Ontronik - (Andy Khachaturian) is a music artist best known for being the original co-founder/drummer (1994 - 1997) of the Grammy Award-winning rock band System of a Down and founder/lead singer (1999 - 2002) of the alt-progressive rock band The Apex Theory. Ontronik has worked with producers Don Gilmore, Alan Moulder, and Rich Costey at world-renowned studios such as NRG Recording Studios and Quad Recording Studios.
Ontronik co-founded and composed drum parts for System of a Down from 1993-1997.
He also established and was the lead singer/songwriter for The Apex Theory 1999-2002
In 2010, he began producing for the alternative industrial project KillMatriarch
"He is currently working as a solo artist and live remixer."
Apex Manor is an American Indie Rock Band, formed in Pasadena, California in 2010.
Ross Flournoy of The Broken West wrote the band's first songs during an online songwriting contest at NPR. Their debut LP, The Year of Magical Drinking, was released on January 25, 2011 on Merge records.
Ross Flournoy founded Apex Manor after the 2009 demise of The Broken West. Named after his Los Angeles “Zen Place”, Apex Manor was the idyllic apartment of his close friend and long-time collaborator Adam Vine.
Having relocated from the Silver Lake neighbourhood of Los Angeles to Pasadena, Flournoy was enjoying suburban tranquility, but his car wouldn’t start and he found himself isolated. He whiled away the days cleaning the house, sitting on the porch, and splitting tallboys with the gardeners who worked nearby. And battling a case of writer’s block.
Enter an unlikely source of inspiration: an online song writing contest. NPR’s Monitor Mix was soliciting original songs from readers, giving the prospective songwriter one weekend to write, record, and submit. Flournoy decided to give it a go and set about writing and recording at home. At least he would be doing something with his time. The song, Under the Gun, turned out to be about the process itself.
Now feeling inspired for the first time in months, Flournoy began writing at a feverish clip, penning more than 25 songs, nearly a third of which were co-written by Adam Vine. Flournoy then teamed up with former Broken West band mate Brian Whelan to record some proper demos, and Apex Manor was born.
The Year of Magical Drinking was recorded at three different studios around LA and was produced by Dan Long (Film School, Local Natives) and Brian Whelan.
The Broken West was an Americanpower popband, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2004, and now signed to Merge Records. The members are Ross Flournoy (guitar, vocals), Dan Iead (guitar, backing vocals), Brian Whelan (bass, backing vocals), Rob McCorkindale (drums, percussion), and Scott Claassen (keys, backing vocals). Drummer Rob McCorkindale was later replaced by Sean McDonald on drums. Jeff Howell (Dan Iead's high school friend from Connecticut) joined the Broken West as their touring keyboardist, playing synth, organ and piano.
Initially named The Brokedown, they changed their name in 2006 because of legal concerns with a Chicago band with a similar name. Their debut full-length release is I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, referencing a Samuel Beckett quote.
Their single "Down in the Valley" was featured in an episode of Grey's Anatomy.
None of the band members are originally from Los Angeles. Frontman Ross Flournoy was born in Memphis, Tennessee and moved with his family to Santa Barbara, California when he was 11 years old. His musical pleasures growing up included Big Star,Teenage Fanclub, and The Beatles. Dan Iead and Jeff Howell grew up in Branford, CT. Brian Whelan split time between Seattle and Northern California.
The band's second album Now or Heaven was released in 2008 through Merge Records.
The band has broken up and Ross Flournoy released his first record as Apex Manoron January 25, 2011, also on Merge Records
LANA LANE is an accomplished rock vocalist with a long history of albums and tours. Born in Concord, California to a musical family, Lana grew up with a balanced diet of both rock music and big band swing music. Since music was always in the house, singing came very naturally to Lana, and she started singing in bands straight out of high school. To forward her career, Lana moved to Los Angeles in the late 80s where she met her husband / producer Erik Norlander.
Lana's first album, Love is an Illusion, was released in 1995 to critical acclaim. It soon caught the ear of a Japanese record company, Marquee Belle Antique, who saw great potential in the music, and of course in the voice of Lana Lane. The company released Lana's second CD, Curious Goods, in 1996, and then in 1998, Marquee launched a new high profile label called Avalon with the Lana Lane as their flagship artist. Avalon released Lana's Garden of the Moon album which skyrocketed her career on the international stage, resulting in her first European release.
