N. Senada

**N. Senada** (born **Nigel Sinatra**, often called **The Mysterious N. Senada**) (b. May 28th, 1907 - d. 1993) was a German composer and music theorist who formulated the Theory of Obscurity and the Theory of Phonetic Organization.

Always a "very, very distant character," little is known of Senada outside of his collaborations with the American group The Residents, whom he mentored in the early 1970s, composing every selection on their 1971 demo tapes *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* and *B.S.*, and appearing in their unfinished feature film *Vileness Fats*.

As well as his work within the field of music theory, Senada was also an avid musical anthropologist and amateur photographer; his 1972 expedition to the Arctic inspired The Residents' 1979 "audio documentary" album *Eskimo*, and his photographs from the expedition formed the basis of the later DVD adaptation in 2002.

Senada died in 1993 aged 86. His 1937 composition "Pollex Christi" was recorded for the first time by The Residents in 1996 and was released the following year on what would have been his 90th birthday.

## Biography

### Early life (1907-1925)

> ***"If the audience wants perfectly played music, let them listen to angels. Human music should stumble along most pitifully."*** *- N. Senada*
>
>

The Mysterious N. Senada was born Nigel Sinatra on May 28th 1907, in the (then) Kingdom of Bavaria in Germany. He spent his early years "marginally impoverished" on a farm with his mother and father; his parents considered him a studious child who was likely unfit for life as a farmhand.

On his twelfth birthday, Senada was gifted a saxophone, his first musical instrument, which he was taught to play by his father.

### Early compositions and theory (1937-1968)

Senada's approach to composition borrowed more from architecture than from standard music theory; he openly considered himself to be a poor composer and likened his process to building "houses" out of "bricks" - these "bricks" consisting of excerpts from other composers' works. The compositions themselves were mere "blueprints," while the final performance of the piece was the completed "house."

He was quoted as having said in 1935: "I *am not the composer of the bricks, I just cement them together. I am the composer of the house. It is the house that is important: its form, its usefulness, its sense of joy*." Senada's compositions have been noted for their complexity and difficulty; he felt that as the pace of life became increasingly uncontrollable, so too should music, and he wrote his work in the hope that the performers' mistakes would introduce otherwise unimaginable variations into the piece.

In 1937, Senada premiered his masterpiece, "Pollex Christi" (which translates to either "The Big Toe of Christ" or "The Thumb of Christ"). "Pollex Christi" mainly consisted of borrowed pieces from other composers, namely Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, among others, creating a "collision of Germanic themes."

Sinatra also left large gaps in the "blueprint" of "Pollex Christi", so that the performers could insert music of their choosing, thus "becoming composers themselves". Typically, the music chosen to fill these gaps were short excerpts of contemporary popular music, chosen to deliberately contrast with the rest of the work. These were often Senada's favorite parts of "Pollex Christi".

Senada's "pre-post-modernist" work was not well-received in Germany, and he was accused of being a thief and "cultural Pagan." For his part, Senada did nothing to deny these accusations, instead responding: "If a man steals philosophy from many great thinkers and combines them into a new philosophy, is he not yet another great thinker?"

Senada left Germany in 1938 in response to the scorn of his peers and the growing dominance of the National Socialist movement, bringing most of his compositions with him (although, other than "Pollex Christi," most have not survived). He next lived in northern Canada, where he abandoned musical composition altogether, claiming that the music inside him was now "too frightened" to come out.

Despite this, he maintained an interest in sound and musical theory, and much of his philosophical work was born from this period. It was in Canada that he first became fascinated with the culture of the Inuit people, an interest he would continue to research throughout the remainder of his life.

After the end of World War II, Senada continued traveling. He did not return to Bavaria until 1969.

### Philip Lithman and Residents Uninc. (1969-1972)

Accounts have differed regarding the circumstances by which Senada came to meet the group who would later become The Residents. Most sources suggest that Senada was discovered making tape recordings of "birdsound" in the Black Forest of Bavaria by Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman in 1969. In search of strange and unusual new sounds, Senada then traveled with Lithman to California around 1970, whereupon the two met The Pre-Residents, then living in San Mateo. After being introduced as a "composer," Senada explained to the group that he was a poor composer but an excellent architect.

