Rotate the Completor: Local outsider music genius

I had been sending the following letter only to people overseas as I felt that for the most part New Zealanders probably wouldn't get the rather odd childish music that Rotate the Completor makes but I'll try to play the optimist and hopefully someone will read this post and prove me wrong. If you are interested enough by the words that I have written or have a passion for outsider music/lo fi or just the utterly bizarre then I strongly recommend that you follow the details provided at the end of the letter and try to get in contact with R.T.C so that you may hear his music. Cheers...





'Hello, sorry to bother you like this but a friend of mine said that you might be able to help me with regards to the following. Hopefully it will interest you as much as it does me.

Before I begin I’ll give you some background information. My name is Stan Ingham and I am a resident of Tauranga, a city located in New Zealand. Not much happens in Tauranga as it like a Florida for example mostly serves as a pretty, artificial city for which the elderly can retire, play bridge for awhile and then die. The idea of anything happening here of musical importance is absurd, because despite the occasional metal or covers band playing loudly and badly in some yob bar on a Saturday evening this is an artistic wasteland bereft of any talent, energy and creativity. What little talent that may have been here has moved away long ago to larger and more prosperous cities due to the combined lack of respect and outlets for their personal expression. The rest are so stricken with apathy they either cease playing like myself or join the hordes of covers bands selling their credibility for a spot as the proverbial wedding reception juke box. So the recent developments of which I am about to share have come both as quite a shock and a definite pleasure and for my mind are in desperate need of being shown to a far wider more understanding audience than the ignorant local population. So I have made it my mission to bring some exposure to the man who calls himself….Rotate the Completor.

During our summer last year I found myself on one of the back streets of our city centre due to being unable to find a car park anywhere else thanks to the masses of people like myself doing their Christmas shopping at the last minute. As I was feeding enough coins to create a small deposit on what could be my first house into a hungry parking metre I noticed a busker about 50metres down the road. I found this rather odd because besides the occasional business person heading down those ways to catch a taxi or someone trying to locate their dignity from their previous weekend’s night clubbing antics then there was very little foot traffic. Certainly not enough to warrant busking! What made it more bizarre was that the main drag was only 2-3 minutes walking distance away. And what with the spirit of Christmas in the air generosity for buskers would be at record highs.

Curious, I decided to walk by for a closer look. The busker was a rather strange looking guy, mid to late 20’s I’d say yet quite boyish if one could see past the scraggly beard framing his face, kitted out in an odd selection of oversized well aged clothing like you would see on a child playing dress up in his fathers clothes. Now much to my surprise this guy was not playing the standard, crowd pleasing set list of top 20 hits but was instead belting out some of the weirdest, original, tuneless, repelling to the average person, inspired music I’ve ever heard. I still find it hard to describe exactly what kind of music it is that Rotate the Completor plays so until you can actually listen to it just imagine a deranged children’s entertainer playing a mix of blues, jazz, blue grass, rock n’ roll, folk and carnival music all somehow blended together and sung for the most part in silly voices to disguise how atonal he is. A friend of mine upon listening to R.T.C for the first time dubbed what he heard quite wryly and very aptly as ‘savant garde’. Now this guy is going full tilt, playing as loud as his un-amplified acoustic will let him, dancing like he has a very troubling parasitic infection and forming his words with an impressive array of facial expressions the likes of which are usually reserved for rubber faced comedians and or people who have never had children trying to be ‘silly’ around the offspring of other people who have had children lest they be seen as being unable to communicate with those younger than themselves due to having never had children like those that have…

Now what gets and hooks me is the fact that the other, probably lost, people that do walk past are ignoring our hero and if anything treating him like a leper, giving him an incredibly wide berth, far more than what the usual accepted side stepping rule when encountering and trying to avoid buskers’ permits. Some have even crossed the road only to re-cross moments later once they have gotten past this noisy obstacle. All the while R.T.C is completely oblivious, totally absorbed in playing his little ditties and having a grand old time doing so. Astounded by his genius and everyone else’s ignorance I watched and waited to see what would happen next. After watching him play 4-5 more similarly mental songs I took out my wallet and emptied all the coinage I had onto his at this point empty busking hanky and started to return to my previous viewing position. Now the idea behind this was that hopefully with a little validation it would spur him on to keep playing. But no, much to my amusement mid way through the song he was playing he stopped leant down, scooped up his hanky, slung his guitar over his shoulder and without as much as even a glance in my direction crossed the road and entered the fruit and veggie store opposite from where we stood leaving me alone scratching my head in wonder.

