Silver linings...

Despite the incredibly challenging nature of 2020 so far, I can’t help but see some silver linings as a distinct possibility. It’s a rare opportunity we have to take a hard look at institutions that need reform, sometimes down their very foundations. While this presents the daunting task of having to seemingly “start over” with something that was already established, consider the alternative, broken mechanisms that contribute to suffering, injustice, even death. With a fresh perspective we can broaden the scope with which we look to build, incorporating a wider (and hopefully deeper) view that incorporates more and different people and variables sometimes outside of our interests, biases and even spheres of influence. We can move forward with an awareness of who could be impacted and how to consider them, while hopefully spending as much effort to do good, as we do to help prevent accidentally doing bad. This doesn’t mean that mistakes won’t be made, but to begin with the intention of helping first and looking to prevent hurting will be a profound paradigm shift from the current mindset that we seem to employ in most endeavors.

As this relates to art, this moment of social change, economic uncertainty and global health crisis also presents the chance for art to touch people at a time when they may need it most. The pressures outside can settle to a lull in our minds, background noise that we can tune out, but the emotional toll it can take on us remains nonetheless. Art has given me an escape during this time and reconnected me to the joys that music can bring me, particularly in the music of my youth. To tie this to my thoughts from above, I make House music. My musical life takes place in the house (no pun intended) that gay people of color built. As a straight man, a day doesn’t go by that I am not aware and thankful for the contributions, both musically and culturally that these titans created that inform what I love and make as an artist. I appreciate the struggle to be seen, both as people of color, as people part of lifestyles outside of society’s prescribed norms, and as trailblazers in underground culture , something often misunderstood and even maligned but those outside of it. House music has shown and continues to show me people gathered together joyfully. There is no version of me that would give up the joys of uplifting music that touches peoples’ souls. And I won’t. Dance music is not a secret anymore. EDM often gets made fun of by other, less commercial forms of dance music, and I would often make fun too. But recently, in the face of this broader view of my life and our world, I accept everyone’s right to dance to and like what they want to. Rather than focus on what I don’t like about a sound or even a scene, I revel in what’s on offer in what I love, and there’s a lot. When I started going out, I wasn’t judged. And while it was a very different time, the impact it had on me, the feeling that I had found a safe place to grow creatively and feel fulfilled spiritually is something I would never deprive someone else the chance to experience.

So in closing I’ll just say that to me the silver lining of all of this is that it’s the chance to reexamine everything, and see what I could do better, how I could be better, and also how I could let myself just live more with this revised view. So far, it gives me hope that when we return to a world without masks someday, maybe this time we have to think about how and what we are doing has been spent wisely to give us something much better to return to.

2019 Wrap-up...

So this was a weird one. 2019 was a year of change and growth. My partner, Trovarsi, saw great success in both her live shows and releases. This was a sign to me that my own projects, which were growing in volume, could use more focused attention. For this reason we put Forward on hiatus to pursue individual projects with all of the intensity that they require. When the time seems right, we will return to Forward with the respect and intensity that it truly deserves.

I have been very tight-lipped about projects to focus on quality control as well as to hone my craft. Overall I was a bit uninspired by much of the art around me until recently. It wasn’t the quality, just the aesthetic. I like a specific strain of dance music, but couldn’t figure out how to find it here in Los Angeles or where to send it for exposure elsewhere. Of late, I’ve seen a corner turned where underground House music has returned to big festival stages and the tight grip of the EDM economy on the rest of dance music loosen a bit. This is inspiring and validates my long-held belief that this culture would probably endure this upheaval, despite the huge shift in creators and audiences often associated with it. There should be room for everyone to dance to what they want to, but social media and much of the coverage of dance music builds a narrative that can feel repetitive and even restrictive at times. Now I ignore the ebb and flow of life online and instead focus on the music and the enjoyment of it.

The end of this year finds me with renewed excitement, enjoyment of music, and belief in the power that it can have in our lives.

See you in 2020

Forward

It's been a minute since I've posted here. This is due to a heavier workload in my teaching schedule and a new music project, Forward. This is the live, heavily improvised project that I have with Trovarsi.  On two Ableton Live rigs, we create and perform live electronic music. Videos and shows are coming fast and furious as we've already played many shows including some out of town.  We've grown both musically and technically to the point where now we are ready to go full throttle on our productions and performances so buckle up. 

Our home online is at 

If you want something done...

The old saying, "if you want something done, give it to a busy person" is absolutely true.  Months of work stuff punctuated by binge watching of shows reminded me how easy it is to slip out of productivity mode.  Now with some plates spinning, the machine is back in action.  Schedule is hurting my Chew time so that may stay back burner for the moment, but new videos are forthcoming as well as a new hourlong DJ mix and two new tunes. Sorry for the delaziness.

 

Lots of toys, lots of sounds...

After some time of building my Live Push and Volca rig, I recently completed a smaller travel version of the same setup. To save space I used the software equivalents of the hardware and mapped controls to touchAble.  Little jam gigs around the city have proven this setup rock solid.  Now with both of these setups its almost too easy to slip behind my gear and make tunes.  Expect more streams of InterfacE on Chew.tv as well as releases soon.

Big fan of Chew.tv

So I've been playing around with different methods of streaming live, either for DJing or performing original material on my Ableton rig and Chew.tv appears to be it for me right now.  Great, easy to use platform that allows me to connect easily, stream high quality audio and video, and host chat at the same time.  If you want to peep some of my shows or peruse a huge volume of content from around the world, this is your spot.

Click the Chew link below for my shows and performances.

MarkmaN Media on the rise...

I've been adding more and more content to my Youtube channel MarkmanMedia.  Of course all of this will be accessible through the SightS tab at the top of my site here and updated as new content is created.

I'll aggregate all of my videos, educational, performance-oriented and otherwise until such time as I need to start separating them.  My tips and techniques videos are covering a variety of concepts including some more esoteric stuff, but hopefully you'll find something useful there.