#17 Time Now To Find The Exact Center of all that is Funny
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Day For Night :: Manifesto. Day 017. 1991 saw release of the first disc in the Day For Night imprint, introduc ing composer Eric Scott to new music circles with “3 Mains” (Day 001). A collection of fift een suites and minia tures arranged for piano and ensem ble, these recordings are constructed and emulated via lo-fi synthetics and samples in lieu of a proper chamber orchestra. For this moving collec tion of pieces, Eric adopted the genre “avant-garde-jazz-classical – an edgier and more insistent, antithetical cousin to easy listening.”
Day For Night
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MEDIA KIT DAY for NIGHT [ w h y D a y Fo r N i g h t ? ]
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W H AT I S D A Y
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A movement for a personal music, art, literature, film and design—though not necessarily in that order— for both the jaded as well as the discerning. An aesthetic. About music, made-to-measure for a roomful of listeners who have made it their obligation to listen; a soundtrack to the life of everyman; a sonic tapestry for talkers & thinkers alike. Numbers and time, both prime and even. A film-makers’ term, referring to the process of shooting a nighttime scene during daylight hours, employing the use of special filters–alternately, a “special effect.” The difference between the taste of salt and sugar. The title of a film by Francois Truffaut, which netted him the Oscar for best Foreign Language film in 1973 (and which, on a broader, possibly more holistic, level, continued his now legendary autobiography on film; this time placing him in the character role of Director-as-Actor-as-Director, in a Film about the Making-of-a-Film). One’s refusal to participate within the normal confines of the Industry; and living the dream of achieving those ends justified by the means. The color of night, as seen by the cold light of day. Day For Night is my life.
ERIC SCOTT • MARCH 1995 S A N TA M O N I C A , C A L I F O R N I A
“Ultimately, music for me is a personal endeavor.”
ERIC SCOTT quoted from Avenir,
Vol 1. No. 3, 1994
Middles… “Every time I contacted someone high up, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I was about to perform a human sacrifice with my soul. And whenever I would contact someone at a hole-inthe-wall indie label, my thoughts were always, why bother with them when I can do all that?”
“My songs sounded like someone’s idiot pop, performed by a machine-operated punk band. Sometimes I would go with very disturbing circus-type melodies, or even sub-mental surf-guitar riffs, all in order to make a musical point. And I was equally happy with my lyrics and vocals as without them.” “Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish got me leaning toward the limitless sonic possibilities within the scope of film scoring. The use of typewriters, motorcycles, alarm clocks set my mind awhirl. Soon afterwards, I noticed that film scores were often no better than the films they were made for. “What I really wanted was to create was a music of the mind, a soundtrack for everyday life, along similar lines to Brian Eno’s Ambient series, though not strictly following any of his formulas.”
“Principally, the stuff which caught my interest was either from Britain or Belgium, and involved musical styles which most critics referred to as either the Avant-garde, the post-Minimalist, or the New Wave. [4] In particular, the record label which caught my eye at about that time was Factory Records in Manchester, because their product was so tailored, so clean, and all at the same time utterly raw, sometimes even downright embarassing. I liked that combination very much. To many, they were the king of the independents, because they represented total autonomy within the British record industry [5].”
Soliciting the Unsolicitable Day For Night began in March 1991 as Dèrnière Nuit À los angeles, an umbrella image for Eric Scott’s first cohesive instrumental release 3 mains. Prior to this effort to organize his resources, other recordings had been previously recorded to color-coded, unmarked cassettes and had been sent to labels ranging from EMI America [1] to Chameleon Music Group [2] to Yellow Rose Music [3]. In search of the standard recording, publishing or distribution deal, the results were not atypical for the mainstream music business. The desire to succeed on his own terms led to the inevitable solution. Day For Night was a name chosen for several reasons, one of which came after discovering that there was already a DNA Records up in the San Francisco Bay area. And Day For Night , as a film term, means “shooting, by day, a night-scene in which special filters create the illusion of night.” In other words, a special effect. This allegory pleased Eric very much as a point of comparison to his own means of music-making. Sounds, in Eric’s musical vocabulary were oftentimes found ones, or unusual or chaotic to the context of the music they were being employed to fit. Eric had gotten his start with instrumental music while at USC, whilst preparing to get his business degree from the Entrepreneur program. Further research around this time— around June 1986— yielded some interesting new influences to Eric’s music: Michael Nyman, Wire (and especially Colin Newman), the Durutti Column, Wim Mertens, Section 25, New Order…
Inspired by both the freedom of Factory’s independent acts (Joy Division/New Order, Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, A Certain Ratio, Section 25), as well as the consistency in Peter Saville’s art direction for 90 percent of that label’s visual output, Eric began to feel a common link to the graphically obscure packaging (often New Order’s record sleeves would only have the catalog number on the outside, boldly displaying the FAC number in lieu of a title, and never a band photograph) as well as the complete musical innovation.
“I now realized I wanted my music to exist in a world populated by Factorys, Crammed Discs, Les Disques Du Crepuscules—where such obvious devices as cute color close-ups of bands and sexy costumes and hammy “Hello, I Must Be Going” titles were not the norm. I loved the idea of being able to hone one’s identity to the point where you only had to feel the cardboard of the record sleeve to know that it was so-and-so’s product; that no artist information meant it was a New Order product; I even think the compulsive mathematical side of me liked the way all the Factory releases were 3-digit coded to where the last digit ending in --3 meant “New Order single” or a multiple of 25 meant “New Order album. “All of these pieces pointed to a much bigger picture.” “By the time I was done with the first album, I couldn’t stand to listen to it. The mastering session was unbearable. I realized that I had to do something else with my approach to working. I was leaning towards faster, slicker, more efficient. I had given a year-and-a-half of my life to complete an album that I was now incapable of enjoying. [7] I wanted the next project to be on a shoestring, dirt cheap, and fast. With day 002/Technopolitan, I accomplished that. 3 1/2 days before leaving for a month-long trip to Europe, I began to feel a creative stir, and realized that I would very much like to listen to some of my rougher, musicalsketchpad-tapes to pass the time on trains and so on. Quickly, the idea became 1/2 an hour of train music with no pauses or breaks; music to travel by. I figured that I had enough ideas stored away to do such a tape in time for my trip. That night, I sat about with my half-packed suitcases, working on Technopolitan, which might have become my techno-variety tape, mixing all of my greatest hits together into one continuous package. 6 hours before the plane left, I had a finished tape.” [8]
“Up to as many as six different people were in rhythm factory at any given time, but the single unifying element was always me. A bit like Robert Smith with the Cure. I preferred to record electronic music under the alter ego due to the bad rap that synthesizers could get after certain sounds got too old and too much airplay. To me, rhythm factory is about the ephemeral, the ability to experiment and make tons of mistakes along the way.”
The first album, 3 mains, was coded with a prominent day 001, eric scott, 3 mains (lowercase letters to “advertise” that it was an entirely instrumental release—no vocals or singing here) It took over 18 months to record with Eric playing all the instruments, mostly keyboards, engineering it by himself, and at home, during the wee hours. [6]
Day 002 - Technopolitan, revived rhythm factory, the band name Eric had gone under with earlier recording projects. With day 002, Eric worked alone due to the imposed time constraints. From then on, rhythm factory resumed to being any collaborative electronic effort involving Eric at the production and composition helm. Eric set up a mail-order distribution network for his three
“By the end of that year, I had accumulated enough new material to complete yet another recording project, this time for a surreal ballet called “The performing man.” It was a commission I received from a USC friend and acquaintance of mine, Richard Hatem. It was based upon this idea that Performance art was totally unnatural and needed a good kick in the ass. We took some of his funnier avant garde concepts and I set them to music, whilst developing a written text upon which to base my visuals. Rich would write down things like “Toss Me That Vial of Smallpox” and I would come up with 3 12-bar sections and a visual to accompany it. Ultimately, the entire work was completed in under 3 months, but even with the finished product on a mastered audio cassette (The performing man - day 003), the written work was never performed live.” [9]
“These recordings captured the spirit of my best studio moments, and had something vital to them. I did a painting for the cover design and finished the packaging on it, before setting out to market all six tapes through Day For Night mailorder. In the end, the response was both steady and encouraging. It definitely beat the flood of returned tapes from unsolicitable record labels.”
