Clayton Counts

Clayton Counts (August 19, 1973 – November 22, 2016) was an American musician and composer, a former DJ, and one half of the experimental band Bull of Heaven.

Early life Counts was born with detached retinas in both his eyes. A series of surgeries at a young age complicated this, leaving him blind in his right eye, and weakened in his left. Counts was initially located in Austin, Texas.

In the 1990s, Counts became notorious with his prank phone calls to the Austin Community Access Center, in particular Alex Jones's show. An incident occurred – though with varying claims from both sides – in which Counts was involved in the assault of Jones in a parking lot with three other individuals. As a follow-up, it was claimed that Jones used FBI connections to label Counts a terrorist and claimed he possessed child pornography. Federal agents raided the FringeWare Review bookstore, headquarters of an early cyberculture magazine that Counts wrote articles for. The case was later dropped.

In 2000, Counts relocated to Chicago. While there, he met Neil Keener, who would later join Counts in the band Bull of Heaven.

DJ work

In the 2000s, Counts worked as a DJ to afford a living. He worked at various clubs, including Lava, Whiskey Sky, Reserve, Darkroom, the Allstate Arena, as well as performing at private functions. In July 2005, Counts was again involved in an incident, this time the alleged battery of a bouncer at the Lava club. There are two sides to this story: This popularity reached EMI, who in turn issued Counts a cease and desist notice, demanded the IP addresses of everyone who downloaded it through his blog, and attempted to sue him for upwards of $30 mil. However, upon deletion of the album, the case was dropped.

In December, Counts' site announced his death, which was later revealed to be a hoax. Their first piece, 001: Weed Problem, was released on January 30, 2008. Since then, the band has released more than 300 numbered pieces, a second set of 100 pieces numbered in Roman numerals, many pieces of notable length, as well as a variety of untitled tracks, sound puzzles, and anti-music. On 21 January 2009, Counts was featured as the cover of the Denver Post's arts section, performing a solo piano composition. In 2012, the band's site suffered some downtime, and has been going through various issues since. In July, they announced that a "Series 2" of music would be coming. In 2013, the band announced that new material was nearing completion, and have since added new pieces to their Facebook page and Internet Archive collection. As of 2014, the band was still releasing music regularly with Counts giving an interview in February to Vice in the Netherlands and the band performing at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center in St. Louis.

Death In November 2016, Clayton died from an overdose of opiates, having accessed them after experiencing ongoing pain due to a car crash the year prior.

Discography

as The Beachles Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 2006

as Clayton Counts Nisan Moon Phase (Extended), 2008 Lilliputian Death March, 2008 Julian Year (Imprecise), 2009

with Bull of Heaven See Bull of Heaven discography for concise discography of Bull of Heaven.

Compilation appearances Trunculence, 2008 The Unscratchable Itch: A Tribute To Little Fyodor (with Blood Rhythms), 2013

Bootleg/Unauthorized Miscellaneous Mashups 2004–2009, 2022