C.O.T.A.
was formed around 1989 by Jon and Salomeh
Auchterlonie. With a focus on education,
we left Lost Angeles and set course to
the Bay Area in 1991 to attend C.C.A.C.
and U.C. Berkeley respectively. Here we
continued our work creating outdoor autonomous
zones and had no interest in the commodification
of such experiences. Inspired by intense
outdoor and ritual experiences, C.O.T.A.
is a vessel for creating trance states
and ritual, combined with an interest
in deep ecology and new mythology. Through
sound as a transmitter, we seek to convey
very intense and powerful experiences
recovered during excursions into the wilds.
Much of the artwork we use is a direct
result of such infused states--as an attempt
to convey some mythological or archetypal
idea or experience. It is music for a
return to the garden or a post-urban way
of life.
In
1994 we self-published our first release
"Terra-ist" and began perfoming
material live throughout the Western U.S.
on a number of small tours. In 1995, we
performed as part of Ian Read's Fire and
Ice here in California. C.O.T.A. published
"Ta'wil" in 1997, through Charnel
Music, known for Crash Worship and fine
noize works, and gained acclaimed notoriety
for this release as a "ritual masterpiece."
Surviving the dot-com boom, we returned
to Los Angeles in 2000 where we formed
Sonick Sorcery. Thanks to Markus Wolff
of Crash Worhip/Waldteufel infamy, we
began publishing through Germany's legendary
Tesco Organisation in 2002 with the release
of "Marches and Meditations"
and a subsequent reclaiming of "Ta'wil"
again in 2004. Preview New material From
C.O.T.A. as wel as The War of The Sons
of Light and The Sons of Darkness on our
Musick Page.
