Artist Profile - Splendid Obsolescence

Splendid Obsolescence 

Austin, Texas USA

Sometimes cinematic, sometimes ambient, sometimes punk, sometimes new wave, sometimes industrial, and sometimes just weird at its base, Splendid Obsolescence exploits a wide palette of psychoacoustic tricks and equipment in unfamiliar ways. A bass guitar may be more reminiscent of a harpsichord or a simple reverb trail may seem to be a casual violin line to the listener.  At the same time, traditional instruments recorded in traditional styles may intertwine to create complex yet minimal soundscapes.Simply put, things may or may not be what they seem on the surface.

Fan reviews from Amazon describe Splendid Obsolescence releases as follows: 

“Mango Stress Test” ...for fans of liminal soundscapes (intelligent electronica)....Crepuscular, liminal, and deep... these iterations of soundscaping take your mind into some potent grooves and fascinating furrows...highly recommended, especially for those who like :zoviet *france:, The Hafler Trio, Aube, and Psychic TV.  -L. Holton

And

“Oracle of the Snowbird” ...A beautiful nightmare...Equal parts industrial and ambient music, Splendid Obsolescence's auspicious debut, "Oracle of the Snowbird," pulls even the most casual listener into some sort of hallucinogenic dream-state; very appealing, yet a tad unsettling at the same time. And the classical minimalist's "Variant" format allows each piece to degenerate and regenerate sounds/voices in a most unexpected way. The overall effect of these 8 Variants on the main theme is a truly unique, and somewhat terrifying one. A beautiful nightmare... -Lord Harold

All Songs:
Copyright Splendid Obsolescence
Splendid Obsolescence Publishing (BMI)
All Rights Reserved

All tracks available for TV and Film master and sync licensing.
All tracks available for master and mechanical audio compilation licensing. 

Contact: bryan@splendidobsolescence.com

Website/Bandcamp: www.splendidobsolescence.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1iZWI9wkB8tHvZ7pC0VYZ9
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/splendidobsolescence/
Splendid Obsolescence releases are also available to purchase and stream worldwide on Amazon, ITunes, and many other independent digital outlets.

Artist Profile: Zalys

Name/Band Name/Pseudonym: Zalys

Instruments Played: keyboards, programming

Influences, Musical or Otherwise: movie soundtracks, video game soundtracks, dark ambient music, sci-fi, black metal

Bio: Zalys is a French one-woman dark ambient project created in 2013. The idea was to mix ambient music with futuristic/sci-fi themes and dark soundscapes with the two first albums "Wandering Through Space" and "Summoning the Phoenix" (2013).
The project developed into something more symphonic, electronic and contemplative with the two sequels "Towards the Sun" and "Infinity" (2014).
Then, as the OST influences became more predominent, two concept albums were released : "The Icarus System" (2014) (a space opera experience) and "Reminiscences" (2015) (a post-apocalyptical experience). Some orchestral experimentations were made with the EP "The Haunted Moon" (2016) using symphonic black metal inspirations. This EP included some covers of the X-Files ost.
Now, Zalys can be described as a space dark ambient project with symphonic and electronic influences like in the two last albums "Sublime" (2015) and "Fragments of Life" (2016)

Thoughts on your experience participating in Silent Sci-Fi: When participating in the volume IV of Silent Sci-Fi, I already knew the movie but did not remember the soundtrack so that was a good experience. So I imagined something a bit dark (for the aliens) and also orchestral (for the movie thing and cowboys). The beginning of the movie inspired me more : the guy with no memory with this strange bracelet. I started with the violin, then the harps and then all the instruments came together naturally.

Contact info:
https://zalys.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ZalysOfficial/
http://soundcloud.com/zalys

Volume IV Mid-Month Update

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mutants, Aliens, Robots of all configurations, we are halfway through the writing portion of Silent Sci-Fi, Volume IV! I watched the film a couple weekends ago and and have started assembling the ideas I came up with then. Hopefully all of you have watched the film by now and have some good ideas. If not, never fear! It's not too late.

