BULLET GAL: The Kickstarter. What is it, and why bother?

Hey, it's been a while between posts here — sorry 'bout that.

Like a zillion other people, their flying monkeys and the odd enterprising pet, I currently have a Kickstarter campaign running.

Verily, this is something everyone I know on social media like Facebook and Twitter would've realized by now — sorry, mates. I tend to harp a lot. Anyhow, disclaimers and apologies aside, here's a sneak-preview of the promo video thanks to the cool cats at Under Belly Comics in Canada, who're steering the fundraiser:



I overly harp, as I mentioned, because (a) this promo video is a knockout, and I want for this to be a success in order to repay the trust and support that Under Belly has thus far provided — as they do for a lot of other indie outsiders — and (b) I love this project.

But of course I should.

I'm biased as all hell, so don't listen to me. I hope you do listen to people like Shawn Vogt (who reviewed all 12 issues of the series at Weird and Wonderful Reads), or Steven Alloway at Fanboy Comics and Paul Bowler at Sci-Fi Jubilee, both of whom just reviewed Bullet Gal #6.



Plus the Australian Comics Journal and crime novel reviewer Elizabeth A. White makes (I think!) great cases. Ta, mates.

We now have 70% pledged funding, which equates to $3,502, thanks to 79 incredible individuals.
Even so, that leaves a somewhat giddy $1,498 that still needs to be bid before the Kickstarter campaign is successful, and we need to accumulate this within 13 days. The big, somewhat leading question here is why? — one reason I chucked the word in the title of this entry.

Well, there's the story: More nods and winks than you can poke a long stick at, an homage too many, and tongue kind of firmly in cheek — beneath other levels of hardboiled noir, crime, sci-fi, abstract expressionism, the surreal and a superhero romp gone wrong. And for those interested in my other work, this is a stand-alone link between the novels Depth Charging Ice Planet Goth and Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?

The character herself, Mitzi, is obviously a special one for me and I'd dearly like to see her get beyond the limited-edition comic we're currently publishing monthly in Australia.

Feedback to the 12 issue run of Bullet Gal, which is being collected together in this trade paperback, has been nothing short of amazing, and I'm still awaiting the savage critiques. Aside from two pieces of such, the rest has sat exceptionally pretty so far as I'm concerned. The Cult Den referred to the series as "a warped masterpiece", Spartantown said there's "nothing like it in comics", while Sequart wrote it's "consistently impressive".


To further my cause, I've been able to write rambling pieces for Graphic Policy, Pulp Pusher, The Next Best Book Blog and Bleeding Cool.

I also did extensive interviews on Bullet Gal and the ideas behind the series with We The Nerdy, ComicBuzz, and 8th Wonder Press.

And you know what? There are so many artists working now or who've previously worked in comic books that I love. Five of the current crop are David Aja (Hawkeye), Mike Deodato (Original Sin), Walter Geovani (Red Sonja), Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night) and Steve Epting (Captain America/Velvet)... and all five of them this week supported the Bullet Gal Kickstarter on Twitter. Just wow. Thanks, lads, and hats off.


Finally? A further doff of the boater to the 76 people who have pledged financial support to the trade paperback, and the people who've helped spread the message of this silly project or ours. 

You all seriously rock. That's why.

Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 1

Something lighter here, as life appears to be edging back on track and into the realm of normality, at least for those of us in Tokyo and elsewhere - at a distance from the smoldering nuclear smoke-stacks at Fukushima.

Personally, I have a lot of reasons to celebrate.

One of these is my family, and my five-year-old daughter Cocoa, who is a just plain god-send. She's funny, talented, and growing up way too fast!

Another is my first novel Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, which was officially released through Another Sky Press at the beginning of April and is now available on Amazon. Yep, it's on Amazon (the UK, USA and Japan versions) and I keep clicking on one of these everyday to peer at the wayward tome and sigh - silently, of course. I don't want people to concern themselves too much with my mental state.

It just got reviewed by Forces Of Geek today, and the reviewer, Tony Pacitti, seems to completely "get" where I was coming from. I love what he writes, even the negative. You can check it out here. Wow.


