Pravda23 sometimes feels a little TOO much like the program. You know that feeling where you find yourself saying, “this isn’t the art that I create!” or “what am I gonna do with this piece?” It’s a form of sabotage, putting the cart before the horse, and pigeon-holing yourself before the thing’s even been finished! Battling with other tracks allowed me to just enjoy the simplicity of Solid [v5.0]. It reminds me that I can actually just create downtempo hip hop if I want to. Thank you, Pravda.

This is a track I’ve been working on for a YEAR AND A HALF called Rollover Strategy. I tried to release it earlier today, but the violin, but the violin, but the violin. The yellow highlighted part on the left is the COMPLETE track length (4.15). All the red parts are violin takes, recording over the whole track start to finish 8 times in a row, again and again. You understand how long I’ve been trying to get this right?

This is the artist’s funk. Do I just release the track and run carefree and naked into the wind, confident that I can sleep for at least a few nights knowing I don’t have to try recording the violin part yet AGAIN? Or do I file it away and have another bash at it in 6 months, a year, ten years? It’s nerve-wracking! If you would like to hear it, please drop me a line, because I need all the encouragement I can get right now.

Download Version 4! Just 40 minutes long, Version 4 of The Kuleshov Effect manages to cram in jazzy guitar house, tango nuevo, and anthemic dubstep single ‘LuvBeats‘

“Disco” on Signal Hill using an iTrip to broadcast Pravda23 backing tracks to three cars simultaneously. Live acoustic jamming on top!

Soundtrack is Cocktail House 101 off Version 2.5 of The Kuleshov Effect. Download now [25mb].

My first rehearsal with DJ Emile Hendrix and Chilean-born drummer / percussionist Jaime Sandoval went well. These are the boys you’ll most likely see at the next shows. Mad Heights [v5.0] will be out in the Kuleshov feed as a free download soon.

I tried something new again yesterday, with some success. I posted a comment on my Pravda23 Facebook wall saying “I’m bored. Reply to this comment and I’ll turn it into a song and post a video.”

The results were quite interesting. Obviously everyone had something song request, which I had to filter by following up with “original lyrics only, please.” Soon, the wall had loads of responses and I managed to compose, record and upload four instantaneous music videos for my fans within the space of about an hour! Each video was humorously published within 15 minutes with all the press fanfare of an established, rights-protected #1 hit record! I’m trying it out again today.

As with nearly everything I do through Pravda23 (or rather, as it does through me), the Instant Facebook Comment Music Video experiment is an attempt to keep alive my inclination to experiment with art. Thus far, I’ve experimented with:

  an unplugged performance on Signal hill
  playing in a proper township shebeen
  live improvised violin jams
  creating an album that frequently updates like software (instead of in “bulk”)
  3D-modelling
  comic art
  getting fake letters published in the local newspaper
  being digitally painted onto a projector screen while I perform

…and loads of other things.

Art is becoming more spontaneous. As the musician middle class emerges, we’re noticing a trend in audience participation, social networking and the crucial fan interactivity which keeps popular artists on their toes. The eventual goal of Pravda23 is to be able to create a spontaneous, live dance music set “on-the-fly” by combining customized software instruments, dance loops, live instrumentation and the contributions of members of the so-called “audience”.

i’m not sure it’s necessary to be able to answer the “what type of music?” question in genres. i’m in two minds about classifying music, albeit effectively. Techno-Guide has compiled an interactive category guide to electronic music genres. ever notice how people make up genres to market their band? my mixed opinion after the jump…

i have mixed feelings towards the categorisation of music. on the one hand, you fit in somewhere for the purposes of marketing your music. on the other, you pigeon-hole yourself.

look at your most famous favourite artist’s press release. if they’re a “tastemaker” artists, they list their accolades and WHY they’re #1. up-and-comers like pravda23 tend to merely reference / reflect the existing tastemakers, and thus shoulder-barge a place for themselves into that market.

again, on the plus side, listing your influences aligns you to a particular artist, or album. but on the downside, you’re second-hand-flavour.

next time someone asks, i’m gonna rabbit off my influences without naming a single genre. Pravda23 is Air, Thievery Corporation, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Vanessa Mae, Basement Jaxx, Daft Punk, Groove Armada, Depeche Mode, Gotan Project, Quantic, Telepopmuzik, Bonobo, Mr Scruff, Zero7, Parov Stelar, Moby, Four Tet, Prefuse73, St Germain…ah, it carries on.

i like it when you don’t have to ask for people to take notice. it’s such a bonus.

listenupsa.com cares

ok so i’ve been practising the violin on average 5 hours a week for the past 6 months. the aim is to be able to play well. i know that sounds obvious, but i’m surprised by how often i substitute this elementary motivation with all sorts of other phantoms – to ‘achieve success’ in music circles, to impress other humans, to somehow generate an income, to leave my egoistic mark popular music, etc.

my teachers are mostly on youtube, but the small voice from within (pravda23) is by far the most reliable. the youtube tutorials simply echo what i already know out loud. straighten your back. don’t force your left elbow. relax. create a space between the thumb-Y and the fretboard. muscle power doesn’t help. embrace your feminine gentleness. listen to the notes. anticipate the next two seconds, then create them. straighten your back again. lift your right elbow. breathe. don’t panic! it sounds fine!

this constant stream of advice can turn sour, and accuse you of not being good enough, trying too hard, forcing something that isn’t there. i often need to stop and let it blab for a bit before i reign it in and continue. the aim of playing this instrument better is actually secondary to this fundamental truth: take awareness of your thoughts, control your mind and be prepared to do anything you believe you can.

i’ve often explained away this somewhat new age manifesto by saying “well if i believe i can fly and i jump off a building, doesn’t that make me dead?” but the most deep-rooted beliefs don’t aim to conquer the laws of the physical world. for example, institutions of psychiatric care are full of patients who breathe testament to the power of allowing a deep, aching denial to overrun your acceptance of an often painful life. this is not about aiming for a ‘better life’. what we aim to do here is to recognise our shortcomings, our negativity, our self-delusions as they happen, and ‘re-record’ them in real-time. the impact that this has on the physical world is revolutionary, but by the time you truly realise it, the physical world doesn’t seem that important anymore. after all, everything you experience already happened, even if it’s by a few milliseconds. it’s all ancient history and you’re spectating, man!

this is the reason that learning to perform live, spontaneous music is so appealing to me personally. a live show, created from scratch and on-the-fly, is in a way a reflection of each person’s miraculous ability to create life in real-time and simply enjoy the results. this is the reason i listen to pravda23 when it offers me practice advice. other reasons are noise.

i cooked up a new beat earlier today, and worked out a few violin licks to go with it. now, there’s nothing quite like making up music on the spot. it sounds rough and raw and anyone who’s ever played any instrument will quite likely hear the cracks in the performance. but in a way, humanizing it becomes the point. i plan to do this from scratch and on-the-fly one day.

brand brand brand brand brand. check out the new pravda23 myspace layout now. bit wonky with the vertical alignment tho… oh well.