HANS KARL: AMBIENT CHAIR MUSIC-New Music Inspired by the Artwork of Ragnar

Hans Karl

AMBIENT CHAIR MUSIC-New Music Inspired by the Artwork of Ragnar

© 2004 Hans Karl and Brandon "Ragnar" Johnson (829429100821)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

Original instrumental score music inspired by Ragnar's CHAIR and WINDOW series of illustrations - from film composer Hans Karl. Lush, dreamy, intense and fun. RAGNAR designed the beautiful full-color 20 page booklet for the 43 minute CD.

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AMBIENT CHAIR MUSIC CD REVIEW #1:
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Friday, July 9, 2004

By ROBERT KINSLER
Special to the Orange County Register


Orange Pop

Local musician Hans Karl is releasing an album of music inspired by Newport Beach artist Brandon Ragnar Johnson.

HANS KARL: "Ambient Chair Music" is his most accessible and diverse collection.

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As a lifelong lover of films and comic books, it's no wonder that Anaheim keyboardist Hans Karl would be drawn to scoring music for film and television.

But in addition to challenging himself by scoring music for motion pictures, he is the rare musician who has tackled composing complete musical works inspired by still paintings and illustrations - first showcased in 2002 with the release of "Shagxotica!" That ambitious disc celebrated the artwork of artist Josh "Shag" Agle with a blend of 16 compositions.

Now Karl is set to release another strong collection of original music inspired by the work of one of his favorite artists, "Ambient Chair Music," an excellent sonic companion to the artwork of famed Newport Beach artist Brandon Ragnar Johnson (who is better known as simply "Ragnar" in the art world).

From the breezy and cool ambient grooves of "Aspen Grove" and the dramatic force of "Blue Chair 1" to the melancholy of "Willowbrook" and the Euro dance sounds of "Cabrini Green," "Ambient Chair Music" is Karl's most accessible and diverse collection. Fans of artists such as Moby, Dead Can Dance and Mum will find a kinship with Karl's emotive and wide-ranging music. Ragnar's designs and illustrations are reproduced in a beautiful full-color 18-page booklet that comes with the 43-minute CD.

Both Karl and Ragnar will celebrate the release of the CD at the 35th annual San Diego Comic-Con International, July 22-25. The convention - celebrating comics, animation, science fiction and fantasy - is the perfect venue to kick off the release of "Ambient Chair Music." It will also be sold on Karl's Web site beginning on July 26.

"I met Ragnar at the San Diego Comic-Con last July," said Karl, noting that he was already a fan of Ragnar's art design in the world of animation.

While the composing time for the album Shagxotica! spanned two years, the work Karl did for Ambient Chair Music took only about eight months to finish. In addition to contributing already-completed illustrations for the CD, Ragnar came up with new designs and artwork to augment every visual element of the new title.

"The thing I was keen off Ragnar was his artwork is much more contemporary," Karl said. "In April, I went to his showing at Meltdown Gallery in Hollywood and saw 'Aspen Grove' (the first piece on the disc) and wrote, recorded and produced the track in a week. Other pieces also came quickly; others I would get the skeleton and come back to it later," he explained of the relatively fast process of completing his fourth full-length disc.

In the disc artwork booklet, Ragnar's illustrations each portray a woman sitting in a chair or on a sofa, often viewed through a window. The strength of the artwork is as compelling as Karl's lush music.

"I'm composing off the piece," Karl said. "I was trying to cue off this. It's very feminine."

In order to complete the album's conceptual direction, Karl also recruited singer Valerie L. Northington to add a vocal link between the various styles and works on the disc. "I used her sound as a vocal template," said Karl, noting that while he wrote all the music and played all the keyboards, engineer J.D. Steward played guitar and other instruments on select tracks.

In addition to completing "Ambient Chair Music," Karl has kept busy scoring original music for the film industry, including the trailer for the DVD/video release of "Treasure Hunt" (starring Chow Yun Fat) and the complete score for the independent movie "The Greatest Challenge," a short film directed by Shawn Flanagan that received its premiere at the 2004 San Jose Cinequest film festival.