Another reason to be cheerful is my new Little Nobody album, Hard Foiled, which is finally being released today. It's a collection of electronic/techno stuff I've cobbled together over the past couple of years and is being released through IF? Records.

There's a digital version via Beatport as well as a limited edition CD (with less tracks, but still clocking in at 70 minutes) via Lulu.

Last reason? I live in Tokyo. And I love Japan. This is my home.

Old Skool Vinyl

Nope. We're not talking plastic shopping bags - which is what most Japanese think when you mention the word "vinyl", though it's pronounced something like veekneel over here.

I'm also not really interested in skirting the territory of the derivatives of ethene (CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group), which is the scientific guff talked up on Wikipedia if you google vinyl.

The issue here is that other vinyl, a gramophone or phonograph record (yes, they do still make 'em), the analogue sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove.

Here I'm also plundering directly from Wikipedia (sorry, but it's 4:20 a.m. and my brain isn't functioning enough to be inventive in any way), though I did fix analog so it reads as analogue.

Anyway, where was I?


Oh yeah, the picture above slapped around my senses - old skool vinyl, in particular a little flattened black nugget my label IF? will now be releasing through Prime Direct in the UK at the end of November.

It's one of my Little Nobody tracks, 'The Condimental Op' (I actually nicked this from a chapter title in my upcoming hack novel), with remixes by Detroit’s superb old skool vets Aux 88 (430 West/Submerge/Direct Beat/Studio !K7) and Chicago legend K. Alexi Shelby (Transmat/Studio !K7/Djax-Up-Beats/Trax/Warp/Artform) kind'a all going back to the source: Pure electro/techno, 2010s style. Well, me likes to methinks, anyway.

It's already been spun, charted and is gathering a wee bit of steam thanks to support from Dave Clarke, Laurent Garnier, Shin Nishimura, Trevor Rockcliffe, Alan Oldham, Inigo Kennedy, Kirk Degiorgio, Dan Curtin, Steve Poindexter, Jerome Baker, Mike Dehnert, Ryuji Takeuchi and Anthony Shakir.

This vinyl baby will be available from November 27th (incidentally my mum's birthday!) via Prime, but you can get a sneak preview (in lovely lower-res audio) here:

Dry Fruit Japan-style

Aside from this wayward blog I also get to run an equally aberrant record label called IF? Records, through which we release a bunch of electronic-inclined stuff on vinyl and through digital means.

Most recently we've been able to get stuff out by people like James Ruskin, Luke's Anger, Dave Tarrida, Paul Birken, Wyndell Long, Ben Mill, Dave Angel, Kultrun, Justin Berkovi, Mijk van Dijk, DJ Hi-Shock, Koda, Ben Pest, Bill Youngman, Enclave, E383, Donk Boys, Jammin' Unit and Justin Robertson - people across the board whom I respect and cherish as musos.

Last week the label put out something I've wanted to do for ages: a release focused solely around some of the best Japanese artists currently cutting sounds.

The source material was a track called 'Dry Fruit', put together by the somewhat enigmatic Tsuyoshi K (he doesn't tell anyone what the 'K' stands for), who started out making fringe, left-of-centre electro-pop stuff as Gadget Cassette but more recently changed name to Cut Bit Motorz and at the same time began pushing through more tech-house related sounds.

Funnily enough, even though we live in the same city and constantly email each other as well as remix each other's tunes, we haven't ever actually met.

But that didn't stop us releasing a digital slab of mixes of 'Dry Fruit', in which we got on board some of his more experienced Japanese peers - DJ Wada (Co-Fusion), Toshiyuki Yasuda (Robo*Brazileira), Takashi Watanabe (DJ Warp) and Tomi Chair - to do the rejigs, making it an entirely Japanese putsch that criss-crosses eclectic, tech, electro, house and (dare I say it) a marginally more progressive stance.

Truth is I really dig working with this elusive digital mate and Tsuyoshi is breaking ground with his own work (he recently remixed the Dead Agenda track 'Chaos Theory' as well as Tomi Chair's 'Stroboscope') and you'll probably brush up against the guy more often in future outside of this obscure forum.


"Regarding digital, there are great outlets online through which to dig up music from all over the world, and then share it about - which is fantastic," Tsuyoshi espouses.

