Jeff Boynton is a DIY artist/musician living in Los Angeles.He studied Theory and Composition, and Electronic Music at Northern Illinois University from 1974-77. He joined I.R.S. Records recording artist Wazmo Nariz in 1978 as keyboardist, which toured the United States and Europe both as headliner, and in support of such groups as The Police, Devo, XTC and the B-52s. The band was dissolved in 1981. In 1993, Jeff composed music for “Super Illusion”, which toured 11 cities throughout Japan with the Bolshoi Circus from Moscow, Russia.
In 2004, he began to explore "circuit bending", which is the art of opening up electronic sound generating devices and intentionally short-circuiting points on their circuit boards in search of interesting and perhaps never-before-heard sounds. Jeff has developed a prestigious international reputation in this field. The sounds generated by his devices have been used in compositions and live performances, including several collaborations with choreographer Rudy Perez. The first of these was “Double Play” (2004) The next was “Double Play Revisited”, performed at the REDCAT Theater in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles, as part of the NOW Festival. Jeff currently performs as part of "Circuitry And Poetry" with wife Mona Jean Cedar, a dancer, poet and sign language interpreter. Jeff performs regularly with his circuit bent instruments, both in a solo capacity and in ensembles. He is a member of TriAngular Bent, a new electroacoustic project featuring Don Preston (piano and electronics) and Philip Mantione (guitar, custom software and analog synthesis), and Jeff on cello and bent circuits.
He recorded a male mockingbird singing in a tree in his back yard at three am. During mating season, unmated males will sing all day and night from a high perch until they are paired with a mate. This musique concrete piece, entitled “Burning Bird”, was created using the mockingbird as the sole audio source.