Here’s a striking new collaboration with deep roots in San Diego: Eris Sisters, an electronica duo featuring Kristi Maddocks (Everybody Violet) and Clay Colgin (Men of Clay), a k a MCC.
They recently released their debut record “DownHEAR” on True Node Records.
Here is a video created by MCC to accompany their single “Blue Orange Candy”:
I really like the whole sonic/rhythmic/visual experience — and I’m hoping MCC may grace us with some more insights into the process of creation, which he tells me bridges low and high tech. 🙂
Kristi’s voice is very nice on this.
the video was shot with a canon power-shot a540.
i’d guess there were about 150-200 still-photos taken in the one session.
the 3 unique-sets of images are:
1) the green flashing-lights of my behringer ultra-pro link speaker-splitter, samson headphone-splitter,
and my motu 828….all stacked rack-style..
2) the orange-red circular light of my sony-blaster center bass-speaker.
3) the eq/game-function light of my funky aiwa compact home-stereo.
these components are integral to my musical-process so they appear in the video, not without reason.
there was very little thought given as to what was to transpire…where to start or how to proceed.
i started with the green-led’s….at first shooting rather still….subtly shifting angle, then more so.
as things progressed i moved around more and then started playing with jolting the camera in various
sideways and circular motions.
i was always between 4 and 12 inches of the gear.
the more i could see what i was capturing, the more i was inspired to keep going.
until….at some point, you know you either have something or you don’t.
looking to my left the sony-blaster showed promise.
unquestionablyy techno-ish…even robotic….and just a tad foreboding.
a nice counterpoint to the rack-gears’ zippy spritely, trippiness.
same maneuvering in and out of the canon….some still…some blurred using assorted movements.
soon enough, you’re no longer looking to see what you’re getting….you’re just shooting.
i turn the room lights off for a portion of the shoot which explains why the sony has no silver and gray features
in some images….and appears only in red and black.
thinking i still needed one more character to fill the bill i looked over to my humble aiwa home-stereo unit.
(i do have a nice pro set of monitors ….krk v6 with mass-sub but i no longer use them…TOO LOUD!)
i shoot probably 40 pictures of my aiwa’s function-display.
i’m pleased with what the computer-screen is showing me.
i look at enough shots to get a sense of things and to know i want to edit immediately….
but tomorrow will have to do.
last time i worked with i-movie was 5 years ago.
i recall it being rather simple the again i was working with motion-picture…not stills.
after a night’s relearning how to import, slice, and arrange images into the sequencer….slice more….shuffle more….
i ran into a problem and not just a small one.
i could split an image in the sequencer from (for instance) .7 seconds to .2 seconds…move the remaining .5 seconds elsewhere…
hit play and my screen would go haywire with digital grid-static every other frame or so.
the entire arrangement was blown.
i’d try to locate and undo the criminal frame and found myself unable to do so.
it just made no sense that i couldn’t split a still image’s time and not have the entire film blown.
i started over and began to experience the same thing….but this time i would save the files constantly so i could go back
to the previously saved version once corruption was in evidence.
again though…. this proved too painful and slow.
i decided to save an uncorrupted version as a quicktime file in hopes of being able to build from there in final cut express.
night 2 ends on a painful but hopeful note.
i really hope this works.
(end act2)
from my brief exposure to it 5 years ago….i knew FCE to be more difficult to learn than i-movie but i also knew that it was
where i’d have to be, eventually, one day anyway.
i just really did not want to learn it now…can i learn to do adult things later?
i was excited to make a video and was not interested in taking the time to learn things.
i mean why bother? creativity is not science!
realizing there was no choice, i tried to open my copy of FCE only to find something was amisss in the authorization.
ugh….oh ugh. it worked 5 years ago. sort of….at least it opened.
so off to apple to locate my documentation….serial numbers…registration….etc. ugh…
and through my various drawers of discs.
