Music andsoundscapes
Meditation connecting
the listener to the whole
"Instrumental music is healing to me.
There's meditation that comes with it, whether the focus of actually playing a part or mixing a track is happening. As a listener, if you break the music into parts, you'll find that one part of your mind concentrates on the sounds as is, and the other part has awareness that you are the listener. Out of this duality comes the beginning of meditation, a state of mind where "thinking it" has no place. Meditation is worth learning if you haven't already because there is great peace to it and so much more can be created from peace.
As far as making music, well.. lets just say that I like to venture into the "Create without thinking mode" -and-"wallah!" -something unique is expressed. I don't think hard about what my next song will be or try to motivate a particular direction for that matter, instead, its more like, now that I'm silent of mind, what textures lay within..
O.k, now I'm ready!"
I love to play tablas- such a beautiful instrument. This is what a pair of tablas look like.
My teacher Venu in India has a son who loves to play tablas(pictured below).
Sitting on my lap, he's even teaching me a few things!
The music you hear in the background is Venu's band playing at the Funky Art Cafe in Varkala -enjoy!
The picture below is my new set - Thanks again Venu!
Venu and friends...Varkala, India
March, 2009
Playing tabla in Kayavorohan, Gujarat
Another Great Musician in Kayavorohan
-jamming out Harmonium and singing beautiful bhajans.
Christopher Baxter projects since 1990
1990-1991
High school cover bands "Tapehead"
and "Figures" dominate..
various high school recordings with friends.
1992
Nemoy Nemesis
links coming soon!
Keyboard and drum duo with Alan Jones in Charlotte, NC
1993-1994
Cane Omber
Experimental music "No Wave"
www.myspace.com/caneomber
Members:
Alan Jones -keybords and programming
Arkadiusz Greniuk -bass, keyboards and programming
Christopher Baxter -drums, keyboards and programming
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina -at my parents house.
Alan and I wanted to expand the Nemoy Nemesis sound -and with that -Arkadiusz came into the picture in the late of winter 1993.
All sorts of 4 tracking happened at this time creating the beginings of the "Cane Omber" sound.
3 dudes now motivated to do something with this sound moved out of Charlotte.
A summerlong relocation to trailer trashed Hillsborough (outside of Chapel Hill) didn't offer much, and brought disharmony to the band. Heads were colliding and things got ugly. Turning 19 at time I felt it was time to relocate to Chicago. Arkadiusz had friends in Chicago and knew of a place to fall back if the band sunk. So Arek and I packed into his small car with all of our music and clothes and headed to the unknown with very little money -minus Alan.
The band broke up months later in a very frozen Chicago disgruntled and depressed in a studio apartment off Briar and Broadway.
Cane Omber is the sound of ambition, struggle and of darkness.
1994-1995
Folking Dynamite
links coming soon!
Acoustic duo creates their own brand of acoustic shoegaze.
1995-1999
Company of Big Beats
4 year battle of the senses with many musical friends.
www.myspace.com/companyofbigbeats
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Main Members: Christopher Baxter Andrew Rench
Two Friends from High school with a "Destiny of Reconstruction". Always thinking ahead of our time and depressed over the curses innovation brought to us, Andy and I pursued a 4 year improvisation that would kick start the junk of our minds with musical tools at hand to the "Serene Chaos of Audiotopia".
4 Years of religious 4-track recordings and live playing rocketed us to the far reaches of the galaxy. Fueled with Raman noodle burritos, coffee, cigarettes and countless other stimulants Andy and I didn't sleep well at night, forced to record what you hear today..Company of Big Beats. I'm convinced C.O.B.B to this day has an important role in defining what really was happening in Chicago at the time -a transparent driving force in the "no-form" music scene in the mid to late 90's. Nothing domesticated about our sound- no sir. Interestingly enough, to have our music here, 10 years later, accessible for listeners at hand -means something.. Our sounds were our creations that we loved and they want to heard now.so here you have it, acoustic and electric..bass and drums... loops and feedback.. sax,violins and flutes, what ever we got our hands on -it didn't matter- throw it into the mix anyway-anyhow. Playing free.. playing with passion. That's all we cared about.
A big thanks goes to Digitech's loop pedals that came out in the early 90's -it practically created our sound!
Recent News:
August 2007
Company of Big Beats
gets interest on the net and signs on to Schnurstrax online record label!
www.schnurstrax.net
2004-2005
American Sanyasi
www.myspace.com/americansanyasi
Christopher goes into hiding to record esoteric projects in suburban Illinois.
2007- present
Paid Pilots
www.myspace.com/paidpilots
Rock band with Jason Savsani and Saundra Hill play the Chicago Night clubs.
Rocking it out presently although slightly hibernating.
