inifinitikiss US Tourdates

Nov 22 at Flight Gallery in San Antonio TX

Dec 5 at Yes We Cannibal in Baton Rouge LA

Dec 22 at Drip Coffee in Columbia SC

Jan 6 at LoFi Brewing in North Charleston SC

Jan 12 at The Orange Spot in North Charleston SC

'ambient busic' by infinitikiss | Fort Lowell Records 2023

[Repost from Daily Vault; by Tom Haugen, July 28, 2023]

An aptly titled album from the highly creative artist Nic Jenkins, as infinitikiss he uses improvised backing track cassette tapes, vibrational therapy and chakra/energy systems for 75 minutes that are steeped in mood and colors in a ROYGBIV sort of way.

“drinking cherry hibiscus tea at a stop light at sunset” gets the listen off to a soothing, dreamy start, where very gentle guitar floats alongside the waves of calm droning. “the smell of burnt turmeric” follows, and presents a bit of a darker landscape, where a tinge of mystery enters the sparse, meditative song craft.

Moving along, the middle tracks are some of the best, and include the more firm gestures of “in the same vibration that pothos green grows,” which swirls with cinematic appeal. “or the minty jade of ginkos” is equally enjoyable, and carries a touch of sci-fi like exploration that makes great use of percussive sounds in a sparing but effective strategy.

Closing in on the end of the listen, “tears of happy mermaids” recruits the sound of woodwinds for a very light and hypnotic eight-plus minutes of very precise instrumentation, and “from a lavender halo we are projecting ourselves” finishes with a warm buzzing and raw electronic stabs that nearly sound mechanical in their technical nature.

A truly unique listen that incorporates indie-rock, alt-pop and electronica amid the looping skills, the most obvious and known parallel here would be Brian Eno. For those who really dig into the genre, other luminaries like William Basinski,  Boxhead Ensemble, and Pye Corner Audio would be good reference points.

For those who prefer to own the physical product, the LP artwork is equally as colorful as the music, and is restricted to just 100 vinyl copies, but certainly worth seeking out for fans of ambient songwriting.

Rating: B+

ORDER VINYL RECORD

BMN Spotlight: infinitikiss (Fort Lowell Records) by Nic Ken

[Repost from Blood Makes Noise; March 29, 2023]

infinitikiss is an ever-evolving musical and visual recording project conceptualized by Nic Jenkins, and ambient music is his latest full length album, as well as first release with Fort Lowell Records. The core material for ambient music came from live improvisations that were recorded to cassette tapes, which originally served as backing tracks for live solo performances. It was an interest in sound healing, vibrational therapy, and chakras / energy systems that helped Jenkins realize this album. The song titles reflect the moods & colors (aka spectral wave) of the blending and bending of colors in a rainbow (ROYGBIV), as well as to the energy fields of our bodies; corresponding to the “roygbiv” sequence and play with imagery of said colors. Considering the nature of tape (magnetic film), Jenkins seized the opportunity to explore a range of microtonal frequencies which ultimately helped him to decide to tune down or up to 432, 440, and 444 hz.in an attempt to explore, to enjoy, and to hopefully gain an expanded awareness of shifting frequencies. infinitikiss is available to buy on translucent chartreuse green vinyl here [https://fortlowell.square.site/product/infinitikiss-ambient-music-/66], or you can stream the complete album on any digital music platform here [https://orcd.co/flr053]. The following is a somewhat free-association writing exercise provided by Nic Jenkins of infinitikiss, prompted by the imagery of the titles of the pieces, not so much a transcription of instruments or composition and production techniques utilized in the album: 

Track 1 | Key: A major | Frequency: 432 hz | Title: "drinking cherry hibiscus tea at a stop light at sunset" As you start your day, do you ever find it helpful to consider that a version of you is also going to sleep, another version of you is being born, and another of you is also dying? I’m interested in how we as humans make discoveries as tiny bits of an entire, whole, living, breathing, evolving thing. How can we give less energy to things that keep us from feeling incomplete, separate and/or in states-of-lack mindsets? How can we give more energy to remembering that right now we’re actually on a giant rock floating through endless time & infinite space? 

Track 2 | Key: B minor | Frequency: 432 hz | Title: "the smell of burnt turmeric" Isn’t it kind of comical that whatever practices we rely on for manifestation of what we define as “happiness” or “normalcy” can also become points of liberation? Through the whole scope of this music becoming an album, I was learning to let those practices just BE and not try to turn them into something MORE than what they are fundamentally. For example: physical intimacy can be this way, as it is a mix between searching blindly and also trusting in the soul’s ability to navigate purely based on energetic intensity (aka passion collaboration) and intuition. It can feel weightless, and certain kinds of weightlessness can be terrifying. Sometimes it gives more grounding to our sense of being.  