For those who have a submission ready, feel free to submit it using this Dropbox link. And while you're at it, feel free to submit an Artist Profile or Bio for us to feature on the SSF blog!

Our deadline for submissions is June 30, 2017. RSVP to this Facebook Event to ensure you don't miss it.

Note: By submitting a composition, you grant permission for me to release your track as part of the compilation entitled "Silent Sci-Fi, Volume IV". You retain the rights to your composition and are free, and in fact encouraged, to release and promote it it on your own once the compilation is released. 

Vol IV Kickoff!!!

Volume IV Kickoff!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Aliens, Mutants, Robots of all configurations, The moment you have all been waiting for has arrived. Today we kick off the writing portion of Silent Sci-Fi, Volume IV. The film we will all be watching and using to inspire our compositions is Cowboys and Aliens (2011).

A slight departure from the mid-20th century Sci-Fi we've tackled in previous releases, this one should have plenty of interesting imagery to inspire your compositions. We can't wait to see what you do with it.


This film can be found in the following places, among others:

Amazon (DVD): Cowboys & Aliens
Amazon (Streaming): Cowboys & Aliens
Salt Lake Public Library: Cowboys & Aliens
VUDU: Cowboys & Aliens
Netflix: Cowbys & Aliens


Follow these steps to be included in the upcoming compilation:

1) Watch the film with the sound muted, and use it as inspiration for an instrumental composition of whatever style and length you choose. (Most of the submissions on Volume I through III were somewhere between 2 and 7 minutes.)
2) Record your composition and save/export the finished product as a .WAV file.
3) Upload your finished composition (and Artist Profile, if you so desire) via this Dropbox link before June 30th, 2017.

Optional: Submit a bio/artist profile, and we'll feature it on the Silent Sci-Fi Project Blog.


The finished compilation will be released on Bandcamp on July 7th, 2017.




Note: By submitting a composition, you grant permission for me to release your track as part of the compilation entitled "Silent Sci-Fi, Volume IV". You retain the rights to your composition and are free, and in fact encouraged, to release and promote it it on your own once the compilation is released. 

Volume III- Week 2 Update

Week two of Silent Sci-Fi, Volume III is over, we're well into week three and are roughly halfway through the challenge. I've made some decent progress on my own track- here's hoping all of you have as well!

If you haven't already, RSVP to the Facebook event for our submission deadline (Jan 31, 2017), to avoid missing it.

Those who are ready can submit their project and a photo or scan of their Artist Release form using the Dropbox link.

If you haven't already, consider submitting an Artist Profile with your bio, a picture or logo, and any thoughts on your experience participating in Silent Sci-Fi. These will be posted on this blog.

Questions? Comments? As always, you can always post them here, or send them to silent.scifi@gmail.com.

Volume III- Week 1 Update

Week one of Silent Sci-Fi, Volume III is officially behind us. I've already received positive feedback on the film, and heard rumblings of people's in-progress projects. Kudos to all those who have already watched the film and started writing and recording! For those who haven't, there's still plenty of time.

I've created a Facebook event for our submission deadline (Jan 31, 2017). Those who so choose can RSVP to it and lessen their chances of missing the deadline.

Those who are ready can submit their project and a photo or scan of their Artist Release form using the Dropbox link.

Questions? Comments? As always, you can always post them here, or send them to silent.scifi@gmail.com.

Artist Profile: Warprophet

Band Name/Pseudonym: Warprophet

Real Name: Brian Anderson

Instruments Played: Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Drum/MIDI Programming

Influences, Musical or Otherwise: The Sword, Coheed and Cambria, Thrice, Jethro Tull, AFI, Joe Satriani, Iron Maiden, Cloudkicker, Symphony X, and a whole host of other loud, guitar-driven bands that I find inspiring, Videogames, History, Nature, Comics, Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Bio: I’m from South Jordan, UT and been doing various musical things as long as I can remember. I picked up the guitar in high school and have been attempting to play it properly ever since (with varying degrees of success). I’ve taken lessons and classes here and there but am largely self-taught.

