Catch up

I’m overdue for a post- if you’re not on my email list, here are some highlights since last time:

While I was visiting AZ in December, my sister Ann and I interviewed Mom about her life. We’re so glad to get some of her stories on the record. e.g. when she was ~10 years old, she decided to get rid of a massive anthill with gasoline and accidentally set part of the house on fire! First she tried putting it out with her Alaskan Malamute’s water bucket. That didn’t work, but bought her enough time to get the garden hose and finish the job.

Speaking of pets, my parents’ dog Ben is still afraid of me for being a tall person. I know it’s hard to believe, but he’s hiding somewhere in the above photo.

Fear.

And as far as work stuff:

Jenn Medvin and Marcus MacDougald’s Little Hero has been making the festival rounds- from Belgrade to Nevada City to DOC NYC to St. Louis where it won a Crystal Gator (the award that deserves an award.)

This article calls my score “quirkily appropriate”. NICE. It’s kazoo on every score from here on out, k?

I’ve also been doing some recording lately, both at my place..

Poet and performer Mayda Del Valle

… and at Narnack Studios with the great engineer Griffin Rodriguez:

Andrew Conrad (bari), Walt Simonsen (trumpet), Ryan Dragon (trombone)

Brandon Dickert (drums), Griffin Rodriguez (hiding in the control room)

There is really nothing quite like recording great musicians live in a great room with a great engineer. I don’t miss my Chicago days of tracking everything in the kitchen!

I’m on a Timeboxing hiatus at the moment while I finish a bigger project, but here are the latest two if you haven’t caught ‘em yet:

• Filmmaker Will Slocombe (Cold Turkey, Reception)
  
• Filmmaker Vincent Peone (Josh + Vince, CollegeHumor)

Will and Vince both had great & insightful stuff to say. As a bonus, Will’s interview is laced with previews of my Little Hero score :)

That’s all for now!

Timeboxing with Rob Kleiner (Sia) and Ethan Nicolle (Axe Cop)

Ridiculously talented people continue to help me stay sane & productive in pursuit of art, on my podcast Timeboxing:

• Songwriter/producer Rob Kleiner (Sia, Nikki Yanofsky, Quincy Jones)
• Comic artist Ethan Nicolle (creator of Axe Cop, Bearmageddon):

Rob and Ethan are extremely driven and insightful. I hope you find their advice as useful as I do.

More here if you like it: timeboxingpod.com

Will Roseliep, Roshin Mathew, Accordion for Deadwood

Time to catch up on a few updates:

I had the pleasure of interviewing classical hype man, cellist, and author Will Roseliep for ep 2 of Timeboxing. He recently released a new book (which I enthusiastically recommend) about how to quickly diagnose and treat problems within the classical music industry e.g. “being out-hustled”.

I recorded voiceover with my new friend Roshin Mathew / Big Bowl of Ideas.

Finally, I played accordion in a 4-hour musical adaptation of Deadwood by the SIlverlake Children’s Theatre Group.  (There are no typos in the previous sentence)  Talented and ambitious kids!

Timeboxing with Sam Reich

Sam Reich runs video for CollegeHumor, and I had the pleasure of interviewing him for episode 3 of Timeboxing!

Hear his thoughts on creativity, productivity, a “light hand” in the writers’ room, and the sociopathic gear shift between creative and executive modes.  Then he brings up Getting Things Done and derails everything.

If you enjoy, feel free to like/share/etc!  Write a short iTunes review and I will be forever in your debt.

          

New podcast: Timeboxing (1st guest: Patrick Horvath) and spring recap

I’m starting a podcast about creative pursuits vs. sanity called Timeboxing.  Here’s episode #1 where I talk to filmmaker and illustrator Patrick Horvath:

Why does this exist?  Over the past few years I’ve found myself compulsively pulling friends & collaborators into conversation about how they balance creativity, productivity, and sanity. Many people seem to have some useful perspective or personal angle on this stuff, and since I would be having these conversations regardless (almost as a form of therapy) I decided to start recording them.

Like/share/etc if you enjoy!

facebook iTunes soundcloud stitcher timeboxingpod.com

After the interview I hired Patrick to do the cover art :)  Check out more of his illustration work at soundofblunder.com

In other news, it’s been a great start to 2014.

2 of David Fishel’s films which I created music for had the honor of screening at Lincoln Center in NYC!  A short called Natural Selection and a feature documentary involving dance, horses, and autism.  Here is the trailer for the latter:

I’ve been mixing/scoring a video by Eric McCoy & Justus Meyer for Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.  Here’s Eric with actress Nicky Hawthorne in our VO session:

In February, I traveled to NYC to finish vocal recording with Angeline Gragasin for an upcoming project:

While in NYC (and then Boston) I also caught up with other friends and filmmakers:

 I recently completed a score for a DVD series by DawnSignPress.  Here are some of the session photos (Paul Fuller: banjo, Sasha Birrittella: guitar, Allen Fogle: french horn, Eleanor Weigert: bass clarinet, Jaimie Lee Mendoes: flute)

And finally, I retired an old hard drive:

Until next time!