MUSIC

Music has been an integral part of my life as long as I can remember. My older brother's extensive 12" record collection of 70s disco and 80s rock, dance, and pop music supplied the foundations. My parents making my siblings and I take piano, a string instrument( I chose cello), and church junior choir rounded out the skill. In the third grade a trip to my uncle's house is what hooked me into electronic music. He had a mini Casiotone keyboard. I became obsessed with it... so much so he just gave it to me. The fact that you could make so many rhythms and sounds out of this tiny instrument was fascinating. It was like being a one man band. Every few years, I graduated to a bigger, better Casio

By college I figured out the Casio just wouldnt cut it while I was trying to emulate my favorite artists like Moby, New Order, and Nine Inch Nails. So I enrolled in a local community college class about MIDI and saved up for my first real synthesizer. At last, I could finally make multi track works completely on my own.

I tried on every musical hat possible...drum n bass, ambient/idm, synth pop, house, electro. I finally settled on borrowing a little bit from everywhere, but the aim is to always make you dance.

I started doing bootleg remixes in the 2000s to sharpen my technical skills and just to have a good time.

ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS/REMIXES

Microfilm - (If I Ever Fall Apart) in NYC? (Astrolabe's Breakdown in Bed Stuy Preview)
Date: 2010
Duration: 1m 04s
Thank goodness for Microfilm! Without them I'd probably never make any music. The Portland electronic music wizards were kind enough to ask me to do another remix for their forthcoming singles/remix collection (tba). Here's a one minute preview.
Listen
Microfilm - I'll Sing Like Billy MacKenzie in Heaven (Astrolabe Remix)
Date: 2009
Duration: 7m 14s
I'm not sure how to discribe this remix I did for Microfilm. Speed garage bassline, Aphex Twin like pads, and a housey piano vamp.
Listen
How To Survive the Loss of a Love(Rough Demo)
Date: 2008
Duration: 3m 21s
A song written about regaining strength after the end of a relationship. Its supposed to have lyrics, but I'm always too chicken to sing. Think of this song as, um, "glitch n' b" Telefon Tel Aviv and Kleerup where the inspirations here. Quite possibly my shortest song to date!
Listen
Microfilm- Teenage Symponies (Astrolabe's Classic Club Mix)
Date: 2008
Duration: 7m 25s
The Chicago (now Portland, OR) electronic duo Microfilm asked me to remix one of their songs for them and I was more than happy to oblige with this tribute to 1980s Shep Pettibone .
Listen
Cavtat
Date: 2005
Duration: 10m 50s
Inspired by my first trip to Croatia, and my time on the beautiful Dalmatian Coast. The melancholic sound comes from my ambivalance on leaving the States and moving to Croatia to follow my heart. Some dub influence with nods Royksopp's The Understanding and Giorgio Moroder. Interpolates a cheesy cult 80s music theme.
Listen
Septiembre (ft. Ewan McGregor)
Date: 2004
Duration: 8m 00s
I'm sure it exists, but I had never heard a tango mixed with house music, so I tried it myself with a little help from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack.
Listen
Didn't I (ft. Joey Vatinno)
Date: 2003
Duration: 8m 24s
Joey Vatinno, a Canadian singer/songwriter sent me the vocals to this song after he heard and enjoyed one of my bootleg remixes. It's a sexy house track with a slight metallic/industrial sheen and some Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works like pads with a big piano breakdown.
Listen

BOOTLEG REMIXES

NOT FOR SALE. For Promotional Use Only. All music is © copyright there respective owners

New Order, Crystal
Astrolabe's Elijah Price Mix
Date: 2005
Duration: 9m 53s
I'm a huge New Order, and there was an a capella from an Acid Remix contest a few years ago. Admittedly I was trying to ride the rock/dance trend of the moment. Bass line is courtesy of an old Maxi Korg analogue synth that's as old as I am.
Listen
Pink Floyd, Keep Talking
Astrolabe's Verbatim Mix
Date: 2004
Duration: 9m 34s
WAY Before Erik Prydz decided to add dance beats to a Pink Floyd tune, I did it! Keep Talking had a nice big soulful female chorus and some vocoder bits that made it an easy choice to adapt to progressive house music.
Listen
The Streets, Blinded By The Lights
Astrolabe's Benefits of Tranceformation Mix
Date: 2004
Duration: 6m 24s
This is the closest thing to trance I'll probably ever do! But this song was begging for a dance mix.
Listen
Alison Krauss, You Will Be My Ain True Love
Astrolabe's Himalaya Vocal Mix
Date: 2004
Duration: 9m 42s
I heard this song from the Cold Mountain Soundtrack at the 2004 Oscars and was instantly captivated. I thought I could remix it, but it was a bit difficult since the original has no real time signature to speak of. Had to do some vocal surgery and played around with the timing, and voila.
Listen

MADONNA REMIXES

Madonna, Has To Be
Date: 2004
A B-Side from the Ray of Light era that I remixed for a contest on MadonnaTribe.(I lost) The Dub was actually more fun to make than the vocal mix. Nicks elements of an old song I did back in the 90s(that sadly, didn't survive a meltdown of my Mac Performa). Inspired by The Orb's Toxygene and New Order's Ruined In A Day (Reunited In A Day) mix.
Manifest Destiny Mix
Posession Dub
Madonna, Nothing Fails
Astrolabe's Ecumenical Dub
Date: 2004
Duration: 7m 13s
I'm a sucker for a big soulful choir, so I focused on that on element for this remix, with a loping hip hop break, organ and strings. Even a few acid touches at the end. The Give Me Some More Dignity mix of U2's Numb was a source for inspiration.
Listen
Madonna vs The Eurythmics, Another Sweet Dream Dies
Astrolabe's Mashup Mix
Date: 2003
Duration: 4m 37s
My first and (probably last) mashup. I noticed The Eurythmic's Sweet Dreams fit perfectly over Madonna's Die Another Day. Probably my most popular mix.
Listen
Madonna, X-Static Process
Date: 2003
Duration: 6m 07s
My favorite song from Madonna's album, American Life. Even better it only had guitar and vocals which made it ripe for remixing, which I turned into more of an abstract hip hop affair inspired by the Boards of Canada's amazing remix of Colonel Abrams Trapped(under the psuedonym Hell Interface). The dub once again was more fun than the vocal, turning up the reverb and squelchy synths. It was my first time using Propellarhead's Reason software synth.
Astrolabe Mix
Astrodub
Top