MIDWEST, PITTSBURGH, CHICAGO, LONDON, ON. – TOUR UPDATE

We’re now more than half way through the tour.. going so great. The tour time blur has begun, and time/space is dissolving. We’ve been driving about 9 hours a day and getting to the shows just in time for soundcheck (wait, where are we?). Adam (stars of the lid) is a driving champion. I have no clue how he can drive this much. Minneapolis was sold out and felt amazing. Really great diverse crowd there. Recently played a few cities that i have not even been in; Champaign, Grinnell, Louisville, and it was really great to connect with everyone at these shows. The planetarium in Champaign was definitely a trip. Pittsburgh at the Warhol Museum rocked, thanks for all the support there everyone. The Warhol is sweet. Chicago was another sold out show, and felt solid. Great people. London Ontario last night was awesome. I met so many cool people here ! Headed to Toronto in a few mins.

I’m improvising different stuff each night, so it’s really cool to feel how each city / the energy of the crowd influences my decisions to play different notes, mix things differently, play a different pattern etc. It’s not a conscious process, all in the moment of playing, and i’m always surprised. I love this.

PORTLAND and SEATTLE SHOWS – TOUR UPDATE

portland was sweet as always. love that city and the venue holocene. + some of my best friends live there, and my cousin blentz even made it out to the show! big props to scott at holocene for creating this space for everyone.

seattle was a awesome. we played the triple door which is this beautiful sit down dinner theatre. got some awesome feedback from the ppl there. thanks to everyone who has been reaching out after my set.. because of you, i feel like i’m always rediscovering the importance of bringing people together through music. there is so much communication, shared experience, celebration.. really loving this.

here are some pics from jessica (paperbirds) who generously sent these to me after the seattle show.

TOUR KICKS OFF WITH A BANG

The first two shows have been amazing.. about 400 ppl at each and super gracious audiences. thanks to everyone who came out. i love you all.

here’s a thoughtful XLR8R feature:

XLR8R Magazine – Christopher Willits Tour Kicks Off..

and a few pics from the LA show on Pitchfork :

Pitchfork Feature – SOTL, Nudge, Christopher Willits

GHOSTLY REISSUES BREATHE (IN SEVEN SECTIONS) – - FREE DOWNLOAD

Ghostly International just reissued my 2004 piece “Breathe (in seven sections)” from SMM vol2. as a limited time free download. Previously this music was only available on vinyl.

This is s unique EP that bridged “Seven Machines for Summer” on EADGBE (12k) and “Surf Boundaries” (Ghostly). It’s fun to look back on this work and see how it has shaped what i’m up to today. There are some very timeless things i feel in this music.. shapes and sounds that i’ll be working on and with for the rest of my life. There is a lot more new music on the way that i’m super excited to share in the near future. !!

Grab the music here:
DOWNLOAD

YURIS NIGHT ON SATURDAY

gearing up for yuri’s night festival.. and the kickoff to the spring tour. !

yuri’s feature : http://yuricdm.com/2008/03/24/christopher-willits-gives-the-knowledge-away-for-free/

DAY OF BIRTH DAY !

WILLITS + SAKAMOTO – OCEAN FIRE – FEATURED ON BLEEP

ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN FEATURE – APRIL 2008

New feature/interview in Electronic Musician Magazine, by Bill Murphy.

“Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christopher Willits team up on Ocean Fire”

(Excerpt) “…Recently Sakamoto recruited San Francisco Bay Area guitarist and producer Christopher Willits to record Ocean Fire (12k, 2008), a many-layered sonic canvas of improvised ambience based on a 4-hour session that took place at Sakamoto’s New York studio in early 2007. “I always have lots of audio files in my [Apple MacBook] laptop for writing,” Sakamoto says. “Some are field recordings — like noises from the street — some are from synthesizers, and some are acoustic or electric piano sounds. I just picked up some of these, and Christopher and I started playing.”

Willits… relied on Ableton Live 6 as a host for his custom-made Max/MSP plug-ins. Using a MIDI foot controller, he manipulated multiple electric guitar loops and created what amounts to an orchestra of processed sound. Eventually he edited and mixed the results of the Ocean Fire session in Digidesign Pro Tools, maintaining a light touch when it came to EQ and additional processing. “This whole project was really a trip,” Willits raves. “When we first got together, I was just floating along with the prerecorded, processed piano sounds that Sakamoto was tweaking live, and before we knew it, both of our eyes were closed and we were diving deep into this whole soundscape. Sometimes things would happen and we’d look at each other like, ‘Was that you or was that me?’ That’s when you feel everything totally merging.”

complete article here : http://emusician.com/interviews/making_waves_3/index.html

Web sites:
www.sitesakamoto.com
www.christopherwillits.com