Chris Meyer’s Alias Zone
Electronic Press Kit
Photos, a PDF with additional insight, and more may be downloaded by clicking this link.
the new album
Water Stories
Bodies of water – and the mysteries that lie beneath their surface – is the thread that runs throughout this richly-layered audio travelogue. Inside these three extended tracks, Chris takes us 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. The result is a uniquely emotional experience. (The inspiration for Water Stories is included in the downloadable version of this Press Kit.)
Previews from the latest album:
Iceland
Shipwrecked
The Cave
(The downloadable files includes MP3s of this album. Contact me using the form at the bottom of this page if you would like a complimentary Bandcamp download code, or would prefer a different format.)
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, both streaming from his studio and playing in person – including in quad. Fans have described his appearances as “amazing,” “transcending,” 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 performances have included:
- Steve Roach’s SoundQuest Fest
- Phoenix Synthesizer Festival (opening for Steve Roach)
- SoundMiT
- SynthFest France
- Mountain Skies
- Currents New Media Festival
- Synthplex
Current performance plans are regularly updated on the Alias Zone home page. After having finished a tour of Arizona and Southern California in April plus a performance at the Currents New Media Festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico in June, plans for the second half of 2023 include Knobcon in Schaumburg, Illinois the afternoon of July 9, and a tour of North Carolina in early October. All of these performances will probably be in quadraphonic sound.
Chris is seeking contacts and suggestions for other bookings in 2024 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 the video of the live-in-the-studio version of the first track on the album, Iceland.
For embedding on your own site, use the following links:
(Contact Chris using the form below if you require the source HD movie file for your own encoding.)
the previous album
We Only Came to Dream
Aztec poetry (read by a descendent of the author), a Buddhist ceremony in Vietnam, and a Navajo elder sharing his wisdom provide the inspiration for the tracks on this album. Chris Meyer takes these seeds and carefully crafts entire musical worlds around them with each story slowly unfolding for the listener to explore and enjoy. Two pieces also contain flute solos by old friend Richard Bugg, who appeared also on the original Alias Zone ablum from 20 years ago, Lucid Dreams.