Track 3 | Key: B minor | Frequency: 432 hz | Title: "floating through holographic desert waves" I don’t usually remember many of my dreams. However, in dreams it seems that the roles we play are much less concrete that those we embody from day to day. In a way they are all so much more poetic in narrative and symbolism. Aren’t those symbols and narratives just as real? How does it contribute to our overall sense of being? What voices are telling us that we’re not enough? Explore those thoughts. If we die in dreams, do we not feel more grateful to be on this side of the living experience and waking life? How much of our private worlds are dictated by external inputs? If time and temperature are important factors in the culinary realms / sciences (and in nature), how much of our physical experience is influenced in this way? After all, our bodies are mostly made of water. 

Track 4 | Key: C major | Frequency: 432 hz | Title: "and a wish for chamomile pillows after a lemon bath" Look up! Nice job. You’re doing great. This music doesn’t really demand very much, does it? It doesn’t really try to dominate anyone’s attention spans. It simply exists best as a full spectrum sonic hug, like a box full of letters from your dearest friends and family. It’s there. It can serve as a compliment to whatever beautifully real things are happening in your world at any given moment. Thanks for the time you have given to be curious and to enjoy any dimension of this music. Thank yourself! A cup of tea can provide numerous healing bene_frequencies, just as herbs are always around to reward you if you know how to identify them, I suppose? They can encourage a deeper awareness of what is; a more expansive awareness of now. The newness wants you, too.  

Track 5 | Key: D major, part 1 | Frequency: 432 hz | Title: "in the same vibration that pothos green grows" I have had such a complicated relationship with pothos plants, actually. Is it me? What do I need to learn to keep these green babies alive? Do you have a similar conundrum? Do I care too much or not enough? Is there enough light; enough water? Am I holding enough light / space / time as I can today? For myself? For others? Which version of me is most like the pothos plants in my life? How slow. So real. Very vibrational.  

Track 6 | Key: D major, part 2 | Frequency: 440 hz | Title: "or the minty jade of ginkos" Have you ever… let your face be gently and quietly caressed by the fresh flaky leaves of a gingko tree? Maybe you have one in your neighborhood or yard –– maybe a neighbor’s yard? It feels like one thousand tiny hugs and kisses on your cheeks. Thanks, Gaia. Ginkgo tree trunks are also very satisfying to hug, should you find yourself surrounded by them and in need of an embrace. Better yet, just go hug a tree –– any tree. It is a gift you can give yourself at any time you want.   

Track 7 | Key: D major, part 3 | Frequency: 444 hz | Title: "while matcha clouds are raining" Have you ever… tried googling: “What is the harmonic frequency (or vibrational frequency) of ________ “ ? [ Fill in the blank with your deepest inquiries. ] For example, I like to search various ingredients of foods. I’m curious how my body converts the energy of things like caffeine. Is it fuel? Is it food? What does it do? Recently, I’ve noticed that teas are more gentle to my body & mind. To each their own.  

Track 8 | Key: Eb minor | Frequency: 444 hz | Title: "tears of happy mermaids" In another life, I am most likely that which dwells among the deep, dark creatures of the sea. The idea of mer-beings fascinates me because the Earth is mostly water, and it seems like a totally peaceful way to exist (unless you’re always almost someone else’s meal). It also seems quite frightening. I have had a handful of dream vignettes of myself and former lovers as half-human, half-fishlike beings… just treading water, and other times venturing into deep, dark unknown mysteries. Have you ever… been there?   

Track 9 | Key: F major | Frequency: 444 hz | Title: "in the same shade of what blue jeans are made" Hands plus water plus dye. Is indigo more purple or blue or neither? Either way, don’t forget to breathe (on purpose). What a magical thing air is. 

Track 10 | Key: G major | Frequency: 444 hz | Title: "from a lavender halo we are projecting ourselves" How many different ways can one enjoy lavender? For valuable insight & feedback, consult an herbalist friend.  

infinitikiss: ambient music

[Repost from Here Comes the Floods; by Hans Werksman, March 11, 2023]

Nic Jenkins, the man behind the infinitikiss project, is into chakras and energetic vibrations, but his new album ambient music can be enjoyed without going full-on New Age or some such. It is a sonic journey at a leisurely pace, with Jenkins exploring the possibilities of a particular key and tuning in each track, thereby creating a flow of shifting frequencies that are linked seamlessly.

This is not an album to get a party going, but it will do well as comedown and/or relaxing music. Diving deep into his world should be done solo in order to fully appreciate the textures and tidbits he has sprinkled on top. Fans of David Sylvian, Brian Eno, and Gia Margaret will love it.

ambient music is released via Fort Lowell Records (limited green vinyl, digital).

