SEANDOWER.COM

Death Magazine 52 live at the Duma Express, Birmingham. 1983

Between 1982-84, Death Magazine 52 made live performances using tapes, electronics, percussion and super-8 films. Their confrontational and physical performances often provoked extreme audience reactions. They played live regularly, including on the same bill as Coil and Nurse with Wound at the London Musicians Collective and with Whitehouse at the Mermaid in Birmingham. The band made a number of studio recordings released on both vinyl and cassette. A facsimile of the 1983 cassette D-MAG 52 / SHC was re-released in 2025 accompanied by their first live show in 40 years at Centrala in Birmingham.

Listen or purchase on bandcamp: Death Magazine 52 and the Curfew Recordings

Flyer for the Equinox Event, London Musician's Collective 1983.

Death Magazine 52 were the 'mystery guest band' at the 1983 Equinox Event, a festival of noise music at the London Musicians Collective in Camden. The chaotic day-long event was dogged by violence and complaints about the extreme noise from local residents. There were many changes to the planned line up and things got fractious as the day went on. A fight broke out when Death Magazine 52 took to the stage and a police raid halted the event shortly after. An archival recording of the aftermath of the raid is included on the D.Mag 52 vinyl release on Harbinger Sound from 2012.

Industrial site on the river Tyne where The Curfew Recordings were made in 1983

Listen on bandcamp: the Curfew Recordings and Death Magazine 52

The Curfew Recordings were made at a disused industrial site on the river Tyne in 1984 and featured John Smith (publisher of Interchange magazine), Sean Dower (ex Death Magazine 52) and John Mylotte (of Metgumnerbone).

The recordings took place inside a steel-plated cylindrical structure, previously used for bitumen storage in the armaments industry. The instrumentation was acoustic and the space's structure added a super-natural reverb. Instruments included: bull roarers, spirit whistles, human thy-bone trumpet, chimes, gongs, flutes, drums, projectiles, scraped and bowed objects, voice and other materials including glass, metal, bones and wood.

Recordings from these sessions circulated informally on cassette tape and in 2013 a digital release on CD was made available.

Link to information about CD release on Harbinger Sound (Harbinger 110)

Link to review by Idwal fisher

The set for A Damn Near Run Thing at London's South Bank Centre 1988.

Dower performed with the Bow Gamelan Ensemble between 1988 and 1992. Founded in 1983 by artists Richard Wilson, Anne Bean and Paul Burwell, the ensemble made large scale audio-visual spectacles that fused performance, sound, pyrotechnics and sculpture. Artists such as z'ev and Sean Dower were regular collaborators. By 1990, Bean and Wilson had stopped working with the ensemble, however Paul Burwell continued to work with a number of different collaborators internationally as the Bow Gamelan for several years after.

Archive video 'A Damn Near Run Thing' 1988

A Damn Near Run Thing was commissioned by the London South Bank Centre for the 'Sounds Unusual' festival.

The Navigators 1989. Waterman's Arts Centre on the Thames at low tide.

Dazzle painting boat design by Sean Dower. The Ketford barge was rescued from a blocked tributary of the River Lea in East London and restored for The Navigators, a series of live performances by the Bow Gamelan Ensemble. Performances took place on the river, from Three Mills in East London to Richmond in the West. The performers lived and worked on board for several months.

Dower aboard a 'marimba' instrument being lifted into place for The Navigators performance on the Thames, London Southbank 1989.

Aluminium bowl, motor and bottle tops, Basle 1991

The Bow Gamelan produced a live performance in a derelict factory space in Basle in 1991. The audience was welcomed by local 'Fasnacht' drummers and led into the space by instruments powered by bicycles.

3.33 mins video of experimental work, Basle 1991

Video shot by Nina Schneider in Basle, Switzerland. The aluminium bowl was subsequently used in unique performances by the artist.

Hot Music, 1993. Video with sound. 4 mins (looping)

Filmed in a single take, the artist walks on set, climbing onto a white plinth before making a live performance to camera. The artist mimes to the shifting patterns of a toy drum machine, which is manipulated live, as an invisible, but spatially consistent drum kit is mapped out. Generally exhibited on a white monitor on white a plinth, 'Hot Music' has also been performed live.

View video here >

Toy drum-machine with samples, played live in Hot Music

Hot music was published in Zapp Magazine issue #3, 1994

Exhibited at Anthony d'Offay Gallery London (1996), MOMA New York 1998 and touring in South America (1998-99)

Video still of Dower performing 'Hot Music' in 1994

Excerpts from performance for 'Infinity Cha-Cha' - Amsterdam 1994

For this performance (and the related 'Hot Music' video), the artist learnt the pre-recorded patterns on a toy drum-machine and mimed live to the patterns on a spatially consistent, but invisible drum kit. The video features Christiaan Zwanikken and Michael Raedecker as 'drivers'.

