Shasta Cults

Shasta Cults is the solo project of Richard Smith, an electronics technician based in Vancouver. On releases such as his self-titled 2019 LP, he constructs immersive drones and soundscapes using rare Buchla synthesizers, uncovering new tones and timbres rather than relying on factory presets. Smith worked as the official repair person for Buchla & Associates for nearly two decades; his clients included Aphex Twin, Suzanne Ciani, Morton Subotnick, and Mills College. He has performed with Sarah Davachi as the duo Davachi/Smith, and participated in Daughter Produkt, an open-sourced electronic project headed by Heinrich Mueller (Drexciya, Dopplereffekt). In 2017, Shasta Cults released a limited cassette titled Arguments for Trivialism, which was mastered by Alessandro Cortini. Two years later, he signed to Important Records and released two full-lengths. Configurations was recorded live to multi-track using a Buchla 700 digital-hybrid instrument designed in the late '80s, while Shasta Cults was created with the only fully-functional Buchla Touché, developed with hardware by Don Buchla and software programmed by David Rosenboom. In addition to these albums, an untitled 12" EP was also issued in 2019 by German label Gedöns. ~ Paul Simpson