Tracks:

1. drinking cherry hibiscus tea at a stop light at sunset
2. the smell of burnt turmeric
3. floating through holographic desert waves
4. and a wish for chamomile pillows after a lemon bath
5. in the same vibration that pothos green grows
6. or the minty jade of ginkos
7. while matcha clouds are raining
8. tears of happy mermaids
9. in the same shade of what blue jeans are made
10. from a lavender halo we are projecting ourselves

infinitikiss; photo by Megan Elgar

OUT NOW: infinitikiss 'ambient music' [12inch LP]

infinitikiss is an ever-evolving musical and visual recording project conceptualized by Nic Jenkins, and ambient music is his latest full length album, as well as first release with Fort Lowell Records. The core material for ambient music came from live improvisations that were recorded to cassette tapes, which originally served as backing tracks for live solo performances and with rotating ensembles (circa 2015-2020), in and around Charleston + Columbia, SC. Since then, the tapes have since become a kind of sample library of colors & shapes that have served a variety of sound collage / design situations, as well as fodder for other strange + beautiful collaborations.  

It was a slow-growing interest in sound healing, vibrational therapy, and learning about Jenkin's own chakra / energy systems that helped him realize (and to illuminate) that this dusty collection of sounds could actually be its own album.  The song titles reflect the moods & colors (aka spectral wave) of the blending and bending of colors in a rainbow (ROYGBIV), as well as to the energy fields of our bodies; corresponding to the “roygbiv” sequence and play with imagery of said colors. 

Considering the nature of tape (magnetic film), Jenkins seized the opportunity to explore a range of microtonal frequencies which ultimately helped him to decide to tune down or up to 432, 440, and 444 hz. The intention was to explore, to enjoy, and to hopefully gain an expanded awareness of shifting frequencies.  The keys & frequencies (or tunings) of each piece / movement are:

track:

1. A major (432)
2. B minor (432)
3. B major (432)
4. C major (432)
5. D major, part 1 (432)
6. D major, part 2 (440)
7. D major, part 3 (444)
8. Eb minor (444)
9. F major (444)
10. G major (444)

For Jenkins, this is just the beginning of an understanding of how energetic vibrations move within and around us.

• CLICK HERE TO ORDER VINYL
  
• CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW

‘ambient music’ by infinitikiss | Album Premiere | Interview

[Repost from It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine; by Klemen Breznikar, February 27, 2023]

Exclusive album premiere of ‘ambient music’ by infinitikiss, out March 3rd, 2023 via Fort Lowell Records.

infinitikiss is an ever-evolving musical and visual recording project conceptualized by Nic Jenkins, featuring a revolving ensemble of curious and experimental artists, musicians, and performers. The core material for this album came from live improvisations that were recorded to cassette tapes, which originally served as backing tracks for live solo performances and with rotating ensembles (circa 2015-2020), in and around Charleston and Columbia, SC.

Since then, the tapes have since become a kind of sample library of colors & shapes that have served a variety of sound collage / design situations, as well as fodder for other strange and beautiful collaborations.

For Jenkins, this is just the beginning of an understanding of how energetic vibrations move within and around us. ambient music is infinitikiss’ first full length release with Fort Lowell Records.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FULL ALBUM NOW

“Our bodies are just vessels of ever-shifting frequencies of light”

Would you like to share a bit about your background? How did you first get interested in music? When did you first get involved with conceptual art?

Nic Jenkins: Yes, I would love to! Thanks for asking. I was born in the early 80s; grew up in a town called Walterboro, SC which is near Charleston. I went to church with my family a lot in my youth, and music was always in and around the house. My mom and two siblings are still very active in their community choirs. I started off playing bass guitar for many years within those environments and very spiritually charged spaces. My dad was also a drummer once upon a time. The music of artists like Bob Marley and Sade were always playing in our house. I was fortunate to have elders and mentors in my community and extended family who shared all kinds of jazz, r&b, reggae, gospel, disco, and more with me. A drummer-buddy in middle school named Andrew shared the music of Weezer and Nirvana with me and exploded my mind; also when I truly discovered the drums. Local radio stations, MTV, BET, PBS, and any other musical broadcasting networks can also be to thank for my early appreciation of music. Discovering “alternative music” in the early 90s was a turning point, for sure.

I was active in concert and marching bands throughout grade school, and was able to study jazz in college (in Charleston). Starting indie rock bands with my friends was the next phase that helped me see that a life as a musician was actually possible, which opened me up to a path of exploration and growth. The drum set (in its material configuration and its invisible presence) was the original vehicle for my particular musical journey. I air-drummed a lot.

Thanks to genuine communities of musicians that noticed, welcomed, and encouraged me to consider my musical practice as a living art. Various collaborations with composer, dancers, film makers, and puppeteers all sort of appeared / manifested themselves in very organic ways. Some spaces and entities which immediately come to mind are: Redux Contemporary Art Center, Halsey Gallery, Piccolo / Spoleto Festival, Cumberlands, Bang On A Can, Young Jean Lee Theatre Company, Indie Grits Film Festival, & the Power Company Collaborative.

“infinitikiss was being inspired by elasticity, openness, and constantly changing landscapes”

‘ambient music’ is your latest project that was basically done from live improvisation that was recorded to cassette. What’s the story behind it?

