That Guy Piloting Your Plane Could Be a Cult 70s Punk Rocker

In 1975 Allen Ravenstine composed and performed "Terminal Drive", a mythical 16-minute electronic composition featuring the Cleveland musician on synth and contributions from bassist Albert Dennis. As well as being considered a pathway to 'art rock', the track is said to have led to Ravenstine invited to co-found cult Cleveland punk band Pere Ubu.

Using a homemade EML synthesizer, Ravenstine created a unique and distinctive sound that relied on a purely experimental and highly improvisational approach that worked within the contexts of art rock and electronica.

Despite its legendary status, it is a piece very few have heard in its complete state. Terminal Drive has never been officially released in its entirety and no complete recording of the piece could be located for many years. Though Ravenstine now lives in New York where he works as a commercial airline pilot, Smog Veil Records as part of their Platters du Cuyahoga series is releasing "Terminal Drive" for the first time.

"I repurposed a kitchen hutch to hold my EML 200, a 300 which was a sort of mixing and switching unit that had a telephone style keypad with 16 keys and pots for assigning a pitch to each one, and the Teac and set it up in the bedroom. I began work on the piece that would become Terminal Drive," explains Ravenstine on the album liner notes.

So turn it up, put the 747 on autopilot, sit back and enjoy the night sky.

Terminal Drive is available now through Smog Veil