available cassettes, supplementing with Day 004, an acidhouse project by Rhythm Ractory from 1990 entitled “In The Acid,” a solo-instrumental set called “Minimalismus” (day 005) in which lush arrangements from key Eric Scott compositions were abandoned for starker, more intuitive group of solo arrangements, while simpler and simpler melodies could be explored in a solo-performance context. The last of the first batch was “Fourteen friends” (day 006), released under the name Eric Scott [Upper/lower case to indicate that these were vocal songs and not instrumental New Music.] This collection represented the best of Eric’s songs from the years 1985 to 1988, featuring Eric on vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, and all manner of keyboards. It comprised all of his studio performances from working with co-producer Chris Shaw. [10]
[1] “EMI America’s John Guarnieri loved my tapes, compared my stuff to interesting, pre-alternative acts like the Stranglers, Julian Cope, and John Cale, until I sent him one called “What You Want,” and suddenly, all correspondence stopped.” [2] “The A&R person at Chameleon Music Group told me to get my act together if I wanted to be anything in the business. She used an olympics-style scale to rate my songs, and decidly wasn’t interested in anything I had to offer them.” [3] “Yellow Rose saw my songwriting abilities as a potential cash cow for them, sent me a songwriter’s contract, and promptly vanished off the map before I could even negotiate a publishing deal for the first song. I realized, if their fly-by-night artist bloc can supposedly net them a hit with one of my songs, then I so can I. Besides, I’m not disappearing tomorrow.” [4] I had always like the French new wave of films… [5] A publicly-held bit of Factory trivia was that New Order were the most successful independent band ever, having released the top-selling 12” record of all time with “Blue monday” while claiming a whopping 50% take on ALL PROFITS coming back in to the label from the sale of their records and merchandise. They were prestigious in the manner in which they had also taken this wealth and re-invested it into one of the most popular nightclubs in Europe, Manchester’s Haçienda, which ultimately spawned House and trance music for club-goers all around the world—a sound partially defined in New Order’s own music. To most, they were the archetypal 1980’s band, having taken the “do-it-yourself” ethic to its logical conclusion, and having succeeded fully without losing touch of their working class roots. [6] It was released with artwork designed by Eric himself during the month of May, 1991, at first in a limited edition set of 100, and later on re-releasing it with re-vamped artwork, remastering, and in a wider variety of formats. [7] Eric now claims, in 1995, to be able to listen to this album, albeit only once every six months or so. [8] “I laid down some ground rules to do this. I established that there would be no listening back to any selection of the music further back than 12 bars from where the counter had stopped in the music-making process. In this way, I could ensure that the material would stay fresh to me by the time I would hear it all together for the first time. I even mixed it to DAT and to cassette with the speakers turned off—just watching my recording levels on the meters, and keeping my fingers crossed. 2 weeks later, on the train from Paris to Calais, I popped it into my Walkman and listened to it for the first time. I could barely recall the creative process. It was the single greatest rush I have ever experienced.” [9] The Theatre of Panic Ensemble was supposed to have performed it. It was maybe a bit too highbrow for LA audiences, and there were some problems, this being LA, of generating advance ticket sales without a premium of advertising. Still, it made for a good selection of new, modern instrumental tracks, much of which was reused by the multimedia comedy stage show, “the World of Bobalotz” [10] Chris performed and sang in such notable L.A. bands as The Sights (later the Resistance) and Wonderful Wonderful Me.
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“It really doesn’t matter who says what first... Some things just need to be said, period.” E R I C S COT T quoted from Avenir,
Vol 1. No. 3, 1994
Dites-moi, Monsieur le Rèalisateur,
st-ce que… E …les femmes sont magiques?*
*“Tell me, Mr. Director, are women magical?”
Eric II nn ttScott, ee rr vv i First of all, your music is neither mainstream, nor specifically alternative in its sound. That must make it difficult to market. Have you approached record labels to see if they will distribute your releases? Yes, it has been frustrating in the past to approach people here in Los Angeles saying, “Here, you don’t know me, but I’ve done something I like and would you listen to it?” First of all, I’ve found that there’s just too much product around to interest the major labels. Unfortunately, they have all the money. The problem is that they do all the wrong things with it. Secondly, to make matters more complicated, there are very few independent labels actually putting out music like I want to do. The only label in the U.S. that I’m impressed
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not in LA, as the scene here seems to reflect tastes for highly decadent, non-European sounding, middle-of-the-road music. Where do your songs come from? Are they born in a flash of inspiration or do they take months of composing to write?
I tend to write fairly quickly. Maybe my one criticism of how I work is that I don’t spend as much time as I could polishing the work. My approach to design and music-making is almost ludicrous, where I create something first, then invent a use for it last. A sort of anti-Functionalism? Plus, I have this ability to focus for great lengths of time on very minutely detailed stuff, like fixing computer sequences or positioning type. Unfortunately, my biggest fear on any project is that I am going with is Emigre Music in Sacramento. They’ve done exactly that; to wear it out through found distribution for a reasonably accessible alternative music. excessive listening, Then what tells you this market even exists? especially when I am Nothing, and yet I know that it does. I know I make music that I like; that people around me seem to like, and that isn’t apparently being made in exactly this form, or it would be easier to come by. That alone tells me that there is a need for it. Somewhere, though possibly
responsible for creating all the parts. “3 mains” took about a year to complete. “Technopolitan” by Rhythm Factory took less than two weeks, and was much more satisfying, even today. So now I try to work faster and faster on my projects, in the hopes that I can keep the inspiration
was enough; that I had to make something out of my life by getting out there. I didn’t want to be like the people I saw sticking around getalive by allowing myself to ting master’s degrees be continually surprised by and avoiding real the results. work for another You are a solo musician and it three years. I would seems all of your recordings have probably killed are worked on entirely by myself. Especially you. Why aren’t you in a since I wasn’t really band? studying what I really I’m not sure I really like the wanted, even at the idea of being in a band so college level. I quickmuch. I think being in a ly learned that in colI started off in Architecture band means making comlege they couldn’t School, which was prompted by promises often at the teach me what I really family members’ ideas of someexpense of music, which wanted to know. I thing I might be good at, and a I’m not prepared to do. chose business high-school survey which took Sort of, the prevalence of school my aptitudes at that time and democracy over quality; because it informed me that I should that sort of thing. was the thing either be a physicist or an Have you ever been in a band? I knew the architect. I chose archiYes, I have dabbled with other musicians, and I have least about, tect because at least that found that it is very difficult to make a statement in a not because I was creative. Then I thought I moved on to study band type of situation. would make Business, when I realized that First of all, you sink beneath a good busibuildings didn’t the anonymity of the nessman. Actually, I really excite me enough. I went band’s name by losing your think I make a horrito the University of Southern own identity, if only everble businessman. California for 4 undergraduate so-slightly, and secondly, Why run a label like Day years, after which I decided that band members are always
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struggling to make themselves heard louder than other people. At least, in crummy bands, of which there are so many more than good ones. I did try to collaborate musically when I was in college— I found that unless my co-writer was enough like me as a person, there was no way I could ever enjoy being part of that kind of a team. Even the Lennon-McCartney type of friction existed because they were best friends. And in college, I didn’t make any musical friends. They were all involved with film. What did you study in college?