The genesis of ‘ambient music’ begins around 2015 or so. I decided to update my moniker from Mr. Jenkins to infinitikiss. I was traveling a lot; thinking about space/time and the impermanence of things while also tapping into a broader awareness of timelessness, and the acknowledgement of individual sovereignty (in relation to the Universe as a whole). From a visual perspective, infinitikiss was being inspired by elasticity, openness, and constantly changing landscapes. Sonically, the project is fueled by the eternal “om” of the cosmos. Our bodies are just vessels of ever-shifting frequencies of light. It’s awesome!

So, as I began to explore writing and producing (predominantly solo) music to play with elastic ensembles of performers, there was a desire to incorporate static frequencies, ostinato patterns, and sound collage (an approach inspired by mystique concrete). The latter utilizes pre-recorded sound as a variable for manipulation and improvisation. Tapes were an exciting medium to explore b/c there is a physical interaction that is available in a different way than computers are available. I appreciate how fragile tapes are and how reliable they can be. I started to compile backing tracks for live performances to use in a similar way to how DJs use computers and turntables, dissecting samples and blending different layers together.

When the world basically shut down in 2020, I was already in a headspace of personal healing and trying to use sound as a tool for energy work. I’m still learning about this sort of practice (as a beginner). I made an album that year called ‘Pulp’ at that time (released in 2021), which mostly celebrated a sense of well-being and gratitude. When my (very pregnant) partner and I made the move to NM in the Fall of 2021: making music wasn’t so much at the forefront of my mind, but being well was. As we set-up shop to begin a new chapter, our home studio space slowly grew more conducive to a particular workflow, and the tapes were still there, intact. As we settled into a rhythm of rest & contemplation, more experimental, spacious, and ambient works (like Steve Reich, Hiroshi Yoshimura, and even Broadcast) became more of our daily soundtrack. Somewhere around the beginning of 2022 a lightbulb in my brain came on and I realized, “Oh! I can just release these tapes as an album!” They’re actually a pretty decent documentation of peripheral energies that existed in those early years. Initially, the release was scheduled to commemorate our two-year anniversary of becoming NM residents (this passed November). Fort Lowell convinced me to give the album a vinyl release/existence, and the rest is… where we are now!

Would you like to expand on the concept behind the record?

Sure! Conceptually, the intention is: awareness, compassion, mindfulness, nowness, newness, & the process of trying to preserve material that is in a format that will one day disintegrate (much like our bodies). Early on, I had to make some decisions about the tuning of these melodic phrases in order to blend with additional taped elements (guitar & synth), which were collaged/mixed later in the computer with LogicPro. Much of our music in the modern age of popular music is tuned to 440hz [ A ]. When ‘Rona presented us all with an opportunity to re-evaluate our healing practices/priorities, it also presented me with a sort of hypothesis: “What do certain frequencies do to our bodies and chakra systems?” and “What do wi-fi, bluetooth, social media, and other fluctuating radio waves do to us energetically?” That’s why some tracks are tuned down to 432hz and some are at 444hz. It was just an experiment to allow myself to feel those subtle shifts… which I’m still trying to practice in other areas of my life.

What meaning has improvisation in your life?

I haven’t read enough books on music theory or improvisation to make an eloquent statement about this, but: life is improvisation. Universally, I believe this is true for all human beings. Even if a person has no musical interests whatsoever, there is constantly a variable of improvising in our daily lives, in our commutes, in how we interact with strangers (who have the potential to be friends), and even in how we decide what we put in our bodies. It’s a flow thing, I suppose?

Shout out to: DJ FloFader & DJ Desert Disco –– two of our new favs. Dancing has played a huge part in my own discovery and realization of this; especially Ecstatic Dance. In my life, improvisation also means: I’m free to decide.

What are some future plans?

Some future plans, aspirations, hopes, dreams, et cetera that I have are (in no particular order):

• transcend space/time
• learn how to be a better parent, partner, and friend
• to fear less and love more
• work on my “jingle jangle” album
• collaborate with old and new dearies from the home studio
• manifest more abundance of space to accommodate our dreams as well as more ease and flow in creativity
• read more books
• put out some obscure rarities on my small-batch cassette label, Dojo Nowhere: Tapes & Miscellaneous Media
• keep an attitude of gratitude for the many beautiful beings, gifts, and LOVES in my life
• rewatch the documentary “Sisters With Transistors” … a few more times
• find more documentaries on Butoh dancing
• to accept and transmute dense energies with more intention
• to assist and participate in the evolution of our human collective consciousness
• staying present, while…
• applying to arts residences and other collaborative opportunities
• make more stuff with my main squeeze @u.r.magical
• make more of a “living” via freelance commissions like composing, illustration, a/v design, recording sessions, and music production
• figure out how to release an album collab with Seattle pal, Kelsey Mines (And Y Et)
• continue to revisit and revive some vintage musical projects </paging… Morimoto.gif>