"With this EP I've been most surprised about these people actually choosing to do the remixes in the first place, and it's exciting. I want you to listen to them by all means."

Propaganda bomb out.

Time Wasters

I have a couple of excuses for not updating this blog lately as much as I'd like to.

While I usually decry the whole excuses tangent - who cares, anyway? - these excuses are ones that actually warm the cockles of my devious heart and are seriously depriving me of sleep most nights lately.

The first excuse is my new vinyl record - yep, I'm going all old school black wax - which finally hits streets (and hopefully decks) from today.

It's out through my label IF? in conjunction with Gynoid Audio. The record itself is called 'Metropolis How?' and is actually a track I made under my hack Little Nobody alias almost 2 years ago , but comes with fresh remixes by the inestimable James Ruskin, Justin Berkovi and DJ Hi-Shock.

It's already got support from people like Luke Slater, Laurent Garnier, Chris Liebing, Ade Fenton, Dave Clarke, Tommy Four Seven, Ben Sims, Ken Ishii, Perc, Len Faki and Trevor Rockcliffe.

Yep, I guess you could call this techno. Maybe.

Check out the sample sounds HERE.

The other time-waster is the sub-editing of the novel I've been working on for - well, forever, basically.


There are a few are these projects tucked under various beds in Japan and Australia, but this particular one is called 'Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat' and is actually going to be published by the way cool cats at Another Sky Press in the USA once we finish the edit. This should (hopefully!) be done by June.

Oh yeah, and the cool cover is by the very awesome Scott Campbell.

You can read the first 2 chapters online for free HERE - just be aware that there've been substantial edits since then and the new version is a helluva lot tighter. I think.

Maybe.

In the meantime, if you're bored, here's the video clip we did for the original mix of 'Metropolis How?'...

Domo Arigato, Mr. Robota

Some things don't change, like my penchant for things robotic - no real surprise then that the name of my new Little Nobody vinyl EP out today through IF? is 'Robota'.

However there's another trace element influence here. Nope, it's not related to the project by Star Wars art director Doug Chiang - I only just discovered that today on Google while doing hack research for this piece - nor the freaky 'educational and therapeutic devices' promoted here. It isn't even a wayward misspelled homage to Styx's 1983 classic 'Mr Roboto'.

Instead I nicked the name off Wikipedia.

Yep, you read right. I was checking out the entry on robots and the origin of the word, and deep in there I discovered this pearler: "The word robota means literally work, labor or serf labor, and figuratively 'drudgery' or 'hard work' in Czech and many Slavic languages. Traditionally the robota was the work period a serf had to give for his lord, typically 6 months of the year."

Being a lazy git myself with an eye forever on the couch, I decided to call the track 'Robota'. Nothing deeper than that, I'm afraid - though we can always pretend otherwise and toot some people's horns.

For this baby I originally shanghaied into the arrangement Japanese producer Toshiyuki Yasuda - one of Si Begg's favorite musicians who'd just finished working at the time with Señor Coconut, a.k.a Atom Heart - to do his bloody brilliant robot-style vocoder vocals as Robo*Brazileira.

"Robo*Brazileira is my singing alias, a fictitious Brazilian robot," Yasuda patiently explained to the unenlightened (in this case myself) at the time. "For me, the robot is one view-point with which to see ourselves as humans. To see us more cautiously, I think I must have external eyes."

With an attitude and moniker like that I had no real choice but to get the laddie involved.

Then to do their own wind-up remixes of the original combo we first lassooed in the insanely respected Mr. Steve Stoll - a man who's released motorized techno over the years on labels like Proper NYC, NovaMute, Djax-Up-Beats and Harthouse.

I was a huge fan in the '90s and first interviewed him just over a decade ago; fact is that the guy continues to steer my personal techno inclinations pretty darned effectively and I love his drums - both real and programmed.

We also got on board the irrepressible Dave Tarrida, whose output through his old label Sativae and since then through Tresor, Musick, Neue Heimat, Dancefloor Killers and Feinwerk has been my repeated refill cuppa tea for years; his recent stuff continues to kick my butt about.