For more information on "Ambient Chair Music" and his other CDs, visit www.hanskarlmusic.com; for more information on Ragnar, visit www.littlecartoons.com.

For more information on Hans Karl, visit his official Web site at http://www.hanskarlmusic.com.




AMBIENT CHAIR MUSIC CD REVIEW #2:
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Art with a Beat

By

Dee (www.nevermoremusic.com)


Hans Karl had a booth at this years Comic Con, to meet and greet music fans and industry people. He spent all four days in the heat and humidity of San Diego and a crowded convention center.

For me, it was a personal visit on that July 23rd day. I had known Hans since the early 1980s. I met him at a Los Angeles nightclub. His older brother sang in a local band named Eulogy. From there, a friendship grew. We had a love a science fiction in common (Star Trek, in general). Somewhere in the 1990's we had lost contact.

We found each other again through the internet.

Since the early days He's grown from local band musician, to the only musician in his family! A well regarded composer.

"Ambient Chair Music" is his newest CD. He uses the artwork of Ragnar for his inspiration! Adding to the visual senses, this album represents hearing with the ears and feeling with the soul.

REVIEW = I review in terms of feelings more than actual musical knowledge. And, even though we have a history, these are my honest thoughts. --thank you.


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(1) Aspen Grove
There is crispness in the sound. Like walking on snow in Aspen Co. A gentle beat sways you side to side, and a haunting melody relaxes your senses.

(2) Willowbrook
The drum work is prominent. I'd say it "calls to you." Closing your eyes, you'll feel yourself sway like the branches of a willow and can almost hear the waters of a babbling brook.

(4) The Belmont
Games are being played at The Belmont. Sexy women and rich men. The music has that intensity. Some high techno sounds gives the illusion of a big city. The Drum beat is quicker. Life is played faster here.

(9) Cypress Gardens
Sit back with a tall cool drink. Soft, romantic. Infused with the strumming of the guitar and the tickling of the ivories (piano). Calm and relaxing. Perfect for winding down after a stressful day.

There are ten (10) tracks to this CD, and I highlighted my favorites. The entire CD is top-notch, and you will not be disappointed.
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If you wish to hear a sound byte, visit his official website at: http://www.hanskarlmusic.com/

Ragnar's wonderful artwork can been seen at his website: http://www.littlecartoons.com/

Copyright © 2004 Nevermore Music
All Rights Reserved

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HANS KARL-KEYBOARD MAGAZINE AWARD WINNER:

Keyboard Magazine's
Unsigned Artist of the Month - Hans Karl (MAY 2001)


When we threw wide the gates to the Unsigned Artist competition, you really responded! We've had an avalanche of amazing contributions. The quality of your work is inspiring and encouraging. There's some really great stuff being done out there -- keep it up. And about that avalanche: Don't let the idea that we're buried keep you from sending us your music. So long as there are synths or keyboards in it (either electronic or acoustic), we want to hear it!

This month's winner is Hans Karl (from Santa Ana, California), who sent us excerpts from his score to the independent film Boneshakers. The medley of cues starts tentatively, with some ethereal textures following a vaguely electronic gong. Then the rhythm kicks in, full of metallic banging, hollow textures, and strange little electronic noises. A shamisen-like guitar note sounds and shatters, and the bottom drops out, leading us into another space, underpinned by an ambling hip-hop beat and spooky, quasi-orchestral textures. The music conjures images of its own; we can only imagine the impact they had on the movie's visuals.

Hans recorded the piece with Syntrillium Cool Edit and Sonic Foundry Acid. Since the composition includes somewhere between 120 and 160 tracks (he's lost count -- can you relate?), the limitations of Cool Edit forced him to resort to submixing and bouncing tracks. Careful attention to gainstaging and output levels resulted in a track that doesn't reveal its mega-stacked nature. Hans's hardware list is relatively humble, proving again that it's not what you have, but how you use it, that matters: An E-MU Proteus/1, a Korg T3, and a Roland D-50 were employed, along with a handful of sampling CDs to create this edgy, evocative track. Excellent work, Hans.
Email Hans Karl at MusicByHKarl@aol.com.


