| Levon Louis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Levon Louis Schwartz |
| Also known as | Absynthesis, Mushroom Lounge |
| Born | 1974 |
| Genres | Electronic |
| Occupations | sound designer, DJ, producer-composer |
| Years active | 1990s - present |
| Labels | Next-Gen Records, Mushroom Lounge Recordings |
| Associated acts | Lunatex, Dead P.A., Phase Theory |
| Website | [1] |
Levon Louis (born in 1974 in Houston, Texas) is an electronic musician, sound artist, record producer, and video game Audio Director. Louis releases music independently under various project names including Absynthesis, Oddball, and Mushroom Lounge. He was the creator of Lunatex and is also a member of the electronic outfit known as Dead P.A., contributing content and appearing for some live performances.
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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 of Houston; his music has been described as "an auditory hallucinogen" by Anthony Mariani of Public News. 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. In 2011, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood received an Academy Award nomination (AIAS) for "Outstanding Achievement in Audio".
Born to a new-wave bandleader and cabaret costume designer, sound artist Levon Louis slept in an open guitar case as a baby and appeared on his first published recording at age four. He 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's first bit of press came from break-dancing when he was photographed and quoted in the 1984 Newsweek Magazine expose on the craze sweeping the nation. 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 many rock-stars and other celebrities in a whirlwind of 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, Peter Gabriel, and Grace Jones. Best known for electronic music, Levon discovered pioneers like Leon Theremin, John Cage, and Karl Stockhausen who inspired him but it was Jean-Michelle Jarre’s Rendez-vous Houston, a massive free concert that used the downtown Houston skyline its venue, that ultimately urged Levon to start approaching his own creations more seriously at age 12. While attending university in East Texas Levon joined a 10-piece reggae funk band called Zion Lion, producing the band's only full length CD album and organizing underground dance events in the band's rehearsal space regularly. Following school and while living in the eclectic Deep Ellum arts district of Dallas Levon became part of its culture, holding a DJ residency with the Hazy Daze Collective at Club SOA and putting on live experimental music sets in the “chill room” environments of many underground parties. Levon worked as a paid intern at Reel Time Audio in Denton, his first professional production job, to help pay the bills and hone his skills in the studio.
Lunatex
When performing live, Levon played keyboards and triggered samples, he daisy-chained loads of effects boxes and often invited "space rock" musicians from the exploding Denton scene to jam with him. Following a swift crackdown on dance events in the Dallas area, Levon returned to Houston where on Christmas Eve 1995 he met Jeremy Normann who became a partner in live music. After performing chill room sets at the legendary Orbit Room, the duo was asked if they could manage something “upbeat” for the big stage. 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 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 for several years. Lunatex frequently charted in the top-10 on early digital music giant MP3.com. Microsoft licensed Lunatex music for their newly launched Xbox console games in 2001. Lunatex also 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 before disbanding in 2001. Levon Louis and Lunatex performed regularly from 1996-2001 at dance events featuring Paul Oakenfold, Cypress Hill, Jam Master Jay, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Kimball Collins, Digweed, Richie Hawtin, Keoki, Mistress Barbara, Christian Smith, Frankie Knuckles, Frankie Bones, DRC, Irene, LTJ Bukem, Dieselboy, Omar Santana, Bad Boy Bill, Apoptygma Berserk, Judge Jules, Swamp, Bad Company, Aqua Sky, Freaky Chakra, Thursday Club, Spacemen, Baby Anne, Icey, DJ Voodoo, Josh Wink, and the Crystal Method.
Studio Production
Levon took on work as producer at a private label hip-hop studio in 2001 alongside Oscar/Emmy-winning sound designer and engineer Michael Kimball. Fascinated by the process of creating sound and music for video games, Levon found work almost immediately. A string of video games credits has followed including voice production, music, and sound effects work on titles including Amped Freestyle Snowboarding I & II, Kohan II, Axis & Allies, Big Mutha Truckers, Project Gotham Raciing II & III, Crackdown, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, The Golden Compass, TNA: Impact, Transformers, and Silent Hill V. He became the creator of Absynthesis, a short-lived but successful industrial-electronic project releasing a single album with worldwide broadcast and club spins while living and working in Los Angeles from 2005-2008. Levon Louis now lives and works in Quebec as a video game audio director and is the primary producer behind Mushroom Lounge Recordings. His original sound and music works span vinyl, CDs, games, film, television, and virtual reality with selected performances licensed to appear alongside William Orbit, Robert Miles, New Order, Skinny Puppy, Aphex Twin, Amon Tobin, and The Chemical Brothers.
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)