Eric I n tScott, e r v i for Night or a design firm like dna2z then? Because it seems to me to be the only way to do exactly what I want with what I can do, as opposed to making music or art to please others first. I actually would benefit greatly from a partner whose mind was entirely focused on business, so that I wouldn’t have to do any of it. Is it profitable? Time will tell; I made the fundamental error of starting to use these business names in my own mind before I had made a clear sketch of what the business plans would
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found I was ahead of the class most of the time with piano, because I had been practicing a lot. My interest level was already very high. I didn’t want to study music in college because I figured it was the least practical kind of degree I could get; unless I wanted to become a teacher. I believed, perhaps rather unyieldingly, that music should not come from your head, but from your soul, and that they would never be able to teach me any of that; just how to move my fingers real fast over the keys. What’s your opinion, then of Music Theory as taught in, say, music schools?
From what I know now, it’s probably not much be like. I spent about six months testing the different; but I never took music theory. I hear water, as it were, experimenting with music that in schools like UC that I feel is basically what I’m allofabout and I’m creating. It only design which conveys the essence the music Davis, the faculty are has become slightly profitable, because I immediately found some quite obsessed with clients who wanted my work; the drawback was that they often were serialist composers like constricted by budgets which didn’t give me a lot of financial benefit, Roger Sessions and though the tradeoff was in the creative leetake great pleasure in way I was given. slamming the composers I truly like— people Didn’t you study any music in college? like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. It seems to be a hostile wave towards the minimalist school, I took maybe three classes in music; voice leswhich means that I would once again be at odds sons for three years, which I’d like to point out, with the system if I went back—though I have was the first time I’d ever sung in front of anyconsidered some further education in order to one else in my life, and some piano. I actually close some of the gaps in my musical knowl-
ing disability, that W.A. Mozart was probably because when I was the single greatest composer of ten I became comall time, though I wasn’t specifipletely frustrated by cally aware of his music. I liked music. I thought, to fall asleep listening to suddenly, that I Schubert’s Trout Quintet. I couldn’t do it, remember learning how to dooedge. I learned it all on my because I had never dle musical notes and would do own, you see, by reading learned an instruso all day sometimes, thinking articles and things, and ment, I couldn’t sing, that I was actually writing music. really listening closely to and all the kids in my Which I was, I suppose. I guess music that I like. class understood it that made me a very young comWhat musically influenced already. We suddenly poser of Process Music! I would you? Minimalism? started having music show it to my mother, who I Not at first. I don’t believe lessons in fourth would ask to sing to me what I’d in that anti-Minimalist grade; I missed the written— because I had virtually slant, “minimal music, minfirst day, and some no idea— and I remember she imal creativity.” I believe compulsion within would improvise something pretthe minimalists teach us to me told me that it ty good. I remember feeling focus on simplicity, which was too late; that I pretty good about that; that I is far more important than would never catch was a creator, even though now any other lesson I could up. I remember my I’m sure she was just giving me preach. When I was father trying confidence and that what I had written was rubto help me bish. young— I mean very little— I heard nothing but Beatles catch up, but Did your interest in music in my house. My parents had the first Beatles album and I had already continue, then, through priplayed it to death. I think I knew all the words by the time made my mary school? I was three, though I probably didn’t know what they mind up; that meant. Also the Monkees, though I remember later No! It actually dropped I would be a resenting the influence out of my life completely, musical failwhen I found out they ure because I for some odd reason, until I was weren’t a real band; that hadn’t folthirteen and re-discovered the they hadn’t been allowed lowed the steps. Beatles for myself. Between to play their own instruThat seems amazing! those ages, I was completely lost. ments. And I remember How did you ever overI must have developed a learnbeing aware, at age four, come it, if you feel you
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Eric I n tScott, e r v i have done so? I’m not sure that I have fully overcome this; I can play pieces that I have written on piano, and maybe one or two others that I truly love, like the piano part for Schubert’s Trio in Eb . Nothing else seems to war rant the trouble, I guess. I started playing guitar at age fourteen because I’d heard it was the easiest instrument; and I wanted to be Paul McCartney. That was how I learned chords and harmony. I was awarded one semester in 9th grade, because the waiting list for this class was years long, and I had been begging for it since 7th grade. I got an “A”. That must have made you feel wonderful!
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though the bulk of what I do is self-production. I like being distanced from the music, occasionally, so that I can concentrate more on the sound of it than the actual notes. What do you think of the pop music climate at the current moment?
That’s an unfortunate question, really. I don’t really like much of anything that’s come out in the last two years. I bought the albums by the artists I already know and like, like the Cure, XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees. I can’t wait for New Order’s next one. I already know I’m going to love it because I’ve always felt so in tune with what they do and how they do it. I really liked the debuts by Electronic (Barney Sumner of New It was exactly what I wanted to hear. Then I Order, and Johnny took private lessons from this religious nut who was recommended by a friend. That was totally fruitless. He Marr from the Smiths) made me play what he wanted, and told me that everything I was and The Other Two. I already doing was wrong; that I would have to learn his way if I wantalso liked “State of ed the lessons to go on. He also insisted that I had to learn to sing if I Shock” by Revenge. wanted to play guitar. I made the decision Ironically, I probably that day to keep my mouth shut forever, until buy more CD’s than anyone I know, but none of the day I changed my mind in college and them are in the pop mainstream. I think the decided that I actually loved singing. industry is too closed off from personal music, Which do you prefer—producing music for other and is blindly trying to cater to the masses. Plus, people, or the self-production you do for your own I find that whenever ingeniously crafted pop material? music comes out, it’s overshadowed by the money-influenced end of the major labels. All It’s tough to say. Maybe fifty-fifty of each,
e d the Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey stuff does nothing for me at all. What do you buy, then? A lot of things relating to the kind of music I want to make. Michael Nyman Band, Piano Circus, and mostly English stuff on independent labels like Factory; also a lot of European stuff, like the Belgian stuff on Crammed Discs and Les Disques Du Crepuscule’s Wim Mertens. Most of it is back cata-
lost its meaning, because of the way it been commercialized and is being sold through adverts that look like music videos. Any look that I might have found desirable before has been made instantly accessible; it’s also lost its meaning. There’s absolutely nothing special about fashion the minute everyone can afford to buy a poor copy of it. Why did you get into graphic design?
because it was a creative job that I admired, unlike working for a jingle company, where these things are mass produced and the creative energy level stops in the producer’s office. I finally quit and started designing immediately. Did you study design anywhere?
I wanted to design my own record sleeves. In 1991 I decided I would do everything myself, No, I still believed in from now on. I quit my job as a the Unschooledrecording engineer at a studio Genius-Theory; that that was underpaying me and the greatest ideas which was cheating me out of a come from within; lot of money. I decided I was that we are all capagoing freelance, much to their ble as soon as we can amazement, because all of their find that employees had been either energy and logue, but I don’t care. It makes me feel ten times taller rendered worthless and than any new release from Springsteen. then fired, or were staying harness it. I had studied Any feelings on the industry of fashion, then? on due to feelings of Architectural codependency, someIt’s about the same. I used to be excited about cool Design durthing like “Don’t think ing my first leaving here will do you clothes in the early year at U.S.C. any good, because no one else eighties when I got my I was already first job in a fashion will ever treat you this well!!” I familiar with the clothing store. I wanthad been threatening them for design process and ed to buy things then, months that one day I would the tools. Plus, I had because it all seemed probably lose my mind and quit already been buying new. Now, fashion has to become a graphic designer, so many books on
Eric I n tScott, e r v i the subject of graphics, that I just started doing it. I didn’t want to waste more time and money in school just to determine if this was for me. I decided to call myself a designer the first day I was out on my own, instead of waiting to be called that by someone else. Which do you consider you consider yourself primarily? A composer - a musician - or a designer?
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once the coin drops, it becomes a more elaborate process. Any designers you’d like to mention? I like the typography of Peter Saville, who did many of the sleeves for Factory Records. I also admire Neville Brody, Vaughan Oliver, who does most of the 4AD jackets, Emigre Graphics, Wim Crouwels, Victor Vasarely, the Hungarian/French Op-Art painter. On the subject of artists, I also like William Wegman’s photographs and some of the Hockney photo-collages. They are all prime examples of intuitive designers. What’s your personal life like?