Copyright © 2001 by United Entertainment Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Music Player Network Publication. Reproduction of material appearing in Keyboard
is strictly prohibited without written permission. Keyboard and Music Player
Network are registered trademarks of United Entertainment Media, Inc.
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HANS KARL OC REGISTER FEATURE INTERVIEW (2001):


He's got the keys to succeed


April 27, 2001

By ROBERT KINSLER
Special to the Orange County Register

The increasingly common bridge between instrumental composition and popular music used in film and television couldn't come at a better time for Hans Karl. The Santa Ana musician, who excels as both composer and keyboardist, is following the lead of artists such as Danny Elfman, Sting and Moby, able to combine pop song craft and a classical sense to score music for the big and small screen.

Indeed, Hans Karl has been selected as Keyboard Magazine's Unsigned Artist of the Month for the May 2001 issue of the publication, which will hit newsstands at the beginning of next week. He was selected for the honor after editors at the magazine heard a medley he completed that was based on music he scored for the independent film Boneshakers.

"I try to approach scoring by letting feelings and emotions come out first. As the process of composing evolves, I like to let the gut level combine with the intellectual to shape the music I am creating," said Hans Karl, who teaches piano by day and writes and records music at a professional home studio by night.

Hans Karl has his hands in both worlds; he is trained in classical theory, having begun his study of classical piano at age 7, and studied music theory for 2½ years at Cal State Fullerton. But he also loves the contemporary world of electronica and various other styles of instrumental music.

"I've always been into movies since I was a kid," said Hans Karl. "Being into film was a way to escape my daily mundane routine when I was growing up. In some ways, I felt like I didn't connect with the world around me.

"Being into music and film, I could escape into my own world; through music I gradually began to express who I was and find more of my own voice as an artist."

As Hans Karl became more interested in the art of films and movie music, he began to notice the work of several composers, but was particularly impressed by the work of Ennio Morricone ("The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," "The Mission," "The Untouchables," "Cinema Paradiso," "Malena").

"His music makes even average films seem much more interesting," Hans Karl said. "I've always loved the whole discipline of film."

Although Hans Karl's main goal is to score films, his most recent success has come from composing music for jingle and CD-ROM projects.

The CD-ROM music was used for Canon's line of digital scanners introduced last summer, while he also wrote an industrial jingle for Network Music, a music library company based in San Diego.

Hans Karl has also scored two television interviews, one used in a piece about visual artist SHAG on the "Real Orange" news program on KOCE-TV and the other about film production designer Syd Mead ("Aliens," "Blade Runner") shown on the Orange County News Channel (OCN).

"My method of composing is a combination of old and new school thought, as I am open to any and all tools that will help me get my ideas across," Hans Karl explained.

"I do often use pencil and paper to notate my compositions, but I also use samplers and synths to assist me in my composing. Some composers have an aversion to electronics and sampled music. Not me; I love sampling and the opportunities it affords me in fleshing out the varied musical ideas I hear in my head."

Hans Karl views the world of electronic music as another palette to complete his musical pieces. He noted that while there are certain compositional techniques that can only be achieved by using a real orchestra, there are also textures, ideas and sonic colors that can only be created by using synthesizers and samples.

"Electronic music is fascinating to me, but a great player or players performing a part that should be played by a live instrument is often an even better choice. ... I have to say that I think I will always enjoy composing music that is a combination of both live and electronic elements."

For more information on Hans Karl, visit his official Web site at http://www.hanskarlmusic.com.
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ORANGE COUNTY WEEKLY SHAG ARTICLE AND SHAGXOTICA! ALBUM MENTION (2002)


