Christopher Willits
Encyclopedia
Christopher Willits is a musician
and multimedia artist
located in San Francisco. Willits is "a prominent experimental musician from the San Francisco Bay area" and "a pioneer and a teacher, exploring new methodologies for signal processing.". He has been instrumental in redefining the guitar in the digital age. Through diverse projects his focus has remained on guitar and computer software processing and improvisation, which generates a large palette of possible sounds including; melodic rhythms, grainy textures, and smooth undulating ambient layers. His music is electroacoustic in nature, in that both analogue and digital worlds are meshed into one. Pitchfork states that Willits "paints with his guitar". Willits is "a purveyor of both beauty and experimentation, a video director and a musician, a composer and performer, an artist and organizer, bringing together different scenes (through the platform Overlap.org).". He has created a brand of "incredibly intelligent compositions that manages to be hard to pinpoint into a genre".
in electronic music
at Mills College
, where he studied with Pauline Oliveros
, Fred Frith
and John Bischoff. At Mills he explored structure-generating processes in music; a focus not unfamiliar to former Mills affiliates John Cage
and Steve Reich
. Prior to Mills, Willits received visual arts training in painting, sculpture, photography and film/video/new media art at the Kansas City Art Institute
under the direction of Patrick Clancy.
Willits, as a solo artist or in collaboration, has released music on the following record labels: 12k
(USA), Ghostly International
(USA), Fällt
(Ireland), Sub Rosa
(Belgium), Nibble Records (USA), Ache Records
(Canada), Yacca (Japan) and Plop
(Japan). He has toured throughout Europe, America, China and Japan.
Willits has participated in numerous projects, including collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto
, Zach Hill
(drummer from the band Hella
), Miguel Depedro (Kid606
), Brad Laner (Medicine), Nate Boyce, Latrice Barnett (singer/songwriter and bassist for Handsome Boy Modeling School
), Taylor Deupree
(12k record label founder), Scott Pagano (visual artist and motion graphics designer), Matmos
. Willits is also the founder and director of the record label and community building organization Overlap http://overlap.org.
" to describe the non-linear, real-time indexing, cutting and re-sampling of guitar and voice).
Willits, in an interview, further expanded on the term 'folding,' "It has a lot to do with time. I actually wrote a whole thesis about this, if you want to go to the Mills library and check it out [laughs]. It’s a very simple process of recording something to memory and then indexing at different points. But instead of it being a granular process [a form of synthesis in which a sample is separated into ‘grains’], I’m actually skating to different locations within this memory. So there’s this continuous rupture of time that creates these rhythmic patterns, so these melodic patterns start to emerge out of this time processing technique."
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and multimedia artist
Multimedia artist
Multimedia artists are contemporary artists who use a wide range of media to communicate their art. Multimedia art includes, by definition, more than one medium, therefore multimedia artists use visual art in combination with sound art, moving images and other media...
located in San Francisco. Willits is "a prominent experimental musician from the San Francisco Bay area" and "a pioneer and a teacher, exploring new methodologies for signal processing.". He has been instrumental in redefining the guitar in the digital age. Through diverse projects his focus has remained on guitar and computer software processing and improvisation, which generates a large palette of possible sounds including; melodic rhythms, grainy textures, and smooth undulating ambient layers. His music is electroacoustic in nature, in that both analogue and digital worlds are meshed into one. Pitchfork states that Willits "paints with his guitar". Willits is "a purveyor of both beauty and experimentation, a video director and a musician, a composer and performer, an artist and organizer, bringing together different scenes (through the platform Overlap.org).". He has created a brand of "incredibly intelligent compositions that manages to be hard to pinpoint into a genre".
Biography
Willits completed a master's degreeMaster's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
, where he studied with Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
and John Bischoff. At Mills he explored structure-generating processes in music; a focus not unfamiliar to former Mills affiliates John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
and Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
. Prior to Mills, Willits received visual arts training in painting, sculpture, photography and film/video/new media art at the Kansas City Art Institute
Kansas City Art Institute
The Kansas City Art Institute is a private, independent, four-year college of fine arts and design founded in 1885 in Kansas City, Missouri....
under the direction of Patrick Clancy.
Willits, as a solo artist or in collaboration, has released music on the following record labels: 12k
12k
12k is an independent record label, based in Pound Ridge, New York, USA. It was founded on January 1, 1997 by Taylor Deupree. The label focuses on experimental electronic music, specifically on digital minimalism and contemporary forms; as of January 2007, it has released over 40 CDs and become one...
(USA), Ghostly International
Ghostly International
Ghostly International is an American independent record label. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye , Mobius Band, and Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys, all of which are innovative contributors to the world of music....
(USA), Fällt
Fällt
Fällt is an independent publishing house specialising in experimental music, fine art, design and criticism.Established in the mid 1990s by W. Conrad Röntgen and Christopher Murphy as a publishing vehicle for experimental interdisciplinary works, Fällt is now jointly run by W. Conrad Röntgen and...