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

Aloha – ‘Sugar’

Broadcast – ‘The Future Crayon’

Metronomy – ‘The English Riviera’

Tortoise – ‘TNT’

Pram – ‘Museum Of Imaginary Animals’

Some albums I am enjoying currently are:

Field Guides – ‘Ginkgo’

PJ Harvey – ‘Songs From The City, Songs From The Sea’

Stereolab – ‘Fab Four Suture’

Something about the music of French Kicks has been calling to me / resonating with me again. Maybe it’s the drums, but maybe it’s the songs. I recommend ‘Two Thousand’ and ’The Trial Of The Century’ for some fun & bouncy early-aughts indie rock.

I recently finished listening to an inspirational audiobook by Shannon Lee (daughter of Bruce Lee) called ‘Be Water, My Friend’ that I will probably find in the physical realm one day. Simultaneously, I discovered an excellent podcast called “Bandsplain” which is full of great musical critiques, brilliant context, and hilarious content.

Last year the band Warpaint released a gorgeously gorgeous album that I will probably go back to many times this year. It is called ‘Radiate Like This’ and it does just that.

Thank you. Last word is yours.

See the other. Be the other. Free the other. Be gentle with yourself. Thank you very much, Psych Baby!

OUT NOW: infinitikiss "or the minty jade of ginkos" [Digital Single]

The second track from the new album – ambient music – by Albuquerque, New Mexico's experimental artist – infinitikiss – is officially out today on all digital music platforms.  The release date for ambient music is set for March 3, 2023 and you can reserve your copy of the album now.

• "Warm and sunny, evoking hammocking on back porches and laying in summery fields." ~ Independent Clauses
• "A soothing 75-minute listen that lends itself to meditation and creative thought" ~ Extra Chill

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER VINYL RECORD

Meet New Mexico Ambient Artist infinitikiss

[Repost from Blood Makes Noise; January 18, 2023]

Infinitikiss is an ever-evolving musical and visual recording project conceptualized by Nic Jenkins, featuring a revolving ensemble of curious and experimental artists, musicians, and performers. Jenkins latest album, titled ambient music, is due out on Fort Lowell Records March 3, 2023. The core material for ambient music came from live improvisations that were recorded to cassette tapes, which originally served as backing tracks for live solo performances and with rotating ensembles (circa 2015-2020), in and around Charleston + Columbia, SC. Since then, the tapes have since become a kind of sample library of colors & shapes that have served a variety of sound collage / design situations, as well as fodder for other strange + beautiful collaborations. 

How did the band form and what does the band name mean? 

INFINITIKISS formed sometime in the middle of 2014 & somewhere in-between bus rides from Charleston to Columbia, SC. I was interested in a relationship that led me to other relationships that extended from the nucleus of the art, film, & music community there. Soda City & CHS have very interconnected music scenes, actually! Around this time is when I crossed paths with BAND & THE BEAT for the first time, which was a lovely moment in that chapter of my life. I journaled a lot on road trips about ways to evolve as an artist, and some of that journaling included lists of concepts and potential monikers. I wanted to go with something slightly more ambiguous and a bit quirky, since performing as “Mr. Jenkins” felt strange after a while (and once I started to try assembling groups of friends to play together). Other names on the list suggested  imagery of palindromes, cyclical patterns, and even conveyor belts (of sound). 

I had reached a point in my musical journey (and a season of re-examining my relationship with my own ego) that made me reconsider introducing a band or ensemble as my name, basically. Deciding on “infinitikiss” as a new working title for this dimension of self-expression & exploration was a choice to welcome more newness & elasticity into my life, and to celebrate that more, and to also suggest timelessness & weightlessness… through song? 

Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music? 

I’m not sure of a fair way to condense this, but a short list of some important musical  projects I’ve been fortunate to work with are: Josh Martin (drums), Sabine Colleen  (percussion) 2 Slices (drums), Grace Joyner (drums), Falling Off A Building (bass  guitar), Asphalt Orchestra (bass drum), San Fermin (drums), Tracy Shedd (drums,  bass), BODYPARTS (drums), Future Wife (bass guitar, drums), Run Dan Run (drums),  Jack Of Knives (drums) Lindsay Holler (drums) … [ also credited as: Nick Jenkins ] 

I grew up in a religious family in a small town and my parents loved music, so there  was: church music, camp songs, MTV, marching & symphonic bands (through middle &  high school) as my introduction to music, which led to an early appreciation. My first  instrument was the drums. Guitar, bass, and piano followed a few years later. I am  almost 40 years old now! In 3rd grade, I might have almost been labeled a problem  child because of how much I tapped on the desk and was drawing all the time. The way  my parents saw me and nurtured that part of my passion was pivotal! 