Other sources have since claimed that Senada arrived unannounced on the group's doorstep in San Mateo, California, in 1970, wearing a trench coat, fedora, and sunglasses, and at this point was unknown to all present (including Lithman, who had already been introduced to the group by mutual friend Margaret Smyk). He adopted the nom de plume "The Mysterious N. Senada" as a direct result of this meeting after Lithman misheard the heavily accented Sinatra as he was trying to introduce himself. Senada embraced this name (which was briefly styled as "Ensenada") to the extent that he would adopt it for the rest of his life, even applying it retrospectively to pieces composed decades prior to this meeting.

Senada's influence was present in the group's art projects and recordings almost instantly following their meeting. An amateur photographer, his signature appears on a photograph of members of the group standing nude (and unmasked) in 1970, which was featured on the front cover of the 2013 compilation album *The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss*. In the original liner notes, which accompanied their 1971 demo tape *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album*, the group is credited as "Ensenada and Spontaneous Cumbustion." [sic]

   In 1971, Senada accompanied Lithman for "three or four" appearances at open mic nights in San Francisco nightclubs, followed by around "half a dozen" solo appearances. These appearances culminated in Senada's first group performance with Residents, Uninc., on October 18th 1971, at The Boarding House in San Francisco. On October 30th, Senada and Lithman were interviewed on Arcata radio station KHSC, performing the composition "Cantaten und Symphonen for der Saxophonen und Violinen." The following day (Halloween), Senada again performed with Residents, Uninc. at Lithman's green card wedding at "The Mad House" in Arcata. Senada's last known live appearance with Residents, Uninc. during this period was at a private party in Redwood, California in February 1972.

The composition of every track on Residents, Uninc.'s 1971 demo tape *B.S.* (other than the Frank Zappa cover "King Kong") is credited to Senada; the song "D For Doorknob" is credited to Senada and early Residents collaborator Roland Sheehan. An instrumental suite, *1-10 (With a Touch of 11)*, is said to have been recorded by the group with Senada in 1972. Long forgotten by The Residents, the suite (described as "really a complete album") was later released in full on the limited edition compilation *Warning: Uninc.* in 2022.

Senada's Theory of Phonetic Organization influenced the composition of The Residents' debut studio album *Meet The Residents*, released in April 1974. The group's decision to withhold their second album, *Not Available*, from release in 1974, as well as the general obfuscation of their identities, was inspired by their adherance to Senada's Theory of Obscurity. Around this time, Senada also made a notable appearance in the group's feature film project, *Vileness Fats*. In the film (as in all of his known live performances) Senada performs vocals and saxophone on two songs, "Kamakazi Lady" and "Eloise."

### Expedition to the Arctic and reappearance (1972-1979)

    Beginning in 1972, Senada spent most of his time studying Inuit culture, believing that there was a missing "musical link" hidden among the people of the polar north, and occasionally sent cassette tapes of his research to The Residents.

Senada "just disappeared one day" in early 1974, leaving The Residents to presume he had traveled to Greenland to further his studies. He briefly re-appeared in San Francisco in May 1976, appearing unannounced at The Residents' studio in the middle of the night.

Senada claimed to have indeed been on an expedition to the Arctic, where he had been making tape recordings of genuine Arctic wind sounds. He gave The Residents copies of these tapes, as well a sealed thermos flask full of pure Arctic air (insisting that they "get this on tape") and two undeveloped rolls of film, and suggested that the group "should all live in a refrigerator for a year."

These gifts served as inspiration for The Residents' most ambitious project yet, *Eskimo* - an "audio documentary" album that was finally released in 1979 after a long and difficult production. Senada's original arctic wind field recording is featured on a bonus CD included with the 2019 vinyl compilation *Eskimo Deconstructed*.

### Final years and death (1980-1993)

Senada's last known public appearance was in August 1987, at The Snakey Wake for Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman, who had died suddenly of a heart attack while on tour. Similar to the group's earliest performances, Senada performed loose, improvisational renditions of "Kamakazi Lady" and "Eloise" on sax and vocals. This recording was eventually made available on the Robot Selling Device EP *Live At The Snakey Wake* in 2010 and is included on later reissues of the studio version of *The Snakey Wake*.

