You send me audio. I remix and sing. Together we make an album.

After a little time off I’ve finally been able to spend some time in the studio with all of the amazing samples and audio tracks that everyone has sent to me. Here is a new track for my Creative Commons collaboration album Sounds Like You.

All of the audio (except vocals) has been provided by a group of great musicians and sound creators. I chopped up, remixed, and mangled their samples to create my new track, titled “Teardown”.

Teardown – STEAL

Here’s who you’re hearing along with their original unmodified audio sample(s):

David Patrikios – drums  
Brian Page – drums  
Chris Fudurich – drum loop  
James Santiago – guitar  
Tim Godwin – acoustic guitar  
Eric Pokorny – acoustic guitar  
Dan Friel – noises  
Jon Eric – noises  
Chris T. – bass  

Get more info about the collaboration album and how you can get involved.

Lyrics:

pieces are found, they’ll never go away
i need to know if you are going with him
i’ll take your grief, if you just calm down for a while.
you need to start all over in a small shit town!

we are all afraid of nothing real
it’s just a place for you to feel
all of the people you love go away until it starts again.

i’ll flip the car, the road will be the best part now.
crashing again, this time it’s much too broke to fix
i don’t know where i end and you begin.
you are a wall my soul just can’t get over!

look around, see the faces
keep eyes closed, don’t be erased.
look around, see your face

you can be somebody else. tear down the walls!

Over the last several months, y’all have created some really amazing remixes of my songs. I just wanted to showcase a few on youtube. I found some cool public domain footage and did a quick mashup. Check it out!

This is Old remix – Sloan
Fell Out of the Sky remix – Chris Fudurich
Computer remix – Diode
Fell Out of the Sky remix – Hans Atom
Up Up Up Up Up remix – Illi
Time to Go remix – Spinmeister
I Hate California remix – Blitch Bango
Chemma Chi remix – DJ Rkod
Conway Station Road remix – The Orchestral Movement of 1932

Download the full versions of the songs on the Remix page!

Just recorded a quick little live looping improvisation in my studio. No instruments, just voice and effects. All recorded live, nothing prerecorded or overdubbed after the fact.

If you’re looking for something to remix, feel free to grab the audio from this track (and other tracks of mine): http://stateshirt.com/remix

I started this song last week with hopes it would be the next SongFight winner! But I just can’t find the right way to finish this tune. I like that it’s mellow and relatively catchy but I just wasn’t really inspired to complete it.

Maybe there’s something about it that you like?

If so, please go ahead and grab the source files and finish it any way you’d like. Cut it up, mash it up, sing over it, rap over it, turn it into a funky house / disco trance medley.

Send me your track when you’re done and I’ll post it up here (and on my facebook and twitter pages).

Here’s my unfinished track:

Double Take (unfinished) – DOWNLOAD

And here are the raw source files (all of the individual tracks used in the song). They’re also up on ccMixter. Have at it!

SOURCE FILES: MP3 source (50MB) – WAV source (235MB)

All samples licensed as Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial.

…..:::…..:::….:::…….:::….::…..:::…:::……

UPDATE! – March 2: Glenn Case has warped the space time continuum and added his lyrics and vocals in record time. Check out his track:

Double Take (State Shirt and Glenn Case) – DOWNLOAD

The third Collaboration Song is done! So many thanks for the amazing samples from Wyatt, Marc & Alec Nuckols, James Santiago, Dave Patrikios, Yumenomado, Chris Fudurich, Brielle Zbub, and Brian Page.

Beth’s On Fire – DOWNLOAD – Lyrics

I love derivative works! And here are some derivative works that have been created recently that are very good. All of these remixes of State Shirt songs are courtesy of the remixers on ccMixter.

