Remixes
I enjoy doing remixes. It’s not often I have an opportunity to do so as I don’t do traditional remixes (adding phat beats and the like) nor do I know many musicians who seek remixes.
When I do a remix I try to approach each differently, and try to re-imagine the song.
Here are a couple remixes I’ve done with some info on what I did.
The first I did for cottrell/findlay/hunter and Concrete Moniker.
Social Networking – 1 : Rodrigo – 0
I hate social networking sites.
I find them really boring and artificial. Fake interactions between fake friends.
HOWEVER, with how popular these sites are becoming, as an artist, it’s important to be involved, and available with the technology. The only reason I’ve had a Facebook (the worst of these sites as far as I’m concerned) is for that very reason. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), people don’t go onto Facebook to check for music, much less experimental music. Continue reading »
On The Horizon
So many many exciting things in the works. I will list some of them, in no particular order.
A trio record with Ray Evanoff (of Atemnt) and Iain Harrison that has been recorded and is in the process of being mixed.
A solo Drum/Keyboard improv record that will be called “P-P-P-Piano, P-P-Percussion”. Some recording done.
A solo album filled with a shmorgishborg of stuff called “Constantly Rodrigo”.
A duo album with Richard Knight on no-input mixer. We are in rehearsals at the moment.
A drum compilation album I was invited to play on. Other performers include Chris Corsano, Glenn Kotch, and Greg Saunier.
NUS Label Launch Party
After joining The Noise Upstairs last year, Anton and I put a lot of things in motion to help The Noise Upstairs grow and improve. Among them have been excellent workshops, podcasts, and now a new Sheffield Noise Upstairs, but one of the biggest has been The Noise Upstairs Records. We just released our third CD by the amazing Huddersfield duo Atement (formerly Gift of Life, which performed back in November last year). We decided it was finally time to make a big deal about it so we had a label launch night party. Continue reading »
GEMDays Festival
After speaking at the Max/MSP Symposium at last years GEMDays Festival, PA Tremblay mentioned that he’s going to try to get me to perform at this years festival. One year later, it came to pass. I shared the night with Phil Archer. We were both interviewed before the concert, which was wonderful to hear how similar our paths had been, even though the results were rather different (we were both still playing on the ‘circuit-bending’ night). Continue reading »
Xiu Xiu & me and you
So like, one of my bands, Deaf To Van Gogh’s Ear is opening up for Xiu Xiu next month (February 23rd). This is super, absolutely, truly, amazing. It’s the second time we’ve opened up for someone ‘starstruck-able’, the first time being when we opened up for Extra Life last year.
Awesome.
The Party Bus Finished
Finally finished building this little box. It’s a Where’s The Party At 8-bit Bendable Sampler and a buffered 4 to 1 mixer, all in one. It took months to finish, mainly due to problems discovered during my poorly functioning first build. I had to solve clock bleed, a noisy mixer, and other tasty details.
I Am Your Density
I am very excited to finally present “I AM YOUR DENSITY”. This CD has been in the pipe for over a year, being sidetracked by Drum & Bass and Jew Point Owe. It is finally done, and it is a doozy.
I AM YOUR DENSITY is a composition written for a group of improvisers. It was written in 2008 and has been performed twice, once at The Noise Upstairs, and the other time at The Arches in Glasgow, in conjunction with the Red Note ensemble. It was recorded in late 2008, and subsequently mixed by Dan Escauriza. It is being released on Noise Upstairs Records. Continue reading »
Piano + Laptop Improv
Had the opportunity to open up for Ingrid Laubrock as part of The Noise Upstairs Presents. Since the venue (Cross Street Chapel) has a nice grand piano, I decided to forgo my recent ‘solo drums’ improv and do a piano set. I invited Scott Hewitt to join me on Laptop/Sampling. We hadn’t rehearsed prior to the gig, and had only played together as part of larger ensembles at Inclusive Improv sessions, so it it’s pretty fresh as far as fresh goes. Continue reading »
Takahashi on Tour
Just finished a tour with Takahashi’s Shellfish Concern. It was amazing. We played in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Huddersfield, and finally Manchester. Some amazing highs (Edinburgh & London), and some horrible lows (Glasgow). Continue reading »
Drum & Bass: And The Horse You Rode In On
I am very excited to present “Drum & Bass : And The Horse You Rode In On”. This is a duo CD with PA Tremblay that was recorded in early 2009.
We shared a stage in 2008 and after exchanging some e-mails we decided to hit the studio. I showed up at Huddersfield University’s Studio with my ‘drums’ setup. PA had his 6-string fretless bass + Laptop setup, and we let it roll. After months of editing and mixing we carved out this gem. It’s 13 tracks of pure joy. The improvs range from textural laptop-scapes, to grimy stutter-hop, to some smooth jazz, and many other things that I can’t pretend to come up with names for (those above are inadequate enough). Continue reading »
Circuit-Bending Workshop
I ran my first Circuit-Bending Workshop, as part of The Noise Upstairs’ new quarterly workshops. I limited it to only a handful of toys to guarantee that everyone had a ‘winner’ at the end, to avoid what happened to me with my first bend (nothing happened, at all). Continue reading »
We Need New Noise
Anton invited me to co-run The Noise Upstairs with him. And by invite, I mean, kick him in the ass, and organize a bunch of crap. Who did what is really besides the point. (It was me)
The point is that NUS is celebrating it’s two year anniversary with a bang. We’re adding a webpage, quarterly workshops, podcasts, and much much more.
If you’ve never come down to the jam night, or haven’t been in a while, no better time than now to get back into it.
Electric Whisks Finished
Finally finished another new instrument. This one isn’t a self-standing ‘instrument’ per se, but more an instrument to play other instruments with.
It’s basically a regular whisk, just made from scratch so that every prong of the whisk is isolated, and connected to an alligator clip on the other end of the cable, so that I can make connections by striking surfaces, or touching the whisks together, or grabbing them with my hands etc…
They are particularly useful with my Ciat-Lonbarde Kitten-Nettiks, but they can be used with any electronic device that can be driven by making/braking connections (nearly everything).
For more pictures and detailed info click here.
DRUM & BASS : And The Horse You Rode In On
The recording session I did with PA Tremblay back in February is finally coming into shape. The title is going to be “DRUM & BASS AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON”, and above is the cover art, as usual, by Angela Guyton. We’re still narrowing down tracks and working on general mix/edit stuff, but I’m very excited about the project. It’s all improvisations that range from textural laptop-scapes, to grimy stutter-hop, to some smooth jazz, and many other things that I can’t pretend to come up with names for (those above are inadequate enough).
We’re both very busy at the moment, but it should hopefully be out in a couple of months as, most probably, a self-released, hand silk-screened type thing.