Jettison High Productions

New Visual Music Project site launched!

2009-11-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

What's up, universe?
I just launched a new site for my latest project right here, and you should all check it out!
The Visual Music Project is a Max/MSP software patch that will allow the direct triggering and manipulation of video samples from a MIDI controller. In a nutshell, any user can launch the software, load any Quicktime video/audio samples into the patch, plug in a MIDI controller and start video-remixing in realtime!

This software patch is an ongoing research project and will eventually be released as an open-source application. Keep checking the site for feature updates, software releases and shows/events.
Speaking of shows, the first installation of the VMP will be this November. I am currently building an arcade cabinet, called the SlayStation, that will house the first release of the VMP software along with a built-in MIDI controller and monitor. So bring a handful of quarters and be prepared to be slain...
Until next time, cheers!

Technology: Eventually It Will Turn On You!

2009-08-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Hello, again. Some updates on this past weekend's madness.

On Friday, I participated in a live HD videoconference from San Diego, CA to Sao Paulo, Brazil and Keio, Japan for a special event during the Electronic Language Festival (at 6 in the freakin' morning, no less). It was definitely a cool experience to embody a gigantic talking head on a screen thousands of miles away. I gave a very brief introduction to Beatbox360, which was returning the festival for the second time, as part of FILE's 4K Digital Cinema showcase. After my intro, the movie was played in Brazil and lasted about 2 and a half minutes before the playback server decided that it was a perfectly good time to enjoy a major system failure and crash. Oh, well. The best laid

plans, eh? Check out this CALIT2 news story for more info and pictures from the event.

Later that night, without the help of an afternoon nap, I joined some local bands and DJ's at Porter's Pub at UC San Diego for "Summer Bash." I rocked out some visuals for :[DGRAPH]: (aka Dustin Raphael), a fellow ICAM graduate from UCSD who mixed electronic music with live guitar complete with real-time effects. Long story short, it was pretty ill. I used a combination of live camera effects, some handcrafted animations, and some of my favorite anime clips for some visual support. Big thanks to my fiance, Amanda Frias, for helping me with the camera effects : )

Good beer and good times, indeed.

There won't be too many updates in the next few weeks as I'll be getting ready for my first burn at this year's Burning Man (woot!). With some luck I'll post a new song or two before heading out, so stay tuned.

PEACE web.

Upcoming Shows and Spectacles

2009-07-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

Whassappenin' party people?

I just wanted to give a few updates on some cool stuff going down this upcoming week. For starters, Beatbox360, the 4K Hip-Hop-inspired video game mash-up remix video, will be returning to Sao Paulo, Brazil for another showing at this year's Electronic Language International Festival (FILE 2009). Two movements of Super High-Definition visuals and eight channels of surround sound culminate in a whole lot of awesomeness.

I will also be rocking some visuals next Friday at Porter's Pub (UC San Diego) for "Porter's Pub Summer Bash." There will be bands, DJ's, VJ's and even small robotic bees (I kid you not)! Expect to see some home-brewed abstractions and some anime mash-ups during my set : )

Please come on out for a wicked good time. Tickets cost $10 but come with 2 free drinks, so it practically pays for itself, right? Right.

Hope all is well. Stay classy, World.

Get Your Evolution On

2009-05-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here it is, my first published track after being introduced to the powerhouse combination of Reason and Live. It's an anti-club, club song featuring Dead Prez vocals from the Pete Rock track "Warzone."
For me, the club scene has always been a double-edged sword. On one hand, you have the primal need to turn it up to eleven, party and get down. On the other, you have skrillion dollar cover charges and Top 40 music (if I have to hear "Single Ladies" one more freaking time...).
So I give you an upLIFTed alternative, for all of you club bunnies and thugs. It's got a real grimey, yet punchy beat with some sweet synths and that Dead Prez soldier-swagger that we all know and love...
Download it here, turn it the f**k up, check it out and let me know what you think.
upLIFTed - Dead Prez In Da Club (mp3 | wav)
Peace.

New Indaskyes Mixtape: Under Radar

2009-04-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yo. Web.
Jared Lindo, also known as indaskyes, just released a monster mixtape entitled Under Radar. You can download this 53-minute long hip-hop head trip right here on his website. It's heavy... grimey... psyphy...My personal favorite tracks are definitely "Face N My Lap," a rocking homage to West Coast hip-hop, and a wicked Tech N9ne "T9X" mashup, the world's latest anthem for recreational drug use.
Download this mix now and turn your damn headphones up!

