a few film samples of stuff I’ve been doing.
And my most favoritist picture I’ve taken of Mr. Feeny!!!
Tag Archive for 'Austin'
We’re called The Fritzl Babies. (Yes, as in Josef/Elizabeth Fritzl’s children)
Themes include among the obvious: Make believe, captivity, found instruments, creepy relationships, and children. Influenced by dungeons and darkness.
We have a MySpace (HA!)
And a song (on the myspace)
Now available to play children’s birthday parties!
I had 36 rolls of film from my trip that I couldn’t afford to develop, and they’re all jumbled up. I am developing five or so rolls every Friday and then posting my favorites from one roll each day of the week, along with any interesting details.
Tomorrow will be CD 1 Week 1. Pictures from all six rolls include NYC, Wisconsin, Chicago, and Austin arrival. Some of my favorites already on flickr.
Week one down, 6 more to go.
In other news, my music video animation for the band Watch out for Rockets was selected to be apart of the UT Hollywood Showcase, so I’ll be heading back to Los Angeles September 23-25.
Check it out the animation here:
Johnny Skydiver – Watch out for Rockets from Noel Kristi on Vimeo.
I’m also made/making the website for a charming and funny Austin independent film Harmony and Me. Sophie T. is doing a lot of stuff for the film along with director Bob Byington and she got me on board, so we’ll be working together to promote it in various ways (Looks like my IFC internship is already coming in handy.)
Check out the trailer, or better yet, it’s screening at the Museum of Modern Art starting September 18th. Ooh la la!
Polaroids I took upon my return to Austin August 18th, 9AM local time. The clouds were really tall, puffy, white, and I think the pilot said local temperatures were 75 degrees.
Taken over a 30 minute descent into Austin.
ABOVE THE CLOUDS
BELOW THE CLOUDS
New York City is over. Failed to continue blogging because I was unsure as to what I wanted to blog about. I made a bunch of clothes. I hung out with pretty friends. I went to Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Fond Du Lac Wisconsin, I took like 40 rolls of film that I stopped being able to afford to develop and they’re all mixed up. I am pretty sure I’m going to try and develop five a week and then maybe post pictures. Every roll will be a little surprise, an “Oh yeah, I remember that!”
In the mean time, Austin arrival. Moved immediately. Just unpacked the kitchen. Rio Rita wifi. School tomorrow. I think that was supposed to be my last summer vacation and it wasn’t. At all. Dreaming of winning the lotto, seriously.
Things to make: Shelving
Things to do: Unpack
As the sweltering Austin summer rolls in, dips at Barton Springs can only do so much to liven the oppressively hot days, and moist, stagnant nights. Escape from the heat, for many Austin musicians, often means a slowing of the music scene to a casual lope; those brave enough to perform put on their best face as they pit-stain t-shirts and drip buckets of alcohol ripe sweat all over an empty stage front as their adoring admirers crowd around fans that promise limited relief. It’s at such a time last year that the band Watch Out For Rockets, holed up in their living room turned practice space, recorded their latest release, Beasts with Hearts of Gold.
The album, packed with 19 some-odd songs, is the whimsical, eclectic follow-up to their headier 2008 debut album Let Me Levitate. And though the short, lo-fi pop ditties were all recorded on a 4-track in their homebrew DIY recording studio, what’s sacrificed in recording quality and perfection is paled by substance and artisan.
The group is a testament to the appeal of the indie music scene in Austin. Front-man David T. Jones and fellow Wisconsinites Aaron Rimbey (half-brother) and Lucas Urbanski relocated in December 2003, in hopes of honing their musical abilities in the potpourri of Austin’s creative influence. Thrown off by the intense traffic and their not-so-glamorous residence off 2222, Austin wasn’t exactly what the guys expected. “The summer really sucked. It was really hot,” Jones notes, a no shit moment for resident Texans. And strolling with the customary gate of any bona fide Texas resident, the band didn’t get their act together until 2008, when Jones found himself homeless and indebted to Rimbey and Urbanski for occupying their living room. Jones slept on the couch by night and recorded by day, each song an offering to repay their hospitality. In the end, Jones conceived and recorded the majority of the songs and instrumentation, while Rimbey and Urbanski helped to polish what would be Beasts.
For people like me, who aren’t really in-touch with the woes and throws of the musical creation proces
s, WOFR’s may seem like a goofy, bizarre experimental undertaking, some of their songs impossible to wrap your mind around and appreciate upon first listen. Beasts with Hearts of Gold is the sort of thing that grows on you, like that boy in middle school you gave the customary go around with just to secure your presence at the Winter Solstice Sock-hop. You soon fell head over heels, despite the backne, crooked teeth, and math ineptitude, and in a rush of hormones and idyllic childhood fantasies, you knew you guys would be together forever. Though he summarily dumped you for Vicky Haggins (who at the time was the only girl in school handing out BJs,) that pre-teen surge of emotion carved a special place in your heart. Listening to Beasts will take you to that happy magical time when everything was just right, and though a few notes of regret and sorrow may foray into the memories, it is, at worst, poignantly bittersweet.
Image Courtesy of Stacey L. Wilhelm’s Facebook Upload
The group has recently acquired drummer John Terhaar with the hopes of plugging their existence at shows around Austin. With their last show being their third performance at Beauty Bar and their fourth all-together, my only wish is that they manage to break away from that scene and play to people who might actually be able to conjure appreciation without fear of mussing up their musical reputation. With their GBV inspired quirkiness and lackadaisical views of current Austin music trends, that may a lofty ambition.
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Things to Do: buy their album, watch this animated music video of sorts I made for them
Things to Make: An account at Lala.com and listen to their album online (as well as any other album at least once, I think that’s raaaaaad).
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After a glowing, love-struck school-girl review from a first time music blogger (and likely one-time), I think it’s fair to disclose a conflict of interest as I’m actually romantically involved with Jones, the handsome, charming, insanely talented musical all-star. Before you discredit my account as love induced, eager-to-please garbage, I’d like to insist that I too was once a single lady in Austin, and I quickly learned to add “musician” as a point of disinterest in grooming my potential hookups. As a girl who smiled blankly at the bassist at the bar rambling about the three bands he graced with his talent, I think the staying power in our relationship is a testament to my complete appreciation of what he’s got going on. In the end, even if I’m still beholden, it’s not like I’m using him for his money.