Thoughts on your experience participating in Silent Sci-Fi: This was much more fun, and more difficult than I had anticipated. In terms of my writing process, I watched the film, guitar in hand, recording software running, and played whatever came to mind over those two hours. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but also resulted in me having to divide my attention between film and guitar, which likely made me less productive than I would have been otherwise. Despite the added pressure, I still managed to get a couple of ideas I liked out of that process. I kept coming back to some of the first scenes of the film for inspiration, mentally hearing a determined, driving groove as the ship approaches this unknown planet and descends through the atmosphere.

I used Guitar Pro 6 to build the framework of the song, then imported the MIDI into Reaper, intending to use it as a scratch track that would be muted in the final mix. However, I liked the chiptune-ish sound of the synth so much that I kept it in. This was my first time using MIDI in this way in a project, and I enjoyed the way it made me change the way I worked.

Gear used included:

Brawley Threat

Gibson Explorer Gothic w/ SD Black Winter pickups

MIM Fender Jazz Bass

Egnater Tweaker 15

Fender Bassman 250

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

Contact info: The best place to contact me is through this blog, the Silent Sci-Fi Facebook page, or at silent.scifi@gmail.com.

Other projects:

See Scott Grow

Nightmare Robot Legion

A Way to Survive

Artist Profile: The Guys from Ipanema

Name/Band Name/Pseudonym: The Guys from Ipanema

Real Name: Judd Ellis

Instruments Played: Guitar, Bass, Drum Machine, Keyboards, Sound Effects

Influences, Musical or Otherwise: Too many to count. Rush, Led Zeppelin,
Pink Floyd, Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks, Joe Satriani, Al Di Meola, Victor
Wooten, Michael Dowdle and lots of others in many different styles.

Bio: I’m the lead guitarist, keyboard player, occasional background vocalist, and
waffle-maker for the rock band The Guys from Ipanema (While my band didn’t
participate in the Silent Sci-Fi project with me, I’m still shamelessly promoting
them here). I love music in just about any form and play it constantly, whether
shredding some Rush tunes with my band or playing in a jazz combo, it seems
that I’m always playing music of some sort.

Thoughts on your experience participating in Silent Sci-Fi: This was a
really cool and challenging project! I had a great time looking for ways to take
inspiration from The Forbidden Planet and create an instrumental piece that not
only reflected my own artistry but pushed some boundaries for me. It was
definitely interesting to watch the whole movie on mute, and led to some great
bad lip reading moments, but there were also moments that just stood out and
were calling out with musical ideas. The final product that I came up with has
three distinct movements, each evoking its own imagery and ideas and inspired
by the open canvas of a muted 50s Sci-Fi movie.

Contact Info: My band (The Guys from Ipanema) can be found at our website,
guysfromipanemaband.com, which has links to our YouTube page, upcoming
gigs, and other info. Check back at our website soon; we’ll be posting demos
within the next week!

Artist Profile: Dynocerous

Name/Band Name/Pseudonym: Dynocerous

Real Name: Clint Lantz

Instruments Played: Guitar + computer + mouth

Influences, Musical or Otherwise: I am often influenced by forbidden planets.

Bio: From the streets of SLC I grazed and grew. It wasn't until after I graduated high school that I got a guitar and started writing songs. I played with some friends for a couple of years and did what all old people do: I got married and had some kids. In the blur of it all, I put the songs and sounds on hold for the most part. I dream of jumping back into it with greater dedication. I recently discovered MIDI which allows me to work on compositions from my home computer at any given hour. Who knows, maybe one day when Brian Anderson is famous he will take us all on tour to perform songs from this hit album!

Thoughts on your experience participating in Silent Sci-Fi: While watching this entire - LONG - movie silently I couldn't wait for it to end...so that I could make some music. As I watched, I jotted down notes as to what the plot was. I would often pause the film to start translating my thought into music. Once I got my message across, I would jump back into the Forbidden Plane and take additional notes. The process of watching the film probably took me two weeks, as I kept deviating from watching in order to write. It didn't help that my kids would wake up at night to pull me away from it. 

This was a cool idea! It was a push that I needed to get working on songs again. I'm excited to hear what others come up with.

