I’m outrageously psyched to share the first video from PRINTS for the song, “Come and Go (feat. The KickDrums).” As you probably noticed, the video is quite a bit wider than your average video – that’s because we shot it using a single-point capture 360° panoramic video camera! Think of it as ULTRA widescreen… as if you’re looking in all directions at once. When one character steps off the screen on the left side, they simultaneously enter the screen on the right side – it’s a real mind-melter, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you watch it in full-screen mode to get the full panoramic effect.
The video has already gotten a wonderful response on the web, with features at both Paper Magazine and The Atlantic!
I co-directed the video with my super-talented pal, David Sosnow. David is the co-founder of Kogeto and specializes in making 360° video camera lenses. The company has gained quite a bit of notoriety lately for their DOT, an attachment that allows you to shoot 360° video with your iPhone (TechCrunch and USA Today articles).
I met David serendipitously through a mutual friend (and the video’s co-producer), Tavit Geudelekian. From the very beginning, we wanted to capture the senses of euphoria and over-the-top joyousness of the song. It’s also quite epic in nature, feeling both fast and simultaneously slow, and we knew that slow-motion video would lend itself perfectly to that sensation. As Tavit, David and I discussed the technology David was pioneering at Kogeto, we knew instantly that we had to work together, and that 360° would be the perfect way to create the fully-immersive video experience that the song needed.
As we sketched out possible concepts, we kept coming back to one basic issue: in order to fully-exploit the 360° technology, we had to keep things interesting in all directions at all times. If we didn’t have some kind of action or character movement occupying the full 360° spectrum, we would have giant empty spaces on screen. Our challenge was to come up with something visually-compelling that would surround the camera in a circular form at all times. The image of ladies dancing in a circle first occurred to me on the subway, but it was critical to keep things beautiful and other-worldly, as opposed to crass or heavy-handed. We hoped to achieve that beauty and mystery by the identical costumes. And by having the one blonde actress in a different outfit, we hoped to create a sense that they were a team or unit of some kind with a fearless leader.
We shot the video over the course of two days on location in Brooklyn, first in May 2011 (with the ladies), and then in June 2011 (with the singer, Alex Fitts). Remarkably, our only expenses in making the video were the rental of the dolly ($70) to hold the camera for the walking shots, and then meals at both shoots (thai food & pizza, respectively). David and I then painstakingly edited the video over the course of about 3 months at David’s Brooklyn apartment. We worked incredibly well together and were able to push each other and take the video in different directions. It was a true collaboration, much like the recording of PRINTS.
As we were editing, we thought it would be best to keep the overall image “flat.” With 360° video, there are some players that enable the viewer to pan around the full 360, themselves (for example, see here). We were concerned that by giving the viewer too much choice vis-a-vis which direction to follow, it could feel overwhelming to watch. We also believe that the image is most stunning when you can see the full 360° all at once. We will be making a pan-able version available soon, but we wanted the definitive version of the video to be “flattened.”
David and I poured our hearts and souls into this project, and we had an incredibly fun time making it. None of it would have been possible without our amazing actors & friends, and we are so happy to finally be launching it into the world. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did, and if you have any questions at all, please feel free to comment below – I’ll be sure to reply ASAP.
Lastly, if you’d like to grab the MP3 of “Come and Go,” here’s a link: bit.ly/Wilkis_CAG
Proud to share the second “Come and Go” remix, this time featuring awesome verses from two incredible rappers, Big Pooh (who you might recognize from Little Brother) and The Kid Daytona. The remix premiered earlier this month over at RCRD LBL, where they called me an “indie beat whiz…” works for me!
Ever since I first finished this song with The KickDrums, I kept thinking in the back of my mind how well the beat would feel with some rap verses – was so cool to hear Pooh and Daytona tear it up.