SUBversive Brings Psyphy to San Diego

2009-04-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

Jettison High hosted a state-of-the-art, all-night party last week of massive proportions featuring five DJ sets banging on a professional Meyer Sound system, High-Definition visual effects with Christie Digital Projection, and High End Motion spotlights. There was even a Wii for all those who haven't learned to dance. And best of all? It was a completely free show!
The party began with DJ Prophecy spinning some old school favorites on vinyl. Traxmyth followed, representing the Bay Area with bass-heavy, psyphy mixes off of his new album, Instant Gratification (free download here). San Diego's own Facemelter stepped up next bringing ruthless mash-ups and homegrown beats to, well, melt your face! Last, but certainly not least, indaskyes turned it up to eleven with his Bay Area-based set, rocking his M-Audio Trigger Finger like no one else.

I laid down some visual support using a mix of ONYX VJ and good ol' VLC to deliver some flash-based effects and to throw up some sick Anime remixes. Some homages included Afro Samurai and Gundam 00, but also Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Space Odyssey 2001 on Blu-ray.

The entire party, which attracted about 75-100 people throughout the entire night, was organized guerilla-style in only 24 hours! Imagine what we could do with a proper timeframe... hmm...
Big thanks to all of those who came out to the first of many SUBversive events! And a scrillion thanks to all of the DJ's, especially Traxmyth and indaskyes for all of the help to make this happen. Until next time, party on...

DJ Prophecy - Twitter
Traxmyth - Website | MySpace
indaskyes - Website | MySpace | Twitter
Facemelter - Website | MySpace | Twitter

Traxmyth Brings "Instant Gratification"

2009-02-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

"Who's that kid with the dope, fresh flow?"

Jon Engquist, also known as Traxmyth and the other half of Jettison High Productions, has just released a brand new album, entitled "Instant Gratification." The new album has thirteen tracks including wicked mash-ups and original Traxmyth beats and rhymes.

Check out some of my favorites like "Pony (Traxmyth edit)" and "Stop, Pop and Roll (feat. indaskyes). You can get the entire album for free on his website right here.

Have a listen and show some love, net.

Look Up Indaskyes

2008-11-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

Attention all Hip-Hop Headz!
My buddy Jared Lindo, aka Indaskyes, just released a sweet remix of David Banner's song, "Play." Check it out on his MySpace Music page right here, and leave some feedback. Also, stay tuned for an upcoming TOOL/Missy Elliot mash-up from Indaskyes in the future.
Peace.

America, This is Huge!

2008-11-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

It's 9:35pm. One hour and thirty-five minutes ago, Barack Obama was named the first African-American to be elected President of the Unites States. It is unbelievable! I have never been more proud, nor felt more a part of this country. Like Obama said, this has been a long time coming. I sincerely hope that he will bring the change that he has promised.
Internet, I know that you've been hearing this a lot lately, but it still had to be said.
Peace.

Hey Ma, I'm On TV!

2008-11-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ah, it's good to be back, interwebs.
Last Sunday, ABC ran a segment by "N Art Magazine" documenting the local arts scene here in San Diego. The sites visited ranged from the "San Diego Watercolor Society," to UC San Diego's Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (CRCA) at CALIT2, where the latest in digital art was showcased.

Some of the pieces shown include Sanctuary, a percussion ensemble written by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Roger Reynolds; the HIPerSpace, a 287-megapixel tile display wall made up of 70 30" monitors; and Adam Wilson's robotic arms that play along to music played in real time!
I was able to share the spotlight with these artists with Beatbox360 in 4K Digital Cinema with 5.1 surround sound. Check it out.
Until next time... get out and vote!

KRS-One Releases "Million DJ March" Song

2008-08-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

In order to get the word out to the masses, KRS-One has released a new song, entitled "The Million DJ March" (which you can download from JettisonHigh.com right here). Does KRS-One crank out rhymes, or what?
In other news, I am in Washington D.C. preparing for the March myself. The weather has been raining relentlessly, but tomorrow should prove to be much better. Stay tuned for some more news and pictures from this historical event sometime this weekend.
Peace...

DJ's Have a Dream!