I’m not sure where I would be if I had never heard ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ by Tears  For Fears. Thanks, Mom&Dad: your record collection has always been an inspiration. 

First concert that you ever went to?

My first official CONCERT was probably a Christian rock concert or good old Gospel  music extravaganza of some kind. I’m gonna go with Carmen (pop contemporary gospel  artist) at the North Charleston Coliseum. That would’ve been in the early ’90s. It was  definitely a national act production. There may have been pyrotechnics? I also have to  shout-out my mom’s community choir, The Colleton County Mass Choir, for encouraging  & welcoming the high school version of me to play bass with them in such early,  formative years. Before I started playing with them, I would have probably seen them  over a dozen times before. 

What's your writing process like? 

My process has gone through a few different phases. At first it was more of a lyrical based approach, and then grew more comfortable with my primary instrument (the  drums) and then more with guitars, which led to more of a compositional direction. After  that, computers & sample-based music threw me into a sound collage headspace.  Presently, I am allowing life to happen and I’m practicing being present as much as  possible. The arrangement and production of ’ambient music’ happened through a time based accumulation process of documentation & mediation. In a way, it was done  before I began to assemble the album. The music I’m starting to think about working on  now is more formulaic and song-based. Overall, the shortest answer is: the process is a  practice of using collectable sound collage fodder for the improvised assemblages of  songs. 

Even though this project is mostly a solo endeavor, there are sometimes lovely guest  collaborators in the performance and recording scenarios of the music, so there is a bit  of a revolving door of artists I trust to reimagine my music with me, and to make  something totally new. For that & to them I am grateful! 

The first piece of music I ever wrote for infinitikiss was called, “See The Other / Be The  Other / Free The Other”, which was made on GarageBand for iPod touch; composed for  an octet. Jazz has also influenced the way I interpret lots of musical concepts and  possibilities. 

What other artists or songs inspire your music? 

Aloha : one of my favorite bands of all time. Pretty much anything they’ve written and  released has been some perfect soundtrack to my life at that very moment. Their album  ‘Sugar’ found me at an especially tender moment in my life, and still brings tremendous  comfort when I hear it. If I had to pick one favorite song, it would be “Water Your Hands” from the album ‘Here Comes Everyone’ (Polyvinyl Records). 

Baxter (Quentin Baxter) was my drum instructor and mentor throughout college. His  knowledge of music is uncannily broad and He taught me a lot about how your life  practice influences how you practice with your instrument. Being genuine to one’s own  story was also a recurring theme during my studies with him. He is also a founding  member of Ranky Tanky, The Gradual Lean, and frequent collaborator of vocalist Rene  Marie. He was the first person to introduce me to the music of… 

Bjork! Bjork’s music has always been some kind of underlying subliminal poetry that I  consult when I want to imagine the terrifyingly motherly voice of the universe  personified. The mysteries of existence seem a little easier to understand when I listen  to Bjork. 

The music of Broadcast is timeless, is brilliant, is so many great things. _favorite album: ’The Future Crayon’ 

my friends & fam 

Sade – the album ‘Love Is Stronger Than Pride’ 

Hiroshi Yoshimura – the album ‘Green’ 

James Tritten of Fort Lowell Records created this Spotify Playlist that Blood Makes Noise readers may find of interest.  It highlights what they as a label feel are some of the most important works within the ambient genre, having come from a background in shoegaze indie rock:  

What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it  be it's own thing?

Infinitikiss “live” is close to what you’d expect walking into a living art exhibition to be  like. As with conveyor belts and things that are just “on” all the time (like espresso  machines or pilot lights), the sets are arranged to flow like the trajectory of a walkabout  or spirit quest. Live performances tend to start… and seamlessly float through songs  until “the end”. I try to make it easy for my collaborators to jump in with very minimal  preparation (with clear requests & parameters), which allow them to improvise in ways  that don’t require lots of rehearsal time. With the use of incorporating graphic scores  and experimental notation, there is more for the players to interpret and bring out of the  musical blueprints. The live experience of this music is also kind of like going to a  science fair and witnessing people explore the various colors & shapes of sounds.  Having songs are what keep things from being completely nebulous. I love when  concerts seem more alive than recordings. I find it rather refreshing to feel at least a  little disoriented when seeing something created in front of me and in real-time. 

Has the band toured? What has the touring experience been, best shows?  worst shows? 

The only touring that has happened has been around the Southeast, in a variety of  small rock clubs, indie film cinemas, contemporary art installations, dance company  collaborations, “happenings”, and special events. When it is a band/group/ensemble, it  isn’t a very conventional one, and because it is still a rather young project, it has yet to  really sprout wings in this way. Thanks to so, so many beautiful beings & generous  creatives in my life, the ensemble size has been anywhere from 2-8 players at once.  South Carolina has a very unique network of artists and musicians. There was this one  time I agreed to perform during a film festival curated by The Nickelodeon / Indie Grits in  Columbia, SC the same night I was playing percussion in a production of Animal Farm:  The Musical at USC. Unfortunately I couldn’t be present for both things, so what did I  do? I asked some friends to perform music written specifically FOR them (to improvise  with), but without me. Even though I double-booked myself, it somehow worked out? I  refer to that ensemble as INFINITIKISS XL, because it was a huge favor to ask. The  piece was called “Disco Limbo Vision”, which was named after a film in the same  programming that night. It was only my “worst” show because I wasn’t there, but also a  fun exercise in trusting others to bring a composition to life. 

