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
recordings
Friends in Other Dimensions
I haven’t gotten much sleep this past week. I spent four days recording a plethora of L.A. bands for a new Sean Carnage film, Friends in Other Dimensions and one night talking to a small but enthusiastic music business class at West L.A. College.
Last Tuesday I was summoned to Pehrspace to record four-piece, thud-screamers, [...]
Blackout
After 100 degree heat all weekend the power in Long Beach finally gave out. On Monday afternoon, September 3rd, the entire neighborhood went dark. In the early evening dozens of neighbors came out and met each other for the first time. People talked, laughed and shouted early into the following morning when the power came [...]
Twilight & Ghost Stories
On Friday, Asthmatic Kitty Records announced the release of my first solo album Twilight & Ghost Stories. To say I am grateful for their collective encouragement and, in particular, this opportunity would be an understatement.
I have been working on Twilight for close to five years and over the next few months leading up the [...]
How To Listen To (e)Music
I have a subscription to eMusic.com. It is one of the best ways for me to keep up on certain artists and dig into the oddest of oddities (they also happen to have a KILLER world music selection in addition to blues and jazz). Interestingly, I’ve downloaded hundreds of albums in the years I’ve been [...]
Albums in high rotation
Sam Yahel Trio (with Brian Blade and Joshua Redman)- Truth and Beauty
Talk Talk- Spirit of Eden
Omid- Beneath the Surface
CCC- Cracked Pepper
I Heart Lung- Between Them A Forest Grew Between Us, Trackless and Quiet
Steely Dan- Katy Lied
Paul McCarney- RAM
Strategy- Future Rock
Jazz- A Compilation (2001)
By 2001, I was starting to take Sounds Are Active seriously. We had changed the name (from the awful Mantis Music), started talking with Glen about putting out Soul-Junk and received the first of many logos for the label. I think it may have been Pete Deeble’s idea: assemble some of the most interesting, [...]
Create (!)- Moth Nor Rust (2000)
Recorded over the course of a few months, Moth Nor Rust was the first release by Sounds Are Active (at that time, 1999, called Mantis Music). We pressed and sold almost 200 copies of this album on CD-R’s. I had to burn each individual track because I didn’t have a CD burner on my computer [...]