2008-08-26T09:10:00.001-07:00

From August 29th to the 30th, thousands of DJ's will march upon the Capital Building in Washington D.C. in the name of fair use and compensation from the music industry in what will be known as the Million DJ March. In addition to a diverse setlist of performing DJ's, the event will feature speeches from prominent figures from the Hip Hop community, such as KRS-One.
Beatbox360 will hit the stage, as well, in its 1920 x 1080p HD form, played back on a large format screen and a concert-sized sound system. If you're in the D.C. area, come by and check it out. I will see you there...

New CALIT2 Article on 4K @ FILE 2008

2008-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hello world.
CALIT2 released a new article today about our trip to Brazil to present 4K Digital Cinema at the Electronic Language International Festival (FILE) 2008. Check it out here at the CALIT2 newsroom. The article is also posted on CineGrid's website here, and soon to be on Sony's 4K SXRD site here.

I'm still trying to hunt down some video footage of our Brazilian press coverage, so stay tuned for that sometime in the next few weeks.

Free Powderly!

2008-08-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, I got a chance to hang out in the city of Sao Paulo with some local Brazilian Graffiti artists and James Powderly of the Graffiti Research lab. Around twenty of us were hanging out on the divider of a highway with a generator, a projector, a CCTV camera, and your everyday laser pointer. As the laser pointer was used to trace lines and paths on a concrete wall beyond the street, the CCTV camera tracked its position, drew the appropriate line on the computer, and then projected that drawing, all in realtime, onto the concrete wall. The end result is digital L.A.S.E.R. tagging.

Check out some pictures from that night in the Images section (formerly the photography section) of JettisonHigh.com.
Recently, I got wind of some news that James Powderly has been detained in Beijing, China for a few days now, because of a Free Tibet protest involving GRL "Throwie" LED technology. Check out the story here, and a video here.
We wish you the best, James.

FILE 4K Symposium and Our First Glimpses of Rio

2008-08-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big success for 4K Digital Cinema, and Jettison High, as FILE hosted the first 4K Symposium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Moderated by Jane de Almeida, the Symposium featured talks by Todd Margolis, Sheldon Brown, Peter Otto and myself.

Todd discussed attributes of 4K that lend themselves to immersive experiences, giving examples of 4K Teleconferencing and streaming live events such as the opera, Era La Notte. Sheldon compared the future development of 4K to its predecessors, speculating that 4K will spawn various "micro-mediums," as opposed to more monolithic forms of development shown in photography. Peter continued the Symposium with a great introduction to CineGrid, demonstrating the key issues of working over fiber optic networks, such as latency.

I closed out the Symposium with a talk entitled, "An HD Approach to 4K Workflows: Lessons Learned from Hip Hop Culture." Drawing parallels from the history of Hip Hop, I explained how 4K can be created with widely available consumer technology through the use of creative workflows. In addition, I believe that 4K as a medium has an unlimited degree of possiblities beyond making a single image of 8-megapixels. In other words, now that we have the ability to show 8-megapixels of visual data on 50 feet diagonal cinema screens, 4K can be used to display multiple lower-resolution images, increasing the number of visual channels and changing the audience's experience from a passive to an active viewing. All in all, I received a fantastic response to Beatbox360, and I am sure 4K will return very shortly to Brazil.

I will post the talk upon my return to Los Estados Unidos, but for now, it's Caiparinhas and Discotecas in Rio de Janeiro! We just arrived this afternoon after a 6 hour bus ride from Sao Paulo. Brazilian buses are nicer than most American planes. Their seats recline up to 45 degrees with folding foot rests, they stop at nice restaurants, and they're cheap! They do show the same crappy movies though (i.e. Failure to Launch).

Now we are chilling at Copacabana beach, enjoying the fruits of months of work to bring 4K Digital Cinema to Brazil. I can say for sure that this will be my last post until I leave South America...
Muito Obrigado, Tchau!

I Don't Think I'm Coming Back...

2008-08-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

Ola e bom dia da Sao Paulo, Brazil! I have been having the time of my life here at the Electronic Language International Festival 2008 at the FIESP/SESI center. Beatbox360 has been performing fantastically and I have been getting some great feedback from some local fans of visual music. Globo, TeleCultura and Oy, Brazilians top TV networks reported on the opening of our 4K Digital Cinema presentation. I gave a short interview on the advantages of digital cinema.