Contact info: My name is Clint. I'm always available telepathically, but you need to hone in on the right frequency in order to reach me.

Hit me up on this blog if you want to talk to me.

Artist Profile: Hardwire Steamcoaster

Name/Band Name/Pseudonym: Hardwire Steamcoaster

Real Name: Dave Comstock

Instruments Played: Guitar, drum machine, bass, GarageBand app on a MacBook

Bio: Frontman for White Collar Caddy, spends his spare time looking for goofy noises to bring to shows, and fry cooking at Harmons.

Contact info: Get ready for White Collar Caddy's first EP! "The Howling Garage" Coming sometime in August....

Artist Profile: Beanbag Skratchbob

Name/Band Name/Pseudonym:
Beanbag Skratchbob

Real Name:
David K. Moser

Instruments Played:
Piano, Percussion, Guitar

Influences, Musical or Otherwise:
Anabolic Frolic, Nine Inch Nails, Chicane, Yanni

Bio:
I am just a guy that enjoys making music. I write all my stuff from scratch using FL Studio, and have more than 40 songs self-released over 3 CD's. Classically trained, but I just do what sounds good to me.

Thoughts on your experience participating in Silent Sci-Fi:
It was extremely difficult for me to watch the entire movie on mute! I kept wanting to unmute the movie so that I could hear what the various sound effects were like, but I just had to imagine it in my head. The  experience left me...cold? I also kept thinking about a great sci-fi book that's one of my favorites: Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. That book gave me some similar emotions. I can't imagine the directors of the movie intended it, but to my special-effects-spoiled eyes, so much of the world of the movie was both simultaneously plain and fantastical. The result is music that has a metallic, robotic base, with an overlayment of vast wonder and a creeping sense of unease.

Contact info:
I'll be rebooting my Facebook and ReverbNation profiles in the next little while, so just search for me on there. I'm happy to give out most of my music for free.

Artist Profile: Let Them Eat Cake

Band Name: Let Them Eat Cake

Real Names: Sara Dunbabin, Celia Christensen, and Katy Anderson

Instruments Played: viola, alto saxophone, penny whistle (the penny whistle is silent)

Influences: Hall and Oates, Marie Antoinette, Joshua Chamberlain

Bio: First performed at a baptism in 2014. 

Thoughts: This was hard. The goal was to compose an overture of different themes for the movie. We came up with two of them. The main theme is the Forbidden Planet theme and the love theme. We hope you enjoy!

Artist Profile: Corsair to Midnight

Band Name:  Corsair to Midnight

Band Members:  Abby Anderson (piano/vocals), Scott Anderson (guitar/vocals)

Influences:  Andy Mckee, Jon Schmidt, David Lanz, Keldian, Symphony X, Collective Soul, Imagine Dragons, and many others!

Bio:  Corsair to Midnight is the sonic outlet of two lifelong music enthusiasts.  Enjoy. 

Silent Sci-Fi Project Notes:  This has been a great project to be a part of!  Writing an instrumental song inspired by Forbidden Planet (watched with the sound on mute) was a fun experience.  What a cool, weird, old movie!  Our song was inspired by the opening scenes, where an intrepid crew is riding along through space toward the “forbidden planet”.  There are some great views of stars and the planet as seen through a viewport on the spaceship’s bridge.  The interior of ship has some classic, retro-futuristic feel to it.  The only difficulty in completing this project was with my recording setup.  The last time we did any audio recording was in June of 2013!  Some software updates must have must have really messed things up on the computer we had previously used to record.  We used an M-Audio MobilePre 2-channel interface but it wouldn’t work properly for playback or recording.  So we had to install our recording software, Pro Tools 8.0.3 SE, on an older computer to get it done.  New to our gear collection is an ART Tube MP preamp, so that took a little fine-tuning to dial in.  But despite those technical issues, we’re very happy with the song we created.  We hope you like it too!

Band Links:

Listen to the title track of our album “Living Color”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cq_CSQlE8E

Music available for free download at https://corsairtomidnight.bandcamp.com/

 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDhcfCJ8YNAfjIx3hct494A