produced than the prior two, recorded on to Arrison's computer at the apartment. Nathan Brown plays a cello and Jeff Maynard sits in at the end. In December, Arrison releases their first solo album, Eye M ewE. It is essentially a collection of samples, mashed up and overdubbed upon. These tracks, plus numerous outtakes and a stripped down Next to Never session, bring the Crack Rock count up to volume 33. At the end of the year, El Deth sponsors a free screening of the film Bowling for Columbine, spearheaded by Nathan Brown and Dustin Basalla, with assistance from Arrison and Aaron.

2003 - The screening of Bowling for Columbine garners attention from the local news who then do a story on the group leading a convoy from Knoxville to Washington DC for the International ANSWER protest against the Iraq War. This prompts Dustin to spray "NO WAR" on the back of his passenger van for the cameras, christening the vehicle for many travels to come. Arrison begins work on their next solo album. Josh Lunsford records sessions with Chris Hoose and Colin Sanders while also writing for his solo project, Comfort Among Strangers. On January 25th A second Vomit on the Walls party is held in Gatlinburg. Attempting to play down the idea of puking on the walls, while still honoring the original, it is listed on the invitation as "the 2nd Annual Celebration of Life. With perhaps a little VOMIT on the Walls." With Nathan Brown still producing, Dustin Basalla takes an active role with him in designing the experience. Members of Immaculate Hedz perform, along with The Juice and King Doug in a variety of freestyle sessions. No one vomits on the walls, but a guy does urinate on an ottoman. The following week a Bubble Orchestra session is recorded at Josh's house. Around this time, Josh creates the El Deth logo and website. A new club called Ivey's opens and works with El Deth on a series of curated evenings. Josh debuts Comfort Among Strangers here (with Aaron and Jeff Brown supporting for the live set). Two Next to Never side projects emerge in this time: The Weekends and Codasleuth. Colin Sanders also performs a solo set. Lemondrop Kid and The Model Citizenz give demos to Arrison and are subsequently each added to a showcase. Also billed is Hamilton Ellis, a writer and musician who Arrison meets at an open mic night at Blue Cats weeks earlier. He performs as The Common Cold. In October, Dustin orchestrates another party, this one called A Homeless Halloween. It takes place around an old barn on property owned by Josh Lunsford's father. The Homeless Halloween session this year is not recorded, but is performed live from the top of the barn, and broadcast out. Meanwhile, a haunted trail runs beneath...for a while. The rest of the year is peppered with some ridiculous group vocal exercises at Arrison and Aaron's apartment, as well as some beat sessions with rappers Rob Green and Slim Pickens. This takes the Crack Rock collection up to volume 37. Arrison reaches an agreement to rent their family home from their father, Rod, and build a more proper recording studio in the basement. Rod, Arrison, Aaron, Nathan, Josh, Dustin and sometimes Charlie Kemp build isolation booths and a control room. They install a Roland VS-2480 recording console and other equipment. Arrison and Aaron move into the house and take on a new roommate named Matt Zingg, after his band, Huffstetler, shares a bill with Next to Never at Ivey's. Together, Arrison and Aaron begin work on a compilation of Knoxville musical acts, which includes The Weekends, Comfort Among Strangers, Lemon Drop Kid, Hamilton Ellis, Obadiah, Skippy and the Bellbottoms, and others. In this time, they meet Matgo Primo through Nathan Tipton. Meanwhile, Chris Hoose leaves Obadiah and Josh Russell joins in his place on drums. Nathan Brown joins on bass and Dustin also performs on auxiliary percussion. This shifts the sound into new territory and many new songs are fleshed out of regular live recording sessions. The end of the year sees Nathan, Dustin, Aaron and Arrison traveling cross country in the No War van. The journey is harrowing due to a very harsh and snowy winter. They land in San Francisco for the new year, and ultimately go as far as Victoria Island in British Columbia before driving back to Knoxville.