Take a listen via the Soundcloud player above, or download it here alongside the original version. And please feel free to share any and all of it far and wide:
My Film School remix has made its way around the interwebz, and the feedback has been delightful! Thanks to everyone who checked it out and was kind enough to write something nice about it. And if you still haven’t heard it yourself, stream it above and/or download to the right…
Here’s the recap: Consequence of Sound Afternoon Jams The Audioperv “AW has done it again… We’ve featured Alan’s work before and it only seems to be getting better.” Some Kind of Awesome Cause=Time Daily Beatz “As he so often does, he starts out by completely changing the beat of the song… A little harder with a little more grit and 8-bit, but the fantastic original still shines through loud and clear.” A Heart is a Spade Pasta Primavera “Old faithful aka Alan Wilkis aka “The” Man decides to end my week on a high note with his new remix of Film School which I was pumped about ever since he tweeted about working on it. Wilkis never fails to disappoint and keeps it up on this.” Indie Music Filter “Continuing to be a ‘go-to’ remixer…” Music Like Dirt Free Indie Above The Fold “One of our favorite remixers… Up to his old tricks.” Kata Rokkar Les Enfants Terribles “The uber-talented Alan Wilkis, shot us a copy of his latest work… I’m digging the percussion on this one.” Nerdy Frames Skeet Beatz “I’m really feeling this jam. Alan Wilkis kills it on this track.” Parasites and Sycophants Indie Here Music for Perfect People “Brooklyn’s remix master” The Pop Stereo Site of Sound “Alan Wilkis kills it as always, I appreciate everything he does.” JayeLAudio “AW takes great tracks and puts his own unique spin on them and tests your allegiance to the original… AW’s interpretation gets rid of everything except lead singer Greg Berten’s pained vocals and adds slowed synth and almost a slow clap to paint the angst of the lyrics.” MAAMF “One of the great things about Alan Wilkis is that he doesn’t change tracks drastically. Instead, he adds to them, embellishes them. You can tell that it’s still that track by your fave band, but you can also tell that there’s someone else that has put their own distinct take on it.” Heave Media Dumb Bass Gonzo’s Music-o-rama Lyfstyl Revenge of Rob Gordon
The band recently put out a new single, “Lies,” as well as a corresponding mixtape to complement the release. The tracklist includes some great stuff by Crookers, Kele, Chemical Brothers, and… MY TEMPER TRAP REMIX! I’m pretty psyched to be included on there.
Tracklisting:
Chemical Brothers – Swoon (Boys Noize remix)
Crookers ft. Soulwax & Mixhell – We Love Animals
Little Boots – Earthquake (Dekker & Johan Remix)
Stromae – Alors On Danse
Jamaica – I Think I Like U 2
Everything Everything – MY KZ, UR BF (Fenech-Soler Remix)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Garden
Jokers Of The Scene – Revolting Joks
Kele – Everything You Wanted
The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (Alan Wilkis Remix)
DJ B-Roc of the world-famous production duo, The Knocks, is apparently an AW fan! In his latest mix, “The Transplant, Vol. II,” he created a delightful mashup of my Temper Trap remix with Marina and the Diamonds’ “I Am Not a Robot.” If The Knocks doesn’t ring a bell right off the bat for you, I’m sure you’ve heard some of their production work for Rihanna, Flo Rida, Chiddy Bang, Ellie Goulding… the list goes on.
Peep the tracklist for “The Transplant, Vol. II” below, and download the whole thing over at The Culture of Me:
01 Ante Up Crooks (M.O.P x Yelle x Crookers)
02 Champagne Kisses Could Work With Everything (Samuel x Gypsey & The Cat x Two Door Cinema Club x The Twelves x Atlas)
03 E.L.T.O.N (Elton John x Usher)
04 Glad I Got Nothin On You (D. Gookin x B.O.B)
05 Hello, Do You Like Bass? (Louis Logic x Dirty Money x Stardust x Classixx)
06 I Turnt The Night Up (Chelley x Travis Porter x Grum
07 Living In America Is Glamorous (DOM x Fergie)
08 Sweet Robot (Marina & The Diamonds x The Temper Trap x Alan Wilkis)
09 There’s Something About Us Under The Sheets (Ellie Goulding x Daft Punk)
10 When Your Love Is Swagless (Active Child x Soulja Boy)
11 I Heart The Plastic Empire (Gorillaz x Jay-Z x Samuel)
It was a White Hinterlandy weekend for yours truly. Had the great pleasure of seeing Sean and Casey play on Friday night at Glasslands with shred-goddess Marnie Stern. And on Saturday, had Casey over to the studio for a day of writing and recording for my new project! Lemme tell you, homegirl has some serious pipes.