I may pick the third one: designer, because it describes what I do with all three. Whether I’m doing music or graphics, my approach is the same. I’m constantly looking at layout and structure. Every piece of music is basically a design problem. Ugh! I’d rather not tell... Let’s just say, I make You consider yourself a professional then. Others time for anyone or anything that’s important to me. Relationships are might consider you a very committed amateur, because you didn’t follow the regular path of schooling-then-work. actually the most important thing in my I can only say that the schooling does take place, but in a more life, but they always everyday, and perhaps less-defined environment. I’m always looking come and go faster than I’d like, and I at how things are designed: album sleeves, signs on hamburger stands, movie credits; seem to be cursed by relationships with girls anything I’m exposed to. It all interests me for who aren’t prepared to commit to someone the same reason. Except in that my approach with my interests. At the moment I am using all to writing music is more intuitive in that I do it this stray libidinous energy to design things almost purely for pleasure to start with. Then, while waiting for the right one to come along. What are you currently working on?
e d ballads, not love songs. I like love songs as long as they say something that hasn’t been said properly before. And yes, true, I am not political, though I feel perhaps my conviction for the music I write is very political. I have very definite ideas about music. Perhaps the thing that keeps me writing songs dealing with relationships is the lack of good songs about relationships that keeps me searching. It’s all a question of arranging unfamiliar music, melodies
that are good enough to sound familiar with actually being so, and arrangements that are appropriate and which offer some mystery or surprise for the listen-
er. Inside a listener’s head, there’s a button you press the minute you’ve written a great song. And I intend to keep searching for the buttons.
I’m finishing a release on Day for Night called “Music for The Gift,” which adapts a short story I’ve written to some music by packaging the two of them in a CD box. I’m also working on my second work in the “3 mains” trilogy, entitled “Paris: Sous La Lune De Miel,” which is French-inspired music written by me, a half-French composer, and I’m doing the post-production sound design on a film called “Mr. Petrified Forrest,” which will be done in September. Your songs are not political, and seem to dwell mostly on relationships. Yet in the past you’ve said that you hate love songs and never intend to write one. How do you justify any of that? I’ve said that I hate
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MEDIA KIT DAY for NIGHT
AN INTRODUCTION NIGHTfonts, an offshoot of Day For Night, came into existence as part of a greater mission. With the advent of desktop publication and design, a plethora of digital typefaces have been released since 1985, by a multitude of “foundries,” both great and small; important and trivial. Much of this has taken place in the name of adding diversity to what was at one time a limited digital palette; initially commonplace, often awkward, and first off, pretty grotesque. In the whirlwind decade that followed this revolution, many classic typefaces from history became periodically available in a digitized format; going back as far as Giambattista Bodoni’s modern serif faces from 1790, and reaching out into the post-modern babble of pioneering digital designers Emigre Graphics, FUSE Magazine (a forum for experimental type design), and Chicago’s T-26 foundry. A common drawback of the computer revolution has been the ease with which “classic” type designs have been pirated from an existing digital master, and re-appropriated or otherwise digitized by hackers— Persons wishing to turn a profit while replacing only the trademarked name of a typeface with a weak and disingenuous pseudonym. This unfortunate trend has resulted in a marketplace, now deluged with duplication and deception (How many more copies of Paul Renner’s workhorse, the sans-serif type Futura do we need to see, re-titled “Futurist” or simply, “Futile”?) Despite this nature of digital and intellectual properties, any printed image can be re-scanned onto a desktop computer and re-converted in a matter of days. We are all on the honor system, here.
“HOW MANY MORE TIMES DO WE REALLY NEED TO SEE
FUTURA
RE-TITLED “FUTURIST” OR, SIMPLY, “FUTILE”?
TEIMPISSE A clockface-like grid defines the boundaries of the shapes for 26 letters and numerals 0 thru 9.
The Mission Statement for NIGHTfonts, put forth by Day For Night in 1993, reads as follows:
NIGHTfonts will embrace both the new and the old; the avant garde as well as the classic. It will provide only alphabets that are unavailable elsewhere. The typefaces shall be sold in sets, either by category or in designer packages, as well as individually, if necessary. The downloadable nature of a piece of software enables sales through the World Wide Web, or Internet, with screen fonts (bitmap versions of the faces at fixed point sizes) available for free. Printer fonts (the necessary component of a digital typeface to enable it to print to a digital press or laserprinter) will be released to paying customers, with periodic updates made from time to time. All typefaces will be of a standard high enough for professional applications,and will, in almost all cases, be represented with a full character set. Each typeface or font family shall come with a Read Me file and a printed piece (typeset, when applicable, in that font) offering a full history of the font; essentially, a fact sheet to help bring the end user in touch with the history of the font as well as its designer. • For example, Crouwel Neue, Vorm Neue, Sun Electric Neue and Amorphous Neue, along with Viafont, shall be marketed as one package offer to please technophiles and ravers alike. • Forelle, Amati, Amanda, Diaphane, and other faces from the 1930s and 40s can be marketed as part of a revivalist collection set. • TrumpFonts™ could be the full set of designer faces by the late Georg Trump: Amati, City, Codex, Delphin, Forum, Jaguar, Mauritius, Palomba, Schadow, Signum, and Time. The NIGHTfonts schedule of releases projects the distribution of some newer, avant garde typefaces across the next two years: Typo, Crypto, Autobahn, Exotica, Incunabula, Meccano, Teimpisse, and Tanguy. The same schedule also projects due dates for the following classics, many of which will be assembled into packages. Please see the attached appendix for a complete listing.
Also foresees the imminent development of the following classic type designs: FONT NAME STYLE NOTES Acier Noir Display Brit. Ency Outlines with unusual infills Adagio Script F.Script Adastra Black Swash F.Script Adastra Royal F.Script Aki Lines ITC Chartpak Albion Serif Bold Serif Alcazar Sans “Inline titling, 3-D” Amanda F.Script Arbiter Med/Bold Arkona Medium F.Script l/c letters are best Athena V23 uses this...but where? Atlantida I.Script 3-D Script Augustea Inline Standard Titling Caps inline Bauer Topic Sans aka Steile Futura Bazaar I.Script “Rough informal, cf. Fox” Bernhard Brush Script I.Script Heavy Informal script Bernhard Gothic H/EH Berthold Grot. Cond/B Bessemer Serif cf. Slimblack, Tall Condensed Bisque Block Up Bold Script 332 F.Script Bold Script Faces - Solotype Bradley Bravo I.Script l/c letters are best Buster Cantate Capone Light Charger Charrette Chisel Serif Inline version of Latin Bold Condensed Cicogna I.Script Heavy strokes with fine tapers Circue Solid Circuit Clipper I.Script Cloister Cloister OldStyle It/Sw Cristal Delphin Serif Calligraphic Serif, Trump De Roos Inline Devendra Dexter Uncial Reg Diamant Diane F. Script Domino Serif Dutch Initials F.Script Eden Reg/Bold Electra Cursiva Electra Estrecha Fina Electra Estrecha Negra Electra Fina Electra Negra
