"Ambition" began as a sound design exercise. I attempted to recreate the human element of a plucked guitar sound by meticulously tweaking a simple synth pluck. I liked the result so much that I began writing chords, and then adding drums, and finally fleshing out an entire song around the original synth. 

This piece fills me with feelings of triumph and determination. It keeps me energized and focused, and drives me to achieve. "Ambition" shimmers and glows, with exciting drum cracks and unorthodox rhythms to keep you guessing.

Featured on Dancing Astronaut's 5 Under 5,000 series: dncgastrnt.co/gj43

✖ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/undertow-single/id1154517168
✖ Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/0594pHSf7aQnXEB6SBzQ88
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/album/undertow

www.aotumusic.com
www.soundcloud.com/aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Written, composed, produced and mixed by Jack Tipper 
✖ Mastered by Chris Gehringer

Undertow

Aotu - Ambition

I began composing this song in my parents' basement in Burlington, Vermont at the end of summer 2015. A few choice experiences from my time out on Lake Champlain and the Atlantic that summer fueled the early stages of my creativity. 

My original intentions were to write a powerful, thoughtful epic to use as an opener during my live performances. "Undertow" swells and grows, before smashing into a plodding rhythm with a thick blend of electronic and orchestral instrumentation.

Featured on Dancing Astronaut's 5 Under 5,000 series: dncgastrnt.co/gj43

✖ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/undertow-single/id1154517168
✖ Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/0594pHSf7aQnXEB6SBzQ88
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/album/undertow

www.aotumusic.com
www.soundcloud.com/aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Written, composed, produced and mixed by Jack Tipper 
✖ Mastered by Chris Gehringer

Aotu - Undertow

Back in 2015, I was lucky enough to hear Francesca Blanchard perform at a small outdoor event. The moment I heard her voice, I knew I had to ask her to work with me. I sent her some of my music, and soon after we began bouncing ideas back and forth to find the direction of our collaboration.

Both Francesca and I have a complicated relationship with pop. There’s so much that we love and that inspires us in the infectious hooks and buttery chords dominating the airwaves, but at the same time, we also want to forge our own paths, somewhere fresh, new, and relatively detached from the mainstream. For this project, we decided to embrace the many aspects of pop that we love, by stepping back to appreciate and enjoy some of our favorite influences from the past couple of years.

"Alive" tells a story of cloudless summer nights with a forbidden love—a theme that mirrors Francesca’s and my relationship with pop music.

✖ Lyrics:

Do you ever walk through the night, without a light, and let the stars do the talking 
Do you ever think you and I could make it work, just for right now while we're walking 
You know I live inside my head, I won't let others choose our way, so take my hand don't be afraid 

To be alive, to be alive, to realize you've only got one chance 
To be alive, to be alive, to realize you could stand or you could dance 

Maybe we can light a fire, and burn desire, and make the world ours to conquer 
Why don't we take it higher, and admire how this love has made us stronger 
Now we're that much stronger 

To be alive, to realize we've only got one chance 
To be alive, to be alive, to realize, we could stand or we can dance

✖ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/alive-feat.-francesca-blanchard/id1168719051
✖ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3iq586KH2uxxrkgMnUYX7d
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/track/alive-feat-francesca-blanchard

www.francescablanchard.com
@francescablanchard
www.twitter.com/cheskablanch
www.facebook.com/francescablanchardmusic
www.instagram.com/francescablanchard
www.vevo.com/artist/francesca-blanchard

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Written by Jack Tipper and Francesca Blanchard
✖ Produced, composed and mixed by Jack Tipper
✖ Mastered by Chris Gehringer

Alive

Aotu - Alive (feat. Francesca Blanchard)

✖ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wild-card-single/id1223516355
✖ Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/51OaLRSKQPFnnJK95GJi1d
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/album/wild-card

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Written, composed, sang, produced, mixed and mastered by Jack Tipper

USLZJ1734932

Buy on iTunes

Aotu - Hive Mind

✖ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wild-card-single/id1223516355
✖ Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/51OaLRSKQPFnnJK95GJi1d
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/album/wild-card

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Written, composed, sang, produced and mixed by Jack Tipper 
✖ Mastered by Matt Colton

Wild Card

‌• Listen/Buy ‌•

Aotu - Wild Card

✖ Pre-order on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wild-card-remixes-single/id1243419247
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/album/wild-card-remixes

@steezy-jaxxx
www.facebook.com/officialsjmusic
www.instagram.com/steezymusic
www.mixcloud.com/steezyjaxxx

@foamekofficial
www.facebook.com/foamek

Aotu:

Wild Card is my first release with my own vocals on it, and I knew the sample deserved some external creative energy. I reached out to my favorite fellow producers from Vermont, and two of my most talented friends delivered. Steezy Jaxxx cranked out one of the crispest, most brilliantly heavy tracks I’ve heard all year, and Foamek dove deep for an intoxicating, ear-ticklingly lush techno driver. I couldn’t be more proud to have my name associated with these two fantastic songs, and for all of us to be representing Vermont! Big thanks to Jake and Billy for their endless creativity and diligence, and for putting up with my brand of creative direction.

