The Consulate General is a new project led by Taiwanese-American Alexander Chen of Boy in Static, currently a resident of Gothenburg, Sweden.
A multi-instrumentalist who often performs live on viola, Chen´s first recordings were released in 2004 by Markus Acher of The Notwist, who later invited him on tour opening for 13 & God. Chen has also toured with Freezepop and Lymbyc Systym, and collaborated with artists such as Her Space Holiday, Helios, and Montag.
The debut album Person Number was formed from a set of songs written and recorded after relocating to Gothenburg, Sweden. A duet with Antoine Bedard (Montag), "What Time Is It Now," opens the album with detached yet emotional male harmonies. Multi-instrumentalists John Chao (of Misha) and Ryan Fritch (of Sole & The Skyrider Band) lend a hand on everything from marimba to double bass. Simon Scott (of Slowdive) joins near the end on "17th street," dressing 1940's crooner melodies with modern ambient electronics. Person Number is due for release in April 2010.
A multi-instrumentalist who often performs live on viola, Chen´s first recordings were released in 2004 by Markus Acher of The Notwist, who later invited him on tour opening for 13 & God. Chen has also toured with Freezepop and Lymbyc Systym, and collaborated with artists such as Her Space Holiday, Helios, and Montag.
The debut album Person Number was formed from a set of songs written and recorded after relocating to Gothenburg, Sweden. A duet with Antoine Bedard (Montag), "What Time Is It Now," opens the album with detached yet emotional male harmonies. Multi-instrumentalists John Chao (of Misha) and Ryan Fritch (of Sole & The Skyrider Band) lend a hand on everything from marimba to double bass. Simon Scott (of Slowdive) joins near the end on "17th street," dressing 1940's crooner melodies with modern ambient electronics. Person Number is due for release in April 2010.
Chen has also shown interactive and sound art in various galleries around the world, including 2002's Sonata for the Unaware, a piece which generated music from video footage of Philadelphia subway commuters, "finding beauty in maddening situations" (The Guardian, Jan 2004).
January 2010. Photo by Brindalyn Webster.
MISHA
The duo Misha makes lovely pop music on Tomlab. After Alex became addicted to their album "Teardrop Sweetheart," he invited John Chao to collaborate on a song. After a few weeks of vocal layering, patch swapping, slide guitars, and dulcimer plucking, the result was "Lonesome Sunday." Photo: Eric Ratkowski
MONTAG
Montag is Antoine Bédard from Vancouver, Canada. Alex and Antoine bumped into each other in a Japan hotel lobby in 2008. They have also remixed each other's songs (Boy in Static remix "Alice," and vice versa for "Young San Francisco.") Alex and Antoine do a duet on "What Time Is It Now."
SIMON SCOTT
Simon Scott was the drummer for Slowdive. As a fan, Alex was flattered to get an email from Simon in 2005 regarding the first Boy in Static album. Simon is in Seavault (Morr Music) and runs the KESH recording label from Cambridge, UK. He has shared studio and stage with Brian Eno, Fever Ray, and many others. Simon contributed electronics to the song "17th Street."
WILLIAM RYAN FRITCH
William Ryan Fritch is a multi-instrumentalist based out of Oakland, CA. He is a member of Sole and the SkyRider band, records world/chamber/garage rock under the moniker Vieo Abiungo, and has composed music for several dozen films. Alex met Fritch at Ceschi Ramos's hip-hop show (in a very sketchy part of SF) in 2009. Fritch plays upright bass and marimba on "Sweet Solano," and also performs the spooky clarinet on "Have You Seen My Girl."