rgms, or the Rube Goldberg Machine of Semiotics and Symbols, is a curated collective of artists focusing on experimental releases and research publications. (See The Meaning Behind RGMS)
Members produce a wide array of exploratory musics, ranging from lush soundscapes to near barren field recordings, and controlled chaos to meditative canopies. (See the Release Code)
These include collaborations and solo projects; however, all albums will be released under the name 'rgms'.
In the nature of the collective, identity is formed from a dynamic relationship with the parts that make up the whole.
Planned methodologies and structural approaches frequently serve as the framework for these releases as is demonstrated with the release Undercover Coroner, which acts as an expansion on Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies.
Contributing artists also devise a reflection of their work post-release. This reflection may take the form of a journal entry, active imagination, detailed explanation, or a symbolic analysis with the overall aim of developing a heuristic to relate to the deeper meaning within music. (See Artistic Hermeneutic Loop)
By cultivating a heuristic to retroactively assess the unconscious workings of music making, the rgms aims to excavate what lingers in the unconscious and bring it forth in the form of a conscious framework, from which new works may be born. (See The Way of Apollo and Dionysus in the RGMS)
In this way, the rgms strives to function as the synthesis of the Apollonian and Dionysian Dichotomy.
The collective was born out of the minds of Tony and Bobby Goldberg (See Origins), two brothers based in Chicago - more intimately known as Sean Kiley and Davis Connors. While working on a series of collaborative projects under different monikers dating back to 2016, the collective was seamlessly integrated and officially established out of the ashes of 2020. It serves as an umbrella to their many releases and to those in the experimental community who wish to build upon their more eccentric artistic inclinations.