we must find the originals discs… proof-of-purchse etc….and eventually we do.
afternoon 4 starts off okay.
i am finally able to verify authorization. final cut express opens.
bad news immediately….i can import my saved movie but the audio does not appear…..and i am unable to import separate audio.
i rejoin the apple forums after years of not going there….i present my problem.
go to sleep…..
day 5….possible causes and suggested solutions appear next morning in the forum.
can’t wait to get off from work and give it a shot.
the original audio was rendered att 44.1 and needs to be rendered at 48….i shoulda stuck playing punk-rock….with real
live musicians…in a real live punk-rock band….like 30 years ago.
nah…i forge ahead.i follow directions.
we now have audio.
next problem arises in the form of a blue-screen with these letters UNRENDERED displayed well into the newly revised
arrangement.
taking a clue from my previous problem i notice red bars across the time-line where the unplayable sections are.
look up FAQs in the forum…..start hitting options in the render menu….somehwhat blindly as there are so many options
and so few which mean anything to me.
eventually red bars turn green or blue and frames play upon playback.
we do this until sleep beckons…..as can be expected.
day 6>…..more of the same but now we’re getting somewhere.
for some reason i have to do this constant rendering of the newly introduced frames throughout much of the remainder of the film…….
but only when i pull clips from off the clipboard/palette.
hassle sure…but i need to keep inputting slightly fresh imagery as i go.
endless process of slicing, splitting, editing length of clip in palette….dragging from palette…reviewing…moving, pasting….repasting…reviewing….shuffling….deleting….pasting…reviewing…all this occurs hundreds if not a thousand times.
inevitably i conclude a bit of credit would be nice.
after some fumbling with adobe-illustrator for my first time and not being able to get a black background…i decide to “select” my
text and hold it as i snap photos of my computer screen.
i import that into the film and it’s done.
all is left is learning to export as quick-time movie.
the first version rendered is only 6 mb and looks it.
i’ll try again tomorrow.
by night’s end day 7….i am watching my g5 take 2 hours to render a hi-rez version….wow….it takes like 3 minutes to render a 60 mb
audio-file but 2 hours to render what will eventually be a 60 mb quick-time file.
perhaps it’s because the movie is made of hundreds if not thousands of tiny bursts of imagery?
i need sleep..
day 8….i wake up to find a 60mb quicktime file of the video.
i like what i see.
i think it was a sunday….i upload the thing onto you-tube and immediately set about informing the world eris sisters have their
first video.
i’m okay with that.
it is, in its own way, kinda punkish…..it is also kinda not.
it is hi-tech…it is lo-tech….it is no-tech.
whatever it is….
kristi’s voice rings pure throughout.
the next video will be very different.
i won’t have a clue what i’m doing.
i hope it shows.
love to che and especially you matt for nudging me~
be careful for what you wish!*~*!*~*
mcc>
12.06.2010
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=469795519192&set=a.56920684192.55652.724404192
in this photo you can see the rack-effects to the lower-right….sony-blaster sitting atop my computer-screens
and the aiwa to the left of them.
that’s our hi-tech lite-show!
that’s all folks.
til next time~
just got word kristi was involved in a van-wreck today while travelling in a public-transit van….
she’s been back-boarded all day and tied to catheters….she’s feeling okay now, she says…she thinks.
you never know with that girl.
i hope you all can find it in your heart to send her a healing vibe.
not too sure about a couple people here….seriously.
GET A VESPA AND DRIVE LIKE HELL. IFIN A PUBLIC TRANSIT VAN AINT SAFE WHAT IS?
>>just got word kristi was involved in a van-wreck today while travelling in a public-transit van….
MCC: Thanks for the word — vibe sent! (Feel better, Kristi!)
Be well and be strong, Kristi.
Thanks for the kind words on my vocals; and the positive thoughts in regards to the minor East Bay Paratransit Collision I was in the other day, Robin.
