Requiem Video

Well here it is. Directed, produced, and all post fx by Kim Fuhrmann. Starring Adrienne Smith. DOP: Sasha Whitehouse.



The track will be mastered and hopefully released as a single in the new year. Thanks to K-Rudd, this was funded with my stimulus money.

Fear/Politics

Well I'm not one (usually) to make a bold political statement. Particularly online (where it counts for little), let alone through my art. That's not to say politics doesn't motivate me in any way. Quite the opposite is true. I just hate how musicians whine and rant in their songs to an extreme that renders the point useless. Quite often these individuals (who no doubt mean well) will do something to fuck up during their career making everything they ever stood against irrelevant, and if there is one thing that suffers from that happening more than anything else, it is the heart and essence of protest itself. When someone whose stance on a issue I admire does a back flip, or sells it out for political favour, I feel helpless, like I've lost my voice mid song.

I say all this as preface/disclaimer to the following political rant.

I am afraid of Tony Abbot.

What scares me about him leading the opposition is his fundamentalism, and his method of playing the political game. Tony Abbot wants to win. He doesn't want to lead, just to be the leader. During the Howard years, politics in this country was reduced to a shit slinging contest, where nothing good for the nation ever comes. Tony's opposition tactic is playing this game. Blocking new ideas purely because the opposite team thought of them, when you have zero to offer as alternative. This is disruptive and dangerous.

I am also afraid of peoples apathy. I am afraid that this country will choose to side with a party who wants to do nothing, over a party who wants to create change. I'm afraid of you. I don't think Australians are ignorant, but I do think we like to choose the easy option. I am appalled by the current government and opposition's inability to take action on important environmental issues. Appalled by the smoke and mirrors tactics employed to draw attention away from hard issues, rather than focusing energy upon them and fixing problems.

In news today, as a first point of call as Opposition leader, Tony Abbot points the finger at K-Rudd for being over seas too often. Says that he should be here to tackle things like interest rates. How much longer can we listen to this? Smoke and mirrors people. We know that the government has no control over the reserve bank. Abbot calls action on climate change "crap", and plans to block an ETS in favour of more research and blah, blah, blah. Well what does he want to do instead? No, no policies. It's happening again. In the months ahead, watch the catch phrases and bullshit fly.

I want things to start happening. Who's with me? When our little voices can be heard (seriously, a vote every 3 years..? some voice), demand action. Look beyond the shit slinging major parties, don't waste your vote on their extremes. Put people who care about the country/world in the senate. Make an informed decision. Understand the process. Don't just vote for a major because you want to be on a winning team, otherwise we all lose. Otherwise everything comes grinding to a halt yet again. Otherwise the only other option we've really got for change (real, immediate change) is violent revolution, and who wants all that mess?

End rant.
j.

Blog for blog sake.

Oh the procrastination. Seriously folks, life is really manic. Full time employment, saving up to master the record, taking on too many projects on the side (short films and dance works and gigs - what am i crazy?).

Today Adam Rudegeair and I are having the first rehearsal for a little live radio experiment for a film music radio show called The Score (106.7PBSFM). It comes as an extension of our set for the Thereminstrosity Festival, this time we're arranging movie themes into psychedelic rock jams, with theremin thrown in for good fun, and we're calling it Theremin Will Be Blood. All things going according to plan, the line up for this show will also mark the beginning of a new (heavier) direction for my music. There's potentially a new EP in the works to follow up if you go (I'm always working ahead of myself), with a more collaborative band feel to it, and I'm hoping to pull some of this out on stage mid way through next year or so.

Besides that, there are a bunch of solo gigs coming up, where I'll be reworking my songs to perform them without the band, which will mean some longer soundscape/beat improvs, live remix style, some songs I've not played live before, and some covers for fun. (For dates check out my myspace gig guide.
I'm also hoping to take these solo renditions on the road very soon to promote the new record, so stay tuned for that too.

That's pretty much the jist of it all for now. Thanks for reading.
j.

Absinthe Music artwork draft preview

So in the end working with Ben Templesmith didn't happen (hopefully in the future though), so i've resorted to producing Absinthe Music's artwork myself. This kinda means that it's release date is now TBC and probably not for ages due to my slow drawing skills. but hear is a preview of what has come so far.



On another note, if you go... rough mixes are just about done, so mastering etc pending, we should still be looking at a March release.Also, I've started writing some new stuff, probably for an EP to follow the LP up late next year. Expect a heavier sound to hit the stage next year post album release.

thanks for reading
j.

if you go... artwork by nathan j & Andrea Kang

Here's a little teaser of the album cover art for the up coming record.
Don't get too excited, there's still the absinthe music and requiem single to come first. but i have to share this with you.

new lullabies

coming soon...

I'll be returning to the "new music to fall asleep to..." project as a live solo performance/installation/exploration.
Using electronics, acoustic guitar, and a mix of other random instruments, and performing a mashup of compositions from the album, plus some lullaby arrangements of new/other compositions, with some themed covers and traditional lullabies from around the world thrown into the mix.

This time around the venue will be your bedroom (or lounge room if you'd prefer).

Invite your friends, get into your pjs, and sip some wine on the bedcovers (or under them), with me and my gear in the corner providing a nice long soundtrack to the evening.

If you're interested, just respond to this message at lullabies@justinashworth.com
My performance is free of charge, so all need to do is pick a date, and organise it with your friends.

So drop me a line and let the (slumber) parties begin (again).

Justin.

rough mix

Thus far I've been a lazy musician. I took 2 months off. A very much needed break. I've been back at the mixing desk (so to speak) for a bit now, and the rough mixes are coming together really nicely. I'm about halfway. Then I'll be sitting down with various collaborators to do the final mixes. So I'm happy with the pace still.
Also , drafts of the artwork Nathan has done so far are awesome.

So anyways, i thought I should write something about the developing of the project, if anything it keeps me focused.

I'll be composing some new music for contemporary dancer Susan van den Ham later this year, and a new short animation is on the cards too. Some other stuff floating around. i'll post as it comes together.

thank for reading.
j.