Electra Seminegra FONT NAME
STYLE
NOTES
Elongated Roman Erbar Inline
Serif Sans
cf. Slimblack Tall Condensed Inline; cf Follies Plain/Kristall Book inline”
Etienne Euphorion Serif cf. Bernhard Tango Fanal I.Script Heavy informal script Feder Grotesk Figura Serif cf. Slimblack Tall Condensed Flamme I.Script Heavy informal script Flash Sans “Inline display, based on Paris” Fluidum Reg./Bold F.Script Forelle Med/Bold F.Script For swash initial + Amati for U/C text Forum Serif Trump Fox I.Script Friend Fry’s Ornamental Futura Demibold Script Futura Inline Garrick Chartpak: V23 uses this...but where? Gerstner Orig. Demi/Bold Gloria F.Script “Formal, heavy script w/o ligatures, cf. Fulgor” Golf
Serif
Applied ornamentation/inlines for logo use
Graphique Gravira Greenwich Hamlet Hastile Hess Neobold Hidalgo Interpol Jaguar Jocunda Juliet Klauss Cursive Kleukens Kristall Book/Grot XB Lafayette Landi Echo Lapis Largo Bold Latin Bold Condensed Latin Bold Inline Liliom Lilith Solid Lilith Ornamented Lunda LZH1 Majestic Massive Permanent
Sans
“Open, 3D, Condensed Sans serif”
Serif
“Tall, very elongated”
Sans
Tall Condensed Sans-serif; Tall Condensed
I.Script Trump F.Script
Serif Serif Serif Serif
cf. Newtext Tall condensed See Realites for model in ads cf. Slimblack Tall Condensed
Script Serif
“Short asc+desc’rs, hairline serifl”
Serif
Diamond dots and flourishes
page two…
Mercury Bold Meridien FONT NAME
F.Script
Cf. Forelle Bold
STYLE
NOTES
Metropolis Shaded Serif Shaded with double inline Motor Normandia Open Nova Script Novel Gothic Ondine I.Script l/c letters are best Orpheus Serif Very stately and Peter Saville Orplid Palomba Script “Heavy script, pen-drawn, tall ascenders” Parad Serif Triple inline version is good; ornamented Phosphor Inline Sans Inline Poema V23 uses this...but where? Popple Exquisit Primadonna F.Script Prisma Rakete Serif Blocky Fatface Razionale Sans Reiner Black I.Script cf. Choc script Riccardo Ringlet Roman Extra Bold Serif Blocky Fatface Rondine F.Script 396 Schaeffer Versalien F.Script Reverse type on a striped shaded b/g Sculptura Sans “3-D cond. Sans, with fine white inline” Tall Condensed Select/Albert Serif Dsply Shaded caps, horizontal; thin serifs Signum Sans “Tall, condensed like Helvetica Condensed” Sketch F.Script 398 Sphinx Serif with inline Blocky Fatface Stabil Script Blocky Script Stack Stephana/Stephanie Serif cf. Slimblack Tall Condensed Stereo Stradivarius F.Script Streamline Studio/Bold Super Reflex Sans Inline in shaded capitals Tempo Inline Time Script “Informal, uneven x-heights” Trump Titantypo/Stanley Script Fat script Trafton F.Script Troubadour F.Script Troubadour Open F.Script Variante F.Script Venus Lt/Med Verona I.Script use with Bodoni (for text) Vertical Serif cf. Slimblack Tall Condensed Virtuosa F.Script Wide Latin Serif Stephenson Blake vers. XVIth Century Roman Serif Corrosive looking type
page three…
Serif
OS Lining Num
Fonts For Gourmets To help kick the whole thing off, I suggest putting together a 96 page book along the lines of my Fonts For Gourmets (a book of visual quotes) which TSA Fonts could market as a promotional tool for itself, as well as a valuable design resource for potential software clients. It should present type ideas graphically, and without hitting the reader over the head with details. It should just be beautiful design put into action. Each page could contain a visual quote, a tidbit of valuable information, an idea, or whatever. i.e. “No doubt all women have beautiful eyes when making love...” Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima Mon Amour. Visual quotes... “Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day.” (Rose’s clock montage?) “Will you stop with the square zero thing? That really pisses me off! Square zero, nobody should ever have to be there! if ever I get stranded on a desert island with YOU, that would be MY square zero!!” It would be illustrated typographically, bringing the whole book into a high-concept piece. At the very end of the book, a very thorough summary of all fonts used on all pages would tie together the designing end of it, along with an order form (both preprinted, and loose) The book would make use of an interesting variety of paper stocks and would use both in-house and out-house printing means. All books would be assembled as cheaply as possible, while maximizing the quality of the output. The commercial viability of such pieces as those designed by Valicenti at Thirst and so on?
page three…
There’s no beginning
and there is no end…
My raison d’etre is to create art of a quality that is worthy of my name and my time. I want to fill the world with quality music, art, design, film and literature. I want to bring some happiness into other people’s lives wherever I can, and if not personally, then at least through a piece of music which I can leave behind. I do not believe that my work should result in the contribution of the obvious. In music, for example, Top 10 material is no guarantee of quality or distinction; above all, music that ascends the popular charts too quickly does not usually have much staying power. I want to contribute music that is as timeless as that of any of the great composers. I do not want these ideas to die with me, unheard and never felt.
DAY 017
man aniifesto
©
MEDIA KIT DAY for NIGHT
DAY 017
man aniifesto
©
MEDIA KIT Appendix DAY for NIGHT The useless organ
Our days are numbered.
day 017
Eric Scott “3 Mains”
Day 001
3 mains was my first attempt at ‘serious’ instrumental music. For the first time ever I considered taking composition studies lessons in order to define a style that might come to be expected from all of my instrumental work. Around this time, I was particularly influenced by The Durutti Column, Wim Mertens, Michael Nyman... I can safely admit that each one of them shows up somewhere in my music from this time. At this time I was writing music that I thought had healing qualities. Oddly, it seems that composers have the same desire as doctors... something to help heal mankind. I’ve always felt the term ‘new age’ is harmful when describing good contemporary instrumental music ...3 mains was more of a musical quilt, one that helped me define a more ‘serious’ piano style, one which juxtaposed a rather personal kind of sadness, along with the joy of feeling completely alive. Eric Scott, 1994
3 mains moment à deux held i had a recurring dream in which you floated above me maid in Belgium Chappala st—9:00 pm—westbound m.l.b.w. video montage detained angel in my arms man from the cold M. cherie piece for Marie in five stanzas (une petite tache) while you lay sleeping breathe—3 mains reprise
Day for Night : A SCHEDULE OF RELEASES day #
Artist
TITLE
001.c
eric scott
“3 mains”
Media
Rel. Date
Price
MC
4/91
$8.00
001.p
eric scott
“3 mains—available”
002.c
rhythm factory
“Technopolitan”
Poster
4/91
$12.00
MC
9/91
$8.00
002.p
rhythm factory
“Technopolitan—take a trip”
003.c
eric scott
“The performing man”
Poster
9/91
$12.00
MC
12/91, reiss. 7/95
$8.00
004.c
rhythm factory
“In the acid” e.p.
MC
11/91, reiss. 7/95
005.c
Sexus
“Minimalismus” volume 1-45
MC
due 1996
006.c
eric scott
“14 friends”
MC
5/92
007
Day for Night
“Schedule of releases 1995”
Catalog
10/94
free
008
eric scott
“3 mains” press kit
Press kit
4/91
$16.00
009
rhythm factory
“technopolitan” press kit
Press kit
9/91
$16.00
010.c
Various Artists
“Mr. Petrified Forrest” film soundtrack
MC
12/91, DELETED
011.c
eric scott
“3 mains sampler”
MC
10/91
$6.00
012.c
rhythm factory
“Play pop”
MC
5/92, reiss. 7/95
$8.00
012.p
rhythm factory
“Big words”
Poster
5/92
$12.00
013.c
the Von Trapps
“Sculptured” e.p.
