| Profile: The Ministry of Inside Things | |
 | Consisting of synthesist Chuck van Zyl and electric guitarist Art Cohen, The Ministry of Inside Things are considered among the most innovative of US spacemusicians today. Equally influenced by the early groundbreaking music of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Ash Ra Tempel as well as that of Pink Floyd and The Grateful Dead, their work has been described as linear, pushing forward across a diverse sonic terrain. |
| Based on live improvisation, The Ministry of Inside Things creates electronic realizations that flow from theme to theme, within the context of a composed suite of music. Through use of textures and atmospheres as well as harmony, rhythm and melody, the group transports the listener on an internal aural excursion. | |
| Chuck van Zyl has been recording electronic music and performing live for over 20 years, but is perhaps best known for hosting STAR'S END for the past 30 years - one of the world's most successful radio shows of electronic music. van Zyl has released two CDs of spacemusic on the Centaur label, Celestial Mechanics and The Relic, plus The Sound Museum (with Gulch + Rath) out on the Groove label. His collaborative effort with Peter Gulch, Regeneration Mode, was released on their own Synkronos label. Art Cohen has been pushing the limits of the electric guitar in the studio and in live performance for well over 20 years. | 
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The Ministry Of Inside Things has performed live at Voices Beyond the Dome, Feedback, Gate To Moon Base Alpha, under the dome of the Novins Planetarium, as part of The Gatherings Concert Series, and live on broadcasts of the STAR'S END, ECHOES, GALACTIC TRAVELS, THE NOD and NOCTURNAL TRANSMISSIONS radio shows. The Ministry Of Inside Things' 2005 Winter Tour included a radio concert live on the 01.30.05 broadcast of STAR'S END as well as at the STAR'S END Fundraiser Premium Concert with Orbital Decay which took place at WXPN studios 19 March 2005. MoIT have perfromed live on STAR'S END numerous times - most recently on the 10.05.08 broadcast.
Artist Statement: Ambient Elsewhere by The Ministry of Inside Things
The Philadelphia based Spacemusic duo The Ministry of Inside Things exist outside the confines of the recording studio and in the realm of the live performance. As MoIT, Art Cohen (guitar) and Chuck van Zyl (synths) continue a tradition of bringing an otherwise methodical studio based artform out into the spontaneity of the performance environment. Their third CD Ambient Elsewhere feels dark and isolated when compared to their two earlier releases. While Everlasting Moment explored the edges, dynamics and tension of space and atmosphere, and Contact Point embraced the more unified themes of cosmic, biospheric and macrocosmic interaction, Ambient Elsewhere moves through strange new territory in-between and outside of traditional Spacemusic. Drawn from a range of chilling themes, this album sonifies wintertime, desolate landscapes and the soul's midnight. Moving through the timbral badlands of the empty quarter, Ambient Elsewhere offers up a courageous intimacy. Always bringing their own influences and innovation to the music process, MoIT produces a sound that is uniquely individual and personal.
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The Ministry of Inside Things live on STAR'S END 01.28.01 - 01.28.01 Photos by Jeff Towne see more photos at www.synkronosmusic.com
The Ministry of Inside Things Live on STAR'S END 11.12.17 (excerpt) . . .
The Ministry of Inside Things live on STAR'S END 11.12.17 - 11.12.17 Photos by Ken Anderson | |
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The Ministry of Inside Things performed live on 16 June 2007 at The STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Spacemusic Festival presented by Member Supported WXPN FM in Philadelphia. This event saw the worldwide debut of Robert Rich + Ian Boddy together in concert. Also appearing was Jeff Pearce and Orbital Decay.
For details please access the Festival Announcement
To mark 30 years of continuous broadcast of STAR'S END, WXPN is releasing the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD. This double CD contains over 120 minutes of live music from 12 renowned artists. The unique performances were culled from on-air in-studio radio concerts by some of our community's greatest talents. Included on the disc are previously unreleased live selections donated by: The Ministry of Inside Things, Orbital Decay, Ian Boddy, AirSculpture, Radio Massacre International, Robert Rich, Rudy Adrian, Jonn Serrie, Jeff Pearce, Saul Stokes and Steve Roach. | |
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 | The Ministry of Inside Things performed live on the 01.28.01 broadcast of STAR'S END (see photos above). The concert lasted for over an hour and touched on many of the hallmarks of spacemusic: cyclical sequencer patterns under soaring lead melodies contrasted by passages of deep synth tones and glissando guitar. Listen to the 15 minute excerpt by clicking on the link below:
Many thanks to Art Cohen and Cyberworkx for their key efforts in making this music available from this website |
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 | Art Cohen, guitarist for The Ministry of Inside Things, took part in an in-studio interview on the 02.08.04 broadcast of STAR'S END. Along with several other points, Cohen gave insight into MoIT's approach to playing live and how this activity relates to their first CD release, the double live Everlasting Moment. Listen to the 11 minute excerpt by clicking on the link below:
Many thanks to Art Cohen and Cyberworkx for their key efforts in making this interview available from this website |
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 | Synthesist Chuck van Zyl and guitarist Art Cohen of The Ministry of Inside Things were treated to an in-depth interviewed with ECHOES producer Jeff Towne during the 05.17.09 fundraising broadcast of STAR'S END. Cohen and van Zyl provided many thoughts and views on their accomplishments, motivations and insight into their many years of live collaboration in MoIT - as well as where they are headed creatively as individuals. The double live CD Ambient Elsewhere provided an appropriate musical background. Listen to Jeff Towne's 38 minute interview by clicking on the link below:
Many thanks to Art Cohen and Cyberworkx for their key efforts in making this interview available from this website |
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