Fine Vermin is a body of audio and video art by David Graves. His recordings are available on the usual streaming services; his videos are on Vimeo. This website contains a selection of each.
His most extensive works are instrumental ambient pieces. David’s unconventional approach to modifying and then installing sounds has resulted in a wide variety of singles, albums and installations. He has also written jazz, pop, electronic and “neoclassical” pieces for film, theater, studio, concert hall, and outdoor installations.
In 1976, Nebraska’s music school had just finished construction of a multitrack synthesizer studio. When the dean of the school couldn’t interest his faculty in developing a curriculum for it, the dean decided to teach a class himself. David and the dean hit it off and, within months, David was granted unlimited access to the studio. That was a considerable testament to the dean’s willingness to trust an inspired student, especially considering that David was not enrolled in the school of music (!). That trust inspired his art for the rest of this life.
Many years later, David received composition and remedial instruction at San Francisco’s City College and Conservatory of Music. He has been a resident of the Lucid Art Foundation, the Berkeley Symphony and the Djerassi Resident Artist Program. In addition to solo works, he has released several singles, EPs and albums with AmbientBlack, ScienceNV and The Aesthetic Condition. He was a sound designer for theatrical productions in Berkeley as well as the California Academy of Sciences.
In the 2000s and 2010s, David served on the boards of the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, the Irregular Resolutions composer collective and the Soundwave Festival.
He recorded in his studio in San Francisco for nearly three decades before relocating to Oregon.
To contact David, send him an e-mail.
