RGMS, or the Rube Goldberg Machine of Semiotics and Symbols, is a music collective, record label, and research journal, which strives to cultivate a deeper relationship with music (See The Meaning Behind RGMS).
By exploring methodology, form, mythology, and heuristics, the RGMS aims to invite both listener and composer into a more dynamic and participatory relationship with music, one which is ultimately both meaningful and beneficial.
Through such in-depth reflections and analyses, the RGMS endeavors to engage with the symbolic nature of music.
In light of the current landscape of music consumption, the RGMS hopes to offer a more intimate experience with that style of music, which seeks out transcendence or understanding of the self in a greater context.
By forging a framework to dialogue with this transcendent form of music, the musical experience may then become one which is both all the more enlightening and fulfilling.
As a music collective, RGMS releases collaborative and solo albums of contributing members.
These releases focus on experimental works, which are categorized according to their relationship to the Western canon and perceived complexity of the material employed (See Release Code). Albums range from lush soundscapes to near barren field recordings, and controlled chaos to meditative canopies, all of which all released under the name RGMS.
As a record label, RGMS is home to artists who release music through the lens of transpersonal psychology or music, which seeks out transcendence or understanding of the self in a greater context. These releases include methods of trance induction and sound healing, as well as methodical compositional structures and re-workings of traditional music.
As a research journal, RGMS produces an array of essays and podcasts concerning this relationship of music with transpersonal psychology. Contributing artists are encouraged to submit a post-release reflection of their work. This reflection may take the form of a journal entry, active imagination, detailed technical explanation, or a symbolic analysis with the aim of developing a heuristic to relate to the deeper meaning within the music.
The RGMS was born out of the minds of Tony and Bobby Goldberg (See Origins), two brothers, 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 and transpersonal community who wish to build upon their more eccentric artistic inclinations.