COVER | FEATURE Vol. 7 No. 50 August 16 - 22, 2002
Shagadelic!
Josh Agle-a.k.a. Shag-is OC's hippest painter, and he has the cult to prove it


by Rich Kane


Giddy art freaks queue up on the sidewalk outside the Starlite Room, one of several retrofied shops lining a block of Fourth Street in Long Beach. More freaks are packed inside, waiting to ring up at the cash register or watching the surf band play on the back patio. All these people have stuff with them-books, magazines, lamps, mugs, posters, shirts, handbags-and everybody, especially the five Japanese kids who flew all night to be here, will hand this booty to the lanky, bookish guy standing behind a podium in the corner. He'll take a black Sharpie and scribble a four-letter word onto everything that's thrust before him: SHAG. Not Brit slang for "fuck," though; Shag is his name, the one with which he signs his pieces and paintings. Otherwise, he's Josh Agle, a 39-year-old recovering Mormon and onetime Swamp Zombies and Dynotones guitarist who created "Shag" by combining the last two letters of his first name with the first two letters of his last. It's a hip tag and easy for people to remember, which is the whole point.

Shag is not merely an artist; he's also an art-marketing monster. And if you don't know him already, you will. Very soon.

Agle/Shag is hot. Famous folks such as Ben Stiller and Whoopi Goldberg collect his work. He has slightly creepy, obsessed fans who ring the doorbell of his house in Orange and ask him to sign things-in one case, a guy wanted Agle to do a sketch for him on the spot. (He politely declined.)

"The people who come up to the door? I'm always nice to them," says Agle, who's reclining in his cramped home workspace, a converted bedroom. "If they want me to sign stuff, I'll sign. I'll usually let them into the living room, just because I feel bad. I feel that's my part of the bargain, that I have to sort of allow that to happen because of where I am in my career."

Japanese groupies? Celeb fans? Semistalkers? That's about as rock-star as a painter can get in America. Agle has had solo shows in Europe, Japan and Australia, but in OC, where he got his start doing graphics work and designing album covers for the old Doctor Dream indie label, he has been largely ignored by the galleries, exhibiting just two paintings. That will change Aug. 30, when the Brea Gallery opens Sophisticated Misfits: 15 Years of Shag, a retrospective that will include more than 100 paintings and assorted pieces of Shag-related merchandise.

Why Brea?

"They were the first to ask," says Agle. "No Orange County gallery ever called me before asking if I wanted to do a show." LA galleries, meanwhile, phone him up two or three times a month inquiring about exhibitions.

The 1950s-era tract house in Orange, with its Agle-sculpted tiki on the front chimney, won't be his much longer. Agle, his wife and young daughter are moving to more spacious digs in Cowan Heights, and things are strewn everywhere. His 300-strong tiki mug collection has been boxed up, and several recently finished paintings lean against a wall, one of which is a typical, cartoon-like, Shagian take on Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass.

"If I start counting up the value of all the paintings sitting here, it'll start to scare me," he says. He picks one at random and pulls it out. "You've got maybe $10 worth of materials there, with the paint and the board. And yet, for some reason, people pay $7,000 for this."

People do. Partly, perhaps, for nostalgia. Shag paintings look like stills from old cartoons that were never made: bright, color-drenched scenes populated by strange, funny-looking characters: women with exaggerated eyelids, men with twig-like fingers and feet, anorexic-thin cats. They're often gathered at some sort of lounge or party-circa, say, 1962-where at least one wooden tiki is part of the décor, and drinking, smoking and having a fabulous time is a requirement. Print and TV advertising from the 1950s and '60s, of-the-era furniture designs, tiki, lounge culture and Googie architecture are his major reference points.

"It's definitely a look of that time," Agle says, and then launches smoothly into a contemporary graphics history lesson. "Up until the late '40s, magazine illustrations were like Norman Rockwell or something, very realism-based. Then suddenly these art directors got into more abstract figures. Instead of rendering a nice pair of legs on a figure, it'd be a straight line with a little foot coming out. That's the thing that really appeals to me."

"You see his paintings, and you want to be there-you want to be one of those sleek-looking, accepted, A-list people," says Brea Gallery director Dianna Miller, who's responsible for organizing the Shag show. "His work is like a Rothko-you just look at it, and you like it."

The fun of Agle's work can sometimes mask a tinge of Fellini-esque mystery. A skeleton serenades a grinning, cocktail-swigging female. Satan and his gal pal picnic on the beach while watching TV police chases. Wolves, bulls and monkeys sit at tables and converse with nonchalant humans.