Dick Donkey's Dawn live in Dornbirn Austria, 1998

The band Dick Donkeys Dawn was formed in 1997 by artists Sean Dower, Oliver Hangl and Georgina Starr. Between 1997 and 1999, they produced songs and videos, and performed live in Austria, Germany and Norway.

See dedicated page on the band here

Dick Donkeys Dawn, cover of ES Magazine, August 1999

Dick Donkeys Dawn feature on the cover of the Evening Standard Magazine in an article on Art School bands.

Mochilero backpack by Guy Bar Amotz, video and sound Sean Dower.

The videos and sound were recorded at night in the tropical forest of central Sri-Lanka. In the exhibition a cacophony of insect sounds played through the backpack speakers of Guy Bar Amotz, which sat in front of the video monitors.

Netwerk Aalst, Belgium

Video documentation of 'Insects and Mochileros', Netwerk Aalst, Belgium 2004.

The Mochilero backpack speakers were worn for a live performance using insect sounds and the Mobile DJ (a pre-programmed electronic toy-instrument).

link to more photos and information here

7x7 took place on the Slice of Reality in Greenwich, London 2004

Seven sequences by seven performers. Featuring previous members and collaborators of the Bow Gamelan Ensemble: Paul Burwell, z'ev, Anne Bean, Sean Dower, Ansuman Biswas, Project Dark and Richard Wilson.

Richard Wilson, z'ev and Sean Dower, Audio Addicted 2005

Audio Addicted was an evening of performance and sound programmed by Sean Dower at Delfina Studios, London. Featuring Guy Bar-Amotz, Sean Dower, 777 Heaven, Natsuki Uruma, Richard Wilson and z'ev.

Break it down - A performance. Timothy Taylor Gallery, London 2006

Collaborative performance with Richard Wilson, using percussion and lighting effects: part spectographic, part cymatic.

Slideshow and more information here

Video excerpts of Break it down - A performance.

Collaboration with artist Richard Wilson at the Timothy Taylor Gallery, London 2006.

Link to dedicated page with more images and information

Automaton, 2006. HD video with sound. 6 mins (looping)

Automaton records a six minute, continous performance by improvising percussionist Steve Noble. Filmed in a single take using motion control technology, the camera follows the black and chromed curves of a drum kit as Noble's performance unfolds. The opening shot exactly mirrors the closing one, which enables seamless looping during exhibition.

Link to more information and video here

Production shot with performer Steve Noble and film-maker Sean Dower

Bag of Blood - live at Ikon Gallery Eastside, Birmingham 2007

Bag of Blood was a collaborative performance between Richard Wilson and Sean Dower. The performance took place in a blacked out space and featured percussion and sound, accompanied by visual effects

Link to more information and photos here

Photos by Xenia Randle

Performance at Neu Gallery, Redchurch Street, London 2008

Passers by gathered outside the gallery to experience the surreal and unanounced performance, which accompanied the exhibition Brown Noise at the Maurice Einhardt Neu Gallery in Shoreditch, London.

Ghost Drummer seen through the gallery window at Brown Noise.

Hello my name is Bill, Gallerie Mircher Paris 2009

Horns of Dilemma played an extended improvised 'noodling' set wearing masks and wigs.

Horns of Dilemma featured Bernard Elsemere on guitar and Sean Dower on percussion and electronics

Performance at Netwerk Aalst, Belgium 2010

Collaborative performance with Sean Dower, Steve Noble and Richard Wilson. Donder Op Dender took place at Netwerk Aalst, on the banks of the river Dender in Belgium. The performance was part of the exhibition 'Musik für Barbaren und Klassiker' , which featured a number of works by Sean Dower.

Donder Op Dender - performance excerpts

Performance with Sean Dower, Steve Noble and Richard Wilson at Netwerk Aalst on the banks of the river Dender, Belgium 2010.

See page on Musik für Barbaren und Klassiker

Bag of Blood performance at Tate Britain, 2011

Bag of Blood performed at Richard Strange's Cabaret Apocalyptica in the Pre-Raphaelite gallery of Tate Britain for 'Late at Tate' on 04.11.11

Wooden pallets, percussion instruments and live cctv feed (dimensions variable)

St Simeon's Drum Riser is a 4.5m tower of wooden pallets with a cramped performance space on top. A live cctv link relays an image from the top of the drum riser to a TV monitor at ground level. During the exhibition at De la Warr Pavilion, the artist undertook 3 performances on top of the platform, activating the installation using a variety of percussion and noise making instruments.

See other works exhibited in The Voyeur

The Mobile DJ (2012 remix) - still from video / performance

The Mobile DJ (2012 remix) builds on previous collaborations between Guy Bar Amotz and Sean Dower. The performance was filmed privately and then existed as an installation of video, sound, props and a lightshow in the space that synchornised exactly with the lighting in the video.

See video, photographs and more information here.