2004 - January sees the return of the Vomit on the Walls party. Nathan Brown again produces the event with Dustin Basalla. The latter takes a more assertive role than before, organizing logistical practices and creating better promotional materials, this time proudly announcing it as the "Third Annual Vomit on the Walls." Immaculate Hedz perform again, as well as Planet Icon, with The Juice closing it down as the sun comes up. Several improvisational recording sessions are held at the studio. Arrison starts production on a solo EP by Hamilton Ellis and a full length by Skippy and the Bellbottoms. Aaron begins recording a Next to Never album that will never be completed. In August, El Deth Inc. becomes an incorporated business in the state of Tennessee. In September, Hamilton Ellis and friends organize the Cornstalk festival in Dyer, Tennessee. Performers include Hamilton, Dire Con (Hamilton's band), Obadiah, Christine Hale, A Potential Terrorist Threat and others. This is followed in October by a second El Deth Halloween. It is held on a tree farm in rural Tennessee, and is again primarily organized by Dustin, with assistance from everyone else. The music at the event is recorded live and the performers include: David Davis (a new friend whose acoustic set is booked at the last minute), Obadiah, Dire Con, Matgo Primo and Next to Never. Obadiah begins working on recording a focused EP while regularly performing live. Among all the other projects at the studio, sessions are also recorded for Codasleuth, Dr. Bombay (Samuel William's band), The Big Tease, May Gray and Misery Loves Company. In December, the compilation album is released under the name Sunspheric Sounds. The release show takes place at Blue Cats and features, among others, Hamilton Ellis, Matgo Primo and Lemon Drop Kid, as well as Obadiah performing with the Weekends as a big band. About two weeks later, the Hamilton Ellis solo EP is released, titled The Stalking Sarah Lewis EP. The huge flux of content pushes the Crack Rock collection up to volume 58. The year ends with Nathan Tipton self releasing a Christmas themed mix, titled A Barely Merry Chrismix Vol. 1, under his new moniker, Simon Belmont.

2005 - Vomit on the Walls does not occur this year. On Arrison's birthday, February 1st, Obadiah seclude themselves together and record a nearly three and a half hour improvisational session. It is later edited down by Josh Lunsford into to eight concise pieces. This is Josh's final contribution to the band and he leaves Obadiah. Shortly thereafter Kenny Gilbert joins on guitar. In April, Arrison takes a ten day trip across Japan, collecting sound samples and writing the songs for the album that would become Part 3. Next to Never becomes eclipsed by Skippy and the Bellbottoms and Nathan Tipton's beat projects and their album is scrapped. Arrison completes final overdubs on their next solo album, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and releases it shortly thereafter under Arrison Kirby and The Bubble Orchestra (this due to the large amount of sampled contributions from other musicians). Matt Zingg moves out of the El Deth studio and Nathan Tipton moves in. Nathan begins work on two new studio projects. The first is a record for Matgo Primo. The second is called Per Capita, and features himself as Simon Belmont, and Immaculate Hedz lyricists, The Illiest, Wes Rader and The Great Facilitator. That summer, Obadiah gives an extremely limited release to their self titled EP and play many live shows with their new lineup. In August, the Skippy and the Bellbottoms album, What Happened to Turn Signals?, is released to positive reviews. Jeff assembles a band for a small live run of the project, consisting of himself with Henry Gibson on bass, Nathan Tipton on guitar, Bug on vocals and Brent Matthews on drums. This is later stripped down to a three piece including only himself, Nathan and Rhiannon Coloumbe. Arrison begins recording their next solo album with a more singer-songwriter approach, working with the material written while in Japan. With Dustin again at the helm, a third blowout El Deth Halloween party is held at Knoxville's Lord Lindsey Mansion, featuring The Weekends, Hamilton Ellis, Matgo Primo, Simon Belmont and Lemon Drop Kid, as well as new friends, Senryu and Fluid Engineerz. Arrison records a handful of new tracks with Hamilton Ellis. This, along with all else, pushes the Crack Rock series to volume 65. This is the final disc in the collection as digital music storage becomes a more convenient means of archival. Nathan Tipton as Simon Belmont records A Barely Merry Chrismix Vol. 2 and releases it on the El Deth label on Christmas. The year is capped off by another large party at The Lord Lindsey, this one celebrating New Years Eve. Dustin is the primary organizer and musical acts include Senryu, Matgo Primo, Simon Belmont and The Rockwells.