Steezy Jaxxx: 

Having known Jack for a bit and knowing that another VT native is on the same musical path as me, I was so hype to be a part of this remix package. The original was nothing short of inspiring and the vocals were perfect to turn into something a bit heavier. 

I started by drawing up dozens of different ideas: I wanted to create something that was melodically pleasing, and that would also bring a punch to my remix. I finished up the first version and sent it to Jack. We were both confident that this was something special. After going back and forth throughout the mixing and mastering process, we landed on a final version and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the track. 

Working with Aotu was great and bouncing ideas off each other in the process felt extremely smooth. I’m very appreciative of his work ethic and his vision and it was really fun working on this remix for him! 

Foamek: 

Jack asked me to do a remix of Wild Card back at the end of March, and after hearing the original, I instantly knew I wanted to reenvision the world around the vocal for my remix. At first I went full PC Music—lots of shimmering saw leads, bubbly analog percussion etc.—but I soon reached a point where I realized that my foray into that production style was sounding more like a mimicry of underground pop than something heartfelt and interesting. 

I went back to the drawing board with techno in mind, inspired by the genre’s return to its pummeling, industrial roots, and the natural direction felt much more authentic and satisfying for me to work on. 

I have long respected Jack’s technical prowess, as well as his keen ear for melodies and grooves that can resonate with just about anyone, so I was happy to have the chance to fuse my ideas with his.

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
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www.youtube.com/aotumusic

Pre-order on iTunes

Aotu - Wild Card (Steezy Jaxxx Remix)

On the last night I saw her, as I walked her to her car, a deflating balloon drifted down from the sky and hovered in front of us like a ghost before a breeze swept it away.

✖ Lyrics:

The more that I reach for you 
The less that you say 
I'll ask you to stay 
We fall into disarray 

Don't fly away 
Don't fly away baby 
Don't fly away 

You're my balloon 
Too wild to steer 
Balloon, I need you here 
You're my balloon 
Don't disappear, balloon 

God damn it, you've gone

✖ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/balloon-feat-will-woodland-single/id1269864721
✖ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0Y9n2iHQnN3xnECcHCyIUX
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/track/balloon-feat-will-woodland

www.willwoodland.com
@willwoodlandmusic
www.instagram.com/williamwoodland
www.facebook.com/willwoodlandmusic

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Releases August 22, 2017 
✖ Written, composed, sang, produced and mixed by Jack Tipper and Will Woodland

Balloon

‌• Listen/Buy •

Aotu - Balloon (feat. Will Woodland)

✖ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/warpath-single/id1294174547
✖ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4CM9VfZR0qdcrScmyK4d7d
✖ Bandcamp (best price): https://aotu.bandcamp.com/album/warpath

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Written, composed, produced and mixed by Jack Tipper 
✖ Mastered by Matt Colton

Warpath

Aotu - Thunderhead

Christian and Ruuth’s teams sent me the original, and I fell in love with Ruuth’s magnetic vocal instantly. I wanted to sharpen the accompaniment, accentuate the James Bond ­reminiscent elements, and to lift Ruuth's clear vocal tones with new and muscular percussive power. 

I finished this remix back home in Vermont, in the dead of winter, hiding from harsh temperatures well below 0ºF. You’ll hear the frosty shimmers and crackling icicles of the world beyond my door pervading my mix. Hopefully they send a shiver down your spine as they did mine.

✖ Apple Music/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/risk-it-all-aotu-remix-feat-ruuth/1371681664?i=1371681668
✖ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2JxuhwssBsaomJCfmbVJ1t

www.christianreindl.com
@christianreindl
https://twitter.com/itsChrisReindl
https://www.instagram.com/chrisreindl/

@ruuthordare
https://www.facebook.com/ruuthordare
https://www.instagram.com/ruuthordare

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Original by Christian Reindl
✖ Vocals performed by Ruuth
✖ Remix written, produced, composed, mixed and mastered by Jack Tipper

Finding Home Remixes

Risk It All (Aotu Remix)

Christian Reindl - Risk It All (feat. Ruuth) [Aotu Remix]

@eyay_music

This remix is full-on percussive energy, courtesy of fellow Burlingtonian Aaron Hale, p.k.a. Eyay. Aaron and I became friends at Burlington High School, and we reconnected when he moved to Los Angeles post-college. He's a techno/house aficionado—we often find ourselves out enjoying LA's flourishing underground scene! I asked Aaron to try his hand at remixing Hive Mind, and I couldn't have been happier when he delivered this beast of a track. He explores a myriad of drum interactions and processing techniques to guide the listener through an industrial, hypnotic, monstrous take on the original.