The paintings are also highly musical works. In a lot of his work, either dancing, guitar playing, record spinning or bongo banging is going on, so vibrant you can almost hear the tunes. If Juan Garcia Esquivel or Martin Denny had been painters, they probably would have come up with work close to Agle's. "I assume there's music playing in almost every piece," Agle says.

Anaheim composer Hans Karl has picked up on that, going so far as to put out his own instrumental CD, Shagxotica! New Music Inspired by the Paintings of Shag. Karl's parents were into Polynesian culture when he was growing up in the '60s-tropical trees in the back yard, torches around the swimming pool, stacks of Martin Denny vinyl everywhere-so coming across Shag's work last year took him back.

The idea for the album, Karl says, was to create a soundtrack for 15 different Shag paintings, capturing what he thinks would be the music playing if the paintings had speakers attached to their frames-like Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in Orange County. Each track is named after the Shag work that inspired it: The Ghost of Augie Colon, The Three Enablers, The Torrid Holiday, The Uninvited Guests and so on. (The paintings are reproduced in the CD booklet.)

"There's this notion of 'ancient-future' or even 'retro-future' in his paintings," Karl says. "So I tried to infuse the music that way, like it could play in a cool lounge bar circa 1963 or 2063."

The Man Who Would Become Shag almost became an accountant.

That was Agle's major at Cal State Long Beach for a couple of years, until he realized he hated it. "It was easy, and I got good grades, but if I had stuck with it, I knew my life would be miserable," he says. "The thing that actually made me change was this flier I saw for the accounting students softball league. I thought, 'God, who would want to play softball with an accountant?' I switched my major to art on the spot. Even if I was completely poor my whole life, at least I'd be doing something I liked."

Agle sold art on the side to help pay for school, and he eventually got the Doctor Dream gig (it helped that the Swamp Zombies were on the label). "Doctor Dream would call me up when other bands came in with crappy ideas for art work, so I'd redo it for them." There, he designed album covers for such bands as the Cadillac Tramps. When people started pestering him for originals, he complied.

What Agle painted first were pictures with tikis-forests of them, just when exotica/lounge/surf culture was coming back in vogue. "Most people paint what appeals to them," he says. "Picasso always painted bullfights, things that were directly related to his life. And me? I was really into tikis. I hate the word 'retro,' but the whole look of the '50s and '60s appealed to me. I collected a lot of the furniture, books and magazines of that time, so it just informed what I was doing."

Agle says his tiki fetish flourished during 1980s excursions with friends to old LA bars. "We'd go to these Polynesian places, and if you ordered a drink, they'd serve it in a tiki mug, and you could either buy the mug or it'd be included in the price-or you could just stick it someplace and walk out with it. So we started collecting these as little souvenirs of our fun evenings out. Then I noticed you could get them in thrift stores and flea markets."

Tikis became something of a Shag trademark, so much so that he still often gets branded as "the tiki artist." "There was a time when I did a lot of tiki stuff, and I still occasionally do," he admits, "but the majority of my work doesn't have tikis in it."

But the tikis got the attention of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, which was opening a tiki/Rat Pack-styled bar there called the Venus Lounge. "How could I turn down the Las Vegas Strip?" Agle asks. "The way they described it was right up my alley."

Agle got to design the bar's cocktail napkins, wall murals, menus, ashtrays, signage, swizzle sticks, matchbooks and logo. He was too successful. Soon, Shag-signed barware began vanishing from the lounge-and reappearing on eBay. "I had some friends who went a few months ago, and they told me they were down to only three menus, and that the waitresses have to stand there while you look at them!"

A few weeks ago, the lounge told Agle that they'll have to redecorate the room, using a less-appealing motif. You know you've arrived when people start stealing your stuff.

"It's weird because it puts this pressure on me, like I'd better keep doing good art people like, so that somebody who spent $16 on a Shag napkin off eBay will feel they got their money's worth. It's a strange fate."

What all those thieves-tourists, we'd guess-probably don't know is that there's tons of Shag stuff they could buy in boutiques around town and on his website (www.shag-art.com). Agle has merchandised Shag to a degree that would do Keith Haring proud-Shag mouse pads, Shag blank checks, Shag books, Shag clothes, Shag soap.

