View source for Trey Spruance

{{Short description|American musician and composer (born 1969)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2008}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image               = Trey_Spruance.jpg
| caption             = Spruance performing in 2008
| image_size          = 
| landscape           = Yes
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = Preston Lea Spruance III
| alias               =
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1969|8|14}}
| birth_place         = 
| instrument          = Guitar, keyboards, [[synthesizer]], [[bağlama]], rabab, [[dumbek]], [[zither]], bass guitar, [[pipa]], trumpet, vocals
| genre               = [[Avant-garde metal]], [[experimental music]], [[alternative metal]], [[experimental rock]], [[ska]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culturecreature.com/trey-spruance-interview-faith-no-more-mr-bungle/|title=Interview with Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Secret Chiefs 3 - Culture Creature|date=August 30, 2016|access-date=January 3, 2017}}</ref>
| occupation          = Musician
| years_active        = 1985–present
| label               = [[Web of Mimicry]]
| website             =
}}

'''Preston Lea''' "'''Trey'''" '''Spruance III''' (born August 14, 1969) is an American composer, producer, and musician who co-founded the [[experimental rock]] band [[Mr. Bungle]]. He is also leader of the multi-genre outfit [[Secret Chiefs 3]]. Originally a guitarist and trumpeter, in the early 90s Spruance began playing vintage [[electronic organ]]s, [[analog synthesizer]]s, [[Bağlama|saz]], [[santur]], [[electric sitar]], [[Tar (lute)|tar]], and various other string and percussion instruments. In the mid 90s he founded Forking Paths Studio where his production techniques were applied to [[Mr. Bungle]] and [[Secret Chiefs 3]] records among many others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tapeop.com/interviews/85/trey-spruance/|title=Trey Spruance: Mr. Bungle and Secret Chiefs 3|access-date=January 24, 2022}}</ref> Since 2007 Spruance's [[Secret Chiefs 3]] has been a very active live entity, performing well over 500 shows in more than 50 countries.

Spruance's playing and composition style is influenced by many diverse genres of music, such as [[surf rock]], [[Turkish folk music|Anatolian folk]], [[death metal]], [[film music]], [[Rebab|Afghan rebab music]], [[ska]], [[funk]], [[space rock]], [[jazz]] and [[Japanoise]]. [[Musique concrète]] and [[Foley (film production)|foley]] work also play a large role in his recordings.{{citation needed lead|date=December 2018}}

==Career==
Spruance was a founding member of [[Mr. Bungle]], along with [[Mike Patton]] and [[Trevor Dunn]]. He has focused on his band [[Secret Chiefs 3]] for the last 15 years (though it began in 1996), and its seven "satellite" groups first introduced on the 2004 album ''[[Book of Horizons]]''. Though once secular, Spruance began exploring religious and philosophical themes in Mr. Bungle and Secret Chiefs 3 in the mid-1990s, after joining the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doobeedoobeedoo.info/2011/09/26/interview-the-secret-chiefs-3-trey-spruance-dreams-of-performing-in-iran/|title=Interview: The Secret Chiefs 3′ Trey Spruance dreams of performing in Iran?|last=Sohrabeyal|website=DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY|access-date=June 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Music/Containing-multitudes|title=Containing multitudes|date=April 27, 2010 |access-date=June 10, 2017}}</ref> 

In 2013, he arranged his music for the 61-piece Traditional Russian Orchestra of Krasnoyarsk and performed with them in Kansk, Siberia, alongside other members of Secret Chiefs 3. He has performed regularly with [[John Zorn]] and has arranged two releases of works from Zorn's Masada Songbooks for Secret Chiefs 3: "[[Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9|Xaphan]]" in 2007, and "[[Beriah (Secret Chiefs 3 album)|Beriah]]". He contributed guitar and tubular bells to two albums by the [[drone metal]] band [[Asva (band)|Asva]], with whom he toured the US and Europe. He also recorded with Patton and [[Faith No More]] on their 1995 album ''[[King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime]]''.