The Mobile DJ (2012 remix) - overhead camera shot

The Mobile DJ is the name of a toy keyboard instrument, programmed with generic samples and sounds. The installation explores the idea of performance artefacts and residual presences. The lighting in the installation uncannily synchronises with the lighting sequences created during the live performance

Vinyl listening event at Gallery Vela, London 2012

The Ultimate Brown Sound Record (released by the artist in 2010) was played at loud volume, back to back for 1 hour in the darkened basement space of Gallery Vela in Fitzrovia, London W1. The event accompanied an exhibition of Dower's videos in the upstairs space of the Gallery. The audience loved it, the neighbours complained.

See also - Latest News

The Ultimate Brown Sound record (2010)

Brown Noise is a noise signal that has a power density that decreases by 6 dB per octave with increasing frequency, accentuating the low end. Brown Noise is less harsh than White Noise and is sometimes likened to a thunderous waterfall or heavy rainfall.

Listen on Youtube (opens in separate link)

1513 A Ships Opera on the River Thames

1513 A Ships Opera featured a maritime orchestra of historic steam whistles, foghorns, sirens, hooters, a set of navigation bells (loaned by Trinity House) and the guns of HMS Belfast.

Produced by artist Richard Wilson and Zatorski + Zatorski, performers included: Ansuman Biswas, Sean Dower, Jem Finer, Miyako Narita, Steve Noble, Aldo Wilson and Richard Wilson. Steam whistles loaned by Roland Humble.

The Ships Opera took place in the Pool of London, on the River Thames and featured a flotilla of historic boats, including 3 steam ships, a lighthouse vessel, a 19th Century sailing ship and HMS Belfast. Many of the vessels travelled up from the Thames Estuary, sounding their horns en-route and picking up other boats en route. Once Tower Bridge was raised, the boats entered the Pool of London and the performance began. The performance didn't have a strict narrative but featured a series of sustained, accidental moments whose sounds echoed throughout the City of London.

Review of Ships Opera at The London Sound Survey

Percussion performance at the Cornelius Foundation, 2013

The performance was constructed from sourced materials whilst on a residency at the Cornelius Foundation in rural Languedoc. A variety of instruments and sound producing devices were woven into a performance combined with pyrotechnics and other visual effects.

See video here

Mechanical instrument at the Cornelius Foundation 2013.

Instruments used for the performance included a cement mixer, tuned vibraphones, gongs, chimes, pyrophones, resonant steel sheets, pyrotechic projectiles and explosions.

Live Noise Transmission - sealed performance room

A performance with acoustic instruments took place in a sealed room with windows. Sound and video were transmitted live to an adjascent space with video monitor, electrostatic speakers, bass speakers, platform, lights and foliage.

More informantion and images here

Live Noise Transmission - sound system installation space

Monomania Festival was a festival of 'solitary and obsessive creativity' that took place at Aid and Abet in Cambridge UK, 2014

More information about Monomania at Aid and Abet

Instruments used in the recording of On Air - Off Air

In 2015, Dower undertook a month long residency in the Victorian railway arch space at Beaconsfield Gallery London. He assembled a collection of percussion and other sound-making materials that he had been collecting over many years and made a series of experimental recordings.

More images, recordings and information here

Installation of 4 electrostatic speakers with spatial recordings of performances

As well as making his own recordings, Dower invited in musicians / performers Rupert Clairvaux and Eben Bull, and made a series of spatial recordings using a grid of microphones. For the latter stages of the residency, a quadraphonic mix was presented in the otherwise empty space, played back to eerie effect using four electrostatic speakers placed in the same location as four of the original microphones.

Link to more information at Beaconsfield Gallery

33⅓ RPM - performed at Kabinet Múz, Brno, Czech Republic 2017

33⅓ RPM is a performance for record turntable, loop effect pedal and 34 vinyl records

More information about 33⅓ RPM in the Nov. 2018 issue of THE BROOKLYN RAIL

33⅓ RPM - performed at Zapp Magazine Club Night, Cinetol Amsterdam 2019

Further documentation of ZAPP MAGAZINE CLUB NIGHT

Pyrotechnic book launch for Monumental Guns and Their Targets, 2022

For the Book launch for Monumental Guns and Their Targets by Sean Dower the artist fired the book into the air using a pyrotechnic mortar. Book launches took place at Gallery 46, London and at Turner Contemporary, Margate.

Link to film of launch on Vimeo

Monumental Guns and Their Targets, damage from pyrotechnic book launch

See information about the book at photobook cafe archive

Performance at Centrala, Birmingham UK 17.05.2025

Death Magazine 52 made their first live performance in nearly 40 years at Centrala, a venue in Birmingham, UK. This performance featured Simon French on tapes, effects and vocals and Sean Dower on electronics, samples and percussion.

Death Magazine 52 played many of their original gigs in and around Birmingham in the 1980s.

Link to Death Magazine 52 on Bandcamp