We caught up with itchy-O, which speaks as a collective, ahead of the shows:
Westword: How did itchy-O begin?
Itchy-O: Around 2004, our founder birthed a dark-ambient solo project named itchy-O. The project began attracting like-minded souls, and over the next few years, it started to scale up. We played live musical accompaniment to experimental films. At the time, finding gigs for such a unique niche wasn't easy in Denver. By February 2009, there were about a dozen of us. We decided to go guerrilla. We rigged 12-volt amps and electronic instruments to our backs, carried marching drums, and stunt-crashed some events. From there, the project caught fire and blossomed into the sixty-plus-member ensemble itchy-O is today.
What is your mission for your immersive-experience concerts?
Our mission is to provide an antidote to the arid modern rational intellectual landscape by delivering an undeniably visceral spiritual experience. We aim to transcend the common concert experience by immersing our audience in an all-enveloping multi-sensory experience. We break traditional boundaries by melding the audience and performance. With over sixty members, we are uniquely positioned to blur those lines. Typically, only five members are on stage, with the rest of our robust ensemble storming the venue from any points of entry available. Once we seize the space and the fourteen-member percussion section kicks into action, the show lights up in pure percussive pandemonium, delivering the raw power of ritual without the trappings of any earthly religion.
When did you first create Hallowmass, and how has it evolved?
In 2015, the DCPA’s Off-Center program approached us about collaborating on an immersive event. We had just returned from playing Tucson’s All Souls Procession, where we witnessed tens of thousands in the streets celebrating Día de los Muertos. We were inspired by how the community came together. There definitely are and have been Día de los Muertos events in Denver, but we couldn't think of any ceremonial event that provided an opportunity for such inclusive, creative and cathartic expression of life and loss through art. So we created our own all-embracing rite that not only honors passed souls, but also all aspects of impermanence. At the center of our Hallowmass is an altar where participants are encouraged to leave offerings. Aspects of altar offerings fall into three general categories: one that honors souls who have influenced our lives in their journey and passing, another given to honor inanimate entities like places, institutions and ideas that have impacted our lives in their passing, and one dedicated to anything the celebrant is bringing to closure or letting go of, including behaviors, habits, relationships and outmoded patterns of thought.
What will make this year’s Hallowmass shows different than previous years?
As a constantly evolving organism, we strive to make every itchy-O experience even more powerful than the last. This year we will shake the intimate walls of the Mercury ballroom to its historical bones. This venue holds a special place in our hearts and offers a unique opportunity to bring the audience fully into the itchy-O experience. It will be a concentrated immersion to an unprecedented degree as we steep the audience in our strong mythic and bombastic elements. We're also excited to trade some of the significant effects like pyrotechnics and high voltage for the raw, up-close, powerful and personal experience we delivered in the early days of iO.
Itchy-O members keep their privacy by remaining masked and anonymous. How does that fit into the itchy-O ethos?
Our mythos is our ethos. Rather than showcasing individual egos that comprise the organic being that is the itchy-O, we focus on co-creating a primal experience with and within the audience that supports and serves us. Silence is one key. Masks are also a powerful tool, and mystery provides a beautiful corridor, allowing our fans and attendees the opportunity to live the cipher by filling in the blanks (or not). Mystery is part of why people find our events so magnificent and captivating.
Itchy-O is known for its lore, exhibited in its shows. Who crafts the lore?
According to legend, the lore is transmitted...from a dimension beyond the constraints of time-space. It bears many hallmarks of traditional mythology from global traditions without having any specific relationship to any of them. It's more accurate to say the lore crafts the itchy-O than itchy-O crafts the lore. Itchy-O evolves as more lore is revealed.
What is the lore being explored at this year’s Hallowmass?
Each year, more lore is revealed and disseminated throughout the corpus of the Āöth, our fans who bring our shows to life. Our inner-circle Patreon supporters receive a resonant primer -– a workbook with activities, meditations, exercises, definitions and more to deepen their experience of the celebration. In turn, they share elements of this arcane knowledge with other uninitiated members of the audience. Over the past year or so, we've really seen our Mystic Seals, symbolic hand gestures representing different aspects of itchy-O, catch fire among all of our fans. This year, we are providing all willing participants with a Mandorlah, an impermanent ritual head covering symbolizing the transitory nature of time and the ritual space between the past and the future. Guests may write what they are releasing on their Mandorlah and leave them on the shrine at the end of the rite, to be burned on November 5. The lore that informs this performance will provide an implicit substrate to the event. It isn’t necessary, or even desirable, to know too much, as that might create expectations that intrude and interfere with the profoundly personal nature of the mystery.
Studio Apocalypse
We encourage people to reflect on what they would like to honor or whatever they are prepared to let go of before they attend. They might want to bring an offering to leave on the altar: photos, old papers, tickets or whatever anchors them to the past. Costumes are optional, and you'll see a whole array of spectacle and street attire, which we encourage. Be yourself. Other than that, it's probably best to abandon all expectations and come to the event with an open mind, prepared to have a cathartic blast of a fantastic night out.
Tickets to itchy-O's Hallowmass at Mercury Cafe, 2199 California Street, are $37, and still available for Halloween and November dates.
