hi
so i thought i'd start to get everything into one place as it's all a bit hither and thither.
i've been making these programmes/sets/recordings/videos for ages now. i probably tell myself it's just a hobby to cope with the fear of ever having to live off it as some sort of "self facilitating media node" with a Linkdin and everything - but really it's more of an affliction.
compulsion or addiction - i could never tell the difference, it was just the thing i preferred to do over anything else...
j
D R I P
like many of my contemporaries, i started the "musical journey" (rolleyes) by learning how to make obnoxious novelty records for dance events. i ended up making quite a few of them.
the debut album DROP was released in 2009. the follow up album TRIP was released in 2011.
DRIP is the distillation of those two records down into one concentrated dose.
KORG EMX1
this was the video that got me noticed and contacted in 2012.
what was again just a throw-away novelty idea seemed to strike a different nerve this time, not least due to the content being an instantly recognisable childhood song.
my other EMX1 videos and gigs around this time became a glimpse into what was actually possible with a single instrument approach; at a time where either sprawling orgies of on-stage gear or DJ sets of pre-recorded music were the norm.
KORG ELECTRIBE 2
this video was my first attempt at making a feature-length piece of music with KORG's Electribe 2 - an electronic instrument i aided during its development.
the piece was released in the instrument's raw data format for other users to play and explore on their own electribes.
CAT SICK BLUES
a track originally written for a side project somehow got picked up by an australian horror-movie auteur at some point in the mid 2010's.
it developed a following by being used in an outrageously depraved scene and regularly generates personal unsolicited messages of cathartic thanks (and disgust!)
SHADWELL ELECTRIBE
i've had many musical aliases and projects over the years but this one was my favourite.
it's the most fully-realised piece i've ever managed to put together for Electribe 2
VIDYA
i've remixed numerous bands and made many audio assets for video games over the years.
doing both at the same time was probably the most satisfying thing i've ever done with other people's material...
PLAYING MUSIC ON STAGES
my first experience of doing this was at festivals and arenas that hosted people whose records managed to reach lots of other people.
in those days i would bring a few CDs (remember those?!) with custom versions of my own music on, and play them using the ever present Pioneer CDJ media player.
ACTUALLY PLAYING MUSIC ON STAGES
after a year of playing pre-recorded studio music on stages, it was time to try doing it the old fashioned way.
gone were the sponsored wrist band festivals and playing the most popular records of the hour - here was an alternative world of listeners who had a deeper understanding of what they were listening to and wanted to hear it straight from the source...
A SHORT LIVED INTERMEDIARY STAGE
so i briefly toured the unwieldy, 20kg lump, AKAI DPS24.
built to be an all-in-one studio in the early 2000's, I filled it up with stems and loops of my records along with faves from the dancefloors of the time.
logistically a nightmare to travel with, it sounded nice and allowed me to "jam" with the recordings i had.
this is was its first outing in Moscow before being dragged accross eastern Europe...
TUTORIALS
i've walked several people through the finer points of playing the KORG electribe instruments now,
so i attempted to share my work flow in the form of walkthrough videos.
perhaps other 'tribes people will find something useful in them...
WAVE
if you notice a certain sound, revival, or "wave" swelling that you think might break some day, get your board out and ride it.
12 years ago, the more synth-minded of us had a lot of fun digging through forgotten fashions and rode on what would later be called *vapourwave*
EVERY MUSICAL IDEA IS WORTH TRYING
if an idea comes to you, either write it down or go and try it immediately.
you never know what might come out...
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