MC
6/92
$6.00
3 mains / moment à deux / held / i had a recurring dream in which you floated above me / maid in Belgium / Chappala st—9:00 pm—westbound / m.l.b.w. / video montage :: detained / angel in my arms / man from the cold / M. cherie / piece for Marie in five stanzas—une petite tache / while you lay sleeping / breathe—3 mains reprise
technopolitan (acid paradise): acid paradise theme / flat house / cité universitaire / insert a coin / broken toys / all mine / all of these lines / in the air / dog on ecstasy / insert a coin reprise / dog on ecstasy / in the acid / all of these finales :: once is not enough (alternative megamix) / thank you k.v. (shaft mix)
the performing man / close as an eyeball / Toussaint L’Ouverture / zoo / amsterdamned / onomonstipation / curtain :: the faces of man / piece for my uncle and 12 doctors / cut to the chase / couple sit in a room, man enters singing / the devil is a bastard with your initials / Ursula in various stages of undress (music for the electric ballet) / current lover’s ex-boyfriend / have you ever kissed a wolf on the nose / walk on water in the acid / dog on ecstasy / dog on ecstasy (mix)
scratch intro / freaking the fireflies / heat by the roadside / nowhere to run at 3:00 pm / india - the ocean / from the Hopi language - Parisian underpass / after the snow / rue de la confederation / caprice no. 2 / out of my sight / new day / theme for London Victoria, walking away / nobody home / mr. Withington’s dream / india - the elephant / choice / over the railings / pieces of the same / fall into my view / children’s faces through hands opening / but where are we ever safe? / some say / nobody home / mind of a city :: scratch intro / the adventures of mr. fish / langan dances topless / grains of sand / the strategist / i thought you put the cat out / what’s your game / not your kind / wolf executes strategy / read:2a bina gardens / a drowning in the canal / all things must come to a close / talk tahk tawk / behind closed doors / to think of her now / minimalismus / i didn’t even imagine / Marie by the sea’s reflection / in another moment / the steam fires / biarritz / light (begins to fade)
Charitable girl / Once is not enough / All of these lines / You wouldn’t believe / No matter where or what :: What you want / Stop the tears / Respect / Never gonna make it back / Currency
Contains day 001, day 007, day 011 and sheet music score Contains day 002, day 004, day 007
Chappala st.—9:00 pm—westbound / angel in my arms / breathe—3 mains reprise
All mine / God’s cruel hoax / Kiss of fear / Lisa’s house (mix) / All of these lines / Backwards to there and from (†† bonus track) :: Respect / Once is not enough / Final solution / Reverence
Time out / Another life / Sculptured
$6.00
Rhythm Factory “Technopolitan” Technopolitan was a very good experience for me. When you spend a long time with one project, like I did with 3 mains, something short and self-contained offbalances some of the repetition. Technopolitan took basically 3 days to do, and a week to mix. I would always work that fast if I could, as it keeps the approach and the morale fresh. At the time, several people commented on the length of the Technopolitan mix: a whopping 32 minutes. I feel the piece is exactly the right length—it’s road music—basically, a symphony for your car. I suggested that it be a double-play cassette with no a- or b-side labeling. This way, you can get a repeating Technopolitan loop, thanks to the unpredictable nature of some auto-reverse decks…the music keeps on playing without letting the listener anticipate the finish. I was initially immersed in house music when I wrote the piece. That is the goal of rhythm factory…to meet the standards of the best dance music…to capture the ephemeral, and to move where there is no speed limit. Eric Scott, 1994
<< technopolitan >> [subtitled: <acid paradise>] - acid paradise theme - flat house - cite universitaire - insert a coin - broken toys - all mine - all of these lines - in the air - dog on ecstasy/ insert a coin reprise/ dog on ecstasy - in the acid - all of these finales once is not enough [alternative megamix] thank you, k.v. [shaft mix]
Day 002
Day for Night : A SCHEDULE OF RELEASES day #
Artist
TITLE
Media
Rel. Date
Price
014.c
rhythm factory
“All mine” e.p.
MC
5/92, reiss. 7/95
$6.00
014.p
rhythm factory
“All mine” Poster
015.c
Sexus
“Minimalismus” volume 46-103
Poster
6/92
$12.00
MC
due 1996
016.c
eric scott
“Invisible”
MC
due 11/95
017
Day for Night
“Manifesto”
Media Kit
5/95
018
Day for Night
“LISTEN: an event in reverse”
Event
5/18/95
019
eric scott
“The performing man”
Media kit
12/91, reiss. 7/95
020
eric scott
“The gift“
Book
due 9/95
021.c
eric scott
“Paris: sous la lune de miel”
MC
due 7/95
022.c
rhythm factory
“Push”
MC
due 9/95
022.p
rhythm factory
“Push”
Poster
due 9/95
023
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
024.c
rhythm factory
MC
2/93, reiss. 11/95
All mine / Lisa’s dub / All mine ’mentalmix.
i found you beneath the pipes (and now look at what you’ve done to me) / Mae’s quest / inside the Cairo / ramble - version / the surprise of a tongue / a sense of whimsy / useless to me / le touquet on a windy friday / between her ears / approach from regent st. / Square Jean XXIII / music for a french western / merticalismus / an officious act / descending spiral / through music i see a… / i knew a man just like him (except for his hat) / stiff as razors / you fall (to me) / in a mind’s glance you quicken your step / taking the town (and we have nothing left) / clock srike / a question of sanity / palm fish / from the Hopi language, pt. 2 (a bright spot of light) / fall into my view / lovely breasts / electrified, i / inna-city taxi / minimall isthmus / subtonic removal, inc. / a little Jesus goes a long way :: deserted / piece for bassoon and blind percussionist (time for our journey to begin) / devoid of mystique / musique no. 3 / they seemed distant / loosen me up / mind of a city / miserablismus / lie in wait / something about a third box / no one has lived there for years / an impassioned belief / l.a. wash / mistake number one / got it in one / you dreamt this up before it took place? / small white mice (up your leg) / no one there / tiki room / game-boy / to speak your language / by the Oval / sideswiped / caprice no. 1 / modicum, less / end of the present Sucker punch / How could you do it / Sinking / In a nicer place / Gun Shy / I hear waterfalls / Song 7 / Long drive home / Thank you JT / Wings of desire / Please come back / Evidence vanished / There’ll be delays / Come on and… / It isn’t easy / No longer go on this An overview of Day for Night, presented through the inclusion of day 007, the day 010 video, and other promotionals
Please Call
On the event of its 4th birthday, Day for Night reaches out to a new audience on May 18–June 18, 1995, with a mixed media piece; the art, in this case, approaches to the viewer/listener. This event crosses the line between the Art Event and passive entertainment, as fifty-one international participants are chosen at random. Contains day 003, day 007 and book of images and text
$16.00
This photo-typographic novel, housed in a CD jewel-case, is accompanied by a musicassette and search kit.
L’ancienne ville: le Grand Louvre-Cour Napoléon-Jeu de Paume / Du 2eme au 5eme (suite): Rue Montmartre-Le MaraisPont St. Michel-La Sorbonne- Bd. St. Germain / Bd. des Grands Augustins (tango sur le 2eme ètage) / le 7eme: av. de la Motte-Picquet–esplanade– invalides–le quai d’Orsay / Le Vert-Galant / La banlieue: Arceuil par nuit :: Métro ligne no. 8: Concorde à Bastille / Pont Solferino et Pont neuf / Gare de Lyon / Les Gobelins / Montparnasse / 3 préludes pour un nez faux: 22, rue Cauchy-Les bateaux mouches-le marché aux puces / Palais de Chaillot / Porte Maillot / Sacré-cœur / Montmartre sous la lune de miel: la perspicacité-l’amertume-le dénouement
“Bridges to desire” e.p.
Fall ahead / Don’t accuse / Bridges to desire (there are no) / Say “no” to glasses
$8.00
024.p
rhythm factory
“Desire” poster
Poster
2/93
$12.00
025.c
Sexus
“Musical anamorphosis no.1”
MC
10/94
$8.00
026.c
eric scott
“I hear waterfalls” e.p.
