Career
His music most often deals with drones and interference beats, the latter aligning his music with that of Alvin Lucier. He usually plays computer or guitar and has led the World Casio Quartet, Joy Buzzers and The Notekillers which originally existed from 1977-1981 and reformed in 2004. His albums include 1991"s Resolver, instrumental pieces influenced by minimalism and 2002"s relatively popular-oriented Universary, which consists of "songs and drones".
More recent releases include 2010"s We"re Here to Help (Prophase Records) by The Notekillers and Privacy Issues, a 3-Civil Defense set of droneworks on the XI label.
In 1995 First, along with visual artist Patricia Smith created an opera, The Manhattan Book of the Dead, which was presented at Louisiana MaMa Experimental Theatre Club"s Annex Theater in 1995 and The Washaus in Potsdam, Germany in 1996. In January 2012, the music collective, s, an ensemble containing First, released a song First wrote (C2011 Silent Graph Music American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), "We Are" –– an anthem for the 99%, with a video by director, Toni Comas.