Something unique takes place the first Sunday of every month in a basement room at George Washington University. It’s so unique, in fact, that you’ve never heard anything like it and you’ll never hear it quite the same way again.

It’s the Electric Possible, where almost anything is possible and many things are unlikely. The project comprises different musicians each month, some touring but most of them local, all united by this almost indefinable genre. It’s fresh, abstract and impromptu, and every show is different.

The music ranges from free jazz and free improvisation to power electronica and everything in between. Some artists play common instruments such as a guitar, horn, or hand percussion played in unconventional ways. Some play electro-acoustic devices and homemade gadgets. Some set the mood with synthesizers. Some create rich texture through rhythm changes and sliding harmonics.

“It’s not classifiable and, unlike a rock band, doesn’t have a set venue elsewhere,” said Jeff Bagato, who has organized and promoted The Electric Possible for four years. Typically, three or four bands or solo acts each play a half-hour set. A $5 cover charge is collected at the door but Bagato does not earn a penny from it; all money earned goes straight to the artists. The shows draw about 20-30 people each month, but it’s becoming a growing phenomenon and nearly 100 attended the January show. 

“The Electric Possible offers a great outlet for little-known, local experimental artists,” said Sean Peoples, a regular on the experimental music scene, who also runs a small label, SocketsCDR. He plays in three bands, two of which performed at The Electric Possible last year. His solo project, FFFFs, appeared there last summer and found its way to the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in December. Big Cats, in which he plays guitar, performed at The Electric Possible last June. 

“It’s an informal setting and an open-minded crowd,” said Peoples, who in addition to guitar plays synthesizers and even homemade instruments. “At one show I played,” he recounted, “I was one of four solo acts and then we all came together for group improvisation at the end.”

Some bands do return to the Electric Possible, said Bagato, but since there are so many local bands, he tries to rotate them. “In the experimental music scene, people come out of the woodwork all the time and I try to nurture the scene. And people know they can come to me with a [seemingly] crazy, one-off project without having to sell themselves [as they might have to for a club gig].”

So, if this music is all new, often improvised, how does Bagato select the acts? “Sometimes I’ve seen these musicians elsewhere or I’m just chatting with a musician who’s interested in the series,” he said. “It’s a small low-pressure scene and people know the series. Every time, I get surprised and it has always worked out.”

Bagato, who also is a freelance writer, underground musician and English teacher, has a solo project, Tone Ghosting, which fittingly is abstract electronic music with video effects. In creating this series, Bagato used the Red Room in Baltimore as a model. He recounted once seeing a band there in which musicians played drums and pedals while someone played a sewing machine. He also was inspired by Transparent Productions which recruited musicians to play free jazz, though the bands primarily were established, out-of-town acts.

The Electric Possible takes place in Room B120, a recital room at George Washington University’s Phillips Hall on 22nd Street, which he secured at no cost thanks to Peter Fraize, director of jazz studies at GW. Showtime is 8 – 10:30 pm, always the first Sunday of every month.

“It’s a good venue to observe how other musicians approach their craft,” said Peoples. “The musicians do what they want to do without having to fit inside a particular concept. Technique propels the experiment and becomes an art, pushing the envelope of what’s possible.”