Lana began touring in Japan in 1998 to support Garden of the Moon and the subsequent Ballad Collection and Queen of the Ocean releases. She then expanded her touring efforts to Europe in 2001 to support Secrets of Astrology with additional tours in 2003 and 2004. Lana released her first DVD, Storybook: Tales from Europe and Japan, in 2004 that documents her first years of touring on two continents.
Lana has been dubbed as "The Queen of Symphonic Rock" by her fans and the press, and yet she remains a very versatile artist able to move from intimate jazz pieces (Ballad Collections, Winter Sessions) to bone crushing progressive metal (Secrets of Astrology, Lady Macbeth, etc.). But in the end it is Lana's love of melody and artistry that reigns over all. Lana is a dedicated artist who approaches her craft with grace and integrity. She celebrated the 10 year anniversary of her first album in 2005 and subsequently released a live DVD and CD of her 10th Anniversary Concert Tour. Lana released an acclaimed collection of classic rock covers in late 2006 called Gemini, and her most recent release is Red Planet Boulevard, an original melodic rock album recorded in The Netherlands and San Francisco, California.
Contact:
THINK TANK MEDIA 4354 Town Center Blvd Suite 114-161 El Dorado Hills, California 95762 USA Email: thethinker@thetank.com
Dustin Prinz was born in the small town of West Point Nebraska.
From an early age of about 9 years, he had an attraction to music. He would rock himself to sleep every night while watching MTV videos.
At the age of 15 he received a guitar for Christmas. From that point on everything else came in second. Songwriting was a reason to live, a challenge, a way to get out the never ending patter of his mind. It was his therapy and still is to this day.
His songs are honest, melodic, and at times, haunting.
Dustin has played with bands over the years, but is currently performing as a solo artist.
Dustin's unique musical style is comprised of percussive guitar techniques, intricate flat picking, passionate vocal melodies, and inspiring lyrics. Dustin has released two self-recorded and produced full-length albums, "Learning to Love Yourself" (2009) and "Drugs" (2010). His latest release "Drugs" showcases his competence as an instrumentalist and features innovative guitar stylings that have established him a solid online following. With videos airing on Youtube that have collectively received millions of hits, Dustin's original music is being enjoyed by listeners around the world.
Emily Burridge is a 'cellist and composer, performer and producer with creative flair.
In her acclaimed solo performance "Bach, Burridge & Into the Amazon" she brings together her classical foundations with modern sampling technology and through using looping pedals controlled with her feet she creates " vibrant and alluring" multi tracked compositions live. All of which are included on her fourth CD release "Out of the Blue & Into the Amazon"
Born in the UK Emily was classically trained from the age of five and was awarded a scholarship to the specialist music school Wells Cathedral School and a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London where she was further awarded the Helen Just concerto prize.
She considers herself extremely fortunate to have learnt with some of the best 'cello teachers; Raphael Wallfisch, Amarylis Fleming and on leaving the RCM she furthered her studies with William Pleeth.
Although over the years she has carved a niche and developed a reputation for working outside of the usual association with the ‘cello as a classical instrument, she benefited greatly from an intensive and solid grounding in the classical repertoire and her career has included working within orchestras, chamber groups and solo recitals performing in all the main London concert halls.
From a young age she displayed a talent for improvising as well as reading the notes and her ability to improvise has expanded her career as a professional 'cellist. As a session musician, either reading an arrangement or creating one, she has contributed to hundreds of recordings playing with the stars of our time as well as lesser known individuals and groups, film scores and advertisements.
The country Brazil and it's tribal cultures is featured in Emily's musical compositions.
Her expansive relationship with the country commenced with a holiday in 1990 and she has converted that landscape and her personal experience into various musical productions.
In 1992 she was invited to perform at the Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro and as a result of her performance encountered elders of a tribe called the Xavante, indigenous to the Mato Grosso. An intrepid traveller, and in accepting their invitation to visit a Xavante village she travelled alone off the beaten track and was guest with a chief and his family in a traditional Xavante dwelling.
