BIO
Brian McWilliams (musical name “Aperus”) is an ambient, electronic musician and photographer living in the high desert of northern New Mexico. He’s also known for his work with the highly regarded ambient / electronic duo Remanence. With each recording, he explores new themes and possibilities, combining analog atmospheres, field recordings, electronic experimentalism and photographic artifacts to create a unique audiovisual document. Sounds and images are set up as a feedback loop with photography influencing the music, and music feeding back into the artwork. In this way, each project functions as an experiment in pursuit of new techniques and outcomes.
His music has received consistently glowing reviews and has been frequently aired on NPR's exploratory music programs "Hearts of Space" and "Echoes". His work can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Bandcamp and a host of other platforms.
JASON STRYKOWSKI, PASATIEMPO ~ DEC 4, 2020
"Armed with a portable recorder, McWilliams captures the world’s noise and then uses [software and] a synthesizer to layer the elements and transform them into songs — although probably not in a form that most would recognize. At times, McWilliams also makes the sounds from scratch, using found objects as instruments. The result is a soundtrack for — and of — the world."
JEREMY BYE, A CLOSER LISTEN ~ 2021 TOP TEN DRONE ALBUMS
“Drone music is rarely designed to be an easy listen, but this album is particularly unsettling: it's a document of solastalgia. Inspired by a fire that lasted 28 days in the mountains near his Santa Fe home, Weather Anomalies is Aperus' attempt to capture what was occurring around him. It's an environmental album, utilizing field recordings and radio transmissions alongside more traditional instrumentation to provide a musical response to the situation. Aperus isn't just responding to a month of living with the smell of mountain fire in the house, but the likelihood of this becoming the normal state of affairs. It's this very real aspect that makes Weather Anomalies equal parts compelling and terrifying.”