GruSum Zombie Comedy Released in March 2012

Chico, CA (Monday Feb 13^th, 2012) – Director Joe Batt (Rasche Rd.), today announced his newest short film, GruSum, written by Matt Bouvet and starring the improv comedy group Aberrant Behaviors.  In this comedy a new hair restoration product [GruSum] has some unexpected side effects in the small town of Rodgersville, CA where two friends named Mike [Ben Weddell] and Blake [Matt Bouvet] obliviously head to a BBQ unaware their town has been overcome by hairy zombies. This new release is a departure from Batt’s previous work but he admits it was fun getting outrageous.

“We filmed this throughout Chico, CA with the help of local businesses and members of the community. There were around twenty-four actors in all. It was a blast to film a mob of hairy zombies. People passing by didn’t know what to think and at times I’d step back and have to laugh at how ridiculous it all was.” GruSum is a dark comedy with a few unexpected twists and turns toward the absurd that grew thanks to the improvisational chops of its actors. “We really let the cast have fun with their dialogue and it shows. All of our characters have this apathetic quality towards what is going on around them. They only care about themselves and are twisted in a funny way.”

GruSum will premiere theatrically at The Pageant Theatre in Chico, CA on Saturday, March 10^th & Sunday, March 11^th as a double feature with Shawn Dyer’s film “Fray” before heading out to film festivals across the country. This film contains adult content and may not be suitable for children.

About Joe Batt

Joe Batt is a filmmaker from Forest Ranch, CA who has directed music videos and short films including Rasche Rd [2008] & the music video Breathe [2010] for singer/songwriter Josh Funk. Batt is currently in pre-production on his first feature film.

A facebook fanpage for “GruSum”, can be viewed at:

http://www.facebook.com/hairyzombies

The Official website for “GruSum” can be viewed at:

www.grusummovie.com

GruSum

Wayne Houchin: We first met in highschool. I don’t remember the exact circumstances but I first payed attention to him when we tied for 1st place at a talent show. He made some girl float and I played a song with my guitar. I still don’t see how playing a song can equal floating a person but I was happy to tie. Though we are creative in different ways, I remember talking for hours over the years about what it means to be an artist. For a while at least, our paths mimicked one another very closely. While I was working with a producer in L.A. trying to get a record deal, he was talking with Criss Angel, at the time a little known magician who just scored his first T.V. show on A&E. Every success Wayne has had became a friendly competition for me to match. One of the great parts is we have found ways to collaborate over the years by performing together on stage and I was even asked to illustrate his instructional graphic novel – Sinful. Its always important to find people who have strengths that you don’t have to gain a different perspective and grow artistically from it.

Rob Beaton: If you haven’t heard of him that’s too bad because he is amazing at what he does. He produced “So Glad You Could Make It” for me and has mastered, mixed, or in someway helped on all of my solo records. I have been able to take a recording done on my home computer using the little knowledge I have, send it to him, and have it returned like it was created at Abbey Road. I don’t know what he does but he does it well. Rob usually surprises me too. There have been two or three occasions where he sends me my mix back and something in it rubs me the wrong way at first because I am so used to what I had in mind. Then after about listen # 2 or 3 I get extremely excited because I realize he has found something I never would have dreamed of and brought the song to a whole other level. I would love to record a whole album with him someday but for now I appreciate how he has made me raise the bar with my music and songwriting.

Ryan Sanders: Ryan is my business partner at Code Nine Design and a great friend. He used to mix my bands when we would play live, and when I went solo in 2004 for “A Jukebox Envy”, we recorded it in his hand built studio. What I appreciate about him is his brutal honesty. He will shoot me down fast if my idea isn’t logical. He also forced me to spend more time on vocals which I seriously needed help on for some time. In Code Nine Design, I deal with the business side as well as a little graphic design or illustration while he takes care of the bulk of our design work. Once again, find someone with strengths that differ from yours.