"The very first thing was the Zippo lighters," he says, running through the mental catalog. "The guy there loved the work, and at the time, I wasn't sure anybody would ever want to buy a Shag lighter. But he didn't care; he said he just liked the stuff. And when I got my first $3,000 royalty check from lighters, I was like, '$3,000?! And I didn't even have to work!' So the idea of royalty payments became really attractive."

He collaborated with Paul Frank to produce purses, handbags, wallets, barstools and CD cases, which are still among Agle's most sought-after items. He admits to have gone a little crazy with the licensing binge, though, and these days is more into the idea of limited-edition Shag shwag.

There's no hint that he's concerned about the purity of his craft or the holiness of his inspiration. "I always thought I would merchandise," he says frankly. "I wouldn't draw the line and say I'm a fine artist, that it would cheapen my work if I were to put it on a T-shirt or something. So if it's appropriate, I don't see why not."

Agle drew the line at just one thing: the bobblehead dolls. "The company that makes them wanted to do a doll, but not a tiki or anything based on my art-one of me. And I couldn't; I just said no. A Josh Agle bobblehead doll would be too far into the realm of novelty. The fact that they even wanted to do it was unsettling."

Agle insists he's not becoming a celebrity, but just now his work is making that unavoidable. This past spring, Agle reached his widest audience yet when the Showtime cable network animated his work to plug Night Out, the Wednesday lineup of gay and lesbian programming airing on their affiliate, Sho Too. It was great-except Agle says Showtime didn't actually have his permission. Still, exposure is exposure, and there are bound to be more people who find out about Shag from the Showtime spots. People who'll wait in lines a lot deeper than 50 bodies to have Josh Agle graffiti his alter-art-ego on something.

"People seem to like my work, which I'm very happy about," he says. "When I first started painting, I thought, well, there might be 10 people out there who'd like these. And it seems like there's a lot more."

"Sophisticated Misfits: 15 Years of Shag" at the Brea Gallery, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea, (714) 990-7730. Opens Aug. 30 with a reception, book signing and music from the Dynotones, 7-9 p.m. Exhibit runs through Oct. 4.
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HANS KARL COMPOSING RESUME:


July 2004---Hans Karl was an exhibitor at the 2004 San Diego Comic Convention, which took place from July 22-25, 2004. He sold his various CD's at special con prices and he also debuted his newest CD "AMBIENT CHAIR MUSIC-New Music Inspired by the Artwork of Ragnar." This CD contains music based on the fabulous paintings of the artist RAGNAR (http://www. littlecartoons.com/). The artist Ragnar also had a booth at the 2004 San Diego Comic Con.

June 2004---Hans Karl currently has a new Reel Demo available upon request in DVD format. This reel contain examples of music Hans has scored for PBS, commerical clients, movie trailers, as well as, other film work. Please contact Hans via his website (www.hanskarlmusic.com) to obtain his new DVD demo if you have interest in hiring him to score your next film, TV or game project.

March 2004---"The Greatest Challenge", scored by Hans Karl, showed at the 2004 San Jose Cinequest film festival. The short film was selected to show with 3 other locally produced short films presented by Cinequest and KQED. Cinequest had 800 short films submitted this year, 75 of those were selected for the shorts showcase and 4 were picked for the KQED presentation which showed at the 1100 seat San Jose State Event Center this March.

November 2003---Composed the score for the short film entitled THE GREATEST CHALLENGE. This film was written and directed by Shawn Flanagan, and produced by Almaden Films. Shortly, I will have a new reel that will showcase one or two scenes from this film along with my other trailer and TV/Film work.

June 2003---Composed the trailer music for a TV show starring Jackie Chan and Chow-Yun Fat called THE MASTER SWORDSMAN. The show starred these two actors in some of their early TV work and is being released on Video. My music underscores the trailer promoting the new video release of the show.

June 2003---Composed the trailer music for a Chow-Yun Fat movie called TREASURE HUNT. This is an older Chow-Yun Fat movie that is being released on Video. My music underscores the trailer promoting the new video release of the movie.