I wish I could follow Mike’s advice and start driving a Scooter instead of taking Paratransit to my chores and Dr’s appointments, but due to the AVM, stroke that is now 6 years behind me (yeah!), my doctors won’t even lert me ride a bike (booo), let alone drive a motorized vehicle. Well…at least I have my music, creativity, and friendship. Life really is all about that for me NOW. Be here NOW—and write and sing.
I think Clay did a great job out of the gate with our first music video, on a tune he wrote and remixed : “Blues Orange Candy (aerial remix)”. I understand he and I both tend to use a lot of words and get very excited about what we do. I also know that many people in the Che Underground can be rigid about what music they support and listen to-and Eris Sisters are entering into some relatively unchartered territory for our community as a whole. But I weant to sincerely invite all of you to open your heart and eats to give us a chance to be heard.
To correct Maythew’s opening statement, our debut CD ‘DownHEAR’ is at the manufacturer, and is not actually released quite yet. In another week or two, it will be released on CDBaby, Amazon, i-tunes, and our site @ http://www.myspace.com/erissisters.
As a vocalist…I am very excited about this project. I was able to explore themes, rhythms, and sensibilities that are totally new to me while working with the musician, producer, and madman known as “Mancalled Clay”. My voice soared to new places and took on new faces. The ride wasn’t easy for either of us-but I think the journey produced something worthwhile-even magical at times.
I hope you enjoy ‘DownHEAR’, and are moved to comer forth and share your supoort in some fashion, when you are ready to move.
Kristi: I’m glad to hear you’re OK! (And MCC, thank you for the insights into your process. I always like to understand how someone followed a vision to completion, bumps and swerves and all.)
matthew….we appreciate your support and your bumpin this baby…you’re welcome for the insight.
technical bottom-line on this one: no filters…no overlays….no effects….just raw uncropped images sequenced fast and hard.
a closer count reveals 165 actual stills taken.
not even sure how many got used in the video.
thanks to the thumbs-up from our facebook friends….
you know who you are!
alas~ bo diddley was the man….elvis not.
tv…all that.
much too bad.
LOVE IT!!! Congrates.
Thanks for sharing that with us--good stuff. Kristi, I’m glad to hear you’re doing well!
Thanks to Ray and Mathew for your props on the music-means a lot coming from talents such as you. Perhaps you can serve as as the example of “open-mindedness” and “goodwill” among all Che Musicians and thinkers this wonderful Holiday Season. Merrry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Love to Walter-so glad you like the video to this ‘Blue Orage Candy (Arerial Remix)’. I hope you got your own copy of our ‘Eris Sisters’ Limited Edition BOAT PARTY REMIX EP’ at ‘The Club Zu Boat Party IV’ in san Diego; this past August, 2010! If not, the track is on our CD ‘DownHEAR’-coming in the New Year, 2011.
Kristi, be serious. “Close-minded” and “Che Underground” so do not go together…
i think she said “many people”…mr. rinck.
i seriously don’t think she meant you.
certainly no one in red pants in 2010 could be accused of closed-mindedness could they?
I’m maggot-brained!
Brilliant call Mathew!…Forgive me Rinck, and everyone else…My comment was well-meaning, and came from a place filled with joy and good vibrations! Post-stroke, my signals often come out crossed and deliver foot to mouth. B ut really, anyone who knows my true nature by now must realize that i only meant well.please forgive any misununderstanding…
C’mon-live a little. Let the music flow and boogie!! The Che Underground is really all about the music-and not definitions anyways! Whether one prefers garage, rock,funk, punk, or electronic and disco…everyone who enters here communes in the bearing of our souls, with every song we write, record, listen to, sing along or play on stage. This love of song is part of what makes us human.
Lovingand being a part of The Che Underground makes usall distinctively swinging humans-i think.
Now, turn up the funk! It’s nearly Christmas!
hey clay…you old bean
you going to the royal wedding…..hey man if you want some tickets get in touch LOL