The “best” show is probably one in Charleston, SC that has been documented and can  be found on the interwebs. 

Search: Lab Sessions / curated by Khari Lucas & HedHi Media / costumes by: Cara  Persona 

What’s up next for the band? 

There currently is not a band to plan for / with. However, I did just play in Santa Fe with  my friend an Albuquerque-based musician named Mark Nava (who also plays bass with  Sabine Colleen). Mark operated a tasty combo of guitar pedals while I sent audio from  cassette tapes (of ‘ambient music’ loops) and played synth bass / drum machine. It was  super mellow & a gentle kind of fun. I’ve been working on a “dark wave” solo set, which  is a minimal configuration of bass guitar, drum machine, & vocals. My next  compositional fixation will most likely be called ‘Jingle Jangle’ –– a more guitar-centric  batch of songs. 

We’ve been in NM for just over 2 years, and I hope that we continue to build community  and connections with people here to organically grow beautiful life moments, and even  some weird stuff.

Pre-order infinitikiss ambient music on translucent chartreuse green here: https://fortlowell.square.site/product/infinitikiss-ambient-music-/66 

Premiere: inifinitikiss’ “in the same vibration that pothos green grows” (and Fort Lowell Records interview!)

[Repost from Independent Clauses; by Stephen Carradini, November 10, 2022]

In 2014, Fort Lowell Records took a leap of faith and asked me to do something that I had never done before in 12 years of being a blog: premiere a record. (I still have my vinyl copy of the Good Graces’ Close to the Sun framed and hanging on my wall to mark the momentous occasion.)

When I dramatically changed the genres I review and listen to in 2018, I noted that “I’ll probably be a pretty bad premiere partner for the near future, as I don’t quite know how to talk about the stuff I’m geeking out on yet.” So it’s with astonishment and gratitude that I present to you one of the first ambient premieres I’ve ever done–for none other than Fort Lowell Records.

“in the same vibration that pothos green grows” is the first single from infinitikiss‘ ambient music (yes, it’s really called that–I can’t make up this amount of serendipity).

The track itself is an expansive piece drawing on the subtle tensions between a roughed-up arpeggiator pattern and the round tones of a bright acoustic guitar. The programmed and gently distorted synth puts forward pressure on the track; the lazy, expansive, elegant acoustic guitar notes slow the track down. The space between those motions is the heart of the song. Even with the texturing on the arpeggiator, the piece is warm and sunny, evoking hammocking on back porches and laying in summery fields.

Fort Lowell Records · infinitikiss - "in the same vibration that pothos green grows"

If the song above piques your interest, the album will be pressed on chartreuse green translucent vinyl via Fort Lowell: you can order it here. (Look at that snazzy mock-up! You know you want one.) The album releases February 17, 2023.

And while, usually, my premieres would stop there, this one was too astonishing to let go at just that. So I took it upon myself to talk with James Tritten, the label head of Fort Lowell records. I wanted to know: how did y’all end up listening to ambient too? And how did you come across infinitikiss? James was so gracious that he not only gave me answers to those questions, but he made a Spotify playlist of his favorite ambient tracks. (The interview has been condensed for clarity and length.)

Stephen (IC): infinitikiss is an ambient record. How did that come about, and how did you get involved in ambient?

James Tritten (JT): It starts with The Band and the Beat [ed: James and his wife Tracy Shedd’s electronic duo. We’ve covered them too.] So basically, Nic Jenkins is infinitikiss. We met him when we were living in Raleigh, around the time we were touring around the region. We were booking a leg all the way through Florida and back, and I just picked up his name between the Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina.

He lived between the two cities, and so I reached out to him. And we ended up playing a couple of shows with Nic. Nic and Tracy and I, but specifically Nic and Tracy, really, really hit it off. Like, they were brother and sister immediately. They were just kindred spirits.

I think it was like the first night we played with him, it was the end of the set. She got him after the show and she’s like, Nic, I wanna record a record with you. And that would’ve been probably 2015 or 2016. So then fast forward that conversation: when we decided that we were gonna record another Tracy Shedd record, Nic was it. If you look at the credits on The Carolinas record, it’s Tracy, me and Nic Jenkins.