After making sense of what just happened I followed, eventually catching up with him in front of a stall of sweet potatoes weighing them up in his hands and squeezing them like one would do if they were trying to discern whether a peach or avocado was ripe enough to eat. Bemused I looked on while he made his choice and then attempted to start a conversation which was no easy feat. When I first went up along side him and said ‘hello’ he swung around, guitar almost decapitating me and strode off heading at a fierce pace towards the counter, when I finally caught up to him this time I tapped him on his shoulder to give fair warning at which point he turned, looked at me with this priceless possum caught in the headlights expression and gave me a slow, drawled, suspicious ‘yes?’. I explained that I’d just been watching him while he busked and thought it was very good but before I could continue with all the platitudes and questions I had wanted to get out the guitar was again heading for my head while a ‘thank you’ was also roughly aimed in that direction. Now I should say here that I’m not usually the kind of guy that follows others about like a needy affection starved animal but to hear something musically from my generation that isn’t just an insipid reinterpretation of the last decade’s music and to hear it on the streets of Tauranga no less was excuse enough for me to forgo my usual insouciance to take on the role of gushing fan #1 so I could at the very least find out who this enigma was. So I cut him off at the counter and started asking the questions for which I wanted and needed the answers to. Brilliantly, at first he tried pretending that he couldn’t see me until it became glaringly obvious that I could only be talking to him as there was no-one else in or near the vicinity of the line for service. When he did finally look at me with his startled possum expression a fixed like he’d only just realised I’d been standing in front of him the entire time he gave me his slow, drawled, suspicious ‘yes?’ response once more. So I repeated myself for him but by the time I’d gotten through my spiel about how great it was to hear something original in Tauranga and how great he was etc and asked my first question I’d lost his attention, he was off in his own little world. Getting and understanding the message that either through misanthropy, insanity, shyness or being the human incarnate of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland he couldn’t or didn’t want to converse I grabbed a pen and wrote my contact details on the back of my receipt on the off chance that one day he may like to jam or hang out or whatever and handed it to him which was met with a response you can probably already guess for yourself. After that I left my new friend to his own devices, only seeing him again briefly as I was returning from my shopping, sitting alone on a park bench eating his sweet potato like an apple. In hysterics, I rushed home and told everyone I could, to little or no interest, about my odd encounter with this strange little man who despite my best efforts I knew zilch about and sadly never expected to see or hear from ever again.

So imagine my surprise when about 3 months ago a package arrived for me with the sender listed as a Rotate the Completor. I’m not sure if it is the same where you come from but over here R.T.C isn’t exactly a common name. So after checking for any ticking sounds coming from within I cautiously opened the envelope to reveal the contents; one audio cassette with an odd little photocopied drawing for a front cover titled ‘Rotate the Completors: Completed Rotations of the…’, and with some type written directions for use-age on the back. Truth be told I had nearly forgotten about my encounter of the previous year as I had neither seen nor heard from the little busker since. It was only when I turned the tape on and heard the manic combination of talent, no talent, originality, insanity that I realised just what it was that I had been sent and quickly turned off the tape and paid more attention to the package it came in.

I’ll go into detail about the front cover after I have discussed the music itself but before I can even do that I must explain the ‘Rules for listening to Rotate the Completors: Completed Rotations of the…’. Set in type written font were 4 rules;
1.) Listen alone. 2.) Listen with head phones on. 3.) Listen only at night. 4.) Only permissible foods to be eaten when listening to ‘R.T.C’’s: C.R of the…’ ;cruciferous vegetables, members of the allium genus. I can’t really explain the reason for these except maybe they are designed to enhance the listening pleasure, that or was this how the album was conceived and R.T.C wants everyone to hear his music how he hears it? And in fact I think I’d rather not know as this just adds to the mystery.


Sadly I could not wait for night to fall and that I regret as it definitely would have enhanced the pleasure of that first listen if that was his intention but I did adhere to the other provisos by grabbing my old walkman, a plate of cabbage and tucking myself away in the darkest place I could find in my house. Now I thought what I heard on the street the previous year was bizarre but this completely blew that and me away. There are 11 songs in total, none of which are named; all are listed with their number and then an ellipsis for example 1… or 5… All songs are recorded on what could only be a Dictaphone as the sound quality is so poor, not that it really matters as it probably actually adds and sticks with the rough around the edges charm consistent of the other R.T.C attributes. All the songs bar the very last, 11…. are played on an electric guitar with some form of effects laden over top. Most of the songs also have drum accompaniment. Not from a highly skilled drummer over dubbing mind you but just R.T.C mostly out of time using a kick drum and hi-hat and maybe something else at the same time as he badly warbles and plays his guitar. Least that’s my belief as no-one else could possibly keep up with the odd changes in time and structure the songs constantly under go and nor could most musicians play in such a stripped back childish manner.