May 2003---Completed a CD collection of Thriller/ horror instrumental compositions to be solicited to music Libraries and other licensing venues. Described as sounding very "atmospheric and spooky", this library music is available in demo form upon request.

January 2003---Signed a Non-Exclusive Licensing Deal for the music from the album "SHAGXOTICA!" Described as sounding very "cartoon-like and fun", the "SHAGXOTICA!" album is available in demo form upon request to all those that have interest in licensing the music for use in productions.

August 2002---The album "SHAGXOTICA!" is discussed in a feature article about SHAG'S painting career which appeared in OC Weekly.

June 2002---Scored a Florida State University Grad Thesis short film entitled "TWO-BIT." This film centers on the story of two brothers who pull off a heist at a dog racing track. The film was shot in 35mm and contains very handsome production values.

April 2002---The album "SHAGXOTICA!" receives a positive review from the Orange County Register's own Robert Kinsler.

April 2002---Produced and Released the album "SHAGXOTICA!-New Music Inspired by the Paintings of SHAG." This CD of original instrumental compositions is a collection of tunes inspired by the work of the artist SHAG. Described as sounding like "the beat generation meets generation X", it is a hybrid of various musical styles such as lounge jazz, electronica, exotica and cartoon music. The CD is available at many retail locations throughout Southern California, as well as many online retail sites. Please go to www.hanskarlmusic.com for ordering information.

February 2002---Scored an independent short film entitled COP ZONE, which was picked as an official selection at the Cinequest Film Festival in Northern California. This short was directed by Shawn Flanagan and produced by Almaden Films/Connolly Entertainment.

May 2001---Keyboard Magazine choice as their "Unsigned Artist of the Month" for the May 2001 issue of the publication.

April 2001---Feature article in the Orange County Register with an artist interview and background info.

March 2001---Released the extended score CD for the film BONESHAKERS. This composer promo CD has over 45 minutes worth of music, mixing up styles such as techno, ambient and orchestral writing.

July 2000---Two techno/rock style instrumental Compositions licensed to Canon Computer Systems, Inc.

April 2000---Composed and sold an instrumental industrial jingle to Network Music, a music library company that is now a part ofthe RCA/BMG Music Library.

March 2000---Scored a PBS interview which aired on March 28, 2000 on KOCE in Huntington Beach, CA. The interview was with the internationally known artist SHAG.

December 1999---Licensed a techno/rock style instrumental composition to a Bay Area TV commercial for a limousine service called Legrande Affaire. The commercial was produced and directed by Shawn Flanagan (who also directed BONESHAKERS).

November, 1999---Recorded and produced an excerpts CD (13 minutes long) of music from and inspired by the Original Motion Picture score to BONESHAKERS. The music on this CD represents more of a pop/techno element that was inspired by themes and ideas from the original score to BONESHAKERS.

May 1999---Scored a feature length film entitled BONESHAKERS, which was directed by Shawn Flanagan and Produced by Almaden Films/Connolly Entertainment. It was shot in and around the city of San Francisco. The plot centers on a group of enterprising kidnappers who kidnap homeless people and sell their body parts. Review Quote: "More firepower, flying kicks, fine performances and fun than any independent film I've seen." -Chris Catalano (B-Movie Magazine).

Winter 1998---Rock Dog Records, an Independent L.A. label, releases one of my instrumental compositions on a compilation album of all instrumental music. The style of the composition is industrial/techno. The album has received radio airplay/rotation on new age and instrumental music stations throughout the United States.

September 1998---Scored an L.A. City College student short entitled POSTCARD, which was directed by Miwa Iwamoto. The film was shot in 8mm/Black and White and is a surreal fantasy in the style of the original Twilight Zone series and the old Dragnet TV episodes. The musical style of these instrumental cues is old fashioned in nature: 1950's atomic age TV music in the style of Bernard Herrmann and old thriller/B sci-fi movies. The end titles have a cool swing/lounge feeling; sort of like a happy chewing gum commercial from the late 50's or early 60's.