2006 - Vomit on the Walls returns for its fourth and largest edition. It is held at the massive Plimpton Lodge in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and features Per Capita, Mic One and Dire Con. Nathan and Dustin are the primary producers of the party, with assistance from the usual people. This is the first major El Deth event attended by Randee Brown, who also actively assists in its execution. Arrison continues work on a third solo album, while also recording a second Skippy and the Bellbottoms record. The Red Clevers record two sessions; one with Arrison and one with Nathan Tipton. A deal is brokered for El Deth to release the debut album from David Davis's project, the red cloud. In this time, Arrison also records a set of five raw, live tracks by Dire Con. Nathan Tipton moves out of El Deth studio and Aaron's then-girlfriend, Dorothy, moves in. Nathan performs regular DJ sets under his Simon Belmont moniker. Arrison writes a feature length screenplay for a film called Movie. They also begin working on a side project called Ditto Kiddo with Wil Wright and Lori Maxwell of Senryu, but it is never completed. Obadiah evolves its sound while also performing regular live shows. This includes a spot at the fourth El Deth Halloween event, spearheaded again by Dustin, now with more assistance from Randee. It is held at the Electric Ballroom in Knoxville and, in addition to Obadiah, features The Mattoid, the red cloud, Simon Belmont and the Juan Prophet Organization. Obadiah plays one more show at Blue Cats in December, with plans to put the band on a re-evaluative hold until after the new year. Blue Cats closes soon thereafter. The end of the year sees the release of persons by the red cloud. It is the first El Deth release to be entirely produced out of house.

2007 - A belated release show for persons takes place in February, with a live line-up that adds Rhiannon Coulombe to the studio players. A rift in Obadiah turns their hold to an indefinite hiatus. Aaron and Dorothy move out of El Deth studio and Dave Maynard (Jeff Maynard's brother) moves in. The members of Obadiah reassemble without Arrison under the name Damn Bro (Nathan Brown technically only returning as a "guest performer"). Three of them, Kenny Gilbert, Josh Russell and Nathan Brown (along with Christine Hale, aka Teenie) also assume positions in Jeff Maynard's post-Skippy project, The Standstill. In July, Dustin moves to Washington state. In August, Arrison releases their third solo album, Part 3, with album art by Japanese artist, Saitarou. It is backed by a long run of evolving solo performances. They write another screenplay at this time for a film called The Great Exchange. Shortly after, the prior screenplay for Movie is optioned by Crossroads pictures in Santa Monica, California and Arrison is tasked with completing a rewrite of the script. In September, Arrison records a live session of songs by The Standstill. Damn Bro performs several live shows, which pushes Arrison to work toward starting a new group project. In its inception, said project is dubbed Lohan, and consists of David Dalton (as The Illiest) providing vocals over live beat arragements by Arrison. Soon Jason Everett joins on bass, Nathan Gilleran joins on drums, and Wes Rader from Immaculate Hedz joins on turntables (as DJ Sawzall). They adopt the new name, Flashmob, and begin performing live, high energy, psychedelic hip hop shows. Nathan Tipton organizes the fifth El Deth Halloween event at the World Grotto, featuring his Misfits cover band, Brain Eaters and, notably, Knoxville's Boozehound Gandy Dance. He follows this up with an El Deth holiday event in December at the World Grotto, featuring his projects, Per Capita and Simon Belmont, as well as a performance by Flashmob. There he releases a third installment of A Barely Merry Chrismix on his own label, Planet Icon.