Rounding out the remixing troupe is Germany's Cem Oral (a.k.a Jammin' Unit/Ultrahigh/4E), the genius behind Cube 40's 'Bad Computa' and Air Liquide's 'Robot Wars'.

How on earth (or indeed off it) couldn't I include him here?

Finally, I indulged in a wee bit of the tyranny-of-distance e-mail mud wrestling thing, this time between Tokyo and Sydney, as me and fellow Aussie Simon Nielsen (DJ Hi-Shock of Elektrax notoriety) did the final mix.

There's a ripe possibility we'd together like to intimate that this record is machine-based disco-funk-tech for the next decade - the promo propaganda sheet says precisely that - then suggest you should hop online and order the wax now, since it's available from today here (surprise, surprise)... but the fact remains that none of these musos, who are also mates of mine, would be so pretentiously narcissistic. They're cool individuals with a great sense of humour and a definite interest in music for music's sake.

So instead, for shameless promotional reasons of a more ulterior bent, I gathered together all the boys involved in the vinyl remixes and bounced around some silly robot-related queries.

Far from earth-shattering, completely self-indulgent and occasionally obscure, this waffling conversation can be online at the Fun in the Murky website.

IF100: 15 Years of IF?

This baby's been a long time coming.

Celebrating the 100th IF? Records release and exactly 15 years of the label on the job, with some of the original Melbourne (Australia) artists plus brand new ones from the same city – and a wealth of internationals remixing their tunes.

With IF100, think new material by ZEN PARADOX and TR-STORM, who appeared on the first ever IF? release, the Zeitgeist compilation in 1995. Then add G3, aka GUYVER 3, who had the first solo artist release (Perception Camera) through IF? in 1996. Sprinkle in some LITTLE NOBODY (first appearance on Zeitgeist 2 in 1996), ISNOD (who designed the Zeitgeist 3 cover in 1997 and featured on Reaction Hero in 2001), plus SCHLOCK TACTILE (Reaction Hero), SON OF ZEV (one of the IF? live stars in the ‘90s and ‘00s) and DJ FODDER – responsible for the 'Cocaine Speaking' phenomenon conjured up in 1999 and since remixed over 30 times by Mijk van Dijk, Dave Tarrida, DJ Hi-Shock, Pocket, Captain Funk, Jason Leach, etc, etc.

Then fold in brand new stuff by the storming, reasonably more recent Melbourne posse that includes excellent artists like BEN MILL, ENCLAVE, ALKAN, CRAIG McWHINNEY, KODA, ELEKTRONAUTS, VERONICA du LAC, CONVERSATIONAL DENTURES, DICK DRONE, RYSH PAPROTA and KULTRUN.

As icing on the proverbial cake we’ve added in some rather juicy remixes from PATRICK PULSINGER, BILL YOUNGMAN, SHIN NISHIMURA, SECRET SURFER, DSICO, SETTEE OF INDUSTRY, LEON NAGANT M1895 and DJ WARP, plus a Little Nobody remix of E383 and a Chairman of the Board mix of TALL TREES.

TRACK-LIST:

1. Isnod ‘Pripyat’
2. DJ Fodder ‘Cocaine Speaking’ (Dsico remix)
3. Craig McWhinney ‘Confined Spaces’
4. Andrez Bergen ‘Merian Cooper’
5. Funk Gadget ‘Blah Blah’ (Patrick Pulsinger remix)
6. Little Nobody ‘Get Away From It All’ (AB- Mix)
7. Ben Mill ‘Dance Floor Confessions Of A Stalker’
8. TR-Storm ‘Cylitic’
9. Koda ‘Snipper’
10. Little Nobody ‘Poiseworks’ (Shin Nishimura remix)
11. Kultrun ‘Underground’
12. Tall Trees ‘Broken Friend (Hurting Youself)’ (Chairman of the Board remix)
13. Alkan ‘In Your Skin’
14. Son Of Zev ‘Swelter’
15. Enclave ‘Pulse Overture’
16. Zen Paradox ‘Mindmelt’
17. Rysh Paprota ‘Her Flew’
18. G3 ‘Onigoroshi’
19. Little Nobody feat. Robo*Brazileira ‘Robota’ (Elektronauts remix)
20. Veronica du Lac ‘Because It Pays So Thin’ (Bill Youngman remix)
21. Jungle Taitei ‘Taitei Drums’ (Secret Surfer remix)
22. Little Nobody vs. Magnet Toy ‘Depth Charge’ (DJ Warp remix)
23. Koda ‘Tilb’
24. E383 ‘Radion 2’ (Little Nobody remix)
25. Kultrun ‘Drift Away’ (Andrez Bergen remix)
26. Schlock Tactile ‘Kouture Krash’
27. Little Nobody ‘Metropolis How?’ (Settee Of Industry remix)
28. Dick Drone ‘Wash’ (Mix 2)
29. Conversational Dentures ‘Suicidio’ (Leon Nagant M1895 Remix)
30. Curvaceous Crustacean ‘An Electric Blanket & Minimum Chips’

