The long time Seattle resident who goes by the name of Grey Filastine is a drummer, laptopist and agitator extraordinaire. Founder of agi-rockers !tchkung! in the early 90s, Filastine went on to initiate the notorious Infernal Noise Brigade – a wandering marching band invented to provide the soundtrack of demonstrations at the 2001 WTO meeting in Seattle. He later set up the Post World Industries label to release the productions of !tchkung!, Infernal Noise Brigade and other artists and projects.
 
Filastine is long-time partner in crime of Maga Bo, with co-productions including the mix Lost and Stolen Goods under the name Sonar Calibrado. Filastine has also released music on DJ/Rupture’s Soot Records, ROMZ, Shockout and Violent Turd. Originally from Oklahoma, Filastine expanded his horizons globally beginning with 1998 with a nine month trek through India and Sri Lanka with Maga Bo. Recordings from the Indian sub continent trip became part of Bo Anderson’s first release in 2001 on Post World Industries in collaboration with Filastine under the name Audio File Collective. The album, Do Not Spit Here Or There: A Noise Primer On The Indian Subcontinent was a collection of sounds recorded across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from 1997-99 and culminating in to studies with Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, and the Master Musicians of Jajouka (Moroccan percussionists). The performance troupe !tchkung! was based in Seattle, Washington. They blended guerrilla theater, 'tribal' drumming, and D.I.Y. punk ethics with performances including multiple drummers, violin, didgeridoo, and electric bass, along with an anarchic mix of fire breathers and fire-eaters, body piercing and other theatrics. They often drew comparisons with Crash Worship or Crass. The band became well-known for shows which occasionally ended in police raids (such as in Eugene), riots (particularly Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival in 1994) and street parades in which audience members were encouraged to participate.
 
The last disc ¡tchkung! put out was called Incite, and after the break-up of the band, Filastine went on to form the political marching band Infernal Noise Brigade. The group originally formed to participate in the protests at the WTO Meeting of 1999, but continued for seven years. INB performed as part of several large-scale protest actions, including the 2000 IMF/World Bank Meeting in Prague, the 2003 WTO Ministerial in Cancún, Mexico, the 2004 United States Republican Party National Convention in New York City. After slowly withdrawing from the twenty-strong Brigade before its demise, Filastine went on to record industrial hip-hop and breakcore. His album Burn It was released on DJ/Rupture's Soot Records.
 
He has also been associated with the CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective, an international anarchist organisation. Filastine was instrumental in organizing Moukabir Sawte (meaning "Loudspeaker") attacks against corporate media outlets during the invasion of Iraq: A group was co-ordinated to surround media headquarters with hi-volume sound, for this case, a mixture of air-raid sirens and muzzein’s call to prayer.
 
Filastine's new album Dirty Bomb is co-released by Soot and Uber Lingua in Australia.
 
> www.filastine.com
> www.myspace.com/filastine
> http://filastine.com/log/
 
Appearances:
> CTM.09 > FUNK MUNDIAL