I won’t be overly descriptive on the music as it is best to hear it for yourself without preparation the first time in case it lessens the initial shock. However to up the intrigue factor on your part I will leave you with these tasty morsels of information. The music is still an indefinable chaotic mess of clashing styles but now with the added bonus of low fi technical wizardry the songs take on a more sinister tone in parts. Song 1… starts as a normal song would, well as normal as any R.T.C song starts, only to stop completely, start again but this time with the tape sped up, only to stop again at which point another copy of the same song starts playing over the first rendition but half a second behind only to stop again after your head feels like it’s about to explode from a combination of dizziness, confusion and amusement. Some songs are jarringly short while some tend to ramble as if they are searching for the point they are trying to make yet never wind up finding it. All the songs have the ability to evoke a wide range of emotions some of which I have never felt when listening to music or from living in general such as the gut churning feeling of being simultaneously elated, confused and disgusted.

The lyrics from what I can hear and decipher seem to be a mix of metaphors, tales about personified usually inanimate objects or animals such as cabbages and mice and heartfelt mantras like the last song which is basically 5 minutes of repeating the refrain ‘I am not insane’. Which brings me to the album cover, now I can only presume this child like drawing is a montage of all the characters contained within the songs as the big puffy white cloud thing in the top left must be the ‘dog in the sky’ mentioned in track 5… and cabbage and cantaloupe in the central area from track 1… I had been hoping to send a copy of this to you so you could see it for yourself but unfortunately there is no way that I can see how to attach it.

And best of all something I only just discovered last month is that if one leaves the album to run out then the entire thing is played in reverse at the end of each side.

Hopefully I have piqued your interest on this because my efforts to spread the good word of R.T.C here have been met with a typically muted response and I am in desperate need of some help in doing so. And as my friend kindly told me you would be one of the best people to contact as music like this is your specialty and therefore hopefully you will get as much enjoyment out of this as I have and will also spread the word to other like minded and interested souls. I should make clear that I am not trying to become the next Malcolm Mclaren nor am I dreaming about world domination for R.T.C I’d just like to see others get the same enjoyment out of this music that I have and that he gets some of the recognition he deserves so that he continues to make more of his warped genius music. Not that I think he really cares or needs the validation because since receiving his tape I have been steadily writing to the return of sender address from the back of his parcel with words of thanks, encouragement, questions, my intentions and everything I tried saying that day back in the fruit and veggie market but so far to absolutely no response. Maybe he just isn’t taking me seriously as I’m just a resident of Tauranga, I have no musical credentials or credentials and sees me as a potential stalker that should not be too greatly encouraged.

Now obviously you cannot make your own deductions on the questionable genius of Rotate the Completor without first hearing him as I could be massively delusional due to being starved for good local or contempory music. But there in lies the problem all my attempts to create duplicates of his album have thus far been met with resistance due to the sound quality or lack there of and it seems somewhat dishonourable to copy his album without the permission I have asked for in my unanswered entreaties anyway. But what I can suggest and this I can vouch for is what one of the few people I have shown this album to who have appreciated it has done and succeeded. My friend wrote to R.T.C requesting a copy of his album but did so in a way that he’d be obligated to do so by sending a blank audio tape with a stamped self addressed envelope big enough to carry a cassette, which after a couple of weeks waiting he received along with the photo copied cover and type written annotations that I had. If you wish to do this and I hope I have been convincing enough that you will do so then send your stamped, self addressed envelope, with I suggest a 90minute blank tape if you want the reverse of the album as well to: Rotate the Completor, PO Box 2000, Tauranga, New Zealand.

And if you do choose to do so and receive your copy please email me and tell me that I am not imagining things and seeing what I want to see and that you too enjoy it. And if you do then please pass this message on or tell as many other like minded souls as you can because with enough numbers we may even be able to convince R.T.C to come out from where ever he is hiding and start playing live or at least explain some of the more troubling aspects of his music.

Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to read this and I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Stan Ingham. '

Rotate the Completors: Completed Rotations of is a pellucid and highly interesting record. You can't know about genuine New Zealand music without knowing about Rotate the Completor. New Zealand is heavily Americanized and has endured a great thirty year flux of Quasi-American styled rock band emergences. Rotate the Completor is not that kind of thing thank goodness? Perhaps God really does protect God's own country?

