Serpentine Transmission is an improvised music quartet of Nicki Chen (electro-acoustic viola), Nicholas Deyoe (guitar), M.A. Harms (drums/percussion), and Micaela Tobin (voice and electronics). In performance, they slither their way through delicate melodies and atmospheric textures into extreme sound walls of doom, drone, and noise. In July 2024 the released Wad of Clay, a live recording of their first performance as a band. Their first studio album, of mud and gold (released June 2026 on Desert Drone), is two extended tracks of emotionally raw atmospheric journeys that move from ambient reflection to overwhelming doom to ecstatic catharsis. Of Mud and Gold was recorded in December of 2024 over two days of the band improvising and experimenting together. Bowed guitars interplay with vibraphones, bells, and clock chimes while drums drive the fury that you never knew existed inside of a viola. Meanwhile, the viola’s lyrical and poetic side blends with melodies floating from the voice that turn to howls and shrieks, creating an ever-shifting atmosphere mirroring the complexities of love, loss, grief, and ecstatic joy.