On a related note, got a nice Stereogum mention for the WH remix I did a while back.
Before I break it all down below, a few pieces of exciting news. Just put the finishing touches on a new remix, and been approached to do another for a pretty substantial artist. And most importantly, been chipping away at my next solo album! It’s a slow process, unfortunately, but making progress every day.
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Phantogram the other night at Bowery Ballroom, and got to chat with Josh and Sarah for a brief but enjoyable hot minute. Man, they brought it HARD and tore the house down. They had so much energy, great stage presence, both their voices were on point, and they had great backround visuals. Though my mobile-phone-photography is less than award-winning, here’s a shot from the sold out show.
And while I’m on the subject, we had a HUGE week for my remix. After debuting on Entertainment Weekly, we got written up in NME as among the 10 best free MP3 downloads of the week – they called it “a brilliant remix!”
Boom boom boooooom. Lemme hear you say way-o [way-oooooooo].
Extraordinarily pleased to announce my latest “official” remix, this time of the lovely Phantogram’s “Mouthful of Diamonds.” They released their debut album, “Eyelid Movies,” on Barsuk Records on 2/9/2010, and Barsuk (quite flatteringly) called my remix a “joyous new-wave inflected delight.” The remix also first premiered on Entertainment Weekly, which was AMAZING!
Phantogram is a duo, comprised of Sara Barthel and Josh Carter. They first caught my ear a few months ago when they were making the rounds on the blogosphere. Their production is really minimal and generally pretty dark – reminds me of an updated Massive Attack or Portishead, but a little more guitar and synth-driven. And I just LOVE the singer, Sara’s voice; she has this smoky, whispery beautiful thing going on… And on “Mouthful of Diamonds,” it really shines through and sits perfectly right in the middle of it, creating this dark and dreamy little world.
So, in my usual fashion, I turned the song completely on its head and produced it in the absolute opposite way – the only thing I kept from the original version is Sara’s vocals. I took it from minimal trip-hop to ultra-layered bubblegum pop, from dark to ultraviolet-bright. I loaded it up with synths and a dance beat, and recorded a whole bunch of guitars, percussion, squishes and squelches…
I highly encourage you to give the original a listen on the band’s myspace before checking out my version, as they’re SUPER different but somehow magically work great together… musical yin and yang!
You can listen to it and download below, and by all accounts please share it with any and everyone you know! Tweet the link, throw it on your facebook, send it to your grandma – everything’s fair game!
Got a truly wonderful response to my White Hinterland remix – I’m thrilled everyone came along for the ride!
A few things to report before I recap:
1) As many of you know, I’ve been co-producing the latest record for Project Jenny, Project Jan. We are so close to wrapping it up, I can taste it! Final mixes are complete, now in the middle of the mastering process. I seriously can’t wait!
2) Pleased to announce I’m working on MY next record – going to be a collaborative effort, working with a host of awesome special guests. Been sketching out ideas pretty regularly, very pumped to be working on my own stuff again. Lord knows where it’ll all end up, but it’s going to be awesome, I can tell you that…
3) Also been working a lot these days with my new friends, The Kickdrums. Doing some Postal-Service style email exchanges, trading ideas back and forth. Really fun stuff.
4) And lastly, my song “The Hustle” randomly wound up in yet ANOTHER extreme sports video. This time for some sort of Mountain Dew snowboarding event… Check it:
Moving right along, the White Hinterland remix picked up all sorts of steam over the past few weeks! Made it into Elbo.ws Hot Tracks after a nice thumbs up from WH’s record label, Dead Oceans.
Here’s the blog breakdown – thanks a bazillion to everyone that was kind enough to listen and write:
Welcome to Wilcassettes, the home of everything Alan Wilkis. Alan is a Brooklyn-based music producer and remixer. His latest project is called "PRINTS" and can be found here: http://www.prints.fm
LISTEN:
To hear what Alan's been listening to, subscribe to his Spotify playlist. It's updated every Friday with Alan's hand-picked favorites of that week.
DISCLAIMER:
Every file posted here is for sampling purposes only. Alan encourages everyone to support the artists on Amazon, iTunes, etc... Should anyone object to a posted file, please email info [at] wilcassettes [dot] com, and it will be promptly removed.