Did you? Cool man. I run a fan page dedicated to him on myspace would love to use anything he may have sent you.

I got the album on cassette a while back and really enjoyed it. Gotta love the accompanying artwork and things. I didn't find the music unsettling, but then I think The Agony Of The Plasma by SPK is a perfectly lovely song.

The vinyl edition of Rotate The Completor's cassette album is now available for pre-order at www.roaratorio.com. Newly mastered & with a download code.

Huge Rotate the Completor news, head to the blogs section at www.myspace.com/rotatethecompletorfanpage for more. You'll regret it if you don't.

Started a fan page in the Arists section for those of you who are unintiated on R.T.C and want to learn more but find that you are too lazy to hit the myspace page. Enjoy.

Yeah you're right. was having a bad day, then saw that again and went a bit schizo. I am aware that some people will think RTC sucks... but oh well, i guess they're missing out...Thanks for the reply.

CALM DOWN PAL. 'ANONYMOUS' WAS JUST VOICING HIS OPINION. MUSICAL TASTE IS SUBJECTIVE. WE CAN'T ALL LIKE THE SAME STUFF, IF WE DID IT WOULD BE A PRETTY BLAND MUSICAL CLIMATE.

"seriously if you 'DON'T' like this shit then you must be as insane as he is." That is how my last comment should read. That last morons post got me so riled again up I left out the vital 'DON'T'. RTC is the man!!! And those who don't get his mad genius music can get fucked. 'Anonymous' you too would see this if you didn't have so much cock orbiting your face. And what too cowardly to comment using an actual profile name...fucker. I'm logging off now, think i'm taking this a little too personally.

seriously if you like this shit you must be as insane as he is, if there was a dick around it would be in this guys mouth.

You're an idiot!!!

wtf? had a listen 2 this guy, he sucks dick.

BareBones and Cabaret. myspace.com/barebonesandcabaret

Hey, just found this post - awesome read. Had a listen over at the myspace page, phenomenal!!! Definetly right up my alley. Going to send away for the full album. Thanks for the tip off...RTC- New Zealands answer to Jandek?

YEA CRACK ON DUDE...

Cheers Jonzen!!! Think a few other people have received the same 'press release' but that's the first time I've laid my eyes on it so thanks very much. Lol, wish all press kits were as absurd as his. Hey, mind if I make a copy of this and use it for the myspace tribute page I'm running?

once there was a band. a terrible band. they hailed from. tauranga. they were. rotate the completed. there was a bass. a guitar. a voice. and a drum. they made a horrible noise. they had no fans. they had many critics. they played and they played. no one listened. no one cared. they tired. then the drum quit. the guitar moved a far. the voice gave birth to a little voice. there was only the bass left. undeterred he vowed to continue. he pledged to no longer be the bass. he would be the bass. and the guitar. and the voice. and the drum. he would be rotate the completed. alone. a one man band. but then. the E and the D left to start afresh. in a rock n roll band. undeterred he vowed to continue. and with that. he found an O and an R. and he became. rotate the completor. he was now the bass. the guitar. the voice. the drum. and with the help from the O and an R. the world was his to conquer. but alas he still sucked. or so he was told. undeterred he vowed to continue. he was already the bass. the guitar. the voice. and the drum. why stop there. he became his only fan. for if others failed to see his natural talent. they were surely blind. and he would show them. he wrote little reviews for himself. of sold out stadium rock concerts. headlined by he. rotate the completor. where by he validated not only his musical career but his existence as well. this improved his confidence levels and self belief immensely. because now he knew he was good. his fan had told him so. deterred he vowed not to continue. go out while you are on top he thought. he announced his retirement from music. and pledged. to no longer be the bass. the guitar. the voice. and the drum. he told the O and an R. their services would no longer be required. he strated to pen his autobiography and the rock opera that would no doubt follow. but his fan was aghast. dont stop. whatever you do is great. i love you. have my babies. rotate the comania forever. he wrote in droves. to himself. and you know what. cynical rock star he may be. his fans words had moved him. he knew he had a debt to pay. for it was the fan that had made him. that ignited his career. and he knew he must repay. even if his music was getting increasingly worse. as he started playing only for the $ and vagina. he announced his return to the music scene. and the scene was better for it. he was the bass. the guitar. the voice. the drum. with help from his rehired friends the O and an R. he was rotate the completor. and he has a new album out. rotate the completors: completed rotations of the.... his fan likes it.

