Levon Louis
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| Levon Louis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Levon Louis Schwartz |
| Also known as | Absynthesis, Mushroom Lounge |
| Born | 1974 |
| Genre(s) | Electronic |
| Occupation(s) | sound designer, DJ, producer-composer |
| Years active | 1990s - present |
| Label(s) | Next-Gen Records, Mushroom Lounge Recordings |
| Associated acts | Lunatex, Dead P.A., Phase Theory |
| Website | [1] |
Sound artist Levon Louis (born in 1974 in Houston, Texas) is an electronic musician and Hollywood-trained sound effects creator who works regularly in the video games industry and releases music under the project names Absynthesis and Mushroom Lounge. He was the creator of Lunatex and is also a current member of the band Dead P.A., contributing content and appearing for some live performances.
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[edit] Press & Awards
Hailed “a driving force” by the Austin Chronicle and up for public music awards including “Best DJ”, “Best Electronica”, and “Keyboardist of the Year” in his hometown; his music was also described as "an auditory hallucinogen" by the Houston Press. Levon Louis has also worked on several top-selling vigeo games, sharing a BAFTA Award with Microsoft for "Best Use of Audio" in 2007 for Crackdown, and several G.A.N.G. Award nominations for projects in 2008 including "Best Handled Audio" for Transformers alongside "Best Instrumental", and "Music of the Year" for The Golden Compass.
[edit] Biography
Born to young parents, one a new-wave bandleader and the other a cabaret costume designer, sound artist Levon Louis slept in an open guitar case as a baby and grew up in a world of unconventional thought, music, and expression where he was encouraged to explore and to experiment with different art forms from a very early age. Levon played on his first published record at age 4, but his first taste of fame actually came from break-dancing when he was photographed, mentioned, and quoted in the 1984 Newsweek Magazine special.
When his father's band Z-Rocks started to appear on Music Television and tour regularly with bands like U2 and Duran Duran, Levon met rock-stars and other celebrities. In a whirlwind of arts events young Levon traded jokes with Gallagher, sang on Willie Nelson’s knee, ate BBQ with Duran Duran, and became inspired by the works of cutting-edge, avant-garde artists like Laurie Anderson and Grace Jones.
With all of this for a backdrop, one could easily see where an artist of some sort would emerge, however, Jean-Michelle Jarre’s Rendezvous Houston, a massive free concert that used the downtown Houston skyline its venue, ultimately inspired Levon to start approaching his own art more seriously at age 12.
Levon continued to put records in college where he also discovered early pioneers like Leon Theremin, John Cage, and Karl Stockhausen who inspired him to start recording again. He held down a residency at two college dance clubs and also joined a 10-piece reggae funk band called Zion Lion, producing the band's only full length CD album, and organizing underground events in the band's rehearsal warehouse regularly.
His first industry job was working as a paid intern at REEL TIME, a recording studio in Denton, TX. While living in the eclectic Deep Ellum arts district of Dallas, Levon became part of its culture, holding down a residency at the popular dance Club SOA and putting on live experimental music sets in the “chill room” environments of pretty much all the local underground parties. He played keys, triggered samples, daisy-chained loads of effects boxes, and invited "space rock" musicians to jam live.
Following the swift crackdown on dance events in the Dallas area, Levon returned to living in Houston where on Christmas Eve 1995 he met Jeremy Normann, who became his partner in live music. After playing their first few chill room sets at the legendary Orbit Room together, the duo was asked if they could manage something “upbeat” for the main room. It made sense to try, and the first show was a huge hit... The project was named "Lunatex" by friend and colleague DJ Bizz.
The Lunatex sound was a fusion of Euro-Techno, Acid-Breakbeats, and trance. Levon collaborated with locals DJ Bizz, Andrei Morant, Chris Anderson, Ethan Klein, and Tim Xavier to produce 12" vinyl releases and also some of the material Lunatex would perform live. Lunatex grew to include the talents of Nikolai Stepan (Moscow) and Trent Watkins... becoming a live spectacle that filled the stage and even set keyboards on fire.
In 2001, while working as a producer at a private label studio alongside Oscar/Emmy-winning sound designer Michael Kimball, Microsoft began to license Lunatex music for games played on their newly launched Xbox console system. Louis, fascinated by the process of creating sound and music for video games, began investigating and found work almost immediately. A string of credits followed including voice production, music, and sound effects work on titles including Kohan II, Axis & Allies, Big Mutha Truckers, Project Gotham Raciing III, Crackdown, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, and Silent Hill V.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums (as Lunatex, Absynthesis, or Levon Louis)
- Abducted (Ewax, 2000)
- Absynthesis (Next-Gen, 2007)
- Live Technical Mix (Next-Gen, 2007)
various singles also appear on 12" vinyl and CD compilations (Chemical Minded Records, For Those Who Know, City Boy Records-Detroit, Rebel Crew Records, Dark Horizons)
[edit] References
- "Scarface Joins Line-Up For Tsunami Victims Relief!", SixShot.com, Posted: 1/6/2005 1:34:50 PM. Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