2008 - Dustin returns from Washington just long enough to undertake Vomit on the Walls 5, with Randee Brown in a full on production role. (Nathan Brown is still invested, but less involved, schematically.) The event lasts two nights, with Flashmob headlining the first and Damn Bro headlining the second. Teenie and Kristin O'Conner, Law of the Harvest and Simon Belmont also perform. Damn Bro continues for a while longer until Aaron and Nathan open a home decor store in downtown Knoxville. It is called Unarmed Merchants. Spun from this venture, Nathan leases the old Blue Cats building and opens a new music venue there called Barataria, along with a restaurant called Bos Laffite. Josh Russell designs a menu for the latter, and is set to be the head chef, but the restaurant fails to launch, and he joins the Peace Corp instead. He is sent to Ghana in West Africa. Arrison completes their rewrite of Movie for Crossroads Pictures but the film is never put into production. Arrison writes three more feature length screenplays (An American Revolution, Randy Coles and Bleak) and a television pilot (The Romantic Misadventures of Satan) by the end of the year. Dave Maynard moves out of El Deth studio and Arrison's partner since 2006 moves in. Dustin invests in Barataria and the sixth El Deth Halloween event (incorrectly advertised as the seventh) is held there, with no involvement from Arrison. Simon Belmont is the only El Deth affilited act on the bill, though Brain Eaters also performs, along with John Warren, 1220 and Cutthroat Shamrock. Nathan Gilleran exits Flashmob and the band breaks up. Meanwhile Nathan Brown starts a new band called Fractal with Charlie Kemp and Charlie's childhood friend, Wesley Wyrick. Arrison focuses on writing and recording their next solo album, which is to be called Aries.

2009 - Arrison undertakes a long run of solo performances, sometimes with electronic backing, and sometimes incorporating elements of a DJ set. This includes a show in January with Fractal, who disbands soon after. Nathan Tipton begins performing a new beat oriented project under the name Modifi. Barataria is closed and reopened under the name, The Catalyst. It hosts a variety of shows, some of which include Fractal, Modifi, Arrison and others. It is one of the participating venues in Knoxville's inaugural Big Ears Festival. Arrison and Jason Everett embark on a cross-country road trip and collect sound samples. With some reconciliation among them, but unbeknownst to Josh Russell, the Josh Lunsford edit of Obadiah's 2005 birthday session is remastered by Arrison and released as it's own album, Rebirthday. A few months later, the same is done for Matgo Primo's 2004 Halloween set and it is released as El Deth Halloween 2004: Dead & Live. David Dalton teams up with Brian Woodruff to form the short lived project, Flakjakit. They play a few live shows and record a session at El Deth studio. There, Senryu also tracks drums for their upcoming album, Inkling, with Zoe Ruth-Erwin producing. By the end of the year, both Unarmed Merchants and The Catalyst are closed. Arrison begins working for the State of Tennessee. Aaron starts a new band with Kenny Gilbert and Wes Wyrick. It is called Destroyed by Magnets.

2010 - Arrison continues working on Aries while performing solo sets. They share bills with several of Wesley Wyrick's projects, including Star Mountain, Blasticus and American Panda. Dustin Milotte, who plays guitar in two of those projects (Star Mountain and Blasticus) enters the El Deth universe. He and Wes curate and host a series of Secret Show events at what becomes known as the Secret Show House and is located in the same neighborhood as the El Deth studio. Destroyed by Magnets performs at Knoxville's Big Ears Festival. Nathan Brown also starts a band with Wes Wyrick called Soulbot. The band also features Joe Menegus and Robert Ervin, but is short lived. El Deth releases the Senryu record Inkling. Arrison begins an untitled new musical project with Katie Collins and Megan Driscoll. Husband and wife, Rachel and Dane Hill are later added to the line up and the band becomes known as Never Sorry. In addition to Never Sorry, Arrison records sessions for Destroyed by Magnets and American Panda. Arrison also teams up again with Aaron on a new collaborative studio project called Memetics. Star Mountain plays at the Moogfest Halloween event in Asheville, NC. Josh Russell returns from the Peace Corps in November. In December, Shane Keith, who had long sinced moved to New York, visits Knoxville and participates in a gruff, improvisational session with Arrison and Wes Wyrick. The year ends with El Deth studio hosting a small, private New Years party that features performances from Never Sorry and Wes Wyrick.

