Stardust For Jennifer

Where are the thinkers, the artists, the poets? Where is the honest communication?Every other generation has had a counterculture of movers and shakers that we seem to be lacking.
The Beats, the Hippies, the Gen X ers have been replaced with store bought hipsters and plastic injected celebrities.
In this world now, with the social media at hand, communication should be easier than ever. A platform that should be uniting people is creating a greater divide.
Face to face and voice to voice is no longer there, no longer acceptable, but is necessary. The energy, the spark and the excitement has been replaced with dullness, muteness, and a sense of unreality.
Music used to be an outlet, an expression, a way to get your message heard. Folk artists, glam rockers, punk rockers, metal heads, industrial bands all took a stand and got their point across.
Music today, much like our food, is canned, processed, full of additives and has no nutritional value. It says nothing, means nothing and is tasteless.
Give me back the coffee houses. The ones before wifi.
We gathered, smoked too many cigarettes and drank too much coffee, but we created, collaborated, conversed and became friends.
Friends in Real Life.

This is my mind sorting out the reasons why, when I watch the news or run down my Facebook news feed, I get a sinking, sick feeling in my stomach and a heaviness in my heart.
This is a generalization.
I know there are good people, smart people, and people with creative endeavors. My friends.

Ruby Smith.

I know there are people who are going to react negatively to the cover art on the new record, entitled (....as for Mother), so before putting your "Family Values hat" on, you should probably read this first. Firstly, it's art, not misogyny, or pornography. I'm a gay man, and we have a female bass player, so do the math! Every hear of Hieronymus  Bosch? The painter? If not, look him up. Secondly, the concept came about whilst Lou Newton, and I were discussing our fucked up families/childhoods. I was re-reading Euripides "Medea" at the time (The Greek Tragedy), as well as having discussions about the archetypes, throughout history, of parents who destroy their children (wether its literal, or metaphorical. Male, OR female)) It was something we both shared some very common ground on, and "TA-DA!, we had a title. You will also notice, before the end of this page who the record is devoted to. So whatever you have to say in the negative about the art, we, as Stardust For Jennifer, don't care what you think. I mean for fucks sake, it's an INSTRUMENTAL album! This is the last time I will defend our art. Having said that, ladies, and gentlemen....as for Mother.

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For the realization of this project, Stardust For Jennifer were....

Philm Martin - Mastering/Engineering/Recording/Synth & Drum Programming/Electric, and Acoustic 12, and 6 String Guitars/Ebow/Synthesizers/Mellotron/Samplers/Acoustic Drums/Sound Design.

Tom Bradford - 12, and 6 String Electric Guitars/Loops/Paranormal Sounds.

(Narcosis/A Drug Called Warp/Beautiful Strange Birds)

Ruby Smith - The Bass Guitar.

(Narcosis/A Drug Called Warp/Pleroma/Trilliums Waver (Reprise)

Phil Holec - The Bass Guitar.

(Trilliums Waver)

Jordan Bregg - The Bass Guitar.

(I Killed A Bear Today)

Chris Livingston - Vocal Manipulation.

(The Boy Who Floated Away)

Lou Newton - Cover Design/Art/Concept & Title.

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Without the Love, Support, and Protection of the following people, this record would never have happened....

A.C.

Akai Controllers

Andrew Johnston

Aphex Compressors

Black Cat Pedals

Brian Pride

Boss Pedals

Catlinbread Pedals

Chris Livingston

Dan Schiro

Darren Olach

D.C.

Death By Audio Pedals

Devi Ever Pedals

Diamond Pedals

Dwarfcraft Pedals

Electroharmonic Pedals

Fender Guitars and Amplification

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge

Gretchen DeCot

Gretch Guitars

Jean Cocteau

Jessie Oleksy

Jet Screamer

John Ingersol

Kim and Steve Larson

Kim Pluskota 

Kristine Alden

Lorna Doom

Lou Newton

Mom

Mr. Black Pedals

Neunaber Pedals

Nita Martin

Patrick Rady

Phil Holec

Propellerhead Software/Hardware

Red Witch Pedals

Rickenbacker Guitars

Roland Amps and Synthesizers

Ruby and Matt Smith               

Shanda Morgan

T.C. Electronics

T-Rex Pedals

Tommy Hopf

Wren and Cuff Pedals

Wolfe Von Stauffenberg 

Philm Martin - June 25th/2016

"The Death of Personal Space" came about by chance, in the process of working on my third proper record,  "....as for Mother". I have a friend who owns a great deal of vintage gear, (mostly synths from the70's & 80's) who was cool enough to let me plunder his collection. There were old Moog's, Sequential Circuits, Roland's, Korg's, and Yamaha synths. The tracks on this record came about by a process of experimentation, and improvisation. I was familiar with most of the gear as I spent a great deal of my childhood/early adolescence drooling over, or wishing that I had the financial resources to own one them some day. It was kind of a dream come true to even have access to these instruments that were well maintained, and in pristine condition.
 Over the years I learned how to program synths (predominately on "soft synth's"), and this was finally my chance to do something on some of the most classic synthesizers around. In the process of all this, I wound up with close to three records worth of material, predominately in the ambient, dark ambient, industrial ambient, and soundscape genres. I took the best ten tracks from these experiments, and found that I had wound up with a record that I was really proud of.
 