Solid from first note to last. “This is on the Stairs” by Neurowaxx is chosen as ccMixter Editor’s Pick. A mashup of my song “This is Old” and “Passing on the Stairs” by The Starry Tides.
Neurowaxx – This is on the Stairs

DoKashiteru delivers yet another great remix with this lush version of Computer:
DoKashiteru – Computer

Here’s a very cool progressive house remix of This is Old by nero.
nero – This is Old (Nero mix)

Minimal and simple electronica, yet very nice remix of my song “Life Isn’t Everything”.
metallius – One of These Days

Ok, one more! Artemis Strong kicks your ears in the ass with this unconventional and challenging mix. Very cool.
Artemis Strong – Conway Station Road (North Conway Mix)

Any other new remixes that should be posted up here? Comment below and let me know!

The first song on my still yet to be titled Collaboration Album has been finished, and is posted below!

Thanks to the amazing audio provided by Orchestral Movement of 1932, Dave Patrikios, James Santiago and Yumenomado, I was able to cut, remix and shape their samples into the song “Cassettes” this evening. Hope you like it.

Cassettes – DOWNLOAD – Lyrics

More songs will follow in the coming weeks.

You send me audio. I remix and sing. Together we make an album.

Even though 40 people were nice enough to get involved with this collaboration project, I still don’t have enough audio samples to create an entire album of music. How about you get involved in this super-fantastic open source music project and submit some samples of your own? That would be great!

Join the likes of Tim Godwin (he played in Air Supply, for chrissakes), Dan Friel (Parts & Labor), Dave Patrikios (of the kick-ass yet now-defunct band The Realistics), Chris Fudurich (producer for Nada Surf, Sophie B Hawkins, Rx Bandits), and a bunch more talented and creative people who you don’t know but absolutely should:

* Bill Belina (a bunch of guitar parts)
* Brian Page (a ton of phat drum beats)
* DJ12XU (super noise)
* Chris Fudurich (piano, drums, loops, wurlitzer!)
* Dan Cohen (geetah)
* Dave Patrikios (guitar, piano, synths)
* Eric Pokorny (guitar, vocals, screaming kids)
* James Santiago (supah guitar parts, samples)
* Jeremy Starpoli (a ton of trombone)
* Terry Burton (guitar)
* Fluffy (synth, bass)
* Jon Eric (noises)
* Nate Quinn (drums, djembe, conga, sax)
* Jeremy Quinn (ebow guitar, noise)
* Tim Godwin (guitar)
* Brent Stansfield (songs, guitar, vocals)
* Matt Larsen (piano)
* Dan Friel (noises)
* Orchestral Movement of 1932 (drums, bass, gtr)
* Artemis Strong (noises)
* Yumenomado (synths)
* Wyatt (synths)
* Bartley Hinson (guitars)
* Steve Rydz (guitars)
* … and more

Send me drumbeats, noises, guitar parts, a cappella vocals, accordion, part of a song you never finished, spoken words, screaming, your cat. Whatever you’re inspired to send. I will merge, tweak, remix and piece together all of your samples and make an album. Be a part of open source music. Your audio submission will get used. Everything you send will be incorporated in to the album. Do it now.

Thanks and good evening.

There were a ton of very well done remixes for the State Shirt “Fell Out Of The Sky” AcidPlanet.com remix contest. Thanks to everyone that entered. It was very difficult to choose a winner, but one song did bubble it’s way to the top. Jasinski gets the honors with the 1st place remix, and goes home with brand-spanking new Acid Pro software and five loop libraries.

Here is his winning remix:

Jasinski – Fell Out Of The Sky

And here are the runner up remixes:

S:t Vital – Fell Out Of The Sky (Analog Overdose Remix)
Yumenomado – Coming Down
Vynil Rob – Out Of State
700P3D – Fell Out Of The Sky (700P3D.de Remix)
Silenx – Fell Out Of The Sky (Silenx Renaissance Mix)

And, here are a couple more really sweet remixes that have been added to ccMixter.

Here’s a crazy mashup of This is Old — DJ Vadim vs. State Shirt:
Caujito Ben – Saturday Is Old

And a kick ass trance-y version of Fell Out Of the Sky by Khaustic:
Khaustic – Fell Out Of The Sky

StrangerOnEarth put together a nice flowing Don’t Die remix:
StangerOnEarth – Don’t Die

Cool 1980′s/DrumNBass/Synth Pop version of This Is Old:
Sloan – This Is Old (Hartkern Reassembly)

And you can find a ton more here… I’ll be updating the remix page soon with all of the new remixes that have been made.

