Hi my name is Kris. For the past 10 years while the pinball machine of life was going on in the foreground, I’ve been slowly bringing together a large body of work, involving compositional, rhythmic and sonic ideas. I’m finally at the point where I know I’m ready to record these ideas, and I’ve amassed some godlike collaborators who I deeply respect to realise this, but I need some help. YOU are the very person(s) I need to help me remain free from record companies and able to produce some beautiful music… I’m making a Kickstarter project!

what? so? what is Kickstarter ?

Kickstarter is a crowd-funding platform, you put projects forward and people invest in them., the idea being lots of people put a little in, and us musicians get to bypass record companies.

and? who the hell are you anyway ?

My name is Kris ‘thrash’ Weston, I am a Producer, Guitar Player, Analog Synth Tweaker. Abuser of Mixing Desks, former member of The Orb (link is of the ‘other’ stage with primal scream in 1993 from Glastonbury the Movie, I’m the hunchback in front of the mixing desk) Remixer of Primal Scream, Front 242, U2 and many others. DSP tinkerer and organic food nut.

Project Collaborators

Jacqueline Attwood is a saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and state registered music therapist. She has worked as a session musician for a wide variety of artists in many arenas including TV and film and in Alan Winstanley and Clive Langers Westside Studios . She has performed all over the world including Glastonbury festival and the Woodford Folk Festival, Australia and currently plays with several Brighton based groups including Dende and the Voodoo Love Orchestra as well as collaborations with a variety of talented musicians in middle-eastern, flamenco and Indian raga genres.

Fiona Hosford is a Professional Harpist who plays outside the ‘Harpbox of tunes’, Fiona has carved her own niche in Harp-playing. Having played the Harp since she was six, Fiona has not only played for a wide genre of clientèle in a variety of venues but she has developed a strong sense of humour and individuality and this ensures creativity and sensitivity with her playing.

Steve Baxter is an upright bass player, creative collaborator, teacher and band leader versed in a wide range of styles including Funk, Jazz, Cumbia , Calypso, Latin roots, Reggae and Dub. He has worked as session player for Prince Fatty and toured extensively around Europe. He is a member of several large ensembles including Fat 45 and Dende.

Matthew Plumley is my oldest friend and an excellent guitar player and composer.

Amampondo – South African percussion band who are playing on two tracks

Tim Giles – Drums on two tracks

Steve Kleiseth (Strongarm/Shai Hulud/Further Seems Forever) – Drums on three tracks

There is also a possibility (assuming the 2 inch multitrack can be baked and recovered!) that I will use the sessions I did with the late Simon Jeffes ( Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Sex Pistols ). Simon was a very talented and jolly nice bloke. Shortly before his untimely death we recorded sessions together where he played his Gretsch Guitar on a few things.

Industry Support

As mentioned here I’ve had an amazing repsonse from the industry in preparation for this project – Celemony, Presonus, RME, Audio Damage , Nusofting , Camel Audio , Ohmforce , Plogue , InaGRM , SugarBytes , Izotope and Sonic Couture have all helped me along the way.

can you explain the project a little more then?

OK, I have taken 25 of the best tracks from my archive, some fleshed out and some in need of more work. The archive consists of all the ideas I’ve had and musicians I’ve worked with since about 1999. I plan to lay them out in a journey, a transition between the two opposing styles that wage war in my think hole, acoustic to electronic over 4 pieces of vinyl or one CD. It’s the most complex and beautiful melodic and sonic piece of art I’ve ever attempted.

My plan splits up the tracks into sections like this.

• acoustic guitar work
• acoustic with a touch of electronic
• electronic with a touch of acoustic
• pure electronic

Instruments so far include classical harp, cello, double bass, drums, guitars, synthesis, modular electronic instruments and fx treatments, DSP machines. All kinds of stuff.

I estimate the finished article will take 1 year to complete. its going to be a masterpiece but its going to cost nuff $ to make. There are a lot of costs including musicians, premises, equipment, manufacture, promotion, distribution etcetc. We are talking in the region of 60k at the moment, and I’m still trying to get the prices down and work out ways of cutting corners like the endorsement deals from which i get free plugins etc.

