a little over a decade ago, artists and musicians began experimenting seriously with using laptops as instruments during live performances. i remember my friend matt borghi and i having long discussions about how the laptop could change how people approached live music. it’s funny looking back now thinking about those conversations because at the time, it was actually pretty uncommon to see a laptop computer at a live gig. fast forward to the present and hardly anyone would bat an eye at the sight of a computer or a variety of mobile devices on stage with musicians. software equivalents of analog gear that would have taken an army to move now easily fit onto a portable hard.drive and go just about anywhere. the studio has gotten smaller and compact while at the same time, way more powerful. what excites me about emerging technologies are how they allow artists to be creative just about anywhere and at anytime.
over the past year i’ve been using a variety of sound apps on the iphone during some of my live performances. a few days ago, i decided to attempt creating a series of works that used only the iphone as the sole sound source.
what resulted is the “mobile.music” trilogy series. each release will run between 20-25 minutes and be available as a download only. AVAILABLE in the store section of jasonsloan.com.
[e.p.1] released 12/12/09
BEGINtoEND [50 second excerpt]
HUSHEDandblind [50 second excerpt]
[e.p.2] released 02/12/09
.emptiness [50 second excerpt]
.cycle [50 second excerpt]
[e.p.3] release date: TBA
I’ll admit I have mixed feelings about these awards. But I always throw myself into the mix anyway. As an artist that works with technology, financially it’s a constant struggle to keep hardware and software needed for my studio practice and live performances up to date. Technology now allows artists to quickly distribute work and information in the blink of an eye, but unfortunately the methods of creation and distribution change just as rapidly. Baltimore is fortunate to have our annual Baker Artist Awards which grant three working artists a $25,000 prize for their creative practice. If you have a moment to vote, I would truly appreciate your consideration. Below are links to my artist nomination and to the Baker homepage.
The summer months have proven to be very fruitful in the studio. In addition to the recent visual works and performances, I’ve started working on the follow up to my most recent album 
