Michael Chocholak
6,342 plays
68,261 views
68,261 views
Tracks from my six string alter ego.
Initially a guitarist, my first guitar had a crank on the side and played "Home On The Range". I always preferred cranking it backwards. Later a cousin who toured with the Don Cossack Dance Troupe gave me a seven string guitar from East Germany. This led to some interesting music as at the time I didn't even know how to tune a SIX string guitar. Bought a Gibson SG. My Slavic grandmother was terrified that I would subsequently 'ruin' my life by becoming a gypsy troubadour. No such luck.
My music covers a lot of ground from blues to abstract electronics, but there's still usually a guitar in there somewhere. And that's what the various tracks here are all about.
Leather Smile grew out of jamming with some guitars & amps in an empty grain silo one summer. Nothing fancy, nothing digital (well, ok the keyboard was); just the basics plugged straight into an old X15. Toss out some ideas, play a few hooks, jam on them and then do a take. Move on. Everybody looking for something different out of it, mostly exploring dynamics, form, chance. Nobody was thinking about releasing anything. 15 in the can (including a disco ear bleed) and people kept asking to hear it. So the Zone did a cover of the Blonde Bombshell's lips and we came out with Insect Hands.
After that I took it into the studio with some keys and effects and did the solo release HotWired, based on an electric recipe of rock, jazz and blues. Cyberpunk rocker John Shirley (City Come A Walkin, screenplay for The Crow, and his latest Crawlers) heard it and that lead to a collaboration called Minds in Collision with John doing lyrics & vocals over my music.
The most recent tracks here are from the soundtrack to YellowJacket, Misha's current novel in progress, a contemporary western and it's all amplified acoustic.Band/artist history
Played and jammed in a few bands performing original material. Spent the late 70's as a recluse in an old house surrounded by sonic objects, running 20 foot tape loops on multiple recorders (didn't know about Fripp yet). Got heavily into abstract music and electronics (still am - check out my page), but I'm always drawn back to the guitar.Have you performed in front of an audience?Is this a 'kiss and tell' kind of question?
Your musical influences
Django Rheinhardt, Charlie Christian, Les Paul, The Ventures, Wes Montgomery, Jeff Beck, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jimi Hendrix, Mahavishnu, Bill Nelson.What equipment do you use?
Gibson SG, Ensoniq keys, various boxes.Anything else?
Go listen to the tracks...
And check out
a streaming station of compositions created with satellite transmissions, short wave, vlf... music from the invisible world.YellowJacket
11 songs · 1 artist
soundtrack to Misha's novel of the same name
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6,342 plays
68,261 views
68,261 views