Remix written, composed, and produced by Aaron Hale 
Mixed and mastered by Jack Tipper 
Original by Jack Tipper

Hive Mind (Remixes)

Aotu - Hive Mind (Eyay Remix)

@thevacantlots

Brian Macfadyen from The Vacant Lots and I have been close friends since we first met while attending Burlington High School. He introduced me to DJing and all kinds of cool tunes, helping me to end up on this crazy path! Over a decade later, I'm incredibly honored to hear his and Jared Artaud's take on my music. The remix is thoughtful and resonant—opening with smooth bells over the low piano chords from the original, sweeping into lush synth textures and drones. A beautiful melodic and dynamic crescendo leads into a flurry of drums that tiptoe a fine line of rich thickness and mature reservation.

Remix written, composed, produced, and mixed by Brian Macfadyen 
Mastered by Jack Tipper 
Original by Jack Tipper

Aotu - Hive Mind (The Vacant Lots Remix)

Balloon (Remixes)

Aotu - Balloon (feat. Will Woodland) [Foamek Remix]

Aotu - Balloon (feat. Will Woodland) [Marubatsu Remix]

You're about to fall asleep. 

.

.

A massive truck barrels past your head at 80mph, horns ablare, wheels mere inches away. Somewhere between a prison alarm and a thousand roosters screaming in unison, it shocks you upright. 

.

.

Even so, it's nothing out of the ordinary. You're used to it by now. You could sense it coming—the pressure of the air between your ears tensing ever so slightly. At this point it's far away, beyond reality. Next time, you'll be in control. Inspiration for tomorrow.

✖ Background information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome

✖ Handmade original cover artwork

www.aotumusic.com
@aotumusic
www.twitter.com/aotumusic
www.facebook.com/aotumusic
www.instagram.com/aotumusic
www.youtube.com/aotumusic

✖ Written, composed, produced and mixed by Jack Tipper 
✖ Mastered by Chris Gehringer

Exploding Head Syndrome

• Listen/Buy •

Aotu - Exploding Head Syndrome

A wash of rich magenta, rushing through your capillaries to fill every corner. Unnaturally clean, overwhelmingly flat and wide beyond your periphery. The flash sparks your reflection, your retina folded back on itself, branded for an instant. What is this sensation? Every star in the Milky Way winking into existence, one-by-one at the speed of light. The fractal rush of blood and electricity. A triumph of perception.

Ganzfeld

Aotu - Ganzfeld

• Eerie, ominous, powerful after hours techno •

Since moving out west in 2016, I've explored all kinds of local music scenes and underground parties here in Los Angeles. From dubstep shows to house parties, disco, shoegaze, trap and trance... it's the warehouse techno scene that stands out as the one that truly welcomed me and made me feel at home. This new song is an homage to the sound of these events, Aotu-style!

Avarice picks up where Exploding Head Syndrome left off, with a muscular after-hours sound designed to hypnotize and entice you into a flickering, fiery trap.

The cover art is original and hand-painted.

Avarice

Alpine Fallout is a meditative trek across an icy mountainside. It trudges forward, steps crunching through the snow, wind and trees. Coming at the tail of a year of well-received singles, this song is my wintry nightcap to a turbulent 2019. After three years of learning, growing and exploring in sunny Los Angeles, I will now embark on a new adventure in quiet Vermont, teaching electronic music to undergraduate students at Middlebury College. Alpine Fallout marks the start of this new chapter!

Aotu - Alpine Fallout

[+] Tipper Studios: https://www.tipperstudios.com [+]
Additional platforms: https://smarturl.it/human_nature

Tension, disinformation, and harsh realities riddle the official and prevailing narratives around the pandemic in the USA. Our systems show astounding indifference as most all of us are left to fend for ourselves and our loved ones. We scramble to stay healthy and make rent, let alone provide mutual aid and support for our communities. Many are just now awakening to the rampant injustices in our society, and how those injustices exacerbate the virus.

From isolation, the voices of the American public blend together into one, both online and in the streets, as we curse the cruelty of the powerful and demand change. We are an ever-growing chorus of solidarity, despite being relegated to our personal bubbles by the pandemic.

These themes guided our creative process for this project.

• Watch Music Video •

Aotu - Human Nature

I wrote this song at the beginning of the summer to help myself through some tough times. It's an instrumental mantra of self-motivation when at odds with internal and external turmoil. I hope can you hear where my heart was when I made it. As always, thank you for listening!

released October 4, 2020

✖ Written, composed, produced, mixed and mastered by Jack Tipper
✖ Cover artwork made in collaboration with James Thornton

All That's Left

Aotu - All That's Left

Born on an island, raised on a mountain

Eclectronic

✖ www.aotustudios.com ✖

凹凸，崎岖，大山深处／从青山州白雪覆盖的蜿蜒山路，到积雪渐融的崎岖小径，凹凸汲取了此张专辑的音乐创作灵感／凹凸，音乐，就此启程

✖ inquiries: hi@aotustudios.com ✖
✖ nyc/vermont/taipei/los angeles ✖

Mixing, mastering, remixing, sound design and composition services available. Please contact for details.

✖ support my dreams: paypal.me/aotu ✖

Aotu Studios

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