In 1995 as a result of this first visit she founded the registered charity "Indigenous People's Cultural Support Trust" no 1050461. Charitable donations and a match funding grant allocated by the British Government overseas development aid enabled her to work in collaboration with a Xavante chief and community and Emily over saw in Brazil the setting up of a solar powered health center, medicinal gardens and funded a Xavante tribes man on a university course.
When in town she was travelling around on $1.00 moped taxi service while she arranged contracts with local firms and then would take a five hour bus ride from the town to the Xavante reservation and stay in a palm hut.
Her association with the Xavante was furthered due to their tradition of singing in groups and "choirs" and on the numerous occasions that she was staying with the tribe she was invited to record. She also made location recordings of their environment.
These recordings (below) and the experience of this time is shared through musical productions including her solo performance "Into the Amazon" which has a backing track featuring some of these recordings and is accompanied by seventy five projected images of daily life in a Xavante Indian village.
The performance is particularly poignant in the light of global warming, climate change and the development of Brazil at the expense of the loss of a lot of their natural landscape. Where Emily stayed between ‘94 and ‘98 outside of the Xavante reservation is now a mono culture of soya for thousands of kilometers and the dawn chorus that Emily recorded has been massively diminished.
Emily's photos of the Xavante are on a resident display at the "Living Rainforest" center in Berkshire, UK.
She has produced four of her own CDs:
"In the hands of Emily Burridge, this instrument becomes a voice for her personal experiences, her emotions, and her thoughts as she amalgamates a variety of rhythms, sounds, backing performers, and instruments."
"Earth Songs" - published by a German independent in 1994
"Footsteps in the Sand" - was produced after having been awarded a cultural grant which enabled Emily to research folk music in the North East of Brazil and employ Brazilian musicians.
"Bridge between Worlds" - an orchestral work that features the Xavante traditional songs.
"In her compositions, Emily is capable of gathering, in a truly spontaneous way, elements derived from her Classical upbringing, together with those coming from the ethnic musics she has lived with."
"Out of the Blue & Into the Amazon" - double CD production 2010
"dare to venture into a realm of beautiful sometimes haunting cello playing..."
Extracts of music from all her CD productions is used for film and documentary sound tracks.
With her improvisational and arranging skills she loves to explore new repertoire and this is currently realized in her collaboration with the renowned Pedal Steel guitarist BJ Cole and together they have created an eclectic concert program of music including the piano Gnossiennes by Eric Satie.
"Music is not meant to be static, real music takes flight; it is an expression both within and outside time. Few musicians appreciate this as much as BJ Cole and Emily Burridge. When they perform established pieces of music they don't just recite them; their interpretations have the all important extras: poignancy, conviction and weight. Their delicate but powerful duets carry emotions that haunt you. They play with poise enough to take your breath, stop time and speak to you directly."
Library Music
As a composer she is inspired by nature and global events that emotionally move her and this is evident in her CD productions and even in the composition of library music in which the imagery of global events makes her play in musical styles reminiscent of diverse parts of the world.
Song Writing
In 2011 she started song writing in collaboration with the lyricist Scott English and in doing so has returned to the tradition of manuscript paper and pencil and composes at the piano.
However it is the ‘cello which is Emily’s main tool of musical expression and not content to just interpret the traditional classical works she will continue to seek out and explore and share through musical performance and recordings the experiences of her encounters.
BJ Cole & Emily Burridge:
"Music is not meant to be static, real music takes flight; it is an expression both within and outside time. Few musicians appreciate this as much as BJ Cole and Emily Burridge. When they perform established pieces of music they don't just recite them; their interpretations have the all important extras: poignancy, conviction and weight. Their delicate but powerful duets carry emotions that haunt you. They play with poise enough to take your breath, stop time and speak to you directly."
She delights in performing and recognizes the art of performance as an important role of being a musician. She entertains audiences alike in concert halls, churches, museums, intimate venues of UK rural touring, arboretums and parks, festivals and the ever increasingly popular house concerts.
