[syn-the-sist] - jemand, der diverse Konzeptionen zu einem zusammenhŠngendem Ganzen vereinigt.
I,SYNTHESIST ist die Musik von Chris Ianuzzi, der mit seinem Album "Avalanche" sein DebŸt in der Synth-/Electropopszene gibt.

Chris arbeitete bereits mit Vangelis und Ex-Tangerine Dream Mitglied Peter Baumann zusammen, sowie an diversen Billboardchart-Projekten. Zum Songschreiben kam inzwischen auch der visuelle Teil hinzu, an dem er zusammen mit Anna Krych arbeitet, so das man bei einem Liveauftritt nicht nur die Musik erleben kann.

Wenn man I,SYNTHESIST hšrt, bemerkt man, dass Chris von KŸnstlern wie GARY NUMAN, KRAFTWERK, FAD GADGET, sowie ULTRAVOX beeinflusst ist, sein Gesang erinnert stellenweise an BJ…RK.

Schnell wird beim Anhšren der Songs von I, SYNTHESIST klar, dass das Gehšrte wirklich ein zusammenhŠngendes Ganzes ist. Entstanden aus jahrelangen musikalischen Erfahrungen und EinflŸssen und einem KŸnstler, durch dessen Talent und KreativitŠt es gelingt, das Beste aus der Vergangenheit verschmelzen zu lassen und so den Sound der Zukunft zu kreieren.

[electrowahn.de]

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Chris Ianuzzi, aka "I, Synthesist," is a phenomenon of the digital age. He is the perfect example of the D.I.Y generation. Not only is his music a flash into the realms of analog synths and romantic landscapes of sound, he has gone to an unbelievable global success by doing it by himself, without anyone backing him up. Sent without even a booklet in plastic wrap, hisÊdebut CD Avalanche has crossed the oceans, boundaries and territories, went into distant lands, and made it big for DJs, digital media journalists, Web zines, clubbers and fans of pure retro electronic synthpop music from all over the world. He is so popular, he himself doesn't know how this happened. Well, I sayÊwelcome to the D.I.Y of the digital age. Like a slowly building front ofÊsnow on a mountainside, this album has rolled and rolled all over the globe, sweeping people one by one, ganining an unbelievable success for this talented new indie artist. No major label, no industry of professional PR, marketing and promotion, nothing. He represents with all its glory the power of musicÑgood music, excellent music. In the digital age there is no need for a brilliant talented artists to be manipulated by the industry; Chris Ianuzzi has proved that. He has been giving anÊexample to everyone andÊwe wish that many will follow in his footsteps.

Name your biggest '80s influences and why at least one of them came to influence you so heavily.

Ianuzzi: The '80s had so much that wasn't strictly synth. There was Medium Medium, Psychadelic Furs, Japan, Duran Duran, etc.Ê Fad Gadget and the host of synth regulars, of course, were all part of it.Ê I don't really think there is one that I can say is the biggest influence. It was an overall vibe Êor attitude. I haven't said this in many interviews, but I was very much there in the '80s and I was in it in those times. ÊI recorded a lot of stuff that hasn't been released and stuff that has. I was one of a handful of people that did synth stuff in the very early '80s here in New York City and was looked upon as a "freak." I started working for Suzanne Ciani at 20 years old. ÊI made music and sound design for more commercials than I can count, at a very early age. I won a Clio award for the first commercial on MTV for Atari, which was very electro. Through Ciani, I met and worked with ex-Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann and some other really great people. I was in a band called the Puppets that had a single called "The Way of Life" that went to number four on the Billboard Dance charts. We had a concert that filled Webster Hall with screaming girls. The U.S. labels didn't understand it and thought such music should be coming from Europe, and then went to Europe and said, ÔWhat are you doing here?' That has been the story of my life. I was then in another band that signed with a Japanese label and ended up in the wrong part of Europe. Being an artist that pushes the envelope in the USA is not an easy thing at all. The companies here don't understand it unless it is spoon-fed, cookie-cutter music. The destruction that has developed as a result of that mentality is being felt now.Ê I think I am finding a way through it at this point and will see that a lot of even my older stuff gets released in the future, as well as where I am now and where I am going with it all.

