Ultraviolet Amphibian Live Segment

This segment of Ultraviolet Amphibian was recorded during a live performance at the Nomad in Minneapolis on June 10, 2008. I’m including it as today’s sound to give you an idea how Keston and Westdal’s live performances sound compared to our studio recordings. There’s more improvisation during our live shows as well as the addition of live drums. This performance features Graham O’Brien.

Unfortunately board mixes like this one are rarely balanced because the sound is being mixed for the room. Anything loud or amplified on stage like bass guitar or drums don’t come through very well. Since the laptops, Rhodes and synth are going direct they are much louder in the board mix. I ran the recording through some pretty complex equalization and compression to try and bring out the bass guitar, but it still lacks the luster of the mastered studio version.

Tonight we are playing at the Kitty Cat Klub in Minneapolis. Tuesday, September 2nd we are performing at Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis for a pro-art and political progress rally put on by TheUnConvention.com, and held during the Republican National Convention. For more information please visit our shows page on unearthedmusic.com.

Ultra Violet Amphibian Live Segment

Studio Version of Ultraviolet Amphibian

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About John CS Keston

John CS Keston is an award winning transdisciplinary artist reimagining how music, video art, and computer science intersect. His work both questions and embraces his backgrounds in music technology, software development, and improvisation leading him toward unconventional compositions that convey a spirit of discovery and exploration through the use of graphic scores, chance and generative techniques, analog and digital synthesis, experimental sound design, signal processing, and acoustic piano. Performers are empowered to use their phonomnesis, or sonic imaginations, while contributing to his collaborative work. Originally from the United Kingdom, John currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he is a professor of Digital Media Arts at the University of St Thomas. He founded the sound design resource, AudioCookbook.org, where you will find articles and documentation about his projects and research. John has spoken, performed, or exhibited original work at New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2022), the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2022), the International Digital Media Arts Conference (iDMAa 2022), International Sound in Science Technology and the Arts (ISSTA 2017-2019), Northern Spark (2011-2017), the Weisman Art Museum, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Walker Art Center, the Minnesota Institute of Art, the Eyeo Festival, INST-INT, Echofluxx (Prague), and Moogfest. He produced and performed in the piece Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X, a featured project at Northern Spark 2013. He composed and performed the music for In Habit: Life in Patterns (2012) and Words to Dead Lips (2011) in collaboration with the dance company Aniccha Arts. In 2017 he was commissioned by the Walker Art Center to compose music for former Merce Cunningham dancers during the Common Time performance series. His music appears in The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2012) and he composed the music for the short Familiar Pavement (2015). He has appeared on more than a dozen albums including two solo albums on UnearthedMusic.com.

6 thoughts on “Ultraviolet Amphibian Live Segment

  1. that live segment is awesome! would love to see you guys play live, it would be other-worldly i’m sure. shame i’m on a different continent. i’m also sad it fades out when it does..it sounds like the rhodes is about to kick in with something amazing.

  2. Not a republican arts convention. That would be an oxymoron. We are playing during the convention, but the event is a rally / protest against the RNC. The Neocons decided to hold their convention in St. Paul / Minneapolis, so us liberals are taking the opportunity to speak out against them through our music and art.

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