Jay Darden: Finally, my best friend Jay. I’ve known him since I was six years old and we both started playing guitar when I was around 12. Jay went off to play metal while I went the alternative route but we found our way back musically around 2000. It has been fun and sometimes funny watching us try to find a middle ground for his style and mine. You can see where some of the darkness he introduced me to has started rubbing off. Check out “The Sea” if you want to know what I mean. It is important to learn from people with completely different backgrounds. Try to see where their influences come from and you might find some aspect of it that will help you with your work.

Have you found success in collaboration? If yes let me know what you found out.

Live performance of Danny Elfman’s song “Sally’s Song” from The Nightmare Before Christmas- performed by Josh Funk at the Chico Cabaret Theatre. Also playing: Jay Darden, Ryan Sanders, Omi Warda, & Jenny Funk.

A prime example of notes that I can hit but don’t necessarily sound great would be in my song “Don’t Turn Off the Light” from A Jukebox Envy. During the Chorus I sing, “Don’t turn off the light… I’m Scared.”  The notes on “I’m scared” were tremendously straining on my voice.  I remember doing take after take and though I got it for the recording to where I could live with it, I was cursed by the fact I really couldn’t sing this well live.  This is one of my most popular songs on iTunes and I can’t even perform it without changing the notes live.

I’ve learned to accept and actually love the range I do have though.  My voice sounds less nasally and more rich when in a lower range.  To compare listen to “Whispers In Ears” off of my new album, “Everything In Temporary.“

I recommend finding bands that you like and singing along to their songs as well.  This is a really helpful way to learn your range and help your songwriting at the same time.  Recently a friend of mine brought over Green Day’s Rock Band and I ended up singing most of the songs throughout the night.  It was so refreshing to actually have a voice by the end of the night even after singing 20 songs in a row.  Billy Joe Armstrong’s range worked perfectly for my voice.

There are of course other variables involved in singing properly but those are my thoughts on vocal range.

What tips do you have for finding what notes work best for your voice and songwriting?

Indie Songwriter explores his dark side on new album

Josh Funk, an independent and self-produced artist, today announced the release of his fourth original album, “Everything In Temporary”, a concept album that deals with the feelings of lost love through the perspective of a comatose man lying in his deathbed. This newest release is a stark contrast to Funk’s earlier emo-pop albums as he parts ways with his former works and explores the depths of his darker self, showing a truly integral side of him fans have yet to see before.

“Everything In Temporary” is an entire album dedicated to portraying the last thoughts of a man trapped in his body, slowly creeping towards the brink of his own death. In the song Breathe, he imagines that he discovers his lover shot, dying on the floor, and then runs after her killer only to be slain as he seeks vengeance. The Stars describes a dreaming man’s search for the woman he loves as the world reaches its own demise and comes crashing down all around him. Funk sings about standing at the edge of the ocean in The Sea, imagining what it is going to be like as he walks through the cold waters to his death, letting the waves upon waves take him under. Finally, in Whispers In Ears, he can hear the prayers of his family and friends as they wish for God to take him home.

“I realized one day that no matter how important you are, and no matter what you do, you will one day be forgotten and that everything is in a temporary status. I instantly started crafting this story and writing these songs after that,” said Funk. “I wasn’t even sure if I would release this album because it was so different from previous culminations, but these songs convey my own integrity and represent me more sincerely than anything I’ve done before.”

A music video for Breathe, the first single from “Everything In Temporary”, can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO6h7rN6UC8

To hear samples or purchase “Everything In Temporary” from iTunes, please visit:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/everything-in-temporary/id389644329

About Josh Funk
Josh Funk is a multi-talented, self-taught, and independent musical artist hailing from the city of Chico in the depths of Northern California. Funk’s musical credits include four albums—The Outlet Disadvantage (2000), A Jukebox Envy (2004) , The Face You Show Your Enemies (2007) , and Everything In Temporary (2010) —as well as awards from Unisong International Songwriting Contest. Funk has also been featured on the Swinghouse Records compilation of up and coming artists, and the soundtracks for illusionist Wayne Houchin’s DVD releases Stigmata, Indecent, and Control. For more information on Josh Funk, please visit: www.joshfunk.com.