What did you do with Peter Baumann?

Ianuzzi: Peter was doing some synthpop stuff and I had the sketch of a song that he liked and we worked on it for a song on his Strangers in the Night album. I think it was eventually called "Time Machine." I also did a re-mix with him for Conrad Schnitzler. Jeez, I was young. ÊA little later on, he hired me to do some Voyetra noises on some of The Patrick O'Hearn recordings for Private Music. I worked on Ciani's Velocity of Love album, and Vangelis was hanging around a lot in those days, so I did some sound making for him to play on Suzanne's stuff.

Do you plan on playing keyboards with a chisel and rubber mallet at your live shows like you did for the American Society for University Composers?

Ianuzzi: No, no, no, no, no, no! That's one of those things you do when you are 18!Ê With the chisel anyway.Ê I might take a rubber mallet to one, though. If I could get my hands on an Arp 2600 and three reel-to-reel machines playing tape loops, then I would really crank that spirit up again!

What is the role of multimedia artist Anna Krych in the project?

Ianuzzi: Anna Krych is really my partner in this project. She is very responsible in giving me the inspiration that sparked the beginning of me doing this. I had fantasized for many years about combining music and synchronized visuals.Ê The technology was finally in reach and when I met Anna. ÊShe took me to see the video work that she did for a Covenant tour a couple of years ago. That night kicked me into gear to start working seriously on doing a project like this.

I work with her on the development of this stuff all of the time. She did all the artwork on the CD cover, the Web site, buttons, posters, etc.Ê I always bounce ideas off of her when I am making music as well. We also fight like cats and dogs! It's just good creative, wholesome fun!

Avalanche is your debut release and it received an enormous positive and loving feedback from the media. How does this make you feel? Did it surprise you that it is such a critical success?

Ianuzzi: It is incredible to see all this stuff. I sit and do Google searches on I, Synthesist and sit back in amazement as to what comes up. I don't know how a lot of it is happening. I suppose I am still in shock from it and don't believe it all yet.

Had you thought about your potential audience while writing Avalanche?

Ianuzzi: Not really. For the first segment of writing it, I was struggling to get to a point where I was happy first. There is always an element of fantasy when I might imagine people dancing or really enjoying it. Then I saw the reactions that I was getting in the live shows and it fueled the second half of writing the material. The audience has turned out to be so varied, even spanning different age groups and genres, which is more than I could have hoped for. This makes me confident that making me happy first is the most important thing.

What kind of symbolism does the title "Avalanche" have?

Ianuzzi: To me, an avalanche is something that begins with an object in motion that sets other objects in motion, cascading into one enormous, sweeping movement with dramatic effects. That seems to be the way this project started and developed inside of me, as well as the response surrounding it.

I have read that you have a background in orchestral composing.

Ianuzzi: Using synthesizers, I had created multiple layered and textured electronic pieces a long time ago.Ê I developed in that way first. I grew up with orchestral music being played in the house by a mother who also blasted opera all day. As samplers developed, I learned more about orchestral writing by listening and working with those samples. Then, for work, I would take on orchestral jobs as a sort of "trial by fire" and that was always my way of learning. I made some very cool pieces.

I love it actually. I got to a point where I would print out the parts from my sequencer and bring in real instrumentalists to either be recorded and mixed with the sampler parts; or to double the sampled parts. There were some great things done for HBO that actually ended up using a totally real orchestra.

What is so appealing in '80s analog synth music?

Ianuzzi: The early '80s were a coming of age of for pop music done with synths.Ê It was a period when there were new things coming out all of the time, and a lot of it was fun and exciting to either dance or listen to. Analog was the only thing available early on.Ê The Ô80s weren't all analog, though. The DX-7 was a ground-breaking piece in the mid-1980s, and if you learned how to program it and mix it with analog synths, it was pretty cool. I think the D-50 coming out a little later in the '80s marked the beginning of the end, as it had presets that everybody used everywhere and no one made sounds anymore and the art form of being a synthesist became sounds that you bought at the store.