MC
2/93
$6.00
Music from 3 hats / Clair de lunatic / Musical anamorphosis no. 1
Eric Scott “The Performing Man” Initially, The performing man was inspired by a lot of reading I was doing on the history of performance art. It seemed to me that the Dadaists in the 1920s were as radical as any experimentalists in recent memory; however, the nature of this art desperately needed to be parodied in some way; to be kept tongue-in-cheek, much in the way Laurie Anderson and William Burroughs had already been doing. Performance art has always been so throwaway. I had been devising a performance ensemble after talking to my friend Rich Hatem. The Theater of Panic involved performers engaged to play in short vignettes which were to be accompanied by unusual and lighthearted musical numbers. The idea was to take a simple gag and extend it to the length of a short s ke t c h ; s o me t i me s t a k i ng a bewildering approach or a mysterious one... And sometimes just something obscure that would be there to provoke thought in the viewer. Sadly, this piece never received a commission, and was never performed. This is music for an imaginary ballet. Eric Scott, 1993
the performing man close as an eyeball Toussaint L’Ouverture zoo amsterdamned onomonstipation curtain the faces of man piece for my uncle and 12 doctors cut to the chase couple sit in a room, man enters singing the devil is a bastard with your initials Ursula in various stages of undress (music for the electric ballet) current lover’s ex-boyfriend have you ever kissed a wolf on the nose walk on water
Day 003
Day for Night : A SCHEDULE OF RELEASES day #
Artist
TITLE
Media
Rel. Date
Price
I hear waterfalls / Please come back / I hear waterfalls (instrumental)
027
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #1”
3.5” disk
6/95
028
eric scott
“Paris” press kit
Press Kit
due 7/95
029
Day for Night
Day for Night Calendar 1996
Calendar
due 10/95
030
eric scott
“Addictions” book
Book
10/94
031.c
eric scott
“50 minutes out of Paris”
MC
due 11/95
032.c
rhythm factory
“Sinking”
MC
3/93, reiss. 11/95
033.c
Bluebottles
“Catch”
MC
due 1996
034.c
rhythm factory
“Otis” e.p.
MC
4/92, reiss. 11/95
$6.00
034.p
rhythm factory
“Otis?” poster
Poster
4/92
$12.00
035.c
eric scott
“Black noise, 3 chords”
MC
due 12/95
036.c
eric scott
“Acousticuriosity”
MC
due 10/95
037
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #2”
3.5” disk
due 10/95
Vorm, Crouwel Neue, Electric and Viafont: 4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC Contains day 007, day 021, day 031 and map
A two-volume collection of verse, housed in a double-cd jewel-case
$119.95
$15.95
Trôcadéro I / Un moment s.v.p. / To accept small services / Arts et métiers no. 1 / Cité universitaire / Distant piano music / Ronde no. 1-Rue de Rivoli- Ronde No. 2 / Pyramide :: Trôcadero II / Rond-point d’Étoile / Sous-sol au quartier Latin / Allez, on se ballade / Parc de Sceaux: 26.6.86 / Distant Piano music / Arts et Métiers no. 2 / Un moment, s.v.p. revisited / L’air du polisson e.e.c. / Everyone should know / The day we went back / Something broke / Wake up / Normally yours / What’s gone wrong / This state of grace / The burden / Can’t sleep a wink / Parallel lines Long drive home / Catch / Butterfly hunter / The burden / Normally yours / Fall ahead God’s cruel hoax / Endless laughter / God’s cruel dub
this road leads out of town / through an ivy tunnel / end of the tunnel / stalking the man / snowbound (12.24.81) / lament 1 / ethereal cats I / the club downstairs / waiting / ethereal cats II / the club upstairs / land’s end / alone on a hill / trouble brewing / time is running out / ethereal cats III / to have and have not / Belgian snoop theme / road music / lament II / character assassin / music for climax + timpany / no means no / song for Rosa / sky awash with blues / walking against the wind / elena in the courtyard / anthem one / Schröder’s chant / holding her down / at heaven’s door / lament III / title and courage pending / love at the pier / faces of man 2 / snake charmer Moving up / A proposal / Red herrings / Public access / Some say / Devil / An affectionate gesture / All of a sudden / I don’t see you / Image, retained Klauss Hand, Hangman, Eight Five Six and Eight Five Zero: 4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC
038
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
039
rhythm factory
Acid-color t-shirt
040
Day for Night
“day 040: an index of possibilities”
041.c
eric scott
“A priori”
042
Projected rhythm factory single / T.B.A.
043.c
eric scott
044
Projected rhythm factory single / T.B.A.
T-shirt
due 8/95
Book
due 1996
MC
due 1996
MC
due 1996
A collection of essays, writings, fonts, graphics and basically the meaning of life.
change of face / grasp / change of pace / film theme / change of reprise / E / lurking sinister :: from Bombay with love / descending spiral / biarritz / target / a2z / disaster / through an ivy tunnel
“itinerary”
The perfect girl / Love counts / Someone like me / Instant fame / Starstruck / Submachine girl / Anything to forget / Itinerary
$6.00
Eric Scott “14 Friends” dark songs Immediate comparisons were made to Julian Cope, New Order, John Cale. I thought my vocals really sucked at the time. I once said I would never write anything so insipid as a love ballad. This is the one album that contains a stab at that type of songwriting. I played all the instruments and sang most of the parts. My first collection of 10 songs of love, lust and disappointment. Penned by a master of romantic despair.
Day 006
Day for Night : A SCHEDULE OF RELEASES day #
Artist
TITLE
Media
Rel. Date
045.c
eric scott
“everything now (nothing later)”
MC
8/90, reiss. 1996
046.c
eric scott
“Details from within”
MC
due 1996
047
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #3”
3.5” disk
due 10/95
Cacophony / Not today / No more Mr. nice guy / Mr. Right / Snakes & ladders / Not so fast / Butterfly hunter / Alcoholics with names / What is real (and what is not) :: Can’t you see / I want / Mad around (them all) / I feel / Relax / Everything i try / No-no babe / Each second Justice / Compartment of love / Don’t take pictures / Disappointing to me / Don’t turn around / Endless laughter :: Flat house / Like an Italian / The wolf who cried boy / Living in a / Walking against the wind 4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC
048
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
049
Day for Night
“Removable disk”
CD-i
due 1996
050
Day for Night
“Night vision” book
Book
7/93
051.c
eric scott
“music for prophecies (scores of films)” MC
due 1996
052.c
rhythm factory
“Beat the time” sampler
due 1996
053
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
054
Projected rhythm factory single / T.B.A.
055.c
eric scott
“Pieces from the elephant” compilation MC
056.c
eric scott
“Girl trouble” compilation
057
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #4”
058
eric scott
059
eric scott
060
eric scott
“I’ve reached down in our garden and pulled up something thorny”
An interactive tour through the world of Day for Night. Graphic history of Day for Night, housed in CD jewel box
MC
5/94
have you ever kissed a wolf on the nose? / angel in my arms / Ursula in varying stages of undress / current lover’s ex-boyfriend / 3 préludes pour un nez faux: 22, rue Cauchy– bateaux mouches–le marché aux puces / cut to the chase / moment à deux :: chappala st—9:00 pm— westbound / tango sur le 2eme ètage / Montmartre mazurka / piece for my uncle and 12 doctors / M. Cherie / le 7eme: av. de la Motte-Picquet–esplanade–invalides–le quai d’Orsay
$12.00
$8.00
MC
due 11/95
3.5” diskette
due 10/95
“Elephant” set of 5 postcards
Postcards
5/94
$5.00
“Elephant kit” Press kit
Press kit
5/94
$16.00
Book
due 11/95
TBA: to include: Respect / Once is not enough / I hear waterfalls / Reverence / I don’t see you / An affectionate gesture / All mine / All of these lines / The kiss of fear 4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC
Contains day 007, day 055, and day 058, plus graphics
This third collection of verse by Eric Scott, released in 3” x 10” book format, is accompanied by a hand-picked series of found objects by the author. This release comes in a customized pouch.
061
Price
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
062
Projected rhythm factory release / T.B.A.
063
Projected Bluebottles release / T.B.A.
064
Projected rhythm factory single / T.B.A.
065
Projected Sexus release / T.B.A.
066
Projected Eric Scott release / T.B.A.
