Formed in 1996, Therefore is a noise-punk band consisting of Wayne Feldman and Michael Kaufmann. Both members play multiple instruments in live performances and in their recorded works.
Therefore’s live shows were often eight hour performances, with several performances lasting significantly longer including a 22-hour and a 30-hour show. They have performed in traditional rock clubs, public venues, and art galleries around the United States, including performances at The American Visionary Art Museum, Big Orbit Gallery, Marcel Sitcoske Gallery as part of the exhibition re: Rauschenberg, and others.
Therefore incorporate elements of DIY punk, progressive economics, and sonic graffiti. Their first CD release Khrom was progressively priced costing the buyer one hour’s wages. Free EPs were regularly posted on the web, and over 500 one-of-a-kind releases (each individually numbered and dated) were given away by the band over the course of their existence. Therefore’s Geoaural installation in Olympia, Washington consisted of hidden battery powered tape decks playing their music while the atmospheric sounds of the locations where the tape decks were located played continuously in the band’s studio.
Therefore played their final live show, a 12-hour performance, in 2006 at Brooklyn’s Fire Proof Gallery. Following their performance, the band sold their instruments to the assembled crowd, and left the rest on the street the next day. After a 11-year hiatus, Therefore returned with a tour in 2017 through seminal locations of their early history that was devoid of any announced performances. The recordings they made while on the road formed the basis of their latest release Imperfect Listening. The band is currently working on its sixth album.