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PRISM index
March 28, 2010
What if you could buy an entire art installation for $22 and keep it on your bookshelf? Well you can, it’s called PRISM index. A few years ago, I was asked to contribute four interviews with Twilight & Ghost Stories collaborators Mick Rossi, Bhob Rainey, Parker Paul and Ray Raposa. These interviews, discussing struggle, inspiration, and the creative process are collected and printed only in the… (read more)
I Heart Lung Tour Texana
March 10, 2010
A year after I Heart Lung lurched out toward the East Coast we are venturing out for one week of Big Texas Fun. According to the Austin Chronicle: “I Heart Lung – guitarist Chris Schlarb and drummer Tom Steck – is a wily creature, jumping right to left brain with amphetamine grace.” Flattery will get you two shows in Austin. All dates feature young fire-keepers Rare Grooves. March 11th features… (read more)
Electric Guitar Pedal Board
January 2, 2010
I try to keep it simple. In fact, for most of the last 10 years, my use of effects pedals has been downright spartan. At this point, I think I have finally put the right combination of sounds together. The only difference with this photo and my actual performance set up is that the BOSS RC-50 Loop Station is placed to the left of the pedal board and not on top of it. From left to right (beginning… (read more)
The Year In Listening (2009)
January 1, 2010
If I’m completely honest, I will admit that I listen to far more music from the 70’s than any other decade. Between masterful albums from Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, The Isley Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Donny Hathaway, Brian Eno, Steve Reich, and Devo, I get most of my nourishment from music that was made over 30 years ago. That having been said, 2009 was a solid year for new music. If… (read more)
Too Much Shredding
December 17, 2009
So I went to Guitar Center today. I wanted to check out a few Electro Harmonix pedals. I didn’t buy anything. (read more)
Schlarb Family White Christmas Album 2009
December 7, 2009
The response to last year’s Schlarb Family Christmas Album was so enthusiastic that we couldn’t wait to get another one out in time for this Christmas. Things got started in October when kids really dug into a few Paul McCartney tunes on The White Album. Soon, Elisha knew the melody and lyrics to “Rocky Raccoon” by heart and Naima was whistling “I Will” throughout the house. Adriana loved… (read more)
Haunted House Soundtrack
October 30, 2009
All the way back in 2005, my good friend Orlando Greenhill and I were asked to record the soundtrack for a haunted house at Martin Luther King Jr. park in Long Beach. We were given an auditorium to record in and enlisted two teenagers from the neighborhood. As usual, we recorded under the Create (!) banner and the teenagers chose the name Chaos Theory. What we ended up with sounds equally hilarious… (read more)
IN TRANSIT presents: 16mm
October 26, 2009
On May 19th, 2008, I Heart Lung went into Matt Wignall’s Tackyland Studio in Long Beach and recorded music to accompany a series of colorful short films by Canadian visual artist Jonathan Dueck. Jonathan has designed album covers for Soul-Junk, Rafter Roberts, Liz Janes and many others, he is also responsible for bringing West African artist Hermas Zopoula to the attention of the Asthmatic Kitty… (read more)
The Widow Babies- Jetpacks
September 29, 2009
In January of 2009, The Widow Babies and I began recording Jetpacks. Our first album together, The Mike Watt EP, was recorded in a single day. Jetpacks, however, consisted of three days in the studio with additional time for tracking, mixing and overdubs. To my ears, Jetpacks sounds different than anything coming out of Los Angeles right now. The lazy ear could settle for Abe Vigoda-like connections… (read more)
September Fortnight
September 12, 2009
The next two weeks look to be unexpectedly busy. In addition to sound, foley and composition work in the studio I will be performing twice and engineering three live events. For whatever reason, I don’t play all that often in Los Angeles or Long Beach anymore. If I’m not on tour, I’m usually at home in the studio working on a reason to tour. Sometimes I get invitations that are too good to pass… (read more)
September Fortnight
September 12, 2009
The next two weeks look to be unexpectedly busy. In addition to sound, foley and composition work in the studio I will be performing twice and engineering three live events. For whatever reason, I dont play all that often in Los Angeles or Long Beach anymore. If Im not on tour, Im usually at home in the studio working on a reason to tour. Sometimes I get invitations that are too good to pass up… (read more)
The Limpets (Documentary Score)
September 9, 2009
The Limpets, is a documentary short by Justin Dial and Nate Smith about controversial visual artist and teacher Melanie Weaver. The subject matter in Limpets crosses from whimsical to deeply reflective and I enjoyed writing music that shared those qualities. The four-minute film contains six pieces of original music. Written, Recorded and Produced by Chris Schlarb Performed by Chris Schlarb- electric… (read more)
