journal

Pixelmusic 3000!

2008-05-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

It's always a nice day when the new issue of MAKE shows up. This issue shows you how to make one of theeeese. I had to shove it excitedly in front of the face of my favorite vj when he got home.

more bent fest!

2008-05-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Video of a portion of my set from Bent fest! Not a bad snip, once I got comfy with the tech. :) This was snagged from Talking Computron over at http://www.getlofi.com - great blog roundups of the whole festival and really great collections of vids and photos.

I have some more thoughtful/less promo-based blogs brewing- thoughts on bein' a lady in a sub-sub-culture dominated by dudes (I'm curious what Beatrix and other ladies have to say about it, too!), as well as one with classical music training- and how that informs what I do as part of such a DIY, experimentation-driven scene; thoughts on the music business and rise of the indies, the explosion of music in the world of the internet and what it means for artists, labels, and copyright... It is a brave, new, ever-interesting world, and I've been thinking it'd be fun to talk about it a little more.

later gators

Spring is buzzing away

2008-05-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

April and May have been crazytown in Caly-land. It seems I have hit the magic time in my life when nearly everyone I know is getting married, so weddings are big on the scene. So are art events. I'm a bit overdue on the ol' updates. I just came back from another wedding celebration tonight. It was held in a boxing gym, which made a lovelier reception venue than one might anticipate. Pinatas, brownie sundaes, fireworks... good times. Spring has finally sprung in MN, and it's about time. I am enjoying the weather and hoping I get around to getting my motorcycle fixed sometime soon.

Anyway, on the musics- Bent Fest Mpls was really fantastic. I had a great time, I met some great folks, and got really great feedback on my set. I'm hearing rumblings about Bent Fest UK, which would be fantastic!! Huge thanks to Beatrix*Jar, Intermedia Arts, and everyone who played or led a workshop or showed up for concerts and everything, it was really great all around.

I know I've been saying it for a long time, but I'm really very close to completing my album. I'm really excited about that. And a little bit terrified. In a good way. I think.

Bent Fest Starts Tonight!

2008-05-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

Reception starts at 7pm, live music starts at 8pm, I go on at 9pm. Beatrix*Jar is headlining a bit past 11pm. This is the 2nd year the festival has happened in Minneapolis, and I'm excited to be a part of it. It's also a nice hometown ego boost to have us as the Midwest stop for a festival that's happening in the cultural hotspots on the coasts. I'm excited to see some of the folks I met at Spark last year and check out some of the workshops later in the weekend. Hope to see you there!

Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55408 | 612.871.4444

More info here:
http://www.intermediaarts.org/bent/index.php

Bent Fest and Art Crawl!

2008-04-24T06:26:00.001-07:00

The Twin Cities arm of the Bent Festival is coming up! I've heard really good stuff about what happened in LA. The festival kicks off on Thursday, May 1st. I'm playing at 9pm at Intermedia Arts in Uptown:
2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55408

More details here: http://www.intermediaarts.org/bent/

This weekend is the St. Paul Art Crawl. This is the first time we've opened our studio, which is simultaneously exciting and daunting. I don't have any specific performances, but I will probably play a live set or two during the weekend if the mood strikes, or set up my new theremin and let people make some goofy noises. ;)

But you should definitely come and say hi and check out S4's fantastic new work!

Lowertown Lofts
Studio 501
255 East Kellogg Blvd #501

Friday 6-10
Saturday 2-10
Sunday 12-5

More information and maps of the Crawl are here:
http://www.stpaulartcrawl.org/pdf/catalog_spring08.pdf

MN Spin, 2x!!

2008-03-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

MN Spin, a local music contest put together by the folks at mnartists.org, have selected TWO of my tracks for their upcoming compilation cd! I'm extra disappointed that I can't make it to the listening party, as it's the same night I'm playing roller derby.

The last round Dessa Darling of the Doomtree crew chose my track "Unexpected". This round Kate Galloway chose "A Long Time".

Thank you, ladies, I'm honored!

link: http://www.mnartists.org/article.do?rid=183816

New photos!

2008-03-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Since I chopped off my dreadlocks, I've wanted to have some photos more representative of what I'm looking like these days. The lovely and talented Cole came to my studio for a shoot, and some of my favorites are now adorning these pages! Very exciting.

The Spark festival is in the rear view mirror, which means I can start to focus on a few other projects- the film score I've been working on is crawling to a close, and I haven't forgotten about the album! There are also a few new live shows coming up in April and May- I'll be playing as part of the Minneapolis vs. St. Paul show at Altered Esthetics and again for the Bent Festival in May.

Spark Fest '08

2008-02-29T07:38:00.001-08:00

The Spark Festival has been fun so far. Thanks to everyone who came out for my set at the Nomad on Wednesday! I haven't been able to make it out to as many things as I'd like, but I did catch the interview with Richard Devine last night, which I enjoyed a lot. I love listening to artists talk about how they work, mostly because it's so much fun to see people excited about what they love. A lot of it felt so familiar, as well: going to shows and scrutinizing what synthesizers were on stage, being introduced to music that changes how you think about sound, scouring music shops for new toys, getting lost in your headphones for hours on end. It also made me want to delve more into modular synths, though, from the video of his studio and from friends who have started their collections, I'm a little afraid of their addictive nature.

I'm planning on catching some more of the Nightlife sets and see what else is coming up. My favorite parts of Spark, almost more than the amazing breadth of art included, are the people and the vibe.

Also, Happy Leap Day! It always makes me think of Pirates of Penzance.

Upcoming...

2008-02-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

The Spark festival is almost here! This event is one of my favorite things in the Twin Cities- the breadth of the art and discussion here is really unique, from research papers to chamber style concerts to multimedia theatre to interactive installation to club style concerts. I'm performing for the Spark Nightlife series on Wednesday night, but check out their website for the full schedule. There is tons of stuff going on and almost everything is free and open to the public.

My set is on Wednesday night, February 27th at the Nomad World Pub. Music starts at 9, I go on about 10:45. 501 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis MN

Further down the road in May, I'm participating in the Minneapolis branch of the Bent Festival; I'll post more details when I have them.

Kitty Cat Klub

2008-01-27T00:24:00.000-08:00

Well, that was fun.
Thanks to Beatrix*Jar for inviting me, billmurray8 and dcontaminant and ethel and bitwise and omaha for coming, S4 for being awesome, my gear for cooperating, Tom the Sound Guy, and the Kitty Cat Klub for paying me both in some real money and also in just enough free booze to make it extra fun.

Also, there was Elvis pinball, and that never hurts.

New Toys!

2008-01-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights of my weekend was participating in a circuit bending workshop with Beatrix*Jar. Besides bending being fun, B*J are awesome folks and fun to hang out with. I'd done a bit of bending before, but, having a refresher on both bending and soldering was really nice, and I learned a few things I didn't know before. I'm excited to finish up my now-more-sonically-interesting Speak 'n' Math and debut it at the Spark festival.

Here are some photos!