Pilot Light Media is a showcase for experimental audio and visual artists. We propagate the work of our solo and collaborative artists by documentation, publishing, distributing, and exhibiting their most compelling pieces. 

Current Exhibit:

Edwardian Transmissions
recent works by DJ Detour

Edwardian Transmissions is a series of aural representations of the world’s first wireless communications. They are pieces of what electrical waves and audio may have sounded like during the frontier of the air. Examples include Morse code, Marconi communications, shortwave radio, and the dawn of FM radio. 

These waves had their own unique traits based on the source of the wave and the materials they passed through. Early radio equipment was built of cardboard, wax, wood, and various metals. Many of these metals used were not pure. Early copper contained traces of other metals, creating a proprietary blend. The wires they forged yielded their own brand of sound.

Popular turn-of-the-century building materials also affected these waves. Materials such as marble, terra cotta, and limestone certainly leave a different fingerprint on waves than vinyl, plastic, or asphalt. Add to this a stately Dutch Elm, versus today’s skinny maples, and you have a different transmission altogether.    

It must have been a wonder to hear these early outputs. Although weak and unstable, they floated effortlessly in the empty skies. The static filled scratch of an old sea captain reporting his position, or some of the worlds first DJ’s, armed with primitive transmitters and relays. Their final destination was the tiny receivers in the ships, laboratories, studios, and homes across the globe.  

Today, we have all sorts of electronic waves darting across our atmosphere. From radio and television, to infrared interfaces, two-way radios, and cellular technology, our buildings and bodies are bombarded with electronic fields. Again, these waves have their own traits contributed to by today’s conditions.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Hey John is a sound collage of found telephone answer machine messages combined with an improvised electronic soundtrack to create a unique perspective for an auditory narrative and atmosphere.

Hey John follows the life of John and the people in it over the course of several days. His journey volleys among the mundane, the humorous, and the mysterious. We know John and his activities only through these messages, leaving us to our own conclusions. These cryptic messages float over a foggy bliss punctuated with gentle electronic points, blips and beeps. The sound scape acts as our tour guide on John's journey. 

BACKGROUND AND CREATIVE PROCESS

In the 1990s, we were involved with a group of musicians and DJ's who were building a recording studio. While testing donated equipment, we found a box full of about 50 cassette tapes. The tapes were field recordings, programs recorded from the radio, and copyrighted material. While sorting, we found a tape from an answering machine and listened. We became fascinated with this tape. Who was John? What was he doing? Was he abducted or did he elope? This tape was one of the few things we kept from that box.

The result is Hey John, an auditory way to process the questions in our minds about what happened to John.

EXPLOSIVE AUDIO CINEMA

https://thedemix.com

mostly computer generated as i cannot afford real equiptment
take the time to skip down a few songs for variety as there is a bit of it here and in the roughly 200 i didnt upload

Cellist Janet Schiff and Percussionist Victor DeLorenzo
(Violent Femmes) create the bold and vibrant sound of NINETEEN THIRTEEN.

A cello made in Romania in the year 1913 and a set of drums made in modern day America entertain each other in a haunting melodic dance that suggests mystery, romance and future thought!  Original compositions and looping are by Schiff while beat brushes and commentary are by DeLorenzo.
NineteenThirteen.com
www.facebook.com/Nineteen13
www.twitter.com/1913mke

MELT: Live Electronic and Experimental Music Series in Milwaukee, WI, USA // Friday the 13th of September 2024 at Club Garibaldi // THE DEMIX, BLACK LINES DIN SKY, CATHEDRAL BECOMES TOMB, XEXYZ

Hey John is following