Chris Meyer’s Alias Zone
Electronic Press Kit
Photos, a PDF with additional insight, and more may be downloaded by clicking this link.
the Latest album
Finite Space
The latest Alias Zone album uses the well-known electronic genres of Space Music and Berlin School as its jumping-off point, and extends them with touches of jazz, classical, and world musics – all serving Chris’ melodic, cinematic approach to aural storytelling. His unique, interactive approach to sequencing brings very human melodic phrasing to music otherwise created by machines. Complex pads, languid leads, haunting choirs, deep basses, field recordings, and acoustic percussion add layers of detail and texture. The intoxicating results definitely rewards multiple listens. Longtime collaborator Richard Bugg lends his hyperacoustic flute to the epic closing track, “Nightfall: Kyiv.” This album is available on all of the major streaming services.
Excerpts from Finite Space:
Premonition
Ash Tree Window
Sputnik's Ghosts
Nightfall: Kyiv
The initial reaction from fellow musicians has been glowing. Download the PDF version of this press kit for sample reviews as well.
“great to hear modular synths used in such a musical way”
– Ian Boddy
“a fresh take on sequencer melodies that avoids the overtly Teutonic zone”
– Robert Rich
“never static…continually moving and morphing…it sounds so very ‘alive’”
– David Helping
“the sonic clarity, balance, dynamics and detail in the production of Finite Space makes this one of my favorite albums to listen to for the pure pleasure of it, as it transcends conventional auditory experiences”
– Bart Hawkins
“this is music: there is a medium between experimental & melodic construction that a lot of people miss; Finite Space navigates beautifully between both”
– Steve Turner
Chris Meyer of Alias Zone
Chris Meyer has led three lives in the music industry: creating electronic music instruments and tools for companies like Sequential, Digidesign, and Roland (including inventing Vector Synthesis); teaching electronic music synthesis through numerous magazine articles, online courses, and his website LearningModular.com; and now performing his own unique vision of emotional, impressionistic electronic music under the name Alias Zone.
Each of Chris’ compositions is based on a story that informs its creation. He starts with a sonic image that captures his imagination: a complex sound, an alluring rhythm, or a field recording that documents a specific time and place. The story they hint at then becomes the touchstone that determines each layer Chris adds to the piece, be they richly textured ambient environments, unique sounds he programs on his modular synthesizers, exotic percussion, and more. His goal is to convey emotions of mystery, longing, and joy, creating a deeply human experience.
In contrast to many electronic music composers who focus primarily on studio work, virtually all Alias Zone tracks are conceived as live performances, and are then later edited into album form.
(Alternate bios are also available in the downloadable version of this press kit.)
Recent & Upcoming Performances
Chris Meyer is an active performer, originally streaming from his studio during Covid and now playing in person – often in quadraphonic sound. Alias Zone performances have been described as “amazing,” “nuanced,” “transcendent,” being in “a whole other class,” and “one of the finest live electronic sets I have ever witnessed.”
This is how Steve Roach reviewed Chris’ performance at the April 2023 edition of his Ambient Lounge:
“Chris Meyer created a masterful journey in his deeply personal style. Taking the rapt audience through a myriad of soundworlds in what felt like the tour of a sound gallery of timbral engagement and a nuanced orchestration that was a delight to the ears and imagination. The infusion of selected acoustic percussion fed into the modular food chain added to the organic mojo within the machines. As the the last sound particle faded to the close, the audience was there hanging onto every sound molecule in the fade to silence.”
Other recent and upcoming performances include:
- The Gatherings (September 2025; headline act)
- Steve Roach’s SoundQuest Fest and Ambient Lounge
- Phoenix Synthesizer Festival (opening for Steve Roach)
- Albuquerque Museum (opening for Michael Stearns)
- Electrowave Festival (headline act first night)
- Wavetrails Festival (headline act first night)
- Slingshot Festival
- Mountain Skies
- Currents New Media Festival
- Synthplex
- SoundMiT
- SynthFest France
Current performance plans are regularly updated on the Alias Zone home page. Chris is seeking contacts and suggestions for other bookings in the second half of 2025 and beyond. Chris’ technical requirements are included in the downloadable version of this press kit.
MEDIA
photos
Below are a selection of web-resolution photos in square, landscape, and horizontal orientations that you may use. Click on a photo to see it full screen; right-click to download it. These images plus additional selections – including high resolution versions, plus the Alias Zone logo – are also available in the downloadable files folder. (If they do not initially appear below, re-load your browser.)
video
Above is a live performance inside a holographic video cube
for the inaugural Wavetrails Festival for the piece “Paradise Lost”
which will appear on an upcoming album
For embedding on your own site, the following links include
live and rough edit versions of three of the tracks from the current album Finite Space:
Nightfall: Kyiv
Ash Tree Window
Premonition
(Contact Chris using the form below if you require the source HD movie file for your own encoding.)
the previous album
Water Stories
Bodies of water – and the mysteries that lie beneath their surface – is the thread that runs throughout this deeply-layered audio travelogue. Inside these three extended tracks,
I take you searching for sea monsters in Iceland, waking the souls stranded underwater in a shipwreck off the coast of Cyprus, and exploring a series of majestic underground caverns by canoe in Thailand. My goal is to create a uniquely emotional experience. Ellison Wolf of Waveform Magazine described Water Stories as “a relaxing, positive-vibed, soothing listen.” It has also been featured on numerous playlists, and was named one of the best Ambient/Space Music releases of 2022 by Lloyd Barde.