Lance Stack, of The Flat Response, records local shows and events all around Denver, and even sometimes ventures to New Mexico. He’s an unsung hero, and part of the glue that really holds Denver together as a community.
As part of his mission to document all the amazing things happening in the Metro area, he recorded almost all of the Communikey Festival in Boulder, which includes the set I played opening for William Basinski and Mark McGuire. You can listen on his website, and take a shortcut by clicking the following link:
DEEP TAPES has graciously released the debut EP of my project with kikiilimikilii, Gross Bite, and our cassette tape “Yod EP.” Peep it here:
http://deeptapes.com/gross-bite-yod-cassette/
The album art is really great, and Alex does all of the releases on his own time and with a lot of heart. Definitely worth the purchase. They are cheap.
I’m considering posting a max patch or two that I used on the album. I might do that later. In any case, check it out! kikiilimikilii and I are working on videos for each of the tracks, which should be available sooner or later.
In other news, New York is treating me very well. I am providing sound for an installation at the Museum of the Moving Image which will be installed in the museum lobby until March. I’ll be in Boulder for December, and will be playing some shows there, as well as working on material for a new record. So stay tuned!
I painted and drew pictures of my concept of the future of science, which are microorganisms that have been repurposed into human tools, like bacteria that glow or refract light, or function as batteries.
I transformed these pictures into speakers using some wire and magnets, and mounted them on my wall. I wrote a program to make the sounds you hear in the video, and also play through the speakers in real time. I also crafted 3-D variations on platonic solids/sacred geometry out of the same paper, transforming the flat into 3-D.
The piece is intended for live performance and gallery installation.
Since graduating from the University of Colorado, I’ve spent the last 7 months gigging, touring, and relaxing. I’ve received an offer for a job and a place to live in New York City, so I’ll be moving there… tomorrow. I look forward to the new surroundings and opportunities that are sure to present themselves. I’ll also be rebuilding my website from the ground up, learning HTML5 Canvas in the process. This blog will probably remain active, but will no longer be the feature of the site. It will instead focus on my portfolio and interactivity. I will also continue to update my projects, which are sure to be numerous, as I am moving to NYC to do the same things, i.e. interactive music and physical computing. So stay tuned!
If you’re curious about hearing my music, there’s a tab at the top of the page titled “Listen.” Feel free to click on it – it has links to videos and downloads of my music. Thanks for checking it out!
The performance at Communikey was a great success! I’ve received a lot of positive feedback, and I loved playing alongside Basinski and McGuire.
I’m finally in documenting mode again, so I should soon have some footage from my January show, “September Sixth.” I’m currently trying to track down more video from the Communikey performance. I have some shots from one angle, but I know there’s more footage out there and I’d love to cut something together. So that might have to wait a little while.
My first piece for violin and electronics, Apotheosis, is set to be performed this Friday and Saturday evening in the Black Box theater as part of a show called “Carnivals and Snowstorms.” Should be great!
Stay tuned, I should have audio of the Communikey show coming soon.
But in the meantime, here’s a video from Zemi17 of the Gamelatron installed at Naropa University in April as part of the festival:
After returning from tour, I’ve barely had time to think about anything other than composing a new piece to be debuted at this year’s Communikey Festival of Electronic Arts (communikey.us), which takes place here in Boulder, CO. Tomorrow night will be the debut of the piece, which is a collaboration between myself and Adderly Bigelow, a recent Boulder transplant and beautiful dancer. We’re doing surround sound, projection, the whole deal.
The show is in (of course) the Black Box Theater on the University of Colorado campus, and I’m performing a set before sound artists William Basinski and Mark McGuire (of Emeralds). I’ll be posting recordings soon of all the pieces in audio format, and after the performance I’ll also have video to share.
I’ve also been assisting Zemi17 on his incredible Gamelatron installation here in Boulder. We put an installation in the lobby of the ATLAS building earlier this week, and the robot is also performing tonight in the Black Box and Saturday at Naropa, all day in the PAC. Here are some silly cell-phone pictures:
I realized that I failed to link all of my internet resources together in a cohesive fashion. I know I’ll have to do that soon, and it will probably be here.
In the meantime, go to the following sites and you will be directed to places you can hear my recordings. BandCamp is set up to be donation-based, so if you want to contribute in that way, feel free to download from there and pay what you want. All of my SoundCloud tracks are set up to be downloaded for free. If you pay for the album, you get some bonus tracks.
A fixed media piece I put together in the summer and just never posted. Here are the notes from the Vimeo page:
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Given sufficient time, oxygen, and water, any iron mass eventually converts entirely to rust and disintegrates.
-Wikipedia
The sound was created using Supercollider, Max/MSP and Pro Tools. The video was shot on a Sanyo HD camcorder, processed in Jitter, and edited in Final Cut Pro.
First off, I recently graduated from the University of Colorado (with a few extra years of break/aimless wandering under my belt). I’m very excited to pursue everything I didn’t have time for at CU.
My ATLAS Black Box residency at the University will be performed January 28/29. More info and ticket reservations can be found here: septsixth.eventbrite.com
I should have some sample video up very soon, hopefully by the end of the week.
A quick quip describing the show:
Nathan Wheeler, a recent graduate of the Music Composition department at the University of Colorado, is presenting September Sixth, an exploration of his journey through the aftermath of the Four Mile Canyon fire, in which he lost his 3rd-generation family home. Wheeler is an artists-in-residence in the CU ATLAS Black Box Theater, a technological wonderland, and will use the space to explore folk, drone, noise, hardcore and interactive electronics with live visuals, and collaborate with brilliant sound artists and dancers. Collaborators include the venerable Janet Feder and Mark McCoin, movers Luke Iwabuchi and Skye Hughes, and drummer Curtis Broome. The show is two nights, January 28th and 29th, at 8 PM. There will be loud sustained moments, so earplugs will be provided.
In addition – I am planning a winter tour (February 21-March 13) of the West Coast with my friend Sam from Paris, who goes by kiikilimikilii. We met at the SPARK festival, and he’s coming to the states to play the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. We’re traveling from Vancouver, BC (if I can get my replacement passport in time) to LA, hitting a bunch of cities along the way. I’ll be playing harmonium and interactive electronics, among other things.
Sam and I are both touring in support of soon-to-be-released CDs and cassettes. More info will be available on those soon. Here are some links to check out of his work.
