Keram Malicki-Sánchez

Keram Malicki-Sánchez
Born 14 May 1974
Toronto, Ontario
Occupation Actor, musician, composer, producer, writer, new media consultant

Keram Malicki-Sánchez (born 14 May 1974) is a Canadian actor,[1] singer, writer,[2] new media consultant,[3] music producer and film producer.

Early life

Malicki-Sánchez was born in Toronto, Ontario to a Polish father and Ecuadorian mother (a theater director). Keram studied ecclesiastical and classical choral music at St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto.

His debut in the world of music and acting began with musical theater at the age of 7 in the title role of Oliver! at the Limelight Dinner Theater in Toronto which performance was met with rave reviews by the local press, including the Toronto Star.

In the early stages of his career he played a variety of roles for CBC radio dramas, and at the age of fourteen was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore award for Best Actor[4] in a musical for his portrayal of Prince Edward in an adaptation of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper at the Young People's Theatre in Toronto - one of the youngest actors ever to be nominated in this category.

Musical career

Malicki-Sánchez released a solo 45" on vinyl in Spanish at the age of thirteen through Fe Discos from Ecuador. In 1990, he founded the record label Constant Change Productions out of Toronto, Canada. He began his own band, Blue Dog Pict, aged fourteen. The band released three albums: The Picture Album (1990), Anxiety of Influence: a nodding into...? (1992), and Spindly Light Und Wax Rocketines (1995) that were distributed by Distribution FUSION III from Montreal, Canada. This final album was one of the first ever enhanced CDs released by a band, as it features a MAC/PC compatible Myst-style video game. Malicki-Sánchez worked directly with the CD manufacturer to create a method for putting the data on track 0 so that the CD would also play in a standard CD player.

In 1995, Keram released a cassette tape called "Automated Gardens: AN4" as part of an ambient electronic solo project. The indie cassette release was one of the top independent sellers at the now defunct "SAM the Record Man" store in Toronto for several weeks. Keram later added Blue Dog Pict soundman and co-producer Joshua Miles Joudrie and Jason "DJ Shine Spanu" to the line-up, and the band played various shows and raves in Ontario, Canada, including sharing a bill with Richie Hawtin aka Plastikman at the E13 Network rave in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The electronica band later placed three music cues in the independent feature Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy. It was on the film Ecstasy that Keram also met guitarist and actor Alex Lifeson of the band Rush with whom he would later collaborate on his solo record.

Keram also performs music under his own name, and has songs on various original film soundtracks including MGM's Uptown Girls (released on Nettwerk Records), New Line Cinema's Happy Campers, and Broken (Fuel 2000) for which he performed opposite the film's star Heather Graham in a video for the song "The Hanging Tree" that he composed. Under the Automated Gardens moniker, he and DJ Shine licensed four more tracks to the film Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy whose soundtrack includes some of the top electronic musics artists of the decade.

Malicki-Sánchez moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s where he continues to perform music live under the moniker "Keram". As the artist "Keram" he was a regular at Hollywood's Hotel Cafe. During this period he also collaborated on songs with singers Aimee Lynn Chadwick, Jordan Bridges, and Brittany Murphy with a side project called Blue Rose Harlots.

25 January 2008, Keram released his solo debut acoustic album "Box",.[5][6] at Room 5 in Los Angeles. It became a Top Seller at CDBaby.com, within its first week.

In 2014, Malicki-Sanchez announced that he had completed work on his album "Come to Life, " after 7 years. The album features the contributions of over 30 musicians, including Alex Lifeson on guitar. The album was mixed by Rich Chycki and masterd by Andy Vandette at Masterdisk New York. The manufacture and promotional budget was raised through a successful IndieGogo campaign that achieved 144% of its original goal. The album was launched at a record release event held at The Supermarket in Toronto's Kensington Market district on April 12th. Alex Lifeson made a guest appearance, joining the band onstage for two songs. An American release party for the same album was held at Molly Malone's in Los Angeles on April 4th, 2015.

Film

In 2006, Malicki-Sanchez wrote, directed and produced a one hour fictional film about this early online community and the Sky Pirates entitled "The Charge of the 08.ZIYA". The film is about a rescue mission from a marketing shell game, and is scored by Automated Gardens.

He was later a student in the first years of UCLA Extension's Film, Television and Digital entertainment, Cinematography and Film Producing programs. He graduated from the UCLA program in 2009. In 2012 he was one of 65 people invited to attend and completed Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School in Los Angeles.

His first short film A Killer App was accepted into the Glastonbury, Atlanta Horror Film Festivals and was an award winner at the Accolade Film Festival, and Shockfest[7] for Best Monster Creation. His subsequent short film Tulip Pink toured the film festival circuit and screened to sold out theaters at the Newport Beach Film Festival[8] among others. His third short How (Not) To Become a Vampire features motion graphics by John Watson who also worked as a compositor on Resident Evil: Extinction and made the festival rounds in 2011 including the Austin Film Festival winning various People's Choice Awards (Zero Film Festival - Toronto among them).[9][10]

Social Media

Malicki-Sánchez has been invited to speak on various panels concerning technology and the arts by the North by Northeast (NXNE) music conference, the Toronto Sun, the 2007 NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas, Cinegear Expo in Los Angeles and the Toronto Star.

In September, 2008, Keram launched the Keramcast - a podcast he hosts that is a digest for the topics discussed at his various blogs.

He also works as a social media and SEO consultant and runs a wide variety of online portals that include his current position as editor-in-chief at Indie Game Reviewer.

Filmography

TV appearances

References

External links