2011 - The session between Arrison, Shane Keith and Wes Wyrick is edited, mixed, mastered and released as an album called Urgency, under the project name, COP. Vomit on the Walls 6 is produced entirely by Randee Brown, now wholley taking over Dustin's role on the event. It features music by Destroyed by Magnets, Fine Peduncle, Wes Wyrick and others. In February, Nathan Brown and Arrison reunite to flesh out songs for a Kraut-rock inspired beat project called Hypenkrunk, which was first conceived during Obadiah. They have two sessions and shelve the project. Meanwhile, Never Sorry spends the entire year writing, rehearsing and recording a massive variety of tracks. Nathan Brown is added to the line up for the first live performance. Samuel Williams and Lulu Michelle Sanders are added to the line up for several sessions and a few live performances. One of these is part of Dorothy Verbick's Le Carnival des Autres art project, at Knoxville's 1010 Gallery. It also features Fine Peduncle among other performers. Midway through the year, Katie Collins moves to New York and Megan Driscoll moves to Ohio. Arrison is sent to work for the state in Nashville, splitting his time between there and Knoxville. Never Sorry continues at a slower pace, with a core of just Arrison, Rachel and Dane. Obadiah reunites briefly, for a single show at Knoxville's Pilot Light with How I Became the Bomb, as well as a series of eight studio sessions of new material. Then, after six months of living with Aaron and Dorothy, Josh Russell leaves Knoxville again, relocating to Eugene, Oregon to work on a Food Safety project. With Arrison acting as executive producer, El Deth releases Half Wild by Senryu, the second album to be entirely recorded and produced outside of the El Deth studio. In November, Randee and Nathan Brown are married at a huge blowout in the Smoky Mountains. It is dubbed Vomit on the Wedding and features an endless outpouring of musical collaboration. The year ends with the recording of a two set improvisational session called Things that Escape Gravity. The first set features Arrison and Aaron, as well as Nathan Brown. The second set adds Matt Zingg and Jeremy Law to the mix.

2012 - On Arrison's birthday, they and Nathan Brown reunite for another improvisational Hypenkrunk session. Never Sorry play their final show in March, at the Pilot Light, with Jay Allen joining the line up on drums. Arrison and Aaron work on a live Memetics set, adding Nathan Brown to the line up. It is performed one time, in April at The Well in Knoxville. Also on the bill are Deep Green (Dustin Milotte's jazz band) and Wasted Youth Party (a performance art piece by Wes Wyrick). Arrison returns to working full time in Knoville again. In June, Randee teams up with David Dalton to produce a massive party at a farm in Granger County, Tennesee. It gets tagged as Vomit on the Gemini, effectively moving the Vomit event series from the Aquarius timeframe into the Gemini season. Fine Peduncle, and projects from Wes Wyrick and Dustin Milotte are included on the bill. Hypenkrunk also debuts at the event, as the sun begins to rise. Arrison records Deep Green's only record at El Deth studio and is consequently introduced by Dustin Milotte to the rest of the band: Grant Parker on bass, Patrick Morgan on drums and Dave Eckman on saxophone. Around this time, Arrison books a solo performance opening for Jak Locke at Checkpoint Charlie's in New Orleans; enlisting Dustin and Grant to assist in building a set as a trio. They travel to New Orleans and perform their set, then return to Knoxville and quickly record it (to later be released as The Micro Jackson EP). Arrison resurrects the 2006 session he did with Dire Con, remixing, mastering, and releasing it as a self titled EP on the El Deth label. James Flores designs the album art. Arrison and Nathan Brown continue their Hypenkrunk sessions, eventually adding David Dalton (as MC Realtree) and Dustin Milotte (as D Mobile) to the lineup. This expanded arrangement is debuted at Knoxville's Longbranch Saloon in October, alongside Sidecar Symposium (Dane and Rachel Hill's new project with LuLu Michelle Sanders), I Octopus (a prog project from New Orleans), and James Drown (another Wes Wyrick alias). Arrison upgrades the studio from the Roland VS-2480 to a digital interface. The 2007 session by The Standstill is also resurrected, mixed, mastered and released as the album, Endless Winter. Nathan Tipton creates the album art for it. Josh Russell returns from Oregon in November. The year is concluded with Hypenkrunk playing at Banks Street Bar in New Orleans, with local act White Colla Crimes.