Unboxing Nels Cline and G.E. Stinson
September 2, 2009
As many of you may know, I run the Sounds Are Active record label in what doctors and psychologists call my “spare time.” Today, I am very proud to hold in my hands, the label’s 50th release: Nels Cline + G.E. Stinson’s Elevating Device. Nels and G.E. are long time friends who have both accomplished a many great musical thing over the years. With Elevating Device, they finally sit down together… (read more)
Kickball Vs. Microphone
August 17, 2009
While I was out at a park recording playground sounds for a short film I saw a large group of older Japanese men and women playing kickball. Apparently they finished before one man had his fill. He proceeded to kick the ball by himself around a large field. At 2 seconds you can hear him kick the ball from the left. At 4 seconds the ball lands on the right. You then hear him run from the left to the… (read more)
BeeDocs 101 (Tutorial Score)
August 13, 2009
Written and recorded in August 2009, “Theme For Acoustic Guitar and Mandolin No. 2″ was recently used in a tutorial video for Seattle, Washington based software company BeeDocs Software. BeeDocs owner Adam Behringer sent me a rough cut video of a Timeline 3D tutorial he was working on and said he was looking for light musical accompaniment. I proposed a simple piece that could function as both… (read more)
Song For Charles Rocket
July 2, 2009
“Song For Charles Rocket” is a piece of music I wrote for Destroyer of Brains, a free jazz ensemble from Los Angeles. For this demo recording I threw the Zoom H2 in front of my amp and looped the bass line while playing the lead melody over it. It should be fun to compare this messy, raw demo to the messy, raw studio version in a few weeks time. A few days after recording the demo sketch, I rehearsed… (read more)
Indie Video Game Music Roundtable
June 30, 2009
Photo by Vincent Diamante In late March of 2009, I attended the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, California. NightSky was nominated for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Game Festival and the game’s creator, Nifflas and I would be helping to demo the game on the show floor. The conference was bustling with energy, creativity and audio/visual stimulus. I met a number… (read more)
We Scream: Voices From The Ice Cream Underground
May 27, 2009
For the last six years or so I have wanted to make a documentary film about ice cream truck drivers and paleteros (cart and bike vendors). Having spent years delivering newspapers, copies and organic fruit myself, I have always felt a certain kinship to these professions. What has interested me most about them, however, is the relative secrecy in which they operate. Until now, I have known relatively… (read more)
Hoedown Throwdown
May 24, 2009
Summertime is almost here. The nights are getting longer and the kids are out playing after 9pm. I heard singing in the courtyard through the kitchen door and grabbed my Zoom H2. Apparently this is the chorus to Miley Cyrus’ song “Hoedown Throwdown”. There are five or six voices singing here including my son and daughter. (read more)
Twilight & Ghost Stories NYC
April 29, 2009
All photography by Scott Friedlander ©2009 Shannon Fields and I started talked in the early winter of 2008. He was booking four months in advance for the calendar at John Zorn’s venue, The Stone. Each month one person picks all of the music that will be played there, two seatings per night, one at 8pm and one at 10pm. It’s a wonderfully rigid place: they don’t serve food or drinks and they… (read more)
NightSky (Video Game Score)
March 23, 2009
Available exclusively for the Nintendo Wii console, over 45 minutes of original music was composed for the moody, side-scrolling NightSky (formerly Night Game). Created by Swedish designer Nifflas, NightSky was nominated for the 2009 Independent Game Festival’s Seumas McNally Grand Prize as well as Excellence in Design. NightSky’s setting and minimalist art design required a unique approach to… (read more)
I Heart Lung’s Deep Water Tour
February 23, 2009
A week after Interoceans received a rave review on Pitchfork, I Heart Lung depart for a two week Midwest and East Coast tour. Shows scheduled in Brooklyn at Death By Audio (with Opsvik & Jennings) and Chicago at The Empty Bottle (with Serengeti and DM Stith) on March 3rd and 8th respectively. Full dates and details here. It has been almost four years since Tom and I have travelled east. I have fond… (read more)
Some Assembly Required
February 4, 2009
This past Sunday afternoon I spent a few hours picking up last minute accessories for the upcoming performance of Twilight & Ghost Stories: plug adapters, electric cables, miniature light switches and bulbs. My luggage hardly consists of a “musical instrument” in the traditional sense; I won’t even be traveling with an acoustic guitar. When I last performed the piece in Austin I had the luxury… (read more)
Interoceans (Album)
January 18, 2009
From 2005 to 2008 I worked with drummer Tom Steck to create an album of dynamic, unpredictable compositions. We released the album, Interoceans, under the name I Heart Lung. Distantly rooted in jazz, ambient and African music, the music is layered with Indian, and electronic influences. Interoceans featured a small orchestra of contributors including Nels Cline (on electric sitar and guitar), Dave… (read more)
