Bobby Previte and Knox Chandler Drop Their Self-Titled Collaborative LP

Previte Chandler is a conversation between two opposing approaches toward the same goal: reaching a natural autonomy. An honoured veteran of the NYC scene, Bobby Previte employs an expanded conception of the modern drum set, a circularity that suggests rather than shows, using the powerful orchestrational might of the drum set to create form and meaning. Complementing the drum work, Knox (using no synthesizers) Chandler’s guitar becomes a tone generator, generating what he calls “sound ribbons” – sonic fabrics made in real time that create a way of deconstructing and then enveloping and weaving together any series of individual pieces of music or film.

Describing the nature of the collaboration, Chandler states:

“Around that time I was in touch with Bobby and we had expressed finding a way to work together. It was the end of COVID, so there was still some reluctance to do live shows, plus we live about 2 1/2 hours from each other, so we decided to start the project virtually. I sent a handful of Sound Ribbons to Bobby and he basically improvised to the tracks and sent them back to me. Bobby’s style of playing opened the door to shaping and composing the pieces. From there I added, subtracted and experimented (taking these pieces out of the Sound Ribbon concept), sending versions to Bobby for feedback.”

Opening the door for a conversation between two prolific artists, the process itself took an exploratory turn, helping both Previte and Chandler to discover new fascinating musical areas.

Bobby explains:

“I mostly approached the drum tracks not always as rhythmic additions but as orchestrational ones. In some ways, the drums carry the melodies in many of these tracks. I love to use the drums in this way, and not just as a pattern machine.”

These two musicians, who circled each other for years in the New York City music scene, are now turning the deep chasm between them into a bridge connecting the natural and the supernatural, the audible and the spiritual.

Knox explains:

“Every sound on the album is made by guitar, bass, and drums/percussion. There are no synths. Each of us exists in very defined sonic spaces. But the roles of our instruments are not usual, nor are they set. Sometimes the roles are turned on their heads in unexpected ways.”

Previte x Chandler ‘Previte Chandler’ album artwork

Previte describes the end result of the collaboration as an “ever-shifting landscape of possibilities for each of the instruments. To put it more simply, this is not a guitar/drums record with ‘drum grooves’ and guitar on top.”

With the lyrical approach of Bobby Previte and the constant adjustment of soundscapes from Knox Chandler, the two artists present a unique conversation.

Knox says:

“The contrast of the natural drum sound with my use of electronics adds dimension.”

Bobby adds:

“We are constantly passing foreground content and background content between us, which creates a hyper-dimensional structure that is not just in front of you, but as deep as it is wide, somewhat like the difference between modern ‘flat’ painting and older ‘perspective’ painting.”

Previte-Chandler Track Listing:

1. White Horse
2. Moonburn
3. Hallow
4. Streamtide
5. Lost Moon
6. Bottom Fader
7. Tick
8. National Tan
9. Pan