Midnight Playground

Posted on January 22, 2012 by John CS Keston

Midnight Playground is an interactive, kinetic, installation by Peng Wu, Jack Pavlik, John Keston, and Analaura Juarez. Peng initiated and directed the idea, Jack built the jump rope robot, and Annalaura helped refine the concept and promote the piece. My role was to produce the music and track it to the still images that Peng had selected. I ended up making a one hour video with thirty minutes of the image from the moon followed by a four second transition into another thirty minutes with an image of Mars. To produce the sound I gave Peng a list of audio excerpts that had all been previously posted on AudioCookbook in One Synthesizer Sound Every Day. He picked the two that he thought would work the best and I went back to my original recordings and processed them specifically for the piece by adding some reverb and delay to enhance the spacial properties of the music. The piece will be on display in Gallery 148 at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design through January 29, 2012.

DKO Performance Tonight at Acadia

Posted on January 6, 2012 by John CS Keston

Tonight (Friday, January 6, 2012) DKO is performing our first concert of the year. We’ll play two sets at Acadia, 329 Cedar Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55454. This little gem of a venue has one of the best beer selections in the city. There’s no cover and all ages are welcome. Here’s another segment from our December 16, 2011 performance at the Kitty Cat Klub. This one starts out with some Pro-One arpeggios then moves into Rhodes playing with a solo at 4:43 and then a Pro-One solo at about 9:25.

Excerpt from a Recent DKO Performance

Posted on January 2, 2012 by John CS Keston

This improvised piece from my trio DKO was recorded live at the Kitty Cat Klub on December 16, 2011 (live mix by Ryan Olcott and post mix by John Keston) and features Jon Davis on bass, John Keston on keyboards (that’s me), and Graham O’Brien on drums. For more music, information about DKO, and booking please visit dkomusic.tumblr.com. My rig on this track included two of my favorite standbys; the Rhodes electric piano and my newly calibrated Pro-One. I also had my Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Delay on a send and used the Korg Monotron for some atonal synthesizer textures.

COMPOUND Kickstarter Project

Posted on December 2, 2011 by John CS Keston

There is a Kickstarter project that I would like you to e aware of titled, COMPOUND. This is a book project by graduate students at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). The title of the project comes from the huge studio space that we share in South Minneapolis, affectionately known as COMPOUND.

COMPOUND is a 156-page publication compiling 22 artists and designers. The book is broken up into two sections: the first section of the book includes artist reviews, interviews with COMPOUND members, and pieces of writing that the artists and designers consider influential or inspirational to their work. The second section correlates the text section with the individual contributor’s visual practice. Samples of each artist’s and designer’s work is presented in full color on high quality matte paper. In addition to the two sections there is a secondary narrative that runs through the publication that timelines the development of the studio space that we all share: our COMPOUND. The book ends with a detailed index that includes a brief artist statement from everyone involved.

D.O.G. (DKO/Ostracon/Ghostband) Debut

Posted on November 28, 2011 by John CS Keston

Don’t miss the debut of D.O.G. Three people, three bands, three totally distinct concepts. This event features performances by DKO, Ostracon, and Ghostband, Wednesday, November 30 at the Honey Lounge, 205 E. Hennepin, Minneapolis, MN (Doors at 9:00pm, 3 bands, $5 cover, 18+).
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