Chris Schlarb » I Heart Lung

I Heart Lung Tour Texana

schlarb — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:55:32 +0000

A year after I Heart Lung lurched out toward the East Coast we are venturing out for one week of Big Texas Fun. According to the Austin Chronicle: “I Heart Lung – guitarist Chris Schlarb and drummer Tom Steck – is a wily creature, jumping right to left brain with amphetamine grace.” Flattery will get you two shows in Austin.

All dates feature young fire-keepers Rare Grooves. March 11th features I Heart Lung in quartet mode with special guests Chris Cogburn and C.J. Boyd.

Not coincidentally, I will be speaking on a panel at the NX35 Music Festival in Denton, Texas on March 12th. Many thanks to Michael Seman for inviting me out and making this little tour a possibility.

March 10th at Salvage Vanguard Theater, Austin, TX. Presented by Church of the Friendly Ghost.
March 11th at Hot Mamas Espresso, Austin, TX. with Chris Cogburn and C.J. Boyd. Presented by Church of the Friendly Ghost.
March 12th at NX35 Festival, Denton, TX. (Chris Schlarb Discussion Panel)
March 13th at NX35 Festival, Denton, TX. with Shiny Around The Edges
March 14th at Resonant Sound Series, Houston, TX. with C.J. Boyd
March 15th at Avant Garden, Houston, TX. with C.J. Boyd

For maps, links, and detailed show listings, check this out.

Another Great Convergence

schlarb — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:39:23 +0000

Everything is starting to come together again. I usually have so many projects ongoing that this sort of thing is inevitable and happens a few times a year.

Here, for example, is a short list of what has transpired in the last month:

Finished mixing the new I Heart Lung album, Interoceans.

Drove out to master it with Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering in Phoenix, Arizona.

Toured the West Coast with I Heart Lung and Sounds Are Active label-mates, ellul.

Took some photos of the tour and posted them on Flickr.

Recorded five new compositions with I Heart Lung for a 16mm video project with Jonathan Dueck.

Drove 19 hours straight home from Portland, Oregon to Long Beach, California. Stopped in San Francisco to drop off ellul, picked up some In-N-Out and then kept on trucking.

Started reading an interesting Steely Dan biography written by British author Brian Sweet.

Also started Yelping.

Mixed down and mastered The Widow Babies forthcoming album, The Mike Watt EP.

Then mixed it down again. Gotta master again.

Filled in over at Spud! for a few days. Worked 23 hours in 48 hours.

Spent a day filming a few interesting on location live performances with I Heart Lung and Sean Carnage.

Soon I will be finishing up an album with singer/songwriter Steve Gerstein. Then I will start mixing down the recordings from the first couple of sessions I had with Liz Janes and the band at the Compound a few months ago.

Then I will be jumping into the studio with LA-based progressive instrumental band Charts and Maps and will try to get I Heart Lung into the studio to record our side of the “Ecstatic Duos” series being released by Thor’s Rubber Hammer Productions.

All the while I will be working on finishing the score for an aforementioned video game project with game designer Nifflas Nygren.

I need to have my electric guitar intonated too.

I Heart Lung Gets Asthmatic, Tours

schlarb — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:36:53 +0000

Wow. What a few weeks it has been. Tom Steck and I have been working on wrapping up all things Interoceans and yesterday, our good friends at Asthmatic Kitty Records announced the signing of seven new artists to their roster, among them, I Heart Lung. Fine company indeed.

Now, we gladly leave for a week on the road. Beginning this Saturday, May 3rd, we embark on a quick West Coast tour with Sounds Are Active label-mates ellul. This will be the first trip up the coast for I Heart Lung, so come out and see us if you can.

All dates and times confirmed:

Saturday May 3rd at The Cocaine, Los Angeles, CA.
w/ improv set with ellul, Ars Poetria
8:30pm // $5 ($7 non-drinking)

Sunday May 4th at OPEN, Long Beach, CA.
w/ ellul
5pm (Matinee Show) // $5 (all ages)

Monday May 5th at Retox Lounge, San Francisco, CA.
w/ ellul, Dominique Leone
8pm // $3

Tuesday May 6th at Pearl Lounge, Eureka, CA.
w/ ellul, Brother Mitya, The Beat Nun
9pm // $5

Thursday May 8th at Helm Gallery, Tacoma, WA.
w/ ellul
8pm // $5

Friday May 9th at Towne Lounge, Portland, OR.
w/ ellul, buh-bLAM
9pm // $5

Seven Days

schlarb — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:44:40 +0000

Last Thursday my wife and I had the incomparable pleasure of watching and listening to Herbie Hancock perform live in front of a tiny crowd of 200 people. And if one musical legend wasn’t enough, Joni Mitchell made an unannounced three song cameo and brought the house down and, honestly, me to tears. I wrote a review of the performance for L.A. Record which you can read here. UPDATE: Yahoo! has now posted the entire performance online.