Sorry Stan been a bit slack, yeah RTC sent me a type written sheet of paper of something akin to a press release. I've knocked up a copy of what it said so you can have a read, I'll post it straight after this message. Haven't changed any of the grammar or syntax, so what you see is identical to what was sent to me. Little odd huh. Btw you were right his tape continues to grow on me, but the unrelenting stupidity still grates a tad.

www.myspace.com/rotatethecompletorfanpage Seriously stop whatever it is you are doing and go now!!!

Oh yeah forgot to say in my last post have made a myspace tribute page for Rotate the Completor... www.myspace.com/rotatethecompletorfanpage. I got a friend to transfer the tape to mp3 on his computer and it sounds pretty good so have posted 4 songs from his album. Didn't want to over step my boundary as I don't know if RTC is agreeable to this as he hasn't responded to my letters but the music needs to be heard so go and listen.

Ha ha yeah Rotate the Completor is a little hard to digest those first few times but then again anything that is truly original is often like that. Do perservere though, the songs are amazingly catchy and the reaction you had was pretty universal. My favourite quote coming from a first time listener was from a friend who described it as being like "when Clarice enters Buffalo Bills house in the Silence of the Lambs". Hey, RTC has a tendency to send things out with his tapes like drawings and press releases and such, if you received anything do you mind telling me what it was so I can document it or if you could make me a copy of whatever it is that would be amazing and I would be incredibly gateful.

Received the tape Stan. Disturbing shit man....there are some moments of pure genius and it's quite different but man i feel really kind of unsettled. Listening to it again now for the 3rd time and my hands are balled into fists, my toes curling and my teeth really clenched. Can't think of any other music that has made me feel like that. But shit don't know if i could listen to that too often. didn't get confirmation on whether he was the phantom busker or not but listening to this i can definetly visualise rotate the completor as one and the same.

Thank you so much, any information I can get helps to build a bigger picture of who he is. From what I've seen so far from the others that have sent for the tape it usually takes a couple of weeks...So this week maybe? Yeah Daniel Johnston was great, got front row. Unfortunately Cut off Your Hands almost ruined his set by almost drowning him out. But I was still satisfied, just wish he'd had more time. Damn I'm excited for you. Good luck with the tape and thanks again for your info.

i think it was late 2007 when i saw him doing an impersonation of a busker, saw him all up maybe 5-7 times over a period of 3 weeks. wasn't in the job very long but remember he wasn't around when i first started nor at the end of my tenure. time i saw him begging though was a little later like the middle of 2008. sorry, can't be more specific aye. sent away for the tape last week, generally how long do you have to wait to recieve a reply? can't wait to hear it actually, sounds like some real bat shit stuff. go to laneways yesterday? my mate told me daniel johnston was a treat, take it your a fan?

Ha!!!! Thank you for your reply. Sounds like my man Rotate the Completor for sure. Let me know what he says. How many times do you reckon you saw him busking and what year was this?

Might be wrong on this but reckon I used to see this guy down wellington about 2-3 years ago. 'scraggly beard, skinny, boyish, bad dress sense, silly voices, strange faces' reading your post it all came back to me. dude i used to see never used to busk during the day, i'd only ever see him very early in the mornings ie 4-5am and only on week days when i'd finish work and would be walking home. Memory sticks with me, because he scared the shit outta me on a number of ocassions. i'd be walking along usually smoking a durrie, tired, bleary eyed. when out from a doorway (usually on Cuba St) this menace would leap out at me and start making gutteral animal sounds while thrashing his guitar and some times hed a have this kids harmonica that he blew on which he couldnt play. Not that that mattered because he wasnt playing any songs mind you jsut making noise. at which point worried for my safety id appease him with a fake laugh and a 'yea dude sweet aye' and maybe give him some change if i had it and then quickly scurry off. i still feel a little eww thinking about it because he always locked his fucken charles manson stare on me with his mouth agape skipping circling around me with his big bulbous shaved head swaying about. Dont know if this guy was mentally ill or a fucken comedian didnt want to find out at the time either. thanks for the post stan, going to order one of his tapes i'll ask him if he was the lunatic i used to see. if he was i'll ask for the years he took off my life each time he leapt out at me and made me shit myself. oh yeah only time i saw him during the day he was begging. was wearing this jedi like trenchcoat with a sign saying 'imperial forces have destroyed my home planet please give generously' and waving a can full of coins at bemused passers by. genius.