The last thing I have to mention in regards to the new record is this....certain key people in my life have expressed concern about the content of the cover art. The cover art, concept, and album title all come from one of my best friends, Lou Newton. Lou is one of the only people I have ever deeply respected in my lifetime, and I can assure you he is one of the only people that I know who's integrity, and ethics are rivaled only by his compassion, and gifted talent. The cover art is a conceptual piece, and in no way is an advocacy of suicide....nothing could be farther from the truth. The recording itself is conceptually, and sonically about the idea that technology has quite literally taken away, severely affected, or just outright destroyed an individual's need, birthright, and desire for personal space....to be alone. If you own a cell phone, smart phone etc. you know  what I am talking about. People think that if you have any of the above mentioned sonic trinkets that it should be "on" all the time, with you at all times, and you should be available, at all times. Not only has this type of technology, and "social networking" been proven to show an increase in narcissistic behavior, passive aggressive behavior, and new forms of A.D.D. (which border on the pathological), but it has also deeply affected our ability to deal with conflict, which is a normal part of life. People have literally ended lifelong commitments to marriages, friendships, and deal with serious interpersonal problems by the use of text messaging. I find this to be deeply inappropriate behavior. Literally hundreds of books have been written about this phenomenon, and I personally find it very disturbing, and gross. It has helped contribute to a disposable society, and the repercussions from this behavior will probably not be felt, let alone addressed, until it is too late.
 Technology, people have mistakenly thought, was "taking us to the stars", but instead, it is just bringing death to the masses. I feel sorry for this whole generation of young people who have been raised with a cellular device affixed to their bodies. I have literally watched people panic, and go into symptoms that closely resemble drug withdrawals when the Internet goes down, or is unavailable, or when whatever device they are plugged into runs out of power, and they can't find a means to get it recharged....the panic I have seen people go into because they can't connect to Facebook borders on mania. It is terrifying, yet oddly amusing that such a small thing can quite literally bring a person to a total psychological meltdown, which brings me back to the cover art....I stand by, and defend not only the artist, the artwork, concept, and title, and I have this to say if the cover offends you....You missed the point! This record is about the necessity to reclaim personal space. It is about silence. It is about reading a book quietly, instead of watching television. It's about reclaiming a sacred space in your life where true evolution, personal reflection, and growth can flourish, instead of letting a silly little device made of plastic, silicon, microchips, and wires dictate your life. It's about silence, sea, and the sky, and if you don't get it....your missing something really beautiful.

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 For the realization of this project Stardust For Jennifer were....

Philm Martin - Keyboards, Samplers, Programming, Sound Design, Engineering, and Mastering
Lou Newton - Cover Art, Concept, and Title

The material on this recording was made between July of 2012, to June of 2014. All of these pieces were improvised, or used "chance operations" for their composition.

This record is dedicated to sister Nita Martin (10/1/1955 - 1/11/2014)


Without the Love, Support, Friendship, Inspiration, Protection, Loyalty, and Healing that the following people have brought into my life, this recording never would have happened.

A.C.
Brian Pride
Clara Martin
D.C.
Dan Shiro
Darren Olach
Futura
Grace Freeling
Jean Cocteau
Jessie Oleksy
Jet Screamer
Kim and John Pluskota
Lorna Doom
Lou Newton
Nika Martin 
Nita Martin
Patrick Rady
Phil Holec
Propellerheads Software/Hardware
Shanda Morgan
Tommy Hopf
Tony De La Torre
Wolfe Von Stauffenberg


Love and Protection
Philm Martin - 9/20/2014

My sister Nita was one of my best friends....it was a friendship & conversation that up until a
few weeks ago was a daily part of my life for almost 44 years. She was a remarkable
woman. Talented, and beautiful (a rare combination). There is not a part of my creative
process that didn't get filtered through her discerning eyes, and mind. She was so many
things to me. A true friend, a sparring partner, a creative visionary, a stellar cook, a great
photographer, a force of Nature. She was my "rock of sanity in a sea of shit". She had great
style. She was always there, through every crazy manifestation my life has taken....now, she
is gone. I can't quite get my head around what exactly has been lost, the grief is still too
near. I am in "the grieving process" (as if the experience is quantifiable), and amongst the
myriad array of overwhelming thoughts, and feelings, I find myself thinking a great deal
about Time. Time, and Death actually. Two things that I feel equal parts disgust, and curiosity
for. It's sad to say, but if you think about it, Time is really the most valuable resource we have.
I say this because Time is a limited resource, and it is not a renewable resource. You don't
know how much of it you have, you can't get more of it when it's gone, and when it's gone,
it's gone for good....and Death, well Death is just really fucking abstract. The idea that you
can know someone for 44 years, and then, one day, they are just gone, not there
anymore....it tends to speed things up in a sinister way. You become aware of the passage of
Time in ways you were previously unaware. The plasticity of Time, and that it is going by
quickly, a little too quickly....At other times, Time seems to grind to a halt, and the passing of
Time becomes unbearably slow. I'm sure that I am not the first person to have made these
observations. My sisters untimely, and tragic death has made me very aware that I don't
have Time to waste (something I have known for sometime now) and this takes me back to my
past, which was just THAT, a lot of wasted Time. Time wasted in bands that would never go
anywhere. Time wasted in relationships that were poison to my soul. Time wasted on
friendships that were vacuous, and superficial, and especially, Time wasted on employers
who were happy to destroy my body while they got wealthy off of my talent. These are not
compromises I am willing to make anymore, I don't have the Time to. I would rather die
penniless, and in poor health then to make those compromises again. Ever. That is the reason
I started Stardust For Jennifer. That is the reason why I do this, why I make Art. As far as I am
concerned, (most) everything in my life, prior to the release of my first record, was wasted
Time. A joke. That fact is likely to annoy some, make others question me sternly, and make
even more scream with anger, and resentment. Too bad. That is exactly how I feel. The sign
on the door says "Artist", not "Holy Man"....and I don't have Time to waste, and if you really
need to know why, I will tell you....Because someday, I am going to die....and so are
you....consider it a "cautionary tale".

 ©Photography by Nita Martin