That Saturday I was in the studio with L.A. band The Widow Babies and we recorded a forthcoming E.P. of epic proportions. I will say only this: The Lamb Lies Down in San Pedro.

Monday saw a vocal overdub session for local singer/songwriter Steve Gerstein and his girlfriend Caroline. I have been working with Steve on his debut album for a few months now and things have been going really well. It’s not my usual gig but I am enjoying the back and forth of experimental and more conventional pop music that have sent me ping-ponging lately.

I Heart Lung gathered on Tuesday for a mixing/recording session for Interoceans. We are coming dangerously close to finishing the album (see Thursday).

Last night I had a recording session with Awol One who laid down a monstrous verse and two choruses for the upcoming I Heart Lung remix album. More on that much later.

Today, Thursday, I recorded with Anthony Shadduck who is adding the final upright bass touches to Interoceans in what I think will be the final compositional element for this fearsome record.

I also synced up and processed a killer vocal track from Serengeti for that aforementioned I Heart Lung remix project.

Not a bad seven days.

Snow Din

schlarb — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:28:08 +0000

Just last week my fingers were numb from rehearsing and recording songs for the new Liz Janes album due out later this year on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Today, they are suffering from a slight frost bite thanks to a weekend trip to the mountains near Big Bear, California.

With focus returned, this week will see the mix down of the new I Heart Lung album, Interoceans with my other(worldly) half, Tom Steck.

I Heart Lung will also be performing a rare matinee show at OPEN this coming Sunday @ 4pm. Along for the ride are PWRFL POWER and Capillary Action. Suggested donation of $5.

I Heart Lung, PWRFL POWER, Capillary Action
OPEN // 4pm // $5
2226 E. 4th Street
Long Beach, Ca 90814

UPDATE: Long Beach Culture’s Greggory Moore reviews the show.

Interviews, Reviews & You

schlarb — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:27:18 +0000

As of today Twilight & Ghost Stories has been out for exactly a month’s time. In the days that have passed since its release I have been surprised by the reactions that people have had to the album. Honestly, it has surpassed the expectations that I placed on it and I can only thank those who have listened and written about the record as thoughtfully as they have. I have gathered more than a few of the press reviews here for further perusal.

Recently, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by a few fine writers, Ian Patterson from All About Jazz and Chris Ziegler from The District Weekly, and both of those articles have now been published online. Both writers asked questions that provoked in me new reflections on the creative process that went into Twlight. This week also saw the online publishing of a print feature with Josiah Hughes of XLR8R Magazine.

In late November I was canonized alongside a great many number of artists who have contributed to Dusted Magazine’s Listed column and a few days after that was featured on NPR’s Second Stage with Robin Hilton.

And so to wrap up this densely assembled post I am asking for a little help from anyone who has enjoyed listening to Twilight & Ghost Stories. A few people have already posted very thoughtful and kind reviews on iTunes and Amazon.com and I would ask that if you have a minute or two, perhaps you will consider leaving short review there. It really does help encourage people to check out the album when they see others have enjoyed it as well.

Again, here are links to the album at Amazon.com, iTunes and even eMusic.com

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your reviews!

If it is possible to bribe my small (but intelligent) audience in some way, perhaps a previously unreleased I Heart Lung performance recording will persuade you?

I Heart Lung live at Pehrspace [mp3]
Recorded in Los Angeles, California
August 27th, 2007 // 320kps

Disclaimer: No reviews are required to listen to or download the above recording.

Paper Thin Walls and Stereo Subversion Features

schlarb — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:24:50 +0000

Both Paper Thin Walls and Stereo Subversion have published interviews within the last few days. The interview with Stereo Subversion was an enjoyable duet with Tom Steck regarding I Heart Lung and the other was a feature story about the weekend I lost to Sean Carnage a few months ago.

Many thanks to Jessica Suarez at Paper Thin Walls and Dave Cantor at Stereo Subversion for deftly sifting through all my words.

Feeling Quite Well, Thank You

schlarb — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:58:13 +0000

So it has been over a month since The Great Information Implosion of 2007 and here is what I have to show for my time.

Liz Janes and I are working on a new album together. Some great melodies and lyrics from Liz. Some complex and painful chords and progressions from yours truly.

I Heart Lung will be leaving on a very short, very fun tour of AZ, NM and CO at the beginning of August. Hopefully with new t-shirts and CD’s in tow.

My first solo album, Twilight & Ghost Stories is mastered, completely laid out, artworked and on track for a late 2007 release. Promise.

C.J. Boyd and I have a special duo performance coming up soon at OPEN in Long Beach. We will be recording it but if you could make it out, why wouldn’t you?