In 2016, Spruance composed a three movement string quartet titled "Séraphîta" for San Francisco's [[Kronos Quartet]]. The piece was premiered by Kronos at the Haydnsaal at [[Schloss Esterházy]] in Vienna, and at [[SFJAZZ Center]] in the USA. Kronos has also performed the piece at [[Carnegie Hall]] and for an engagement with the [[Alonzo King LINES Ballet]]. In Australia "Séraphîta" has been performed by the [[Black Square String Quartet]].

==As a producer==
Besides his own bands, Spruance has also worked as a producer for others. In 2020 he produced "Alphaville" for [[NYC]] avant garde black metal group [[Imperial Triumphant]], and is currently producing their next record. He produced the album ''Death After Life'' for [[Oakland, CA]] death metal group [[Impaled (band)|Impaled]]. Production duties for other bands include [[Neil Hamburger (comedian)|Neil Hamburger]], [[Dengue Fever (band)|Dengue Fever]], The Tuna Helpers, Faxed Head, Tub Ring and many others.

==Record label==
Spruance is the founder of [[Web of Mimicry]], which has released albums from a variety of different bands, including [[Cleric (band)|Cleric]], Fat32, [[Sleepytime Gorilla Museum]], Brazzaville, [[Matt Chamberlain]], [[Dengue Fever (band)|Dengue Fever]], and ASVA, amongst others.

==Discography==

=== Mr. Bungle ===
{{Main article|Mr. Bungle}}
* ''The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny'' (1986)
* ''Bowel of Chiley'' (1987)
* ''Goddammit I Love America!'' (1988)
* ''OU818'' (1989)
* ''[[Mr. Bungle (album)|Mr. Bungle]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Disco Volante (Mr. Bungle album)|Disco Volante]]'' (1995)
* ''[[California (Mr. Bungle album)|California]]'' (1999)
* ''[[The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo]]'' (2020)

=== Secret Chiefs 3 ===
{{Main article|Secret Chiefs 3}}
* ''[[First Grand Constitution and Bylaws]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws: Hurqalya]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Eyes of Flesh, Eyes of Flame]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Book M]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Book of Horizons]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Path of Most Resistance]]'' (retrospective and rarities album) (2007)
* ''[[Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Traditionalists: Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini]]'' (2009)
* ''[[Satellite Supersonic Vol. 1]]'' (2010)
* ''Book of Souls: Folio A'' (2013)
* "Perichoresis" (2014)

=== Faxed Head ===
* ''Uncomfortable But Free'' (1995)
* ''Exhumed at Birth'' (1997)
* ''Chiropractic'' (2001)

=== Faith No More ===
{{Main article|Faith No More discography}}
* ''[[King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime]]'' (1995)

=== Weird Little Boy ===
* ''[[Weird Little Boy]]'' (1998)

==Band membership==
*[[Secret Chiefs 3]]
*[[Mr. Bungle]]<!-- Please see talk page before adding uncited statements RE: band's status -->
*[[Faxed Head]] (as "Neck Head")
*Noddingturd Fan (also NT Fan)
*Scourge
*[[Asva (band)|Asva]]
*The Three Doctors Band
*Plainfield
*The Bon Larvis Band
*[[Faith No More]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027003631/http://geocities.com/spruancegallery/ The Trey Spruance Gallery] – a comprehensive list of Spruance's live and recorded projects
* [http://www.webofmimicry.com Web of Mimicry]
* [http://www.mimicryrecords.com Mimicry Records] – Spruance's record label
* [http://www.secretchiefs3.com Official Site of Secret Chiefs 3] – official website containing member line-up and photos.

{{Mr. Bungle}}
{{Faith No More}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spruance, Trey}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American rock guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:American people of Hungarian descent]]
[[Category:Record producers from California]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from the United States]]
[[Category:Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy]]
[[Category:People from Eureka, California]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Guitarists from California]]
[[Category:Faith No More members]]
[[Category:Mr. Bungle members]]
[[Category:American multi-instrumentalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]