Shadow Company (Documentary Score)
January 15, 2009
In February of 2006, documentary filmmaker Nick Bicanic was putting the finishing touches on his expose of the flourishing mercenary economy in Iraq. He had already assembled an impressive film with an outstanding soundtrack that included tracks from Madvillian, Caribou and Murcof. Bicanic needed moody ambience to support a few minutes of dialogue and was drawn to the meditative cover of Curtis Mayfields… (read more)
SOLD: Thailand (Documentary Score)
January 14, 2009
In August of 2008 I was asked to score the documentary film, SOLD: Thailand. The film focuses on the rampant child prostitution trade in Thailand and, in particular, tells the story of a young schoolgirl named Cat. In addition to using selections from my album Twilight & Ghost Stories, filmmaker Rachel Sparks also commissioned me to write a composition for cello and violin. Cats Theme is requisitely… (read more)
Twilight & Ghost Stories (2007)
January 12, 2009
ORDER AMAZON // ASTHMATIC KITTY // EMUSIC // ITUNES ABOUT Four years ago I was a sleeping ghost in an empty home. After quitting my job as an insurance adjuster I found myself working through a devastating separation which soon ended in divorce. Aimless and unemployed, I lost all structure and contact with the world outside. Weeks passed into months until a massive rainstorm birthed a curious idea.… (read more)
Music Timeline (2008)
January 11, 2009
I had so many different projects on-going and intersecting this year I thought it might be fun to work up a little timeline. I ended up purchasing a beautiful piece of software by BeeDocs earlier this year called Timeline 3D and it imported all of my events from iCal. Then I started taking stuff out and simplifying. The resulting year is represented in the static timeline above and the 3D video timeline… (read more)
The Year In Listening
December 24, 2008
I am used to feeling a certain gaping remove from most things: society at large, the greater music listening public, their trends and so on. This year was no different in that respect; I saw names rise up out of the fertile ground tilled by publicists and float above the dirt just long enough for someone to make their money back. I heard ideas touted and technologies romanced until they formed a glut… (read more)
Schlarb Family Christmas Album 2008
December 22, 2008
We didnt have much money this year so we started a tradition instead. Every year, as a family, we will try to make a short Christmas album with everyone contributing. This year, we got a little Fragile with it. We have tunes as a family, and tunes in smaller groups. The high-concept, two part Christmastime in& series is sure to please the closet prog-heads out there. Acoustic guitar, jingle bells… (read more)
Why Obama
November 4, 2008
My wife and I volunteered for Barack Obamas presidential campaign today. We made some calls out to the people of North Carolina gave them information on where their local polling location was. It was an honor to volunteer with the good people gathered together in Carson, California. Carson is a semi-industrial neighborhood made up of working class African Americans usually marginalized and disenfranchised… (read more)
The Widow Babies- The Mike Watt E.P. (2008)
September 24, 2008
The first song I ever heard The Widow Babies play was Mike Watt Created The Universe With A Bass Solo. I was recording the group at the request of concert promoter and musical provocateur, Sean Carnage for a music film called Friends In Other Dimensions. Sean knew my musical leanings and said I might be interested in the group as they seemed to cross a wide chasm of my own influences, Yes among… (read more)
Herbie Hancock + Joni Mitchell @ Fox Studios (3.20.08)
September 17, 2008
Were there wireless keytar solos, bass slaps, auto-wah drenched guitar scrapes and electronic sounds that harkened back to Burgertime-era arcade games? Yes, and it was worth every minute of it. A week ago I read about a special live performance for, get this: Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music which was to be filmed at Fox Studios in Century City'three massive corporations banding together for an evening… (read more)
Twittering
August 21, 2008
I dont really have much desire, or time, to participate in most of the social networking craze but I did recently sign up for Twitter. I am still getting the hang of it and can see how it might supplement the the content of this site with small, so called, mirco-blogging. What I enjoy most about this site is that I can work on an essay or a group of thoughts and eventually publish them as a cohesive… (read more)
Two Twilights
August 8, 2008
Photo by Nariposa In two weeks time I have travelled over 3,500 miles to perform Twilight & Ghost Stories. The first performance, on July 19th, at San Franciscos Hemlock Tavern was a cramped, frenzied, artistic success that included a wonderful ensemble of musicians including an interesting substitution: cellist Alex Cort and his wife gave birth to a boy early in the morning of the 20th and, quite… (read more)