The Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC has awarded a 2024 Music Grant to Brendon Randall-Myers for his upcoming Project, “Only in the Dark”

Brendon Randall-Myers is a composer, guitarist, and producer who creates intricate and visceral music at various intersections of rock, experimental, electronic, and classical. His work has been described as "an unflinching testimonial on grief and endurance" (Pitchfork), “emotive and gripping” (The Quietus), and "a yearning explosion” (The Wire). Brendon writes music for classical performers (Chicago Symphony, Omaha Symphony, pianist Miki Sawada, Friction Quartet), cross-genre/experimental groups (Bang on a Can, Dither, Warp Trio), and film scores (Docked, Swimming with Stones, We the Economy: Recession). His work has received support from the Jerome Foundation, New Music USA, New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America, the Guitar Foundation of America, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and ASCAP.  Brendon co-leads experimental black metal band Scarcity, is a member of avant-electric guitar quartet Dither, and has conducted the Glenn Branca Ensemble since Branca’s death in 2018. He has performed in clubs, concert halls, and basements around the world, including the Barbican Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and the Forbidden City Concert Hall.

‘Only in the Dark’ is a 50-minute musical work in eight movements for cello and electronics that will materialize as a recorded album and a live performance. Both album and live performance will be accompanied by a specially curated ‘sensory kit’ containing tactile and/or otherwise sensuous items that correspond to individual movements and sonic trajectories within the work and that can enhance, modulate, or de-escalate the listener’s experience according to their own particular preferences or neurological limitations.

This work is a collaboration between Brendon (he/him), a composer/sound designer, cellist/composer and ceramist/visual artist Annie Blythe (they/she), flutist/disability consultant Leanna Keith (she/they), poet Juniper Gabrielle (they/she), and illustrator/educator Keia Kato (she/her), and recording engineer Mike Tierney (he/him).

Brendon's music for this album was written in close consultation with Blythe. Both the music and the sensory kit grew from their respective experiences as neurodiverse individuals and their shared journeys around understanding our own histories and neurologies. Blythe is queer, autistic and a synesthete; Brendon was raised by a parent with undiagnosed Aspergers, and his own neurology tends towards hyperfocus and strong adherence to routines.

The collective work is motivated by sensory sensitivities arising from their respective neurological differences, by a desire to honor and affirm connections with their bodies and emotions, and by a desire for creative community grounded in their long history of friendship, mutual support, and musical collaboration.

Please visit Brendons’s Website, X, Facebook or Instagram for more information.