Which one is your favorite? Is there a State Shirt remix you’ve found that isn’t posted on my site? Comment here!

Long story short:
- I was inspired by Steve Porter’s Slap Chop infomercial remix featuring Vince Offer of ShamWow! fame.
- Decided it was necessary to create a State Shirt Slap Chop remix. And submit it to SongFight. And create a music video. In 7 days. Here are the results.

MP3 of the song “I Am A Target”

Here’s the music video/remix video. Click here to watch in HD!

Long story long:

The last week was a unique learning experience for me. I had just heard Steve Porter’s remix of the Slap Chop infomercial. It’s pretty great. That got me thinking, how do you even create a youtube video remix? It took a few minutes playing around to realize that Ableton Live is a great place to start.

So I just kinda started piecing together parts of the original Slap Chop commercial, and found that some of the voice samples were downright somber when taken out of context. Started to write a song around the samples and quickly realized that this track could work out well as a SongFight entry. After some guitar, piano, synths, drums and vocals, the song was finished in a few hours.

Then some weird-ass crazy shit happened. I must have gone to sleep and had a crazy dream about being an infomercial salesman or something, because I woke up knowing that I needed to buy a blue apron and a shitty 13″ television in order to build a music video for the song. Total budget = $26! I borrowed a sweet Panasonic HVX200 and started shooting. Angela Heine shot some of the outdoor footage. Editing was done in Final Cut.

Overall it was a pretty fun experience to put together a song and accompanying video in just one week. Weird thing is I didn’t set out to do any of this, it just sorta happened. I need a beer (or four) now.

So I’m really blown away by the quality of the remixes that were created for the AcidPlanet “Fell Out Of The Sky” remix contest. Contest winner will be chosen shortly!

:: Listen to the AcidPlanet remixes!

And a bunch more great remixes have come in through ccMixter.

:: Check out all State Shirt ccMixter remixes!

Remix my song “Fell Out Of The Sky” and get entered to win a bunch of stuff! Grand prize winner will receive: Sony ACID Pro (MSRP $499), Five Loop Libraries (MSRP $499) and a bunch of merchandise from me. Contest ends Friday April 17!

Create a remix and enter the contest!

This Is Old continues to weave it’s way through thar interwebs:
- Read an interview, with, uh, me at masslive.com
- Holy crap, almost 1000 hearts for my song “Computer” on thesixtyone.com
- Nice writeup over at buzzbands.la
- A nice piece all the way from Tel Aviv, courtesy of Laughing Evergreens

Over 100 stations playing State Shirt
This Is Old continues to get played on college and independent radio across the US. Over 100 stations are playing new State Shirt music. The album hit #7 at KSLU St Louis, #26 at WAIH Postdam NY, #12 at WTTU Cookeville, TN, #28 at WFCS New Britain CT, #22 at WNHU West Haven CT, #13 at URH Hilo Hawaii, #18 WMXM at Lake Forest IL, #24 at Naperville IL, #15 at WCYT Fort Wayne IN, #24 at KSCL Shreveport LA, #27 at WMLN Milton MA, #27 at WUSB Stony Brook Ny, #10 at WBGU Bowling Green Oh, #13 at WPPJ Pittsburgh PA, and #18 WXJM Harrisonburg VA!

