Karen Stackpole

Karen Stackpole is an audio engineer and drummer/percussionist with a penchant for gongs who is active in the experimental music scene. She has cultivated some distinctive techniques for drawing harmonics out of metals and specializes in dynamic soundscapes and textures, contributing gong sounds to both experimental collaborations and more conventional musical genres as well as soundtrack and solo work. She has performed and recorded with various projects including Machine Shop: Live Amplified Gong Experience, Sabbaticus Rex, Ghost in the House, Vorticella, the Francis Wong Unit, and the rock band Steel Hotcakes. Recent work has focused on duo performances and recordings with experimental instrument builder Krys Bobrowski (Gliss Glass & Gongs), contrabassist Bill Noertker (Talking Frog), and guitarist Fred Frith.