Look out for this baby exclusive to Juno Download on December 15, 2009.

Little Nobody muzak @ Soundcloud

Latest tracks by Little Nobody

Luke's Anger 'Several Sizes Too Big'

LUKE'S ANGER
"SEVERAL SIZES TOO BIG"
[IF099]

Brilliant, lovely stuff from one of our current fave British musos, a regular on Kid606's Tigerbass label and the helmsman of IF? preferred label Bonus Round - as well as the guy who slew 'em at the last BLOC party and who's really showing how to redefine electronica at the mo'.

1. Several Sizes Too Big (4:20)
2. Critical Error (4:41)
3. Sound Clash (5:22)
4. Project Perk (4:12)


SAMPLE SOUNDS + INFO + DOWNLOADABLE HERE

Cool cover by Hollie Etheridge.

The Last Techno Party Ever... As IF?

What, me self-indulgent? Never! But I'm about to head back to my hometown (Melbourne) for a holiday, and what better than to add a big underground techno party into the mix?

Even better having 7 live acts dominating proceedings, with DJs supporting. Yum. Full details on the flier. If you happen to be in Melbourne (Australia, not Florida), get'cha crap booty on and faux boogie.

Or just sit down and kick your feet up, which is what I'll be doing with my mostly-recovered busted foot.

Sushi + Banana = Treat?

We have a new baby out through IF?, from Tokyo-based Nana Mouskouri's Spectacles. (If you can guess the identity of this producer - or even better, care to try - then you're a better person than me. But I guess that goes without saying, so why I mention it is beyond me; the bit about being better, I mean.)

This one is all about sushi. And bananas. Long story.

Anyway, if you're otherwise motivated, you can take a listen to some sample sounds of the EP, along with the new remix EP of Enclave muzak (by me, Ben Mill, Cut Phobic and E383), right HERE.

Iffy Bizness interview @ Elektrax

There's a brand new propaganda bomb/interview thingy with me up on the way cool Elektrax site, and I'm thinking one or two regular readers here may be curious - if, indeed, there are one or two people who actually peruse this site (slack-arse that I am, I never bother checking stats). Anyway, here's a sample of my crap philosophizing:

“Yeah, I’ve kind of lost count exactly how many names I’ve worked under,” Bergen acknowledges from his base of operations in Tokyo, Japan. “Most of them were conjured up either as a joke, or with specific musical perimeters in mind, but then the lines get blurred and I forget which category I’m supposed to be focused on. It’d be frustrating if I actually cared.”

The interview in its entirety, which some people may find relatively self-indulgent and/or inane, while others might perceive it as historically interesting, is online here.

Hype out.

Various Artists: Iffy Bizness (the compilation!)

We've been playing this one pretty close to our chests, and one or two readers (if, in fact, there are any for this trite little blog) may already know about it - or perhaps not.

'IT' being the upcoming new compilation through Aussie label Elektrax, titled 'IFFY BIZNESS'. Basically it's a wunderbar idea that DJ Hi-Shock came up with, and we've both since liaised and planned and plotted: 14 tracks to celebrate 14 years of IF? Records.

Here's the cover:



And here's the link (with sounds, track-list, and propaganda info bollocks) on the Elektrax site:
http://www.elektraxmusic.com/hroom-cd003

Most of it is recent, new, and/or unreleased, and we've got a sensational new remix from Swedish outfit Donk Boys.