Spring 1998---Scored an L.A. City College student Short entitled MY BROTHER, MI HERMANO, which was Directed by Jose Hermosillo. The film was shot in 16mm/color and is a look at a little boy's life experi- ence of growing up in East Los Angeles. This short has been screened at several film festivals, including THE BURBANK INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL in early October of 2000. This festival was held at the AMC 8 theaters in the MEDIA CITY CENTER in Burbank, CA.

September 1997---Scored a two part news segment And interview with visual futurist/production designer Syd Mead for Orange County News Channel (OCN). Syd Mead, the subject of the scored interview, did production design work on the films BLADE RUNNER and ALIENS, as well as many others. The two part news segment was directed by the talented Paul Jilbert. The musical style of the instrumental cues is sci-fi/ambient/electronic. Director Paul Jilbert contact number: (209) 492-9010.

June 1997---Recorded and produced my first CD of all Original compositions on my own Impala Records label. The album, entitled "SEA OF DREAMING", is an eclectic mix of instrumental pieces that contain styles ranging from light Jazz and Pop to electronic/New Age and Classical.



UNITED STATES CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HANS KARL:

W: (714)630-2589

HANS KARL-LIQUID YEARS MUSIC
P.O. BOX 6260
ANAHEIM, CA 92816

WWW.HANSKARLMUSIC.COM

Musicbyhkarl@aol.com

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HANS KARL BIO:


ABOUT HANS KARL

Hans Karl was born in the Los Angeles area in the mid-sixties. He has two brothers who are gifted in the musical and creative arts as well. His mother plays piano and has a strong artistic sense. His father played big band style trombone in a local group when he was younger. His dad is also a man of many other talents, one of them being that he is a skilled businessman with a strong gift for financial planning and management. Both parents liked to listen to big band music while Hans was growing up, and his mother also enjoyed classical music. The house often had some type of music in the air, and his brothers were both strongly into the rock 'n' roll of the 60's and 70's. About those early years, Hans says, "when I was growing up, my exposure to varied musical genres definitely influenced my musical palette, and very early on it gave me a language to draw upon that now comes out in my composing. That exposure also gave me a direct love of and appreciation for all types of music."

Throughout his childhood, and into his adult years, Hans has had a fertile imagination. At different points in time, he has developed original creative works using the design mediums of photography, computer graphics, painting and music. When he was younger, much of his artistic zeal was expressed through creative photography. As he grew in years, he discovered that musical composition was a very strong passion.

This wide variety of experiences led Hans to appreciate film, and the music that goes with it. "To me, cinema is the ultimate creative expression, being that it brings together so many artistic and technical disciplines and then proceeds to house them under one collaborative roof. Through film images and visual music, I often escape the mundane, and I might learn something new by living behind the eyes of a film. Most of all, with a good film, like any great piece of art, I have the chance to reinforce what is really important in my life-a spiritual relationship with God and others." Hans is the consummate movie lover, and he enjoys film music to the extreme. Hans Karl also loves animation, comic books, and video games. On any given Wednesday, you might find him in his favorite local comic book shop buying more comics than he can read!

Hans Karl lives in the Los Angeles area in his "studio loft". Here he maintains his project studio where he does all of his composing and most of his pre-production work. His digs are full of eclectic furniture and bric-a-brac, mixing up design elements and furniture pieces from the 50's to the present. He also regularly employs the services of his talented Engineer and Producer J.D. Stewart, who owns and operates Stewart Music Production Studio, a full service music production facility in Lake Elsinore, CA. Hans has sold or licensed several of his instrumental compositions and has scored various other film projects. Most recently, he completed the documentary score for JAMES BAMA: AMERICAN REALIST, in early 2006. He also released the instrumental album entitled "Ambient Chair Music-New Music Inspired by the Artwork of Ragnar" in 2004. In 2002, Hans released the instrumental album "Shagxotica!-New Music Inspired by the Paintings of Shag." Currently, Mr. Karl has animation and other scoring projects in the works for 2006.

Composing music is Hans Karl's biggest passion, and he continues to achieve his dream of writing and selling "visual instrumental music."

Visit Hans' website:www.hanskarlmusic.com

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