SPACEFORMUSIC.COM CONCERTS
PRESENTS the 1st ANNUAL SPACE FOR MUSIC FESTIVAL for the NEW MILLENNIUM
CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON this year's 2002 Festival
The festival stage cluster of keyboards, guitars and gearamania.
2844 N. Oakland Ave. CLICK HERE FOR MAP and MORE INFO about the MIRAMAR THEATRE
UPDATED JUNE 7th, 2001 SpaceforMusic.com Concerts presented it's first annual space music
festival for the new millennium, Space for Music Festival 2001
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! The collective of musicians for this
year’s event are all well established in the field of space/ambient
music. There are actually nine artists that will be represented
in five different sets. The artists are Giles Reaves, Vir Unis,
Interstitial, Paul Vnuk, Jr & Chris Short (Ma Ja Le), James Johnson,
Tony Gerber | John Rose | Diane Timmons (Spacecraft, also including
Reaves.) All of these artists have CDs released or are represented
by the Space for Music Records label and have many other Cds released
nationally and internationally through other labels. They are
some of the finest space/ambient musicians working in the US today.
Performances will also include visual projections from several
of the artists including computer animations from award winning
animator, David Turner. Also featured will be original paintings
by Chris Short of Ma Ja Le. Chris' work can be seen on the poster
at the left. SCHEDULE PHOTOS by GILES REAVES
Milwaukee, WI. 53211
Phone: 414-299-0435
Event producer, Tony Gerber, has executed several multimedia coupled
with electronic music gatherings since 1986. These were in the
Middle Tennessee area and Atlanta, GA. This is the first time
a festival has been done outside of the south. The concert experience
and visions of Paul Vnuk, Jr. & Chris Short in the Milwaukee area
coupled with Gerber’s festival experience and Space for Music
organization makes this a reality. The execution of an event like
this has been aided by the advent of the internet and created
the ideal situation for networking together like-minded artists.
Because of this networking all of the artists performing are able
to work together to make this event happen via the power of the
web. The website MP3.com has also shifted the musical paradigm
in such a way that many of these artists have been brought together
musically through the mp3.com and SpaceForMusic.com website.
Look forward to an extensive collection of merchandise to be available
from these artists including products not readily available elsewhere,
in addition to festival specific items.
6:00pm to 6:45pm - Giles Reaves
7:00pm to 8:00pm - Vir Unis w/special guest Interstitial
8:15pm to 9:30pm - Ma Ja Le / J. Johnson
9:45pm to 11:00pm - Spacecraft
Ma Ja Le's Chris Short on electric guitar, also a happening artist
and painter Spacecraft's John Rose tuning up the mountain dulcimer for an
interstellar trip. Deirdre Reaves tweaking her rig for the duo performance with husband,
Giles Reaves Emma Smith in full musical mode. Spacecraft's Diane Timmons at a relaxed moment. James Johnson with Paul Vnuk, Jr. in the background during set-up
for the event. Paul Vnuk, Jr. with Deirdre Reaves in background getting all the
gear in order. Festival catalyst and Spacecraft member, Tony Gerber at a restful
moment. Vir Unis assembling his musical starship for the evenings show. Travis (the visual engineer) and Tony Gerber on the titanium working
up visuals to accompany the music. BIO BRIEFS of festival artists Giles Reaves James Johnson With a drive to mold and create organic textures & atmospheres
with past and current technologies, James Johnson continues down
the path of sonic exploration using computer based software synthesis
& sampling technologies alongside traditional acoustic instruments.
The atmospheres created, surround and unfold in a sea of timeless
tones and textures. His unique voicing can be heard on award winning
works such as "Unity" & "Surrender" alongside collaborative efforts
and compilation tracks. His latest release "Entering Twilight"
is created for continuous playback to enhance the listeners environment
with an amorphous, and at times almost transparent, background
of sonic imagery. As Interstitial, John Koch-Northrup creates ambient, pulse, and
experimental music. His music varies widely including songs focusing
on subtle changes in sound and texture, heavily processed drums,
melodic jazz-influenced work, and noise experiments. He's played
piano for 25 years and has played bass, keyboards, and trumpet
in a number of central Illinois' bands. Space for Music Online is a collective of artists who have a passion for their music. ©1996-2001 Space for Music On-Line
An accomplished high-tech engineer, and multi-instrumentalist,
his musical career has been built upon chance encounters. Reaves
now considers fate his friend.
Reaves, whose third solo album, "Sea of Glass" rode high upon
the new age record charts, began recording albums of soothing,
ambient instrumentals because a top Nashville producer, Tony Brown,
accidentally overheard him doodling late at night in a recording
studio in the mid-1980s. Brown invited Reaves to record synthesized
instrumentals for the MCA Master Series. The resulting albums
gained some recognition among space music fans ("Wunjo" is considered
a top ten electronic album of all time by Electronic Musicican
magazine) but received little record company support or distribution.