In a city known for violence, theft and corruption, I have found the people and city of Sao Paulo to be generous and full of goodwill. I've met some amazing artists, filmmakers, graffiti writers, musicians and programmers. Our graitious hosts at FILE (Jane, Cicero, Fabiana, Paula, Vivian, Melina, etc.) have kept us busy going to bars, restaurants, parties and checking out the local sights, of course.

Last night, we hooked up with James Powderly and the Graffiti Research Lab to digitally tag the city of Sao Paulo with a projector, camera, generator, laser pen and some sweet software. Using the laser pen, we could paint any surface of the city we pointed the projector at, while our Brazilian hosts made frequent beer runs. Hip hop was definitely in the house.
Tonight I hope to catch some DJs and MCs performing some live music and maybe hooking up with the GRL for another night of bombing the city. Tomorrow is our symposium on 4K Digital Cinema. I will be giving a talk drawing parallels between Hip Hop and creative consumer technology-based workflows to create 4K video. We have heard rumors that Globo will attend.
Saturday, we will be heading up to Rio de Janeiro for some serious rest and relaxation.

If you see any posts in the news (I have been known so far as Mike Toullion and Mark Toillion in addition to the real spelling of my name), please let me know!
More to come...

Hip Hop Is Where the Heart Is

2008-07-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

Throughout the past few weeks of planning for my trip to Sao Paulo for FILE 2008, I have been repeatedly blown away by the sheer size of the international Hip Hop community. Planet Rock has officially arrived!
CALIT2 was recently visited by the National Geographic Society in order to see the work of Maurizio Seracini. I was approached by one of their project managers after a screening of Beatbox360. She apparently just returned from Rio de Janiero where a couple of National Geographic Explorers were shooting a piece called 4REAL, by Sol Guy and Josh Thome, on "Hip Hop for Social Change," featuring MV Bill, a prominent Brazilian MC. National Geographic is covering Hip Hop? I never imagined that Hip Hop could be so pervasive!It turns out that Sao Paulo, Brazil is one of the fastest growing epicenters of Hip Hop culture in the world! I am planning some side trips into the heart of the city during my stay in order to get a glimpse of this cultural phenomenon. I have also been checking out K'Naan's album, "The Dusty Foot Philospher," which is probably one of the realest Hip Hop albums out. K'Naan is originally from Mogadisho, Somalia, before he fled to Kenya as a refugee. He was also featured in 4REAL.
Early next year I will also travel through Hong Kong and Thailand in the search for Asian Hip Hop.
These encounters have spawned a new photo series, entitled "Hip Hop Is Where the Heart Is." Each version is an homage to the various Hip Hop communities from around the globe, featuring the outline of a specific country containing its most prominent Hip Hop city. So far the series includes the United States (South Bronx, New York), Brazil (Sao Paulo), and South Korea (Seoul). I'm planning to expand the series to Africa, Japan, and Iran.
Check it out in our photography section.

Open Source 4 Life: Firefox Download Day!

2008-06-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hey web.
Mozilla released Firefox 3 today and is attempting to achieve a Guinness World Record for most software downloads in a single day. Jettison High fully supports Firefox, as it is the only internet browser that faithfully translates all of the freakin' code that I write. Therefore, I encourage all of you to go out in the next 24 hours and download Firefox 3!
Peace.

FILE 4K Symposium now Scheduled

2008-06-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well, hello internet. Come here often?
Here are some new updates about the FILE show in Brazil:
In addition to the opening 4K show on Monday, August 4th, there is going to be a 4K Symposium on the following Friday, August 8th. This will include talks and presentations by Sheldon Brown, Todd Margolis, Peter Otto and myself. We will all be giving a 30 minute talk (translated to Portuguese in real time) followed by our 4K artwork.
In order to establish some context, I will talk briefly about the technology and the process involved in creating Beatbox360. More importantly, though, I would like to discuss the piece from a Hip Hop standpoint, including the elements of the DJ, the MC, the graffiti artist and the break dancer (B-boy/B-girl). I'll post some of my thoughts on these topics in the next few weeks leading up to the show.
Keep it real. Peace.

It's Bigger Than Hip Hop

2008-06-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

CALIT2 and the University of California, San Diego are both featuring a news article about Beatbox360, a Hip Hop-based 4K Super High-Definition artwork of mine. The article, written by CALIT2 senior writer, Tiffany Fox, was mainly written for a "tech" audience, but rebelliously dwells on the topics of Hip Hop and remix theory. These aspects of the artwork, while being the basis for its artistic expression, have usually been undercut by the 4K and HD technology used to portray them.

