The Horrorist Live – Malta 2010 from Oliver Chesler on Vimeo.
Well I finally have a few hours this afternoon to chillout. Day job plus night job took its toll on me. After my weekend in Malta I had to report to the energy business early Monday. I’m not complaining at all its just coffee isn’t working on me anymore. As you can see from the video above I did my best letting the people of Malta know where they live, “Malta!”. I know its silly in the video but at 2:00AM it worked just fine. I played a new intro and a new song during the set and I was pleased. I love surprising DJs who don’t know my show with my antics. Billy Nasty took it in stride and smartly played some good party techno after my set.
“Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta’ Malta), is a developed southern European country and consists of an archipelago situated centrally in the Mediterranean, 93 km south of Sicily and 288 km north-east of Tunisia, with Gibraltar 1,826 km to the west and Alexandria 1,510 km to the east.” – WIkipedia.org
The promoters of this event SHIFT are always fun and professional. Visit them here: shiftmalta.com
This entry was written by , posted on February 4, 2010 at 2:04 pm, filed under live performance and tagged EBM, live, Malta, techno, The Horrorist. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Modern (sample clip) -The Horrorist by thingstocome
Here’s a sample of a new song I am almost finished with called “Modern”. Clearly inspired by my day job at Energy Management Solutions. Most of the song is real analog equipment: Vermona DRM1 MKIII and Yamaha CS5. My voice is through a Shure KSM-32 and TC Powercore.
“All the modern. Super Building. Super Building. Growing into a new day.” – The Horrorist
photo credit: boliston
This entry was written by , posted on December 6, 2009 at 12:54 pm, filed under music, song writing and tagged Modern, Powercore, TC Electronic, The Horrorist, Vermona DRM1, Yamaha CS5. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Here is the final version of a song I recorded for Andy De Decker. Andy is part of the Belgian band Ionic Vision. He put together a compilation to be released later this year all about sex. From a production standpoint one thing interesting about this song is many of the sounds were recorded into Ableton Live live from my iPhone.
Blow the Kiss – The Horrorist by thingstocome
“Cut the wrist. Blow the kiss. Blood bubbles. Trouble trouble. Trouble trouble!” – The Horrorist
For more info: www.dsbp.cx/ionic/
Photo credit: Amodiovalerio Verde
This entry was written by , posted on October 3, 2009 at 5:03 am, filed under music and tagged EBM, Ionic Vision, The Horrorist. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Here’s a song I recorded in Berlin and finished in New York. It will be on a next Industrial for the Masses compilation on Out of Line music. Later I will release it with remixes and several other new songs on Things to Come Records.
I Stand With You by thingstocome
Here’s a few notes about the production: Sequenced in Ableton Live, Kick Drum is a Jomox MBase01, Bassline is Audiorealism ABL Pro, Melodyne created the vocal Harmonies (with help from my friend Richter), lots of horn and string samples through various hardware distortion pedals (external). It took about 3-4 weeks total to create.
For more info: Things to Come Records.
This entry was written by , posted on September 25, 2009 at 7:45 pm, filed under music and tagged EBM, electronic body music, I Stand With You, Out of Line, The Horrorist, Things to Come Records. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
This weekend I played a large summer festival called Dominator about an hour and a half outside of Amsterdam in a area called Leidschendam. The event is put on by an organization named Art of Dance and they are one of a small group of companies that control the Dutch techno scene. There were a few stages ranging from 2-5,000 kids in front of them. It was a daytime festival and luckily it was all sun and there was a nice lake to sit by too. They put me in the Hilton at the airport and unfortunately we got stuck in traffic on the way to the gig so I arrived and had to rush to the stage and instantly start performing. It was only when I was plugging in my wires I realized I forgot my Macbook Pro’s power adapter in the USA! I had to run the live show + M-Audio Firewire 410 (Amazon link) off the internal battery. Luckily it worked 100% fine and I had a great time performing. I have a checklist that I go over several times before I fly so it’s strange I made such a basic mistake. At many of these large events like this one they only give live acts 30 minutes to play so I edited a lot of my songs down to the nifty neat parts. I played two new songs, jumped up on the turntables, ran down into the audience and made a costume change (took my coat off!). See you next summer!
Related post: Soundcheck checklist. Are you ready?
This entry was written by , posted on July 27, 2009 at 4:53 am, filed under live performance and tagged backup, Dominator, live performance, M-Audio, The Horrorist, The Netherlands. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I’m back in New York after I performed at two fun European summer festivals. Defqon.1 in a giant event (40,000 people) on the beach about an hour outside of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. It was a daytime festival and it was hot & humid as expected. Since the early 90’s I’ve played in Holland often so each one of these large events it’s a bit of a reunion. I had time to speak to french DJ Manu le Malin, UK producer Surgeon (Anthony Child) and Dutch hardcore producer Gizmo. Even without a soundcheck the show went off without a glitch. My equipment, especially my cases and bags did get throuoully sandy though. The show went from 3-4 in the afternoon so by the time I got back to the hotel it was time for a quick bite and then off to Spain.
