05/20/12

For the past month or so, I've been rehearsing another theatrical extravaganza. French Stewart will be playing Buster Keaton in Stoneface at the Sacred Fools Theater. The show is penned by the talented Vanessa Stewart, stars French and a gaggle of really talented actors. I think it's going to be something quite special. My job is to sit at a piano and provide a live musical score throughout the show. It's been a great excuse to fine tune my playing chops and dive into some ragtime. Go see this show!

10/23/11

Very fun work as of late. I was asked by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt to music direct his HitRECord Fall Formal show at the Orpheum Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. HitRECord.org is Joe's brainchild where people collaborate over the internet on artistic projects. The Fall Formal on Oct. 10th was his opportunity to perform and showcase some of the work created using that community. So I and my Uberband cohorts gathered together and served as the house band for the night. We got to work with legendary DJ Kid Koala, the awesome Sia, Anne Hathaway (singing in French), singer Tasha Taylor, and of course, Joe himself. A packed theater of 1800 people and an absolutely fulfilling evening. You can see all sorts of footage and pictures from the event HERE.

09/04/11

Happy Laborious Day! First in news, I got hitched in Maui, which is probably the most beautiful place to quell new groom jitters. Still getting oodles of voice over work. And Sept. seems to be my era of non-profit exposure. I sometimes write music under the pseudonym of Andre Hill. Andre is my safety net for writing songs more sentimental than I would ever write as myself. I am very, very honored that the Dallas 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb has chosen one of my Andre songs to be used in a video during their ceremonies for 9/11's tenth anniversary. They're also including CDs of the song in a gift bag for the volunteers. The organizer said that he found the song to be the most touching of all the 9/11-themed songs he's heard. Wow...humbled.

And on the way other side of the sentimentality spectrum, one of my artsier pieces has been chosen to be played on the streets of Lisbon for their Musica Viva Festival. "Canon Seraglio" was chosen out of 149 entries to be showcased as a soundscape for the 2011 Sound Walk.

06/02/11

Didn't win the Weekly Award, but it's OK. I'll just become an arsonist. In other news, I'm submitting compositions to a bunch of contests to sharpen my chamber writing skills. In the meantime, I am getting oodles and oodles of voice over work. I've become a regular voice for Pandora Radio for their promo ads. In the past couple weeks, I've voiced an animated dog, a fitness plan bodybuilder, and got taken on by Spoken Word, Inc. as one of their bookreaders and composers. Yay for being gainfully employed! I have also done the music for this teaser trailer. Despite the fact that I hate synth horns compared to the real thing, you can give it a listen. They're drumming up money now so that I can be even more employed.

02/16/11

Just found out that I've been nominated for an LA Weekly Theater Award for the music I did for Watson. Pretty sweet.

11/05/10

Hey, all. I've got the new website up in all its glory. That's the first bit of news. Secondly, Watson will be playing Nov. 5th - Dec. 11th, 2010 at Sacred Fools Theater in Los Angeles. I wrote and recorded a musical score to this comedic and sometimes surreal take on Sherlock Holmes. It features my first ever compositions of string quartet material and I'm giddily proud of it. It also features French Stewart in drag, if that's your thing.

Outside of that, I've been doing some occassional voice over work. I also just learned that the great Dr. Demento has been playing Überband, which I happen to think is infintely awesome.