2013 - Hypenkrunk begins recording its debut album, Lords of Rap Vol. 1: Just Da Tip, while playing a handful of local shows. Arrison wraps up recording on Aries and commissions artist Jacynda Minor to do the album art. It is released in April and features a long list of Aries-born guest performers, including Matt Zingg, Bernie Worrell, and Kactus among others. Obadiah reunites (with the addition of Dustin Milotte on guitar and keys) to perform the album, in its entirity, at a release show at the Pilot Light. The album is quickly followed up by an EP of the tracks recorded by Arrison, Dustin Milotte and Grant Parker from their New Orleans show. It is called The Micro Jackson EP and it features Grant under the pseudonym, Brite Flowers. In June, Randee and David Dalton arrange another Vomit on the Gemini party on the same property at the prior one. It features an assortment of electronic and DJ sets from Arrison, Dustin Milotte, Wes Wyrick and others. Deep Green self releases the collection they recorded at El Deth studio the prior year, and disbands shortly thereafter. Arrison begins writing their next full length album, which is planned to be titled Taurus. Recording for the Hypenkrunk album is completed and put in the hands of Dustin Milotte for mixing. During this same period, Dustin begins working in the television industry. In November, Aaron and Dorothy are married.

2014 - Dustin completes mixing on Hypenkrunk's Lords of Rap Vol. 1: Just Da Tip. It is then mastered by Arrison and released with album art by David Dalton, alongside a video for "Biscuits-N-Davey." Nate and Randee Brown, being the primary producers of the "Biscuits-N-Davey" video, soon come to take on television gigs with Dustin. Arrison travels to Dyer, Tennessee and records a couple new tracks with Dire Con, with a focus on the track, "Pretty Little Thing." Hypenkrunk plays several local shows, a festival in New York state and two nights in New Orleans (at Prytania Bar with Blind Texas Marlin and Dragon's Den with White Colla Crimes). They record a second video, and then start writing the follow-up album, which is intended to be called Lords of Rap Vol. 2: Gettin' Da Shaft. Arrison begins recording some songs they had written for the Taurus album.

2015 - Hypenkrunk records Lords of Rap Vol. 2: Gettin' Da Shaft. The mostly completed tracks are given to Dustin Milotte for sample recreation and mixing. Arrison begins writing for Chicago based The Progressive Cinema Scorecard (a site operated by Sean McConnell, Arrison's friend from Celebration Station days). In May, they embark on another cross-country roadtrip with their girlfriend. Upon returning, they focus on further developing Taurus, collaborating with Nathan Tipton and Lemon Drop Kid on some of the production. Hypenkrunk attempts to support Chicago hip hop act Robot Hilarious at The Pilot Light, but Nathan is not available for the date. Instead, Dustin and Arrison create a one-off beat project with Kenny Gilbert. It is performed under the name Danklin Brosevelt and David Dalton (as the Illiest) joins on improvised vocals at the show. Toward the end of the year, Arrison begins writing a series of short stories that had long been in their mind - all of them revolving around the subject of death. They also assemble a small guidebook about online selling (written under a pen name), in an attempt to learn the process of publishing literature.

2016 - Aaron's beloved dog, Beta, dies suddenly on his birthday in January - just before David Bowie also dies. Arrison's beloved dog, Remy, dies suddenly three months later - just before Prince also dies. These events, coupled with the deaths of other cultural icons this year, have a profound effect on Arrison. The Taurus recording project is paused indefinitely and focus moves almost entirely to writing the short story collection. Dustin Milotte moves to New Jersey. Lords of Rap Vol. 2: Gettin' Da Shaft is left incomplete and Hypenkrunk ceases. Nathan and Arrison begin developing a television show with the working title, Tonight on Murderburg.