So, Tracy and I took a little trip across the US this last May and we spent time with Nic. He’s now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We got there, we spent a couple of days with him, which was beautiful. Somewhere in that conversation I must have spoken about the first ambient record that Fort Lowell had the privilege to release, and that’s the La Cerca record: A Nice Sweet Getaway. That came out in 2020. I remember recommending it to Nic at some point. It was later that he made a note [on Instagram] like, “wrapping up an ambient record,” and then I reached out to him then to say, “Well, hey, could I hear it?” That’s all it was. Could I hear it?

So we, Tracy and I, we just fell in love with it within–I don’t even think I was halfway through the record yet, and I was already like texting him, “Hey, can we talk about putting this out?”

This is a true statement when I say that I literally start every Saturday and Sunday listening to that La Cerca record. And we’ve been doing it for two years now. And the minute I got Nic’s record, it’s now both records. They’re just both of ’em side by side. It’s just such a beautiful way to start a day. It’s so just peaceful and it just, it just brings you into the day.

IC: So, tell me about this playlist!

JT: I literally spent my entire weekend making this playlist. I’m so excited. I’m really proud of it.

Ambient music starts with that, at my core, I’m a shoegazer. Tracy and I, we grew up with shoegaze. Like we were going to the club when it was like, “Here, let me introduce you to a band called My Bloody Valentine. You know, they just put out an EP.” And it’s really weird. It’s really noisy, you know?

So as a shoegazer, the goal was always to just get your guitar to sustain as long as it could. You know, one strum and then just this ever-sustained echo or whatever it was–reverb, whatever. This would’ve been like ’92, maybe ’93. I had four Roland Space Echoes. Four. Not one. Four.

IC: Just in case.

JT: No, I played through every one of them! That’s how obsessed I was with sustaining the guitar. Four of them. And I’d even loop ’em. I knew how to cover the erase head and you can create loops out of it and stuff. So I just became obsessed with these things. They were very much part of my instrumentation, as much as the guitar was. Well that led me to Brian Eno’s Discreet Music. So it’ll be the first song on the playlist. In my opinion, that is just the utmost epitome of ambient music.

And then I purposely, you know, I gave you La Cerca right following that because I just, I think it is on par with what Brian Eno does. And I know that’s a bold ass statement to say.

IC: Hey, you know, shoot your shot!

JT: I think it’s great. These examples on the front end that are these shoegaze bands that we were listening to. I mean, at the end of the day, ambient music is shoegaze minus the rhythm section. I mean, really! It’s true!

So that is where I just started aggressively collecting music like that. My dad ended up getting me introduced to bands like Tangerine Dream and Synergy, some of that older stuff, you know, the Barry Cleveland I’ve got there. Harold Budd, you know Harold Budd. Obviously you can kind of tie that into Brian Eno. But you can quickly see how it goes from this world of shoegaze stuff into this world of like old seventies-ish electronic music.

IC: I see … I love Johan Johansson. I see that on here. I love Spiritualized, Squarepusher, AphexTwin. American Analog Set. I love that you have–this is the more guitar-oriented ambient, right? The way I came into ambient is the opposite direction from the more synthesizer-heavy stuff into quieter and quieter and quieter and quieter until I ended up at ambient.

This is really fascinating for me. It will be really exciting for me because a lot of these were not in the path that I took to get to Brian Eno and then points beyond.

JT: I appreciate that actually, because I purposefully did that. I felt like, “I really need to tell my story with ambient music.” And I’m coming at it from a guitarist point of view. That’s the truth. You never would associate a band like American Analog Set with the word ambient.

IC: Yeah. But you put it in there and it makes sense.

JT: Yep. Well, I don’t know if you’re familiar with that track and what it is specifically. It was part of the Darla Records Bliss Out series. The Windy and Carl track came from the same exact series. It was a series of 12 inch EPs that they did. And my understanding is that that is what they were pushing the artist to do. I don’t know if the word ambient was being directly given to them. But that American Analog Set 12-inch is nothing like any of the albums. It’s completely different.

And so that song, in my opinion, it qualifies to a degree of ambient. There’s a couple of tracks in there where’s there’s a bit of a beat or rhythm that kind of comes in, enough that someone may challenge it.

IC: I think that’s part of it. I mean, ambient doesn’t have to be all clouds of synthesizers, right?

Thank you for talking with me about this “new” fascination that I have that goes back a decade, but is still basically new because we’ve only been writing about it for short period of time. I’m looking forward to more, more ambient records from y’all!

JT: I thank you even more for the opportunity to help promote the record and get it out. It really does mean a lot. —Stephen Carradini

James Tritten of Fort Lowell Records

OUT NOW: infinitikiss "in the same vibration that pothos green grows" [Digital Single]

The first track from the highly anticipated new album – ambient music – by Albuquerque, New Mexico's experimental artist – infinitikiss – is officially out today on all digital music platforms.  The track is specifically tuned to the Heart Chakra, so please enjoy.  The release date for ambient music is set for March 3, 2023 and you can reserve your copy of the album now.

CLICK HERE TO PREORDER VINYL RECORD