The purpose of this page is to showcase my experimentation with processing the sounds of the vibraphone, which has mainly been a prominent voice in jazz.  My goal is to show its versatilities and give it a new voice - one that I connect with personally.  There might be some singing involved, but mainly it'll be about the possibilities that technology can offer to keep keyboard instruments relevant and not always dated or dare I say, novelty.  

Thanks to Jeremy Farmer for the photo.

Disclaimer: I love jazz vibes.  But I suppose this is for the percussion/minimalist nerds out there.  Lastly, I promise to get better so that these will have more structure.  Give me time...

Charming is a long term Hard Rock project started in 2005. 

The recordings on Soundcloud: vocals, guitars, bass, drum programming, special effects and fireworks all by Stig Blindheim-Hansen

Influenced by:

Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, John Frusciante, Tom Morello, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Metheny, John Petrucci, Gary Moore, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Kirk Hammet, John Scofield, Django Reinhardt, Staffan William-Olsson m.m.

The first thing you might notice about Chicago duo Low Swans is how remarkable their live show is. As visual as it is sonic. As uplifting as it is visceral. As energetic as it is engrossing.
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    There’s plenty to see. First, there are core members Jon Scarpelli and Scott Simon. Scarpelli writes lyrics, sings, and plays guitar. Nothing unusual there. Simon handles synths and mallets, playing percussive electric sounds over elaborate soundscapes. Behind them plays a drummer, a violin/synth/auxiliary member, and finally, an honest-to-god DJ, supervising all sound. “Everybody has a very specific function that you could hone in on for a good chunk of time,” says Simon, “and then just turn your head and see something different.”

    Borne from a musically academic background, Low Swans wrangles a bold range of influence into a deeply accessible synth-pop sound: an aural homage to the MTV era of the 1980’s without the over-imposed sense of nostalgia. New single, Ostfront from their upcoming full-length album stands out, speculating on what it means to let go of your own issues and focus on those affected. Beneath deceptively simple layering, it’s emotional and engrossing, fluttering and crackling with verve through lilting arrangements and phrasing: a careful musical testament to their ability - after years within the music industry - to write complex-yet-accessible music.

    Says Scarpelli, “We all have our own hardships and stories, but ultimately, bringing together the big ideas and connecting them to ourselves and people on a basic level is what it’s all about.”


lowswans.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/lowswans

http://www.lowswans.com

https://lowswans.bandcamp.com/

We began a decade ago or more.  We thought we might be the next Blue Man Group(tm).  We weren't.  Once we realized this, we realized "something has gone terribly wrong".  We moved from the sticks to Chicago.  Something has, indeed, gone terribly wrong.  We have begun hopelessly spinning, growling, grinding, speeding on a radioactive wave out among the ether (farmland), into the black hole (suburbs), through the stargarte (highway), beyond what you thought was a wall of cool (chicago music scene) and into the world of irresistible beauty which birthed the monolith which is PUSH (our heads).

    Inevitably, HAL or some other kind of sentient technology will abandon you, as we already have been.  You will follow a similar path through space and time.  And as you wake in your palacial suite to the Push Monolith gazing over you... you will feel it breach the expectation of what a band made up of marimba, vibraphone, synthesizers, drums, bass guitar and melodica could possibly sound like.  Something like a bird chasing the last cracker on earth, nabbing it, 
wrestling it to the ground, smothering it with Easy Cheeze(tm) as its last living work.  Dying on a beach, decaying and subsequently serving itself, the cracker and the cheese to the cosmos... along with the dry wine of earth. 

     We have no "indie" ethic, we don't even know what "the kids" are listening to these days.  We don't dress well and we're not as self indulgent as we might seem.  We care about what you think.  However, PUSH is probably not what you think and that's the best reason we can think of 
for you to listen up.


Patrick Scott 3 is following