The Spanish gig at the Montagood Festival was also quite large. The stage was built high above the audience which I don’t actually like. I really need to get close to people and make some eye contact. My set time was 5-6 in the morning so keep in mind I basically played in Amsterdam and 12 hours later without a real pit stop I’m setting up near Barcelona. Everything would have been perfect with the exception that it started to rain a bit about 10 minutes before my set began. The issue was this was an outdoor event and the only thing above me was open sky! As you know from a few posts ago I just had my Macbook Pro repaired so the last thing I wanted to do was give it a shower. The promoter jumped on stage and put a few garbage bag type tarps over my equipment. The show ended up great and I did a fair amount of jumping down about 20 feet to the crowd and back up again. I know it was about 20 feet high by the 2 foot bruises all over my legs from banging into the speakers I was climbing. The black and blue’s were well worth it because Spain is a country you want to spend time in and a good show will get you invited back.
The only complaint I really have about the weekend was the trip back. In retrospect the situation is hilarious and it speaks volumes about Karma. Long story short, a Dutch group called Angerfist also performed in Spain and they were in my van to the airport. They decided to drink a bottle of vodka straight right before the trip started. Needless to say we had to make a few pit stops so they could puke. God has an ironic way of punishing me.
While I clean the sand and water damage off my stuff check out a few photos…
This entry was written by , posted on June 15, 2009 at 4:43 am, filed under live performance and tagged Angerfist, Defqon.1, Gizmo, Montagood, Spain, Surgeon, The Horrorist, The Netherlands. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I’ve been considering the ways to create an iPhone app for my own music as The Horrorist. iLike is has a limited time offer which will take all your content from your iLike artist page, turn it into an app and get it onto the iTunes app store. They charge a one time fee of $99 and after that they split the profits with you. The one time fee is a limited offer until next week. I can’t find anywhere what happens pricewise after that. “I like” the idea and may jump on it this weekend.
We just launched our turnkey service so you can create and distribute your own iPhone app. It’s simple to customize your app and program it with content using the iLike Artist Dashboard. Learn more by watching the video overview. Get started – customize and launch your app now. – iLike.com
What do you think? Is this a deal worth going for? Am I missing a better offer from a competitor? Is this an idea who’s time as past?
Related post: The Death Cab for Cutie iPhone application
This entry was written by , posted on May 27, 2009 at 4:00 am, filed under apple, business, iPhone, promotion and tagged apple, iLike, iPhone, The Horrorist. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Here’s a clip of a new song I am working on called “We Will Get Wicked” which will end up on my next album. A man speaks to a woman letting him know his dirty plans for her. I imagine those plans take place sometime early in the morning on a weekend night.
“And it’s something we must go through.” – The Horrorist
I know this music maybe isn’t for everyone but we can all appreciate the drums of from the Vermona DRM1 MKIII firing all full force. The snare (with analog Bucket Delay full up) and clap are panned hard left and right making a sweet stereo spread. The nice synth that plays behind the breathing section is a Korg MS20 I borrowed from a friend. The MS20’s nasal filter really shines there. My favorite part of the song is when the breathing echos every 8 or 16th time they appear. I know it’s a bit Kraftwerkesque but I think it appropriately fits in a song about sex. Part of the reason they echo so nicely is that I use a TC Electronic Powercore’s Chorus/Delay plug-in. Take a listen:
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Remember that music is only the soundtrack for a real life. Now go and find yourself someone to torture.
Related post: The Horrorist – Born This Way
This entry was written by , posted on May 2, 2009 at 1:53 pm, filed under music, song writing and tagged delay, echo, Korg, Korg MS20, Powercore, song writing, synthesizer, TC Electronic, The Horrorist, Vermona, We Will Get Wicked. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Mike & Oliver Chesler before the show. from thingstocome on Vimeo.
The Horrorist Live – Stuttgart, Germany – 2009 from thingstocome on Vimeo.
And a few photos…
Let me know if you would like more video discussion posts. I’m thinking more is a good thing solely to give my typing fingers a break once and a while. Sorry the audio in the live show is distorted. I just pieced together a bunch of clips of the show I found on YouTube. I had a great time!
This entry was written by , posted on April 1, 2009 at 4:49 am, filed under live performance and tagged live performance, The Horrorist, video. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Today I fly to Germany to perform two live shows this weekend. Friday night I play at Triebwerk in Dresden. Dresden is probably the only German city I have not been to. I land early Friday morning so I’m looking forward to checking out the city. During World War II it was mostly destroyed and later the city was re-built to look almost like it was never bombed. I’m playing with a friend of mine Swedish techno producer Johan Afterglow. I met Johan in New York City in the late 90s and one night he saved my life (long story!). It’s true that if someone does save your life you never forget it. Last year when I was living in Berlin I put some vocals on a few of his songs. My favorite of the bunch was one we did called Incinerate (iTunes).
There is one nightclub I performed at more than any other. It’s called Club Prag and I must have dropped a bucked of sweat there about twenty times over the past decade. This Stuttgart club fit my music persona perfectly. The walls are red, the ceiling is low with speakers shooting at you right above ear level. It’s the right size, when you stand on stage you can see and scream at everyone in the place.
This weekend they close the doors forever. Club Prag will open on Friday night and stay open until Sunday evening. My set time is 11:00 AM Sunday. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a lunatic asylum and I’m more than happy to provide the soundtrack. I’ve met some of my best friends in that small place. The owner Alex and the different promoters who booked me year after year have always been generous with my fee, great hotels and unlimited booze. Club Prag is already a legendary place and I am so pleased to have been part of it.
This entry was written by , posted on March 26, 2009 at 6:03 am, filed under live performance and tagged Dresden, Germany, live performance, Stuttgart, The Horrorist. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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