Always "kind of in the distance," Senada largely remained in obscurity following the Snakey Wake performance until his death in 1993 at the age of 86. He was survived by his life companion and assistant, Max Steinway.

## Personality

Throughout his life, Senada was often perceived as eccentric. Described by The Cryptic Corporation's Homer Flynn as "a fascinating figure" but "a very, very distant character" of whom Flynn had little personal knowledge, Senada's primary relationship within The Residents was with Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman, and then, to some degree, "a couple" of Residents.

Despite finding the English language "quite fascinating," Senada spoke it only rarely (if at all), often preferring to communicate in a barely audible whisper or through a system of nonsense syllables that Lithman was able to interpret. Senada's extreme reticence regularly led observers to conclude (erroneously) that he was unable to speak English at all.

## Legacy

    The Residents recorded *Pollex Christi* in 1996 as a tribute to Senada and released it on May 28th, 1997 (which would have been his 90th birthday). For The Residents' interpretation of the piece, the "holes" were filled with a variety of recognizable modern tunes, such as the theme from the TV series Star Trek. Pollex Christi was initially distributed in two limited editions of 400 but has since been reissued as part of the *Best Left Unspoken* series of instrumental works. The same year, the group performed his composition "Eloise" live for the last time at a performance the Adobe Headquarters in San Jose. They also re-recorded "Eloise" for the Icky Flix DVD in 2001.

In the early 2000s, The Residents re-discovered the photographs from Senada's Arctic expedition, using them as source material to create a slideshow of still images depicting the stories "told" on their 1979 album *Eskimo*. This slideshow accompanied a 5.1 surround sound remix of the album on a 2002 DVD release. Senada was credited as a director of the *Eskimo* DVD alongside The Residents. In 2005, The Residents performed "Kamakazi Lady" as a backup song on the Way We Were tour. This was the final time the group performed a Senada composition live.

For their 2018 live tour In Between Dreams, The Residents wore blue and white chequered suits in the colors of the Bavarian flag in homage to their late mentor.

Homer Flynn of The Cryptic Corporation announced in December 2019 that "a British writer" had completed a biography about Senada based on recently rediscovered writings by Senada. The book *O for Obscurity, or The Story of N.* was released alongside a vinyl reissue of The Residents' *Pollex Christi* by Psychofon Records in Spring 2020. The *Pollex Christi* LP was packaged in a blue and white Bavarian chequered bag, similar to the costumes worn by The Residents during the In Between Dreams tour.

Senada's saxophone, long thought lost, was located in the Cryptic archives in March 2021 by publisher Melodic Virtue while they were researching *A Sight For Sore Eyes*, their series of coffee table books covering the history of The Residents.

Senada briefly appears (uncredited, in archival footage from *Vileness Fats*) in a dream sequence in The Residents' 2022 feature film *Triple Trouble*.

## Music theory

### Theory of Phonetic Organization

    Senada's Theory of Phonetic Organization states that "the musician should put the sounds first, building the music up from [them] rather than developing the music, then working down to the sounds that make it up."

The Residents' 1974 debut album, *Meet The Residents,* was assembled by the group in accordance with the Theory of Phonetic Organization. The liner notes to the album state that Senada had developed a complex musical system based on this theory.

### Theory of Obscurity

    Senada's Theory of Obscurity states that an artist can only produce the purest expression of their art when the expectations and influences of the outside world are not taken into consideration at all.

This theory influenced The Residents' decision to operate under a cloak of anonymity and also influenced the creation of their album *Not Available* - recorded secretly as their second album in 1974 and only released in 1978 as a stopgap following a series of delays in the production of *Eskimo*.

In modern times, Senada and his theory are referred to almost exclusively in connection with The Residents, although other organizations have also claimed influence from this theory.

