A Short Introduction to C.P.Bryan: Author, Composer and Creator of Cut'n'Mix
Born in England to Welsh and Irish parents, I lived in the UK long enough to finish my first year of schooling before my family emigrated to Canada. As a highschool student in the 1980s, I found myself more drawn to the music and culture of my native Britain: although too young to have experienced the initial wave of "Punk" and "New Wave", I immersed myself in the music of the next generation of alternative recording artists. In senior highschool, I also had my first introduction to the works of a writer who would become one of my biggest literary heroes: William S. Burroughs: One day I picked up and scanned through a Burroughs novel while browsing through the public library. I had never encountered anything like cut-up writing before then and the experience was mind blowing...
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Those who are old enough may remember Jon Lovitz's whimsical catch phrase "Get To Know Me" from Saturday Night Live (many seasons ago). It is in the same spirit that I offer up this video self potrait: with it's embarassing and perhaps somewhat silly imagery it might capture more of the true personality of the subject than would be the case with something more measured and strategic. The music is a piece from "Stargazer Jazz", a kind of loose collaboration comprised of myself, Steve Lowther and John Bannister...
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1990s: I first got involved in producing computer-based electronic music in late 1989 and into early 1990s. I was not interested in computer science courses in highschool, and it was only when I realized what could be accomplished with MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) paired with the more powerful and user-friendly next generation of personal computers that I was ready to jump on the computer bandwagon. ("Its more fun to compute!") Having my own computer led to idea that maybe I could create my own automated cut-up program. Thus began my first attempts at programming which produced the first precursors to what is now Cut'n'Mix. Throughout this period of time I was living the bohemian lifestyle in Vancouver British Columbia, collaborating on music projects and performance art with other like-minded folks...
The 80s and 90s were an exciting few decades in Vancouver, which was pretty much the bleeding edge town for experimental-industrial electronic music. This cybernetic frontierism somehow also carried over into the literary world as Vancouver was also home to William Gibson, author of "Neuromancer" - the novel which arguably started the whole "Cyberpunk" genre of Science Fiction. When people think of music from Vancouver they are most likely to think of Sarah McLachlan, Bryan Adams or Michael Buble, but a lot of great "alternative" recording acts were also launched in the same city. For some examples, search on names like "D.O.A", "The Subhumans", "The Pointed Sticks", "Skinny Puppy", "The Organ"...
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The New Millenium: By the year 2000 I had a full-time job as a computer programmer and had set aside my more artistic and creative pursuits. The creative writing and electronic music projects were relegated to hobby status - weekends, evenings and holidays as allowable within the demands of a full-time career in the IT industry. (Although gainful employment does have its perks - thats me in my new Moroccan duds after a trip to Tangier). It wasn't until late 2007 that I was able to rekindle my interests in experimental writing, postmodern digital art and music composition, as part of the process of starting my own business. Two of the main projects of this new startup included a revamped commercial release of Cut'n'Mix and the launch of my own online music subscription service for film and video producers called freesoundtrackmusic.com. |