(Ireland), Sub Rosa
Sub Rosa (label)
Sub Rosa is a record label based in Brussels. The label was established at the end of the ‘80s, and expanded its catalogue in the mid-‘90s through the release of electronic music. Directed by Guy Marc Hinant and Frédéric Walheer, the label has released over 250 titles...
(Belgium), Nibble Records (USA), Ache Records
Ache Records
Ache Records is an independent record label based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was started by musician Andy Dixon around 1999. Ache releases music for both Canadian and international acts. The first release on Ache Records was Hot Hot Heat's 1999 debut, Hot Hot Heat, a four-song EP...
(Canada), Yacca (Japan) and Plop
Plop
Plop is an onomatopoeic term for the sound of an object falling onto a surface or onto water.It may also refer to:* Kabouter Plop, the eponymous hero of the Belgian children's TV and comic strip series...
(Japan). He has toured throughout Europe, America, China and Japan.
Willits has participated in numerous projects, including collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
, Zach Hill
Zach Hill
Zach Hill is a musician residing in Sacramento, California. Primarily known for his drumming, he performs/has performed in numerous Pacific Coast based groups, including his primary group, Hella, as well as Holy Smokes, Nervous Cop, and a diverse range of others including El Grupo Nuevo de Omar...
(drummer from the band Hella
Hella (band)
Hella is an American band from Sacramento, California. They play a technical blend of math rock, noise rock, and experimental rock. The primary members of the band are Spencer Seim on electric guitar and Zach Hill on drums...
), Miguel Depedro (Kid606
Kid606
Kid606 is the stage name of Miguel Trost De Pedro, an electronic musician who was born 1979 July in Caracas, Venezuela, raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco...
), Brad Laner (Medicine), Nate Boyce, Latrice Barnett (singer/songwriter and bassist for Handsome Boy Modeling School
Handsome Boy Modeling School
Handsome Boy Modeling School was a collaborative project between renowned hip hop producers Dan the Automator and Prince Paul...
), Taylor Deupree
Taylor Deupree
Taylor Deupree , is an American electronic musician, photographer and graphic designer. He is most known for the founding of the 12k record label, along with his work as a member of Prototype 909, and his collaborations with Savvas Ysatis and Christopher Willits...
(12k record label founder), Scott Pagano (visual artist and motion graphics designer), Matmos
Matmos
Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including...
. Willits is also the founder and director of the record label and community building organization Overlap http://overlap.org.
Folding
Willits' guitar lines and harmonies are folded into each other using custom-designed software (Willits uses the term "foldingFolding
Fold or folding may refer to:* Paper folding, the art of folding paper* Book folding, in book production* Skin fold, an area of skin that folds* Fold , in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot...
" to describe the non-linear, real-time indexing, cutting and re-sampling of guitar and voice).
Willits, in an interview, further expanded on the term 'folding,' "It has a lot to do with time. I actually wrote a whole thesis about this, if you want to go to the Mills library and check it out [laughs]. It’s a very simple process of recording something to memory and then indexing at different points. But instead of it being a granular process [a form of synthesis in which a sample is separated into ‘grains’], I’m actually skating to different locations within this memory. So there’s this continuous rupture of time that creates these rhythmic patterns, so these melodic patterns start to emerge out of this time processing technique."
Overlap.org
Christopher Willits participates in a couple prominent online communities for musicians. One being http://overlap.org which is involved in creative community building events.Discography
- GOLD (Overlap) - 2011
- Live On Earth – Vol. 3 (self-released) - 2011
- Tiger Flower Circle Sun (Ghostly International) - 2010
- Live On Earth – Vol. 2 (self-released) - 2009
- Live On Earth – Vol. 1 (self-released) - 2009
- Plants and Hearts (Room40) - 2007
- Surf Boundaries (Ghostly International) – 2006
- Little Edo (Nibble) – 2004
- Pollen (Fallt) – 2003
- Folding, and the Tea (12k) – 2002
- :plateaus, centers, stoma... (self-released CDR) – 2001
- storks and wires (self-released CDR) – 2000
Compilations
- Various artists – Idol Tryouts (Ghostly International) – 2006
- Various artists – SMM vol.2 - Breathe in Seven Sections (Ghostly International) – 2004
- Various artists – E*A*D*G*B*E - Seven Machines For Summer (12k) – 2003
Collaborations and Band Projects
- Willits + Sakamoto (Christopher Willits and Ryuichi Sakamoto) - "Ocean Fire" (Commmons/12k) - 2008
- Christopher Willits + Taylor Deupree – Listening Garden (Line) – 2007
- The North Valley Subconscious Orchestra – The Right Kind of Nothing (Ghostly International) – 2006
- Christopher Willits + Taylor Deupree – Live In Japan 2004 (12k) – 2005
- Flössin – Lead Singer (Ache Records, Yacca) – 2004
- Christopher Willits + Taylor Deupree – Mujo (Plop) – 2004
- Christopher Willits + Taylor Deupree – AS08 (Sub Rosa, Audiosphere) – 2003
- Saturn 138 (HWTBL) – 1998