News: Music
Updates, events, & perspectives regarding the state of the arts.
“Matters of the Heart” – Album Cover
Bluetech’s record label “Behind the Sky” just released “Matters of the Heart” – a beautiful compilation of music from my long time friend DJ Maggie and featuring my painting “The Birth of Venus” on the cover. It’s available on Bandcamp both as a digital version and a beautiful double LP vinyl album.
From Bandcamp:
Behind The Sky is proud to present our 16th release, a gorgeous overview of contemporary downtempo electronic music, compiled by label DJ and co-collaborator extraordinaire DJ Maggie. The global ambient music scene and small chillout rooms are the spaces that have fed and informed our musical taste since the early 90’s. Paying homage to the deep waters and magical moments of the lesser and the unknown, this compilation is a love song to the community and sound that has inspired everything that we do.
“Collaborative creative projects have always held a special place in my heart. I learned about creative collaboration from hosting weekly Art Night events in the early 90s, teaming up with others to construct theme camps at Burning Man, and organizing outdoor gatherings with my Floasis and Moontribe crews. The spirit of many working toward a common creative goal is something that inspires me more than just about anything else. When Evan approached me to curate a compilation for Behind the Sky, highlighting this incredible community of inspiring electronic music, it felt like a great fit and an opportunity to invest energy in creative collaborative projects.” – Maggie
Order your vinyl and/or digital versions here: https://behindthesky.bandcamp.com/album/matters-of-the-heart
Dreaming Awake Single Covers
I’ve been letting my good friend Treavor Moontribe – of Desert Dwellers fame – use my art for singles he’s been releasing on his record label Dreaming Awake. It is mostly techno and housey 4/4 sorta stuff. We’ve been friends for many years and I’ve always had fun on dancefloors he’s playing at and have known him for years. Here’s a few recent ones:
Main Stage Banners at High Sierra
This past summer, on the 4th of July weekend, I was again at High Sierra Music Festival up in Quincy, CA. It’s a beautiful area of California that reminds me a lot of Northern Vermont – rolling hills, farmlands, vast skies. It’s just that the trees are twice as tall and the environs just a bit more permissible. In any case, I returned there again this year and brought with me some big banners for the main stage. The banners were each one half of the painting Birth of a Star (Link) and were printed on speaker mesh so that they wouldn’t impede on the sound and so the wind could adequately blow through them. I was really stoked to be able to add to this really awesome festival. It’s been going on for 21 years and has such a friendly open vibe and is a ton of fun.
Some of the musical highlights included:
- The Warren Haynes Band: I saw him play years ago with Gov’t Mule. I was never much into the heavy southern rock thing of Gov’t Mule but this band: it’s smoking. With it’s nod towards funk and soul and Warren’s ripping guitar work, it was pretty quite stellar. Really: it cut right through me and was a phenomenal show.
- Los Amigos Invisibles: Last I saw these guys was somewhere in Massachusetts about 10 years ago. I first became aware of them via their Arepa 3000 album which was produced by David Byrne (an estimable and respectable figure). They’re non-stop funky wildness and were a perfect late afternoon fun time.
- Scott Law and Materialized: I think I’ve heard of these guys. In any case: psychedelic electric funky jazz rock funk stuff. Good times!
- Chris Robinson Band: I saw the Black Crowes for the first time the year before at High Sierra and they put on an incredibly soulful and heartfelt show. Chris’ band follows in that with a bit more improvisation and a lot of love. It was raw, solid, and honest.
There was a whole lot of other music in there too, some of which was truly awesome. I love music and I love to dance and find that, in those rhythms and patterns, the high and lows, I can lose myself in it and find so much inspiration that is later expressed through my artwork. In any case, I’m grateful for a chance to play up in the mountains with such stellar company.
I also want to extend my thanks and gratitude to Lisa Brown, ambiance crew coordinator, and Adam Roberts of Summit Art Licensing for helping to make this all happen. Really: truly grateful for your patience and willingness to move forwards and make it happen.
House of Hamsa Party/Day out of Time Event – July 25, 2010
I know it’s a ways off but I recently created a commissioned painting for this flyer and event, held in San Francisco on July 25th, 2010. Featuring the music of a collective of musicians from Hamsa Lila, Beats Antique and others, some great DJs and my artwork and some live painting, it’ll be a fun time. O yeah, it’s in honor of the (semi-controversially important) Mayan Day out of Time. One way or another, it’s a fun time… Come check it out. 800 tickets available…
For more information and tickets go HERE.
