Acrylic and oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches
Inspired by a lucid dream experience, this piece is an oil painting spontaneously scored with a palette knife to produce the shapes colored with acrylic paint.
Author: Christian Williams
I make music, paint pictures, and write. I'm also the editor of Utne Reader magazine in the United States, where I write about arts, culture, and the nature of consciousness.
Leo (2014)
Oil on canvas
24 x 30 inches
Inspired by the John Coltrane composition of the same name:
The Lost Art of Doing Nothing
What are we missing out on when we use our smart phones to pass idle time? Recently, while eating lunch by myself at a local diner, I realized something that genuinely bothered me: I’m losing the ability to sit and do nothing. Where I used … Continue reading The Lost Art of Doing Nothing
Organ Loaners – “In the Basement” EP (2014)
When I’m in the mood to make some noise, my musical outlet is a garage trio called Organ Loaners with some friends that love lo-fi, ’60s-inspired garage rock as much as I do. Featuring my buddy Mike on drums, my buddy Brandon on bass, and me on guitar/lead vocals, Organ Loaners play whenever it can find a show at one of the basement rock clubs in Lawrence, KS.
This is a five song EP recorded in Mike’s basement on Nov. 23, 2013. I may have been drunk and the amps may have been too loud, but these noisy and imperfect first takes are a pretty good representation of the rough-around-the-edges sound that Organ Loaners is known for.
Predilection 2 (2014)
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 20 inches
Gift to a friend
Number 8 (2014)
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 inches
Commission for a co-worker’s office
Providence (2014)
These five pieces were composed with a process I call interlooping. Each piece starts out as a single loop of spontaneously-played piano, which is played back while I play and record a second “live” loop. This continual layering of live playing over accumulated loops results in a combination of interesting interruptions, harmonies, and echos that make each piece increasingly more dynamic from start to finish.
Added to the catalog of Japanese netlabel Bump Foot in January 2015.
The titles refer to specific moments from my life that have been instrumental in shaping my present and my future:
– Tanglewood: The dissolution of my first long-term relationship.
– Long Distance: The passing of my grandmother.
– Questions: The process of shedding the faith of my childhood.
– First Glance: The precise moment I met my wife, the love of my life.
– Providence: The street in Lawrence, KS, on which my wife and I now live, and where we’ve decided to make our home.
In all, these pieces remind me of where I’ve been, and how those experiences have helped me recognize where I’m meant to be.
All music composed, performed, and recorded by Christian Williams. Recorded with a Zoom H2N through the Looptastic HD app for iPad; mixed and mastered with Audacity.
Providence by Christian Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Number 7 (2014)
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 40 inches
Commission for a co-worker’s office
Lawrence, Kansas (2014)
Six sound compositions made from field recordings that I collected near my home in Lawrence, Kansas. This is the first volume of my Sound Profiles series – an ongoing project where I document the soundscapes of the places I live and visit with a combination of unadulterated and digitally manipulated field recordings.
The concept of this album was to illustrate a spring day in my adopted hometown, and build a narrative around the sounds that compete for one’s attention in this small, but vibrant city in the American Midwest.
Selected as one of 50 highlights of Creative Commons music from 2014 by Pilot Eleven, a UK-based netlabel.
– Prelude: Early morning thunderstorm (unadulterated field recording that ends with the fade-in of the next track, “Rope”).
– Rope: Dying tornado siren (layered loops of varied pitch).
– All Clear, Wake Up: Ambient backyard noise in afternoon (unadulterated field recording layered behind loops and half-speed recording).
– Iron Horse: Idle locomotive at Lawrence Amtrak station (layered loops of varied speed).
– Hydro: Bowersock Dam on the Kansas River (sound collage of three different locations near the dam).
– Conversations: Backyard at night (unadulterated field recording).
All sounds recorded with a Zoom H2N and/or Edirol R-09; mixed and manipulated with Audacity by Christian Williams in Lawrence, KS.
Lawrence, Kansas by Christian Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Dog-Day Suite / Spaces (2014)
Two separate solo works for piano each spontaneously composed, performed, and recorded at my home studio in Lawrence, Kansas.
The first four tracks comprise Dog-Day Suite, which was performed and recorded on the afternoon of September 7, 2013. With the windows open and the sound of cicadas providing the ambient sound, the individual pieces in the suite represent different characteristics of the annual cicada hatch that marks late summer in Kansas.
The last nine tracks comprise Spaces, a collection of abstract pieces that were my favorite results from experimentation with piano reverberation in a confined space.
Released February 16, 2014. All music composed, performed, and recorded by Christian Williams in Lawrence, KS.
Dog-Day Suite / Spaces by Christian Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Christian Williams 