Having recorded for a variety of labels including Klang Elektronik, Mathematics Recordings, and as part of The Dirty Criminals (International Deejay Gigolo Records), Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being, IAMTHATIAM, and the Sun God, has been part of the Chicago house/techno scene as both a producer and DJ for well over a decade.
Moss’s first creative endeavours took place as part of a crew that created industrial soundscapes for the Liquid Love parties at the famed Powerplant in Chicago from 1989-90. When the Powerplant closed, Moss and his cohorts started Liquid Sex, which became a magnet for many well-known house artists such as Steve Poindexter, who put Moss in touch with future collaborators the Bad Boys collective. Moss was also taken under the wing of house legend Adonis, who became a key mentor figure in Moss’s life and an inspiration for his Hieroglyphic Being moniker.
The music of Hieroglyphic Being, often complex and experimental, may have prevented mainstream recognition but has earned him a cult status in the underground. And his beloved Mathematics label, first launched in 1996 but only truly prolific in the past five years, has provided the perfect platform for Moss to launch his sound on inquisitive ears. Hieroglyphic Being began rising in notoriety through two distinguished EPs for Spectral, "Machines for Lovers" (2004) and "Liquid Sex" (2005), after which he released a steady stream of 12” and eventually a full-length album, "So Much Noise to Be Heard", in 2008. Since then it’s been non-stop, culminating with some ten LPs in 2011.
Moss hears music as a unified force, beyond races or genres. The sound he purveys is borne of a tough, lonely upbringing, and instilled with a DIY attitude. His musical influences run deep: jazz, Sun Ra-inspired afrofuturism, industrial, New Age mysticism, and early ambient. Best known as a house producer, even his most beat-driven, dancefloor-ready productions slip the shackles of four-on-the-floor via his hallmark distorted bass thump, hazy chords and layers of bleeping, all cobbled into a vague structure that’s more about uncentered pulse than logic.
› mathematics recordings
Appearances:
CTM.12 › MUTABLE TRANSFORMATION
CTM.12 › TAPPING THE REAL (as IAMTHATIAM)