## Compositions

### Solo

* "Pollex Christi" (1937)
* "Cantaten und Symphonen mit Eine Poem" (ca. 1969)

### Collaborations

* *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* (as Ensenada & Spontaneous Cumbustion) (1971)
* "Cantaten und Symphonen for der Saxophonen und Violinen" with Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman (1971)
* *B.S.* with Residents, Uninc. (1971)
	+ "Cantaten to der Dyin Prunen" with Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman
* *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* with Residents, Uninc. (1972)

## Live performances

### Pre-Residents

* Philip Lithman and N. Senada live performances - ca. 1970-1971, San Francisco, California

### With Residents, Uninc.

* The Boarding House - October 18th 1971, San Francisco, California
* Party of '71 (Philip's Wedding) - October 31st 1971, Arcata, California
* Party of '72 (Chris' Party) - unknown date, 1972, Redwood, California

### With The Residents

* Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! Can't You See That It's True; What The Beatles Did To Me, "I Love Lucy" Did To You - June 7th 1976, Berkeley, California
* The Snakey Wake - August 24th 1987, San Francisco, California

## Appearances on Residents releases

* *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* (recorded 1971, released 2018) - composition, production and editing, cover design
* *B.S.* (recorded 1971, released 2019) - composition, vocals, saxophone
* *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* (recorded 1972, released 2022) - composition, performance
* *Vileness Fats* (1972-1976, unfinished) - cameo appearance
* *Eskimo* (1979) - wind sounds
* *Mole Show/Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?* (1984) - archival footage
* *Video Voodoo Volume I* (1987) - archival footage
* *Daydream B-Liver* (1991) - composition, saxophone
* *Twenty Twisted Questions* (1992) - archival footage

### Posthumous

* *Pollex Christi* (1997) - composition
* *Icky Flix* DVD (2001) - archival footage
* *Eskimo* DVD (2003) - wind sounds, photography
* *Live At The Snakey Wake* (2010) - vocals, saxophone
* *ERA B474* (2012) - vocals, saxophone
* *The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss* (2013) - vocals, saxophone
* *The Snakey Wake* (2015 reissue) - vocals, saxophone
* *The Residents Present The Delta Nudes* (2016) - vocals, saxophone
* *Meet The Residents* pREServed edition (2018) - composition, performance
* *A Nickle If Your Dick's This Big* (2019) - composition, vocals, saxophone
* *Warning: Uninc.- Live And Experimental Recordings 1971-1972* (2022) - composition, vocals, saxophone
* *Triple Trouble* (2022) - archival footage

## See also

* The Delta Nudes
* The Boarding House
* *B.S.*
* *Meet The Residents*
* *Not Available*
* *Vileness Fats*
* *Eskimo*

## External links and references

* The Mysterious N. Senada on RzWeb (via archive.org)
* "More Than What The Ear Hears Coming From The Eye" at Exclaim.ca
* N. Senada on Wikipedia

