Why Chris Schlarb?
Here is a quick example: if you want to approximate an orchestra of instruments with a single keyboard, I am probably not the right one for the job. My best work utilizes any number of unique, real world instruments including tabla, euphonium, mandolin, marimba and upright double bass. I thoroughly enjoy working with real instruments, in real spaces, with real musicians.
If your film, video game or album requires texture and atmospheric depth, unique or unusual live instrumentation, and thoughtful arrangement, I would love to hear from you. For the last decade I have explored the ambient, jazz, folk, electronic and modern classical genres as a member of both the American Composers Forum and ASCAP.
I specialize in taking small and medium sized budgets and turning them into expensive sounding recordings. I operate my own mobile recording studio and engineer most sessions, saving time and cost.
My work can be heard on this site and read about in the New York Times, All About Jazz, Time Out New York, Chicago Reader and Pitchfork.
Record Labels
Asthmatic Kitty
Sounds Are Active
live performance
I Heart Lung Tour Texana
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 [...]
Electric Guitar Pedal Board
I try to keep it simple. In fact, for most of the last 10 years, my use of effects pedals has been downright spartan. At this point, I think I have finally put the right combination of sounds together. The only difference with this photo and my actual performance set up is that the BOSS [...]
September Fortnight
The next two weeks look to be unexpectedly busy. In addition to sound, foley and composition work in the studio I will be performing twice and engineering three live events. For whatever reason, I don’t play all that often in Los Angeles or Long Beach anymore. If I’m not on tour, I’m usually at home [...]
Twilight & Ghost Stories NYC
All photography by Scott Friedlander ©2009
Shannon Fields and I started talked in the early winter of 2008. He was booking four months in advance for the calendar at John Zorn’s venue, The Stone. Each month one person picks all of the music that will be played there, two seatings per night, one at 8pm and [...]
I Heart Lung’s Deep Water Tour
A week after Interoceans received a rave review on Pitchfork, I Heart Lung depart for a two week Midwest and East Coast tour. Shows scheduled in Brooklyn at Death By Audio (with Opsvik & Jennings) and Chicago at The Empty Bottle (with Serengeti and DM Stith) on March 3rd and 8th respectively. Full dates and [...]
Some Assembly Required
This past Sunday afternoon I spent a few hours picking up last minute accessories for the upcoming performance of Twilight & Ghost Stories: plug adapters, electric cables, miniature light switches and bulbs. My luggage hardly consists of a “musical instrument” in the traditional sense; I won’t even be traveling with an acoustic guitar. When I [...]
Two Twilights
Photo by Nariposa
In two weeks time I have travelled over 3,500 miles to perform Twilight & Ghost Stories. The first performance, on July 19th, at San Francisco’s Hemlock Tavern was a cramped, frenzied, artistic success that included a wonderful ensemble of musicians including an interesting substitution: cellist Alex Cort and his wife gave birth to [...]
Up For Air
When I am able to look back on the frequency of posts on this blog I will, most likely, be able to track my own productivity. The more work I get done, the less I post and so on.
Right now I am in the final few weeks of one video game project that I have [...]
Another Great Convergence
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 [...]
I Heart Lung Gets Asthmatic, Tours
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 [...]
Seven Days
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 [...]
Snow Din
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 [...]
In Twos
A peculiar run of duos began last week as Tom Steck and I ventured out to Culver City’s Jazz Bakery to watch a fellow guitar/drum duo in Bill Frisell and Joey Baron. You can read my review of the event as published by L.A. Record here.
A few days later trumpeter Kris Tiner and I performed [...]
The Rain Came
Photo by frinkianz
A few weeks back I was asked a question: would I like to go to Athens, Georgia in December and play some music. Typically, I responded with two questions of my own. One about transportation and one about a performance guarantee. Both of those questions were quickly answered in the affirmative and arrangements [...]
Twilight Listening and Live
If you are interested in all this Twilight & Ghost Stories business I would like to direct your attention to Asthmatic Kitty Dot Com where you can download two sections from the album and purchase a copy for only $10.
To celebrate the album’s release, listening events have been organized throughout the country. They will feature [...]
OPEN too
C.J. Boyd and I played a live duet last night at OPEN in Long Beach. And The Furies Say opened up and were a real joy to listen to. It means a lot for a band to spend time on arrangements, counter melodies and interesting harmonic events. Also, knowing the trials of the road I [...]