The bare-bones ain't-no-frills yet version of...

: :   e x o t e q u e   m u s i c   : :

was formed in 1982 in Port Huron, Michigan. Ironically in the same town that Thomas Edison grew up in as a kid. Port Huron in the early eighties was a haven for underground artists and musicians (Hunting Lodge, Shame Exposure, Jim Wright etc.).

Lon C Diehl of Hunting Lodge, also happened to manage the local record store Full Moon at the time and he made sure the store was well stocked with all the latest industrial, punk, and any other kind of music that tickled his fancy.

ITN consisted of two members, Jeff Central and Pat Grafik. They went to school together and developed a mutual interest in the development of audio and video production. Both were interested in electronics and their role in the creative processes.

Jeff was the first to begin working with sounds and to actually record them. He acquired an early Teac 4-track reel-to-reel and a Moog "Satellite" synthesizer. He began working with tape manipulations, feedback, anything that made a sound, sound different.	Pat was the first to go "digital", using the computer (a Commodore 64) as a device for the generation of sound, as well as the creation of third world graphics.

Together, they began to collaborate their efforts into a group form. Soon they were renting out the local "lodge" in the trailer park they lived in, to set up, drink, and assault their senses. To many who saw these shows (mostly neighborhood kids because they were unannounced), it did leave them wondering. This was also the same "lodge" that Jeff rented out later for Hunting Lodge. Everybody knew everybody in this little town by the lake.

In 1983, Jeff and Pat moved their operations to Columbus, Ohio while both attending the DeVry Institute of Technology. Learning more of the technical aspects in constructing and modifying electronic circuits. Pat began building his own equipment from junk TV sets, radios and spare parts from hell. Basically, anything he could get his hands on.

"We called this Homonic equipment" Pat recalls, "and many circuits were blown."

Pat also acquired a portable VCR with camcorder to experiment with video. Jeff acquired a Tascam Porta One, a drum machine, and a digital delay and began working with multi track recording and the further manipulation of sound. They played out once during this timeframe at Ti Rojo Studio, a surrealist art gallery located near the OSU campus owned and operated by Timothy Johnson. The show was videotaped and was interesting not only because of the surreal imagery surrounding the gallery, but because of the primitive instruments that were available for them to use. Jeff incorporated into the work an authentic African slit drum and Tim’s tropical bird "Loco" provided birdcalls all night. This was all before Jeff had even heard of Martin Denny. After a year Pat decided to move back to Michigan while Jeff met his future wife to be Deb, and decided to stay in Ohio and continue his work in the audio underground.

Jeff formed the cassette label ITN around this time to help distribute his sounds. Before this Jeff issued tapes to friends under the name of Musicopsychological. His first review in "The Other Sound" magazine compared him to TG and said that the tape "sounded like getting the lower part of your body caught in an industrial drill press." Needless to say this was a big boost to Jeff’s chosen path in electronic music. For the next few years Jeff would continuously record solo works as well as collaborating with another electronic madman of sound Chris Phinney. Chris had just started up his Harsh Reality music label and was only happy to oblige with his unique brand of harsh but beautiful sounds under the name Mental Anguish. Together they created 3 full-length cassette tapes of pure audio deviance. One track ended up on the Mental Anguish/Hands To split LP, and another exclusive track ended up on the "Music For Shopping" compilation CD put out by James Towning’s Black Music label. James was also (and still is) a good friend who released Jeff’s first themed release "Primitiva" also on the Black Music label. Hailed as a masterpiece into exotic type electronics this tape was also mixed by James Towning as well giving it a slightly different sound. James and Jeff also collaborated on a track for the Stimulus and Response 3 compilation under the name of Edison’s Office Boy. Then in 1990 all hell broke loose as Jeff Central met Andy Izold. Jeff met Andy while working for a local record chain Camelot Music. Jeff had mentioned to Andy that he went and saw Chris & Cosey last week and Andy said "really? We were the opening band"! Jeff said that he had also recorded the entire event and from that moment on these two would form a recording career that spanned over 10 years and formed a lifetime friendship.