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jim Knipfel, "Somethin' Devilish: The Untold (And Finally True) Pre-History of The Residents 1963-1971)"
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "N. Senada was a, shall we say, very, very distant character... His primary relationship seemed to be with Snakefinger, and then some degree of relationship with a couple of The Residents. I can't say that I really had a relationship with him... I mean, he was a fascinating figure, but always kind of in the distance." - Homer Flynn on Cacophony Podcast - Obscure Music for Obscure People, Episode 1 - "Homer Flynn on The Residents and Duck Stab!", January 13th 2022
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ian Shirley, *Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents*, 2015
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 *Pollex Christi* liner notes, 1997
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Andrew Hook, *O for Obscurity, Or, The Story of N*, Eyeballmuseum/Psychofon Records, 2020, pg 6-11
6. ↑ "Before we start anything, I'd like to say a few words about N. Senada, who is a truly wonderful man who I met in the woods of Bavaria whilst I was on expedition for Britain, my country. He worked with strange instruments that genuinely fascinated me." P.C. Lithman, "A Live Radio Broadcast", October 30th 1971
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Andrew Hook, *O for Obscurity, Or, The Story of N.*, Eyeball Museum, 2020
8. ↑ Matt Groening, "The True Story of The Residents", *The Official W.E.I.R.D. Book of The Residents*, 1979
9. ↑ Homer Flynn (interviewed by Sean Kitching), "The Strange World of... The Residents - Homer Flynn Interviewed", The Quietus, February 9th 2016
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "They just re-remembered the '1-10 (With A Touch Of 11)' thing too, which is really a complete album. I think it's The Residents jamming with N Senada or performing some of his work or something like that." - Richard Anderson, The Residents Facebook group, March 27th 2019
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Ian Shirley, *Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents*, 2015
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 *Eskimo* DVD liner notes, 2002
13. ↑ "It is true that The Mysterious N. Senada spoke very little - if any - English; however, he did find the English language quite fascinating, and he was quite fluent... verbally as well as musically, employing the Theory of Phonetic Organization... a synthesis of the two... produced very good results... in the situation, it was... this musical implementation of phonetic organization that was so highly influential on The Residents' music." Jay Clem, *The Residents Radio Special*, 1977
14. ↑ "A Live Radio Broadcast", October 30th 1971
15. ↑ Jim Knipfel and Brian Poole, et al., *Faceless Forever - A Residents Encyclopaedia*, 2022
16. ↑ Oliver Hall, "Residential: Homer Flynn on The Residents' ambitious 'God In Three Persons' show at MOMA", Dangerous Minds, December 6th 2019
17. ↑ Instagram post by Melodic Virtue, April 20th 2021
18. ↑ "Yeah, we're going to play a piece that N. Senada wrote back in the Bavarian forest. This is called 'Cantaten und Symphonen mit Eine Poem'." P.C. Lithman, "A Live Radio Broadcast", October 30th 1971

**Compositions**
Pollex Christi (1936-1937) · Cantaten und Symphonen mit Eine Poem (1969?) · Cantaten und Symphonen for der Saxophonen und Violinen with P.C. Lithman (1971?) · Cantaten to der Dyin Prunen with P.C. Lithman (1971?)
**Music theory**
Theory of Phonetic Organization {*Meet The Residents*) · Theory of Obscurity (*Not Available*)
**Work with The Residents**
*The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* (1971) · A Live Radio Broadcast (1971) · *B.S.* (1971) · *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* (1972) · *Vileness Fats* (1972-1976) · *Eskimo* (1979) · *Pollex Christi* (1997)
**Live appearances**
Philip Lithman and N. Senada live appearances (ca. 1971) · The Boarding House performance with Residents, Uninc. (1971) · Philip's Wedding with Residents, Uninc. (1971) · Chris' Party with Residents, Uninc. (1972) · Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! with The Residents (1976) · Snakey Wake performance (1987)
**Related articles** Max Steinway · Hardy Fox · Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman · The Delta Nudes · Residents, Uninc. · "Eloise" · "Kamakazi Lady" · Andrew Hook · *O for Obscurity, Or, The Story of N.*

**Major works**
*Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor* (1970) · *The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger* (1970) · *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* (1971) · *B.S.* (1971) · *Santa Dog* (1972)
**Other recordings**
"I Hear Ya Got Religion" / "Moonman" (1969) · *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* (1972)
**Compilation albums**
*ERA B474* (2012) · *The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss* (2013) · *The Residents Present The Delta Nudes* (2016) · *A Nickle If Your Dick's This Big* (2019) · *Warning: Uninc.* (2022)
**Live shows**
The Boarding House, October 18th 1971 · Philip's Wedding, October 31st 1971 · Chris' Party, February 12th 1972
**Collaborators**
Randy Rose · Charles Bobuck · Hardy Fox · Homer Flynn · Palmer Eiland · Roger "Bunny" Hartley · Jay Clem · John Kennedy · Roland Sheehan · Bob Tangney · Jim Whitaker · **N. Senada** · Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman · Peggy Honeydew (Margaret Swaton) · The Singing Lawn Chairs (Pamela Zeibak)
**Related articles**
San Mateo apartment · Hal Halverstadt · Porno Graphics · Sycamore St. studio · Ralph Records · The Residents · *Vileness Fats* · *Meet The Residents* · *The Third Reich 'n Roll* · "Satisfaction" · "Aphids In The Hall" · The Cryptic Corporation · *WB:RMX*‎‎‏‏‎