“The best way I can describe the music is like going down the wrong path in a dark forest and coming across a bunch of luciferian midgets sacrificing goats.“

My main influences for it are John Fahey, Miles Davis and Simon Jeffes (Penguin Cafe Orchestra and a friend who really fucking sadly passed away) I’m not one to adhere to any particular genre so if you’re looking for a bog standard electronic album, jog on. Although its just one album you are funding, you will be plucking my pauper ass from tech work and farming to kickstart my ass into making music full time again! Without the funding this album and me making music in general will not happen!

In case anyone’s wondering why I’m not driving Rolls Royce’s full of cocaine into swimming pools and more than capable of financing this self-indulgent folly, perhaps I should explain. I don’t actually work in the business any more. I had always planned on finishing this album myself but all my remaining gear got stolen (or supposedly lost) by a large cross continental bus corporation over a year ago now, which led me to concentrate on my ambitions in farming and volunteer to go WWOOFING and in turn had me end up living and working on farms. Goats are very personable animals, staring into their rectangular pupils is like looking into a yawning chasm of utter nothingness, and then they make that bleaty noise, as if to say, ‘there are a pair of cackling lips at the bottom of the infinite chasm of stupidity’. Cut to clapping toy monkey (with hat on).

I have an intense desire to make something beautiful once in my life, I feel more capable of creating something amazing now than I ever have, it feels like everything has been practice up until now, but its up to you guys whether it happens.

so is that it?

No actually there is something else. The release will be copyright free to use for films of under ten minutes.

Cool Ok, But why a budget so large or can’t you just do a couple of tracks for a start ?

Well, firstly. to realise my ideas I need a whole bunch of musicians, I could use sample libraries and the like to cut corners, but I want to make something real and if its a choice between a half arsed version of my vision or nothing, I’ll take nothing! I’ve been working on it for too long for it not to be totally right. Its ambitious, is a large body of work and the cost of doing just a few tracks is not going to be that different from more because of the large amount of equipment and other costs.

So, why don’t you just go into an existing studio to keep the costs down?

It would cost a lot more in a commercial studio. I am estimating a one year set up and composition time, and there is no substitute for being able to work it all out in your own time and place. Doing it this way also enables me to make music in the future without incurring massive outlay.

Ok, you’ve convinced me, i will invest in your mindless self indulgence, where’s the link?

Hey, thanks ! its not live yet, still a few things to do. sign up to the mailing list, and we will let you know when things start churning. The amount of work involved organising everything and making sure I have it all planned out nicely so I can deliver everything efficiently and on time, is significant. The PR side of it is in particular proving a lot for one man to sort out, but I’m doing my best. Right now I’m also constructing a decent video for it, and after that, we are go!

Unfortunately, :( someone extremely nice also died recently which put a bit of a spanner in the works but I’m back in the saddle now. Also add, three massive hard disk crashes in one month, a dead laptop screen and one violent psychotic chav neighbour that has had me having to move out of my place.

Thanks to S & S Communications, the D, Etienne Jabbour , Nina Walsh , Rachael Wheeler, Eve Adams (gorgeous and not an orble querulous twatswollop) and Xorg-ltd for their immense help in various ways. I couldn’t do it without you guys. Massive mandatory *hugs*

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In preparation for my impending Kickstarter project (March 2013) I wrote to a few of my favourite audio companies to ask them to sponsor me and I’ve had crazy positive support from them. The companies listed below have sponsored me with their products.

Presonus have donated their Studio1 software – the entire album will be transferred from logic and finished on Studio1 (see my logic and apple article for more information on why I’ve switched to Studio1)

Celemony have donated Melodyne Upgrade.

Audio Damage have donated all products.

Nusofting have donated all products.

Camel Audio have donated all products.

Ohmforce have donated all products.

Plogue have donated all products.

InaGRM have donated all products

SugarBytes have donated all products

Sonic Couture have donated all products

Izotope have donated their excellent trash plugin.

I can’t thank everyone enough for the support, it means a lot.

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