You have mentioned Kraftwerk as one of your musical influences. What elements of their music can we find in your songs?

Ianuzzi: That is a good question. I honestly don't hear a similarity in what I am doing to them, except that I use synthesizers and process organic sounds. What I mean when I mention Kraftwerk is that I understand their importance in music today. They have influenced all of it. I said once in another interview that I consider The Beatles and Kraftwerk to be the most important influences on all of our popular music today. At a very young age I would wake up to "Autobahn" on the radio and I had never heard anything like it.Ê I loved it and that was a big part of my interest in getting into the stuff.

Why do you think so many artists and bands are resurrecting that retro early sound instead of coming up with something totally new? Is it your opinion that this was the ultimate music experience?

Ianuzzi: Absolutely not! ÊI don't think we have had any ultimate musical experiences and I hope I never feel that way. I think that looking into retro aspects happens in all art and music. There are bands that do a retro-rock thing at times. ÊA football team may change their plans and go back to basics to rebuild again; businesses restructure. There was a review of Avalanche recently and the reviewer said that I was looking backward to go forward with the feeling, and I thought that was interesting because I look at some things that are very important to me that I feel have been lost or ignored. Avalanche is not a retro CD. There are sounds and treatments of sounds and melodies that have an attitude. But the CD sounds very different than any old CD that I know about. I keep hearing Gary Numan comparisons. Gee Whiz!Ê Put Gary Numan and Avalanche on and then go back and forth between them. Tell me honestly, what is the similarity? That they are songs that use synths and drum machines? A lot of Gary Numan's stuff has a real drummer even.Ê Can you tell that I am getting a little testy about the '80s thing?

Describe your work in the studio. How long did it take you to compose and produce the album?

The process went on for about a year and half. A lot of that was starting, re-starting, changing direction, and figuring out if I should sing and going out and performing it and settling in and working on video and how to do it. It was a lot of developmental stuff. The next recording will have different challenges and hopefully be a much shorter process.

How important is melody for you when you're composing? Is it important for you to catch the ear on first play?

Ianuzzi: For what I have done so far, melody is very important. That is something that I really feel has been lacking in a lot of recent stuff. It is important to catch the ear as soon as you can, with something that might not necessarily be melody as we normally think of it. It could be a sound that catches someone; it could be a beat; it could be a word. There has to be something there to snag a listener.

From where do you draw the inspiration for your words?

Ianuzzi: Life experiences, feelings. A lot comes from dreams. Sometimes I do a stream of consciousness thing and just start singing gibberish. Then I go back and start trying to figure out what I think it sounds like and build off of that. That isn't always the case though.

Are there any plans to remix any of the tracks for the dance floor?

Ianuzzi: Yes, I am giving out the tracks to people to do remixes. I would like to do some as well, but I think it's more important and interesting to get someone else's take on the stuff.

What do you think about the world's political climate today?

Ianuzzi: I am horrified by most of it. I never thought that I would be making political statements as an artist. I never had the desire to get involved in that stuff. But, I must tell you, I see things developing in this country that I do not like at all and I'm beginning to feel like itÔs my responsibility to speak out.

Are you taking the project on the road? Are you going to promote the album in Europe too? Is it going to be like a multimedia show? What should we expect to see?

Ianuzzi: You should expect to see me performing synth stuff, vocals and Kaoss Pad on stage as a computer picks up a lot of the sequenced parts and background vocals. There is a video projected that is synchronized with the music that ends up adding a great dimension to the stage. Depending on the situation, you may see two go-go or interpretive dancers, and there is talk of adding an electronic percussionist. I think down the line I will add the electronic percussionist when possible. I am doing most of the shows now by myself due to budget concerns.Ê It works very well, and I am happily surprised that it goes over with just me on stage. I am presently performing in the Northeast United States I hear that a European club tour is being put together. I know that Tina at Endless [promotion company] is working very hard on pulling it together for this fall and this winter. I am also talking with some other U.S. electro acts about touring the Midwest to California, and then up to Canada. With the great press and attention in Europe, it would be great to have the tour come together.