The full article is published on CALIT2's website, while a shortened version is featured at This Week @ UCSD. Unfortunately, the published version of the article lacks an opening epigraph by KRS-One that I had added. So, I'm going to stick it to the man by putting it here:

Hip means to know
It's a form of intelligence
To be hip is to be up-date and relevant
Hop is a form of movement
You can't just observe a hop
You got to hop up and do it
Hip and Hop is more than music
Hip is the knowledge
Hop is the movement
Hip and Hop is intelligent movement

Special thanks goes out to Tiffany for a fantastic article and also to Pinar Istek for her supreme photographic skills! I feel extremely lucky to be able to work with such great people. Check out the Beatbox360 website to see the entire photo shoot and to download the HD version!
Peace out, internet.

All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready to Go

2008-05-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

Beats, Rhymes and Art.
Beatbox360, a 4K visual beat of XBOX360 footage, was recently selected to be a feature presentation at FILE: a digital arts festival at the SESI Cultural Centre in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The annual Electronic Language International Festival (FILE), occurring from August 5th to the 31st, attracts over 40,000 attendees and a vast amount of international media coverage. And, for the first time, 4K digital cinema.
4K comes to Brazil.
Thanks to the work of Todd Margolis (CRCA), Sony and Zaxel Systems will be donating a 4K SXRD projector and Zaxel 4K playback computers, respectively, for the festival. Other works being shown, in addition to Beatbox360, include Scalable City by Sheldon Brown, and Julia 4D by Dan Sandin. Beatbox360 will be closing out the show in full 4K, 8 channel surround sound glory.Leaving on a Jet.
I will be flying to Sao Paulo, all expenses paid, to check out the festival, represent Jettison High, and give a hell of a good show! If I'm not there, then check the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. I am really excited about this trip and I will keep you posted, webbers.

So the Tiger is crouching, and the Dragon hides?

2008-05-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

Hello, internet.
Here's a new photo series, called Stalking Tiger. It's a digital composition of high-res scanned images of real objects, ranging from microphones to circuit boards. The tiger, for example, was created from scanning a small pool of Windex (the shape of the tiger was a complete coincidence). The subtle grain of the plastic that held the pool of liquid also contributed to the overall texture of the background.
The total size of the composition is 3000 x 4200 pixels, or 10 x 14 inches. All of the images within it were used at their native resolution, as well, to achieve the highest possible quality.
Check it out at photography.jettisonhigh.com to see Stalking Tiger along with certain sections of the composition at their full resolution. To see the piece in full resolution, click on [website ] on the photography page, or just click here.

Good News for Stalkers

2008-05-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Dear WWW,
We now have a new "About Us" section at JettisonHigh.com, for all of those who want to know a bit more about our individual focuses (foci?). You can also grab our contact info while you're there, unless you're already outside in the bushes.
Hope everyone had a great weekend; lord knows I did. I found out how many sake bombs are too many sake bombs (five), why bowling is only considered an ESPN2 sport (they serve beer to players and spectators), and what a healing arts festival is (eating free samples while listening to local reggae bands).
Love,
HTTP://

Here in Our Biosphere

2008-04-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the Los Altos photos fresh out of Photoshop.

View the rest here.

I'm not really into nature photography to be honest. With all due respect to Ansel Adams, large, far off landscape images are just not my thing. The one way I've been able to make nature photography work for me is by having one central focus. This ends up resulting in mostly macro photography, although sometimes I can work with the rule of thirds to do more of a focused landscape.

In this series I worked with different lighting. A lot of my images tend to be dark and ominous so I went with really bright, vivid colors on this, making it look almost surreal in some of the photos (Almond Orchard). I also was interested by how the sunlight looked through the greenery (Green Stars), or how nature could imitate man-made products (Reaching Wire). I did a little play on pattern work as well in the photo "Foxtails". All in all I was pleased with what I came home with.

(To view image titles, click the comment button on the pop-up navigation bar.)

New Look for Video Page

2008-04-21T14:42:00.001-07:00

Hello, internet.
I've designed a new video page over the weekend (yes, work can be done over 4/20) and it is in action right now. Check it out and I'll keep fine-tuning it as time goes on.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Peace.