Socially, it is still looked down upon to create entirely digital.  Critics tore George Lucas apart for the Star Wars Prequels. Though working digitally takes skill, the impression of those who don’t know enough about the process is that you simply click a button or two, hit auto tune and you are done. There are of course the purists out there who won’t even touch the digital process as well.  What really matters is the final product though.  Is it as good as it can be? Is everything in the composition there because it needs to be?

I am going to describe the way in which I have personally balanced the “Fake” with the “Real” to create a composition where you aren’t noticing whether it was made in a computer or not.  The song is called, “The Sea” which is on my latest album, “Everything In Temporary”.

“The Sea” contains two cellos, a clarinet, two acoustic guitars, a floor tom hit with mallets, a Roland Juno-D keyboard, and vocals. The idea for the song just came very quickly and naturally one night.  I started crafting a melody in my head and when my guitarist Jay Darden came by I had him pick up an old beat up Carlos Guitar that is stickered up and hasn’t had the strings changed in over 10 years. He played the bass-line on this guitar while I played the higher melody on a Fender acoustic.  We recorded this all in one take, using two mics in the room.  You can hear Jay’s fingers sliding across the frets that creates an imperfect clinking sound.

Not knowing how to play the cello, I took my wife’s cello and started recording different sounds, at first attempting to hold single notes and phrases and later giving up.  I cut a pasted the best pieces throughout the song using Pro Tools. One sound that I ultimately loved and used throughout the song was taking the bow and very lightly bringing it across the strings to create a dissonant buzzing.  This starts the song and is looped quietly under the entire song.

The vocals were treated in a similar way to the guitars.  Using the same mics and placement and trying to sing it with as much emotion as I could, I ran through it in a couple of takes.  There are a couple of falters in my voice and imperfections but they seemed appropriate so I left them in, without fixing and without resorting to auto-tune.

My brother, Jordan Funk was brought in to hit the floor tom with mallets that were mixed far back in the song with a large amount of reverb. The Juno-D became the source for a couple of xylophone hits, and other percussion sounds.

Now having most of the instruments how I wanted them but not 100% happy with my cello playing abilities, I used the Miroslav Philharmonik software in Pro Tools.  This was a great resource.  I mimicked the cello melody and layered their cello over mine, keeping mine a little further back in the mix.  I also used the clarinet that they had.  Because our guitars weren’t perfectly in tune (One of the tuning keys was missing, so everything had to be tuned to that string) I altered the tuning of the Miroslav Philharmonik to match as best I could.  Using Pro Tool’s Midi editor, I adjusted the velocity of each note to give it a more natural feel and add dynamics.  The mix of Cello and Clarinet is my new favorite combination of instruments and I am sure I will use it in the future.

I’m interested to hear how other songwriters, artists, and producers are mixing digital software with traditional techniques.  Send me your thoughts or explain how you feel about new technology.  Does it help or hurt in the creative process for you?

Album Artwork by Josh Funk

This is the album artwork I created for my new album, “Everything In Temporary.”

Overall- the illustrated imagery relates to pieces within the songs on the album.  The man is sitting in a boat with a map texture behind him because he is on a journey.  “Everything In Temporary” is about a man who is dealing with lost love while he is trapped in a coma. Every song is either an altered memory of moments with his love, or imagined dream-sequences while trying to find her. I like the idea of someone with wings that isn’t using them as if he has lost his ability to remember how to fly.  In one of the songs, “The Stars” the main character imagines he can fly and takes off in his dream.  In “The Sea” a man walks into the ocean to let the waves take him under. The solemn expression on his face sets the tone for this album.

The man in the boat was illustrated using ballpoint pen (for some reason, my favorite choice for illustration) and the boat was created in photoshop.  The waves were created using different Photoshop brushes with a few variations in color. The opacity levels in the foreground were dropped down to 50-75%.

I found a book of sample wallpaper textures from 20 years ago and scanned in the beige, striped pattern.  Directly behind him was a scanned piece of thick paper I drug through the ground, crumpled, and folded up, and spilt coffee onto in order to create a treasure map-like texture.  Old blueprints from a stock photo were layered over both the wings and the upper right hand corner.