New Song
A few days ago I recorded a new song in my kitchen. Video is here. Song is below. Hope you like it.
State Shirt – Suffer Someday (Live)

Remixes
A bunch of new remixes have come in. Here are just a few. Remix contest winner will be announced shortly!
Diode (Terry Burton) – Computer (Analog Mix by Diode)
The Orchestral Movement of 1932 – Conway Station Road (The Next Train Mix)
Show Your Shoe – Fell Out Of The Sky (Show Your Shoe remix)
Teru – Enter…
Decaying_Machine – Chemma Chi [dark times machine rmx]
Ballzac – Fell Out Of The Sky (commercial dance remix)
Christof Barber – Computer (Christof Barber remix)

I remixed myself
Is it a faux pas to remix yourself? A couple days ago I created a mashup of several Vidian songs with my song “Life Isn’t Everything”. It also features vocals from c.layne, Brad Sucks and Kristen Hersh for good measure. Definitely doesn’t sound like State Shirt– has more of a Daft Punk feel.
State Shirt – Almost Alive (mash-up)

More songs to remix
A few more songs are available for remixing. Source files for Life Isn’t Everything, Don’t Die and Edison’s Medicine are available for downloading here.

Over the last couple months, there have been over 70 remixes of State Shirt songs that have been made by people all over the world, and it’s been really cool to hear everyone’s take on the music. Since it’s been going so well, I figured hey why not have another remix contest? Well here it is.

Create a tasty remix of a State Shirt song between January 19 and February 26 and enter to win Propellerhead Reason 4 music production software, State Shirt t-shirt and other yet-to-be-announced goodies. Source files for my songs are available here. All you need to do is:

1. Create a super badass remix of one of my songs (or several remixes, there is no limit).

2. Submit the remix by emailing me with an MP3 attachment or link to the MP3.

Me and my team of remix experts will pick the most super-est fantastic remix of the month. And give you the prize. Contest rules are here. Bonus points go to people who also upload their remix to ccMixter.org!

Thanks!

Ok. I’ll admit, I was a little bit bored this evening. Steven’s interview with creative commons czar Lawrence Lessig inspired me to do a bit of remixing on my own. Although this particular remix may not technically be legal depending on how you look at it. Originals are here and here.

So some nice things have happened in the last few weeks. I’ve been lucky enough to have remixers from all over the world create some truly great remixes of my music. Here are just a few of my recent faves:

Chris Fudurich – Fell Out Of The Sky v03
DoKashiteru – I Fell Out Of The Sky – ccMixter editor’s pick!
DJ Rkod – Chemma Chi (Disturbed) – contest winner!
Spinmeister – Time To Go West
Scott Altham – Fell Out Of The Sky (Hard Pushed Edit)
Sporkboy – Computer-Sporkboy’s vocal exploits mix
Decaying_Machine – Computer [decaying machine remix]
Ditto Ditto – Up, Up, Up
Fourstones – Fell Out Of The Sky (Treatment)
DoKashiteru – Chemma Chi (Down Mix)
Blitch Bango – I Hate California (Blitch Bango Remix)

There’s also nice writeup of my music up at Jamendo. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to offer my music for free and still have some of you come back here and pay me for it. Thank you for that. And I’m happy to say that This Is Old continues to receive a lot of college radio airplay… it’s on over 100 stations across the US and and several internationally as well.

2009, you’re giving me a lot to think about. And a lot to do. There will be more remix contests, here and on AcidPlanet.com. I’d also like to work with remixers out there to get a remix CD pressed. Planning a spring ’09 tour of the US, booking that now. Contact me if you want me to come to your town. And of course, I’ll be compiling all of your audio samples on my new album, created entirely with audio by you. Be a part of the album.

Happy new year.

You still have 8 days left to enter the Remix Contest and be entered to win a Line 6 POD Studio UX2. Create your remix of a State Shirt song and send it my way.

And make sure to head over to RemixFight. My song “This Is Old” is part of RemixFight #0076! Put up yer dukes and enter the fight.

I just created a Remix page that features all of the remixes that have been coming in over the last few days. I’ll continue to update the page as more roll in.

Here are a few:
DoKashiteru – I Fell Out Of The Sky – This one is just amazing.
Chris Fudurich – Fell Out Of The Sky v02 – Incredible triptastic remix. (And just a remix wasn’t enough–Chris was also present for the final day of the Fell Out Of The Sky music video shoot!
Khidir – Fell Out Of The Sky (alalala remix) – Impressively happy remix.

Make sure to check out all of the remixes on the Remix page.