The Academy of St. Roch of the Bulboes

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Band Bio

The Academy of St. Roch of the Bulboes, with C. Valentine Riley, is dedicated to original interpretations of baroque, romantic, and punk-influenced classical music. Founded by C. Valentine Riley, the Academy's name celebrates the patron saint of plague, who survived the Black Death by living in a forest and being fed by a dog. Riley is quoted as saying St. Roch's story mirrors his own experience in the music industry. St. Roch and the Riley's backgrounds are reflected in the title of the Academy's first album, Table Scraps.

Trained at the University of Northern South Dakota School for the Deaf, Riley eschewed conventional musical instruction involving audible sound, arguing that "If you can hear the music, you are not feeling the music". Unfortunately, Riley's academic career was cut short when the USGS objected to his experimental use of subterranean explosives to "make music that really moves you." From the creative crisis that followed, Riley developed a passion for classical music on original instruments. However, unlike most conventional classical conductors, Riley recognized that truly original instruments must predate humans. Thus, Riley became the leading proponent of the insect instrument movement, focusing on percussion (drumming beetles), the didgeridoo (a tube made by termites), and, of course, the kazoo (incorporating spider webs).

In founding the Academy of St. Roch of the Bulboes, Riley sought out the leading insect-instrumentalists but in seeking his kazoo players, Riley and the Academy opened a huge controversy in the world of the classical mirliton. The Academy only accepts mirlitonists who play with spider web membranes, while the North American Mirliton Association maintains that original mirliton's were made with paper from wasp nests. The debate has kept The Academy of St. Roch of the Bulboes out of the mainstream classical music scene, and currently federal mediation is expected to try to resolve the issue.

Although Riley's name is English and he is American, he is known for speaking in a German accent having said, "All zee great conductors are German!" Musically, his major influences are S. Jones, W.A. Yankovic, P. Schickele, and H. von Karajan, but in leading the Academy he follows "the Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili school of personnel management." The Academy recently signed with the classical division of Hex-Apoda Industries, and are working on the soundtrack for the upcoming film, Snakeflies on a Plane.

Band Gear

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Albums / EPs

Table Scraps Date Released: 5/11/2008   Tracks: 9 Sales: 5   Listens: 16 Table Scraps, offers elements of the classical repertoire and classical reinterpretations celebrating plague, pestilence, starvation, and dogs, on (insect) original instruments. Here, The Academy of St. Roch of the Bulboes explore the allegorical relationship between the Black Death and the modern music industry. Also, under the base of the digeridoos, listen for Riley himself barking on the Fio-lio Overture.