2017 - El Deth publishes its first book, Arrison's collection of short stories, which is called Coping with Death and Destruction. An audiobook version soon follows. Arrison returns to working on the Taurus album, recycling old beats composed by Nathan Tipton when he lived at the studio. Arrison and Nathan Brown complete a final story and script for Tonight on Murderburg. It progresses to the casting phase but is shelved when the casting director abandons the project. They continue to meet weekly in an attempt to develop a new television project, and move through the beginnings of many ideas. By the end of the year, Arrison shelves the Taurus album once again and begins assembling outlines for two new books; both somewhat complicated novels.

2018 - Arrison, having saved enough money to pay off El Deth studio outright, quits their job with the State of Tennessee. They and Nathan continue to move through a variety of conceptual television show ideas, as well as a small return to playing music, though nothing ultimately resonates for more than a few weeks. In October, the two take on a third partner and form a small agriculture company called Smoky Mountain Growers. Arrison puts their two novels on hold and focuses instead on a third, more simple and accessible story. They begin outlining it under the working title, Blue Goblins of Kentucky.

2019 - Arrison begins working in television with Randee and Nathan, and subsequently facilitates a few production services through El Deth. They split the rest of their time between writing the new book and maintaining agricultural duties with Smoky Mountain Growers. Arrison also begins work on a new El Deth website, with a focus on maintaining and presenting a simpler, more archival face to the company. Aaron and Kenny team up with Tony Johnson (Misery Loves Company, Sideshow Symposium) and form a band called Rolls Rollsh. Their first performance is at Knoxville's Corner Lounge in December, supporting Nathan Moses's band, Lavish Boars.

2020 - The world pauses for pandemic. With this comes disease, death and divorce within the El Deth community. Smoky Moutain Growers is terminated and in person collaborative projects are put on indefinite hold. Working remotely, however, Arrison teams up with New Orleans rock musician, Jak Locke, to further build on to the Taurus album, now to be called Lifeblood. Jak contributes to three songs and Arrison records an additional solo track for the album. When not suffering, Arrison dedicates the remains of the year to continue work on their novel, now to be called Submerica, and building the new El Deth archive. For the latter, they begin the process of digitizing some of the oldest El Deth related vidoes from VHS and Hi8, as well as pulling old, unmixed recordings from CD backup.

2021 - With the world slowly recovering from the pandemic, Arrison spends most of their time building the El Deth archive; reaching out to old friends to help fill in the gaps, and editing raw video down into digestable pieces. They are also joined in the studio by Brook Smith to record a percussion contribution to Lifeblood, on the track "Somatophonic." The song, as well as tracking for the album as a whole, is completed soon after Arrison adds to it one of William Brennan's drum pieces from his 2004 session with Dr. Bombay. In November, visual artist David Deitrick signs on to complete the cover art for Lifeblood. Meanwhile, Rolls Rollsh is reformed under the new working name Chatter after Dustin Milotte returns to Knoxville and joins the project.

2022 - Arrison burns out hard trying to finish Lifeblood and puts the album release on hold for another year. David Deitrick's cover image for it, however, is completed in the spring. Arrison wraps up writing their novel, Submerica, but decides against publishing it through El Deth. Unable to find outside representation for it, this project is also shelved. Feeling buried under physical media, Arrison takes on the task of sorting the El Deth inventory and making certain items available on an El Deth related eBay account and solo Bandcamp page. They end the year back trying to wrap up Lifeblood again, while also continuing work on the archive.

2023 - Arrison finally releases Lifeblood on May 5th with no release show and very little fanfare. On November 5th the new El Deth website is unveiled. Due to intellectual property rights, the archive portion is password protected and accessible only by request of people involved, journalists or other archivists.

 

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