Feel free to rummage through and leave churlish feedback.

It'll be released through all major digital download carriers like Beatport, Audiojelly, Juno Digital, iTunes, blah, blah, and blah.

Craig McWhinney: 13 things to understand

Inducted by Schlock Tactile for the ‘Love Me Slender’ project, on remix honors, is fellow Aussie Craig McWhinney (Nightshade/HAUL Music), one of that country’s more talented current producers. He’s delivered up a way cool mix that we absolutely love: deep and dirty tribal-tech with phat grooves, backed by pitch-perfect, superb peaks and bassy troughs; precisely our cup of tea!

Here are 13 things you may or may not know about this Melbourne-based musician, proffered up by the man himself:

“I used to play the drums in a couple of bands, from my mid-teens to my early 20s – my brother and I were always fooling around with guitars and the like as well, so music was a part of my make up from pretty early. I guess as my tastes changed, coupled with taking up DJing, somewhere along the way producing came into the picture.”

“I've been DJing for about seven years all up now, I think, and producing for around five years, maybe? Not quite sure, lots of late nights have led to blurry memories... I'm motivated mostly by the music itself. I guess having solid friendships in the Melbourne music community helps to keep me going as well.”

“There've been a lot of changes over that time. Most notably, vinyl started being replaced by CDs, and then laptops. The whole DJing paradigm has been flipped on its head.”

“My wife is actually a huge part of my studio set-up. A second pair of ears, a second opinion – always right at the time I need it – helps me in more ways than anything else.”

“Red cordial keeps me fueled when making music, mostly, though I tend to produce in spurts, not long marathon type sessions. I like to keep my ears fresh.”

“Surgeon seems to be the main stayer for me; I buy pretty much everything he does. Also Phase, Function, and T++. But the big guy for me, at the moment, is Shed. Love everything he does. I think the common link between these artists is immaculate production, a dark aesthetic, and a great intensity without being over-cooked. Just quality music.”

“I make techno. Always have, always will.”

“I have a solid release schedule with my label HAUL music, which I run with my partners Christian Vance and Mike Callander – so look out for consistent original and remix work there. I also have an EP, 'Ensõ', in the works for American label Nightshade. I was in chats with another American label to release an EP, but at this stage that seems to be all talk.”

“I had a 12-inch released through UK label Notorious North, titled 'Antiquated EP', which kind’a slipped past unnoticed, but I'm pretty fresh with the whole releasing thing, so I look forward to what’s coming!”

“There's a certain amount of quality control when releasing to vinyl that can often be overlooked with digital-only releases. On the flip-side, many great artists are emerging because of the digital age we live in. Hopefully a balance can be struck, and vinyl can be kept afloat. I really hope that vinyl never dies. I have a love of vinyl that I’d like to be able to feed for many more years to come.”

“I fully embrace the digital age – I think it’s great! By moving into the digital download medium. labels make themselves available to another section of the market. Smart play in my book.”

“I have a lot of respect for a lot of the veteran old school Melbourne producers. I used to own a fair swag of Voiteck records on Truck Musik, and I currently really dig Christian Vance and Mike Callander, not only ‘cos they're my partners and friends in HAUL, but also ‘cos they're damn talented. Zen Paradox is amazing at what he does. I also like what I’m hearing from some of the newer Melbourne acts.”

“The remix I did for Schlock Tactile is a percussive burner, good in the mix – use it as a tool to build a set with. I liked the original and heard what I could do with it; it’s a no-brainer why I agreed to do it.”

New, cheapskate IF? website*

*well, it's free! Go figure.

Anyway, our cantankerous teenage record label, IF?, now has a new online home to match up with the new logo and new artists involved from Japan, Melbourne, and elsewhere.

We're hitting out shortly with new stuff by Alone Together, Little Nobody, Koda, Bitch Shift, Son Of Zev, ABiS, Aneb, Alkan, and others.

Click here if you can really be bothered checking it out. There are other, more grandiose things happening online and out there in the real world.

The new logo, by the by, was hacked together by our exceptionally talented mate, Ant Orange, over at the Dead Channel collective. He's also an extremely hot muso. Love the guy!