Hi, I'm Tommy-Gun Satchwood; i love to write songs. My music is composed from the heart and has been sown in the fertile soil of intense emotion, soaked in the rains of belief, pain, and joy, and then honey tanned in the ArizonA sun and seasoned with the wild oats of freedom and resolve. I enjoy composing music that i hope, grabs you, and takes you on a ride! Let's go!!
I usually use one of 4 instruments to start the process: guitar, piano, bass, or voice, using drum beats. Each produces it's own song style and vibe.... Guitar/bass style: alternative / progressive rock with definite shredding & blues influences. I employ finger tapping, arpeggios, harmonic-minor scales, and legato techniques often in my style of playing. For bass, i'm a pick man ala Stu Hamm ~ what can i say. Lol
Keyboard style: enjoy using background strings, organ, and piano chords, sound fx, and melodies.
Singing style: I tend to try and capture a particular mood for the song.
Mindmovie has been playing in various bands. He started out as a guitarist.Today, his main focus is more on the production and composition of all kinds of electronic, pop, rock and film music. Mindmovie is also a member of the progressive rock band Flaming Bess and released 5 albums with them.
Tanz der Götter (1979),
Verlorene Welt (1981),
Fata Morgana (1996),
Black Sun (2005), and their latest effort,
Wächter des Lichts (2008)
Mindmovie released his first Solo Record
Mindmovie - An Ocean Of Dreams in Jan 2009
and now it is time for his next double album.
Mindmovie - Happiness And Tears - Jan 2011
Most recently one of the album tracks has been chosen for the hollywood movie production "Mrs. Robinson goes to Smith" with Cybill Shepard. It features the vocals of L.A. recording artist Artie Q
With his first solo CD „An Ocean Of Dreams“ Achim Wierschem, aka Mindmovie opens a new exciting chapter perfectly designed to please all friends of progressive rock music worldwide. The limited Edition of „Mindmovie – An Ocean Of Dreams“ contains 80 minutes of expressive, cinematic, mystic and guitar orientated music in best tradition of bands like Pink Floyd, Camel, David Gilmour or Joe Satriani . In addition the bonus disc offers another 11 songs and 55 minutes of best quality progressive rock, in an outstanding sound quality which will also be fun for all those music lovers who are in to high fidelity sounds.
Together with his colleagues of the band Flaming Bess and guest musicians from Germany, Amerika, UK, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, Mindmovie delivered a real amazing and awesome production representing international production standards. Within the next couple of months Mindmovie will release his second solo double album so please stay tuned and visit the profile regularly.
If you like what you hear please feel free to order your Mindmovie CD at the Flaming Bess Website.
Paul Cusick ( aka Q ) is currently putting the finishing touches to his second album P'dice www.pdice.co.uk which features both Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree / King Crimson) and Marco Minnemann (check out dream theater's drummer auditions) on drums.
The British born multi-instrumentalist, started his solo music career in 2009 with the release of his debut album Focal Point. Since its independent release in 2009 "Focal Point" has gained airplay, fans and great reviews across the globe, and it is his band of dedicated facebook fans (currently over 20,000) that have financed his second album. www.facebook.com/paulcusickofficial
Paul's guitar style has been compared Steve Hackett, David Gilmour, Steve Rothery and Steven Wilson. His songs draw upon the sounds and audio landscapes created by bands such as Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Porcupine Tree, Chroma Key and Nine Inch Nails. However, the long instrumental pieces that are sometimes associated with the progressive rock genre have been replaced by catchy vocal melody lines akin to those evoked by more mainstream rock artists such as Coldplay and U2.
There is no band as yet. Paul sings and records all his own music in the comfort and solitude of his own studio, and releases everthing on his own label despite several record company offers.
The juxtaposition of a religious icon, like the first man of creation, with the scientific concept of transformative natural progression is no mistake. It stands as a prime example of everything we do.
Adam Evolving exists to start a dialog between the methodical pragmatist and the intuitive realist that conflict within you; To provide the soundtrack while you wrestle with thoughts that require both rational consideration and blind faith. The goal, in a world filled with shallow social discourse, is to open your mind and fill it with the possibility of something deeper. Though it sounds ambitious, all that is required is the ever transient objectivity that can only be reached in those fleeting moments when you are rarely paying attention.
“The most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the foundation of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is inconceivable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom, as the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive form - this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness.”