In 1993, Steven Hill, producer of the nationally syndicated "Hearts
of Space" radio program, contacted Reaves. Hill said he still
received mail from fans of his show who were seeking a copy of
"Wunjo". Since his record deal with MCA had expired, Reaves had
a new album of material that interested Hill, and the resulting
CD, "Sea of Glass", released on the Hearts of Space label has
been his most successful to date, spending four months ranked
among the most popular discs on the new age charts.
Reaves has yet another guise, one that has nothing to do with
space music. He has become a leading engineer and co-producer
on the Nashville rock scene, working with such hard-hitting grunge
rockers as Dessau and the Grinning Plowmen and collaborating on
projects with melodic rockers Bedlam, Tom Littlefield, Bill Lloyd,
Lisa Germano, Jaime Kyle, Lounge Flounders, and Afrikan Dreamland.
Reaves was an original core member of the Space for Music team
since 1986 and has worked with Kirby Shelstad, another core member,
on live performances and recordings. He also appears on Lektronic
Soundscapes' "Blue Western Sky" by Tony Gerber and 4 of the Spacecraft
releases. He has currently released a new solo CD, "Sacred Space"
on the Space for Music Record label. Another release with fellow
musician, Aashid Himons, entitled "The Deep End" is planned for
release this summer. Giles also experiments with 3D renderings
and has had several images used on CD cover artwork. Watch for
more incredible music from this talented multi-instrumentalist.
Ma Ja Le
Ma Ja Le are Christopher Short (Electronic Guitars and Flutes)
and Paul Vnuk Jr (Synths, Percussion and Voices). Using live improvisations,
loops and studio wizardry, Ma Ja Le create exotic, dramatic, tribal-space
sound worlds.
Ma Ja Le released their first CD "Dreams In The Orchards Of Saturn"
in 1995. "Dreams..." chronicles the birth of Ma Ja Le in more
ways than one. Besides being their debut CD, "Dreams" was recorded
at their first four live performances. This CD captures the original
raw, creative spark of improvised music. The music on "Dreams"
was recorded live to DAT with no further studio dubbing or manipulation.
"Dreams" has recieved fantastic reviews in Wind and Wire, Amientrance
and Ujaama's Ambient Experience to name a few. Rarely does a debut
CD (especially a live one) contain such a high artistic level
of music.
Three years later after cutting their teeth in live performance
(including concerts opening for Trance Mission, Steve Roach and
Robert Rich), Ma Ja Le teamed with Vir Unis to create "Imaginarium."
This tribal ambient classic mixed and produced by Steve Roach,
debuted at #2 on Nav's top 100 charts.
In 1999 Ma Ja Le released exclusive tracks on the Hypnos "Weightless
and Effortless" compilation and the now rare Halcyon records release
"Oscillations."
In 2000 Ma Ja Le teamed with master minimalist James Johnson for
a series of live concerts and a highly praised limited edition
CD, "Live Under A Harvest Moon" (limited to 150 copies world wide,
complete with original signed and numbered mini art prints).
Later this year / early 2001 Ma Ja Le and James Johnson continue
their collaborative effort with "Seed" a truly amazing work of
power, beauty and erotica.
Vir Unis
Synthesist, drummer, sound sculptor and electronic groove creator
Vir Unis creates aural compositions and soundscapes in the world
of atmospheric / tribal / ambient music. With an emphasis on rhythm
and pulse, underpinned by deep synthesizer drones and ethereal
textures, Vir Unis realizes music that moves between the organic
intensity of ever evolving fractal grooves and the harmonic complexity
of mist strewn sonic atmospheres to stimulate the mind and soul.
For more info, complete discography, and upcoming events go to
www.virunis.com.
Interstitial
SPACECRAFT
Spacecraft is Tony Gerber (guitars & synthesizers), Giles Reaves
(synthesizers & processing), John Rose (synthesizers, flutes,
harmonica, dulcimer & vocals) and Diane Timmons (synthesizers,
flute & vocals.) The project "Spacecraft" was born in 1996 after
a listening session of NASA image and sound mappings from the
Voyager space probe. Tony Gerber and John Rose were so inspired
by these recordings, they programmed a new palette of sounds for
their synthesizers, triggered from these listening sessions. Next,
they called on the talents of Chris Blazen and Diane Timmons to
join them for several recording sessions that emerged as the self-titled
CD, "Spacecraft". They have released seven more Cds since that
first critically acclaimed release. Giles Reaves joined them for
their past 4 releases and on their spring 2001 tour. Spacecraft's
music is improvisational in nature. Each concert they do is different.
They traditionally perform in planetariums, churches and other
unusual architectural spaces. It is in the spirit of live performance
that this group feeds on.
For more information or comments please email: info@spaceformusic.com
