Polarity

Polarity is now available for sale in The Handmade Birds online store. Check it out here.http://handmadebirds.com/store/HB-042.php

Chondritic Sound

Greh Holger finished a mock up of the artwork for my new cassette, "Jitters," that he is putting out on Chondritic Sound. The finished J-Card will likely be gray on metallic orange paper, but the image below gives an idea of what it will look like. It should look pretty awesome when it is done. The image that you see below is kind of a collaboration between Greh and I. Years ago, just before he moved to California, Greh and I had discussed doing a Xerox art collaboration together. I sent him some scraps of my work to play around with and nothing ever came of that. We had been talking about having him do a tape for me for many more years. I think it might have been 2005 when he first asked me to send him a master. Life got away from me and I never got around to actually doing it until about 6 months ago. When we started talking about cover art, I suggested that he try working with some of the material I had sent him in 2009 or 2010. Below is the result. Some of it is manipulated material from me. Some of it is stuff that Greh made from a sculpture he xeroxed. All of it is run through the standard Chondritic Sound process. For as long as I have known Greh, his label has always produced beautiful stuff. The artwork is always printed on really nice paper and his releases have a refreshingly cohesive aesthetic. Sadly, he no longer prepares the releases by closing them in a box of burning incense. But, the result is still cool.

I recently posted a video with a sound sample. Here it is again.

Shiflet Interview

Here is an interview that Mike Shiflet recently did with Local Autonomy in Columbus, OH. He references a conversation that we had on the way to The Enemy Fest in Chicago a few months ago. Many of Mike's comments resonate with me as well. Especially relevant to me is the statement he makes about developing a body of work over the course of decades. I too have felt the "foolish" disappointment involved in watching close friends achieve a level of success more quickly than I have been able. Where Shiflet looks to Chopin and Radigue for reassurance, I have recently been looking to artists like Jo Baer and Robert Motherwell for reminders about the value of taking time to develop as an artist. There are some really astute observations in this interview.

Tapes

Spent some time splicing some tapes today. As a result, I think I am calling this track for my split with Developer done. Here is a picture of that process.

 I also got a box of tapes from Handmade Birds. They turned out great! The pro-printed red cassettes look fantastic. Let me know if you are interested in one.

New Home

So, I am successfully getting settled into our new home in Kansas City Missouri. As a result, I will be playing in nearby Lawrence Kansas. Here is the info.

September 18th.
Potluck @5
Music @7
@ The Perc

This is My Condition
Jason Zeh
Radio Shock
Dick Neff

Jitters

NoInputVideo1 from Jason Zeh on Vimeo.

This is a video that I made of my first attempt playing around with a collection of video editing hardware I have been working on amassing for a few years.  It isn't anything amazing, but I think this is the start of a cool new direction. I have been wanting to do some VHS manipulation that draws on my experience with audio cassette manipulation techniques since at least 2004. I have a lot of ideas that could lead to interesting results. In addition to the video, this piece features a clip from my upcoming cassette on Chondritic Sound. It is called "Jitters."

Quick Update

2 new tapes should be in my hands in August.

I have a few copies of the Ohio Unsemble tape available. It is sparse improv featuring myself, Matt Reis, Ryan Jewell, Jon Lorenz, and John Rich.

The master and artwork for my LP, "A Vacant Lot To Be In," have finally been sent to Aaron Dilloway for release on Hanson Records.

On deck:
Solo full length
Track for a split with Matt Reis/Developer
Split with Matt Ruzicka
T-shirt design for the Robinwood Concert House
Collab with Ryan Jewell that we started last Thursday when he was in town on tour.