Tom Shear

I did a new print run of the A23 "Glitched Logo" t-shirts in all sizes S-2XL. Grab yours at the link below! /

just received notice that our October 23rd show in Jönköping, Sweden at SekktorF is already sold out! I am told that tickets for the other shows are going fast, too, so don't miss your chance! October 20th - Die Stadmitte in Karlsruhe, Germany TICKETS: /noapp/event/21402953/ October 21st - Kulttempel in Oberhausen, Germany TICKETS: https://kulttempel.ticket.io/lLE1DpNC/ October 22nd - Indra in Hamburg, Germany TICKETS: /event/assemblage-23-indra-club-64-21476587/ October 23rd - Sekktor F in Jönköping, Sweden TICKETS: SOLD OUT! October 24th - Subkultur in Hannover, Germany TICKETS: inetickets.de/shop/skh/de/start/?g=6547 ---------------------------------------------------- And don't forget that we'll be coming over in July, as well! July 24th - Frannz Club in Berlin, Germany TICKETS: /event/assemblage-23-frannz-club-20609187/ July 25th - Mystery date TBA July 26th - Amphi Festival 2026 in Köln, Germany TICKETS: SOLD OUT! [photo by Mari Shear]

Wishing a very happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there who sacrificed so much to make sure we had everything we needed growing up.

How cool is this? @vultureculturelive covering A23's "Spark" in his coverage of the Waldorf Microwave XT. Nice job!

This week’s Synth of the Week is the Access Virus B (1999)—the synth that has appeared on more Assemblage 23 releases than any other. One of many “virtual analog” synths that was released around the early 2000's, it was designed to emulate vintage analog gear digitally. However, I would argue that the Virus doesn’t strictly sound analog so much as it has its own distinct character—and, in my opinion, it was the best-sounding of its era. I picked it up alongside an E-mu E6400 shortly after finishing Contempt, and it was a total game-changer, helping define what became the Assemblage 23 sound. The Virus features 3 oscillators plus a sub-oscillator, offering standard analog waveforms along with 64 digital waves that greatly expand its range. A Unison mode allows for massive basses and leads. Its dual filters (lowpass, highpass, bandpass, band reject) can be run in serial or parallel and include saturation options. Modulation is extensive, with 3 LFOs, 2 ADSR envelopes, and a full modulation matrix. Oscillator and filter FM enable more aggressive and unusual sounds, while onboard effects—phaser, distortion, ring mod, vocoder, reverb, and delay—round things out. There’s also a robust arpeggiator for classic early-2000s trance patterns. Beyond that, the Virus offers 16-part multitimbrality, making full arrangements possible from a single unit. That’s largely how Failure was created—aside from a few sounds from a Yamaha TX816 and Ensoniq SQ-R, nearly everything came from the Virus B. It remained the primary synth on Defiance, Storm, and Meta, and continued to appear on every later album, though less prominently. Instead of samples this week, I’m sharing a full sound set for the Virus family, including patches used across many A23 releases. There’s also a free VST recreation by The Usual Suspects that works with these sounds as well as the hardware. Enjoy: /file/d/1B00LWK6WQvaTINo_iOyb79SNLuhrvo-d/view?usp=drive_link

New show announcement! See you in June, Madison! GET TICKETS: /tickets/cruciblemadison/assemblage-23-w-brittany-bindrim-mari-kattman-sensuous-enemy-and-lorelei-dreaming EVENT PAGE: /events/2136245213696717/

"Hegemony", the @fleshfield1 track I wrote lyrics for and recorded vocals for earlier this year, has been released and is available on all the streaming platforms (unfortunately, in Europe only). I've known Ian all the way back to before A23 had even been signed to a label, so it was cool to work on something together all these years later. Here's what Ian had to say: "For my European friends: “Hegemony,” an original Flesh Field track featuring guest lyrics and vocals from my old friend and mentor Tom Shear of Official Assemblage 23 is available on streaming platforms today! This track is featured on the deluxe edition of “On Enmity.” The track itself (particularly the verses) was designed to be chaotic, and Tom did an excellent job of cutting through the chaos to center the track around his vocals to bring a structure to the chaos. Really love what he did and how it turned out."

Just a heads up that I will be the guest on this week's episode of The Unwritten Rules of the Road, which will stream live on Sunday, April 26th at 6PM EST. If you've never checked it out before, it's a really cool long-form format discussing all sorts of topics having to do with music and touring. Hope to see lots of you there! /@unwrittenrulesoftheroad

Did some re-arranging of my gear in the studio and needed to relabel my mixer inputs. When I peeled the console tape off, it revealed the labels I had made about 20 years ago. Talk about a trip down memory lane!

What was an album that changed the way you thought of music? There's been a ton for me, but I think the last one that made a really big impact on me was Burial's "Untrue". The loose, wonky timing of his rhythms, the use of noise and ambience and texture, the repurposing of R&B vocals - it seemingly breaks every rule you'd come to expect for electronic music, but it works so effortlessly. It really made me see things differently. So let's hear it - what's yours?

Another batch of packages ready to ship. The discounted hoodie price was very popular, so I'm going to keep it through this upcoming weekend. Grab yours!

This weekend, Assemblage 23 "Null" hoodies are $5 off! Sizes S-4XL. Get 'em while they last! /