Eric Scott “Postcards from the Elephant” I have always eagerly awaited the opportunity to release a cross-section of my instrumental music…The response to this collection was overwhelming, and the reactions were almost as colorful as the music that went into it. One reviewer said it was “music for a Romanian film festival,” while another called it “cartoon music for the mind.” OK, OK. I only hoped it would shatter any allusions/illusions that I was only out to make background sounds for films. Much film music (like new age music), demands little of the listener, and gives even less in return for the favor. I don’t think that’s a fair exchange. I have always liked composers who create foreground music that can be adapted functionally for use in films. In much of my music, I use the piano as a percussive instrument, chiefly hammering a quarter-note pulse to accompany the other instruments. So this collection was by no means intended to be the definitive statement on all of my work; but more of a collection that would represent my identity as a modern composer of instrumental music, set to appeal to one particular equation of tastes. Eric Scott, Aug. 1994
Have you ever kissed a wolf on the nose? Angel in my arms Ursula in varying stages of undress Current lover’s ex-boyfriend 3 prèludes pour un nez faux Cut to the chase Moment à deux Chappala st.–9:00 P.M.–westbound Tanga sur le 2eme étage Montmartre Piece for my uncle and 12 doctors M. Cherie Le 7eme
Day 023
Day for Night : A SCHEDULE OF RELEASES day #
Artist
TITLE
067
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #5”
4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC
068
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
069
Projected Day for Night release / T.B.A.
070
Projected Day for Night Book or CD-i / T.B.A.
071
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
072
Projected rhythm factory release / T.B.A.
073
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
074
Projected rhythm factory single / T.B.A.
075
Projected Sexus release / T.B.A.
076
Projected Eric Scott release / T.B.A.
077
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #6”
4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC
078
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
079
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
080
Projected Day for Night Book or CD-i / T.B.A.
081
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
082
Projected rhythm factory release / T.B.A.
083
Projected Bluebottles release / T.B.A.
084
Projected rhythm factory single / T.B.A.
085
Projected Sexus release / T.B.A.
086
Projected Eric Scott release / T.B.A.
087
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #6”
4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC
088
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
089
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
090
Projected Day for Night Book or CD-i / T.B.A.
091
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
092
Projected rhythm factory release / T.B.A.
093
Projected eric scott release / T.B.A.
094
Projected rhythm factory single / T.B.A.
095
Projected Sexus release / T.B.A.
096
Projected Eric Scott release / T.B.A.
097
Day for Night
“NightFONTS vol. #7”
4 new digital typefaces by dna2z for Mac or PC
098
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
099
Projected Day for Night release or Event / T.B.A.
100
Projected Day for Night Book or CD-i / T.B.A.
Media
Rel. Date
3.5” diskette
due 10/95
3.5” diskette
due 1996
3.5” diskette
due 1996
3.5” diskette
due 1996
Price
SEXUS
“Musical Anamorphosis no. 1” “This piece was derived from my work “Parc de Sceaux” (which appears on day 031 “50 Minutes From Paris”). Arranged here for six pianos, the piece was also lengthened from the original 2:30 to a record 20:30 (scaling the tempo down to roughly 8 beats per minute). “Musical Anamorphosis” refers to a musical perspective that, like an anamorphic tableau, has been skewed along one axis so that its original content can only be viewed by standing very close and peering along its axis of elongation. Anamorphic murals often contained clouded or hidden images and usually were created to deceive the individuals who commissioned them.”
– Eric Scott, July 1994
Music from 3 hats Clair de Lunatic Musical Anamorphosis no. 1
SEXUS: Marc Esconi Roland RD 250s > Emu Proteus 1+2 Feargal Kinnock Emulator II > Emu Proteus 1+2 Orch Siobhan Patigny Roland S-550 > Emu Proteus 1+2 Shelley Poelvoorde Yamaha CS80 > Roland P330 Eric Scott Roland RD 250s > Emu Proteus 1+2 Chris Thomson Roland RD 250s > Emu Proteus 1+2
Day 025
The missing piece Piece from the picture what’s gone from the middle spent all night trying to see it in my mind’s eye She’s on that plane wing away further can’t get anywhere now without that picture
Eric Scott Addictions: “Hazy memories”
Day 030
(vol. 1)
“Simple words”
(vol. 2)
In these two volumes, I made an opportunity for myself to both write a book of verse and to illustrate and design one, too. I believe the verses to speak for themselves. Eric Scott, Nov. 1994
Poem for the long haul I try to utter that epithet when I speak of her, but I can’t, try as I may; I cannot, but I rehearse it. Back and forth I go, but I still just can’t allow such an injustice to grace my vocabulary The trick, I discovered was to look for the signs that she might grab hold of one and change me something small, perhaps, ever so slight like the way I chew gum and pop my bubbles with a loud burst or something common, like leaving things differently from the way I found them. I would then know that I could lay back at nights, every night, comfortable in the security that she would not leave with such a project lying ahead for tomorrow.
Day For Night Artist's Statement. As an independent artist/ designer I have avoided the limitations of both specialized areas of work and the obligations of commitment required in a design studio company.
Day for Nigh
I prefer to work alone, thereby having more options to experiment, change and choose commissions of a wider diversity (from web creation to record covers, corporate work to unique commissions). My approach to doing projects has been informed by a passion for language and architecture – a balance of form, space and order. I have also admitted my tendency to be something of a ‘trainspotter’ – taxonomizing popular culture around me – and creating an orderly world, where the beauty of random order holds a special role in the creative process.
Two of my experimental projects, NIGHTlink - An Internet Journey By Rail, and HOSPITAL are vehicles for expressing the junction between design and imagemaking which most interests me...These are projects involving progressive or ambient music and flexible visuals – conjoined into a web network with a beginning and an endpoint. In-between lie a finite (100) underground stations, each one representing a completed Day For Night project. This may be tied in to a fascination with underground train travel, and this has allowed me a chance to develop a particularly effective context, within which images and music are allowed to integrate into a journey that is both unique for each visitor, and yet, like a subway system, governed by a strong internal logic. What I do is not a ‘job’ but truly a vocation, something that is fundamental to my life. I am only pursuing commissions I believe in and can support morally, socially and politically. (This approach leads me into essentially close relationships with clients.)
4
Future hopes include continually challenging the accepted notions of applied arts – experimenting with unknown materials and new technologies – to extend work into a wider diversity of projects and to work with more environmentallyaware clients. Eric Scott January 1, 2000
What is a web page…?
Is it a piece of paper that only exists in ether? Is it an animated billboard…? A remote office? A virtual marketplace? Is it a room? A pipe?
Does it have 2 dimensions, or maybe three? Is it more like a text file? Or a train station? Does it have a row of beveled, chromium buttons with embossed text and drop shadows running down a sidebar? Or does it allow the viewer to explore a deserted street, clicking upon travel posters and inspecting debris and detritus searching for a way in? Everything, these days, is a column in a Chinese-style menu. Choose. Point, Click.
Imagine a new place. Or, for that matter, imagine anything you'd like. In under one month you can probably go there. In recent years, we have been in search of getting more, faster. We have found ourselves in an era of a Dim Sum for the mind. Rarely, however, do we regard everything we can do with this technology to simplify our lives – to give ourselves fewer choices, as opposed to more of them. Or what about simply better choices?
y
We are still searching in the hopes of finding a common language – one that transcends genres – where the vocabulary is less confining and claustrophobic. We are looking for a language that exposes more and embraces all of what a web page is. The objective behind this graphic approach is to raise some of these important questions, and thereupon, to begin to answer them. This, we feel, must begin with a simplification...
We are not so
ht
18463056395687217405602 64905721781742610489048 08763956909243056395667 54321819273205721705639
Industry:
1. Any specific branch of production or manufacture: the entertainment industry. 2. Manufacturing and productive interests collectively, as distinguished from agriculture and from labour. 3. Diligent and regular application to work or tasks;
ASSIDUITY.
1. Day For Night ©2000 Day For Night i Sonic, musical, contextual CD & CDr publishers. Intermedia experimentalists. Day For Night is an independent projects label based out of Santa Monica, California. Promoting intermedia, with a push towards a personal design style, Day For Night creates an esoteric brand of fiction — a combinination of music, art, literature, typography and design — to create a unique setting; a hermetic universe largely of its own creation. As a label, Day For Night CD releases include works in contemporary new music, also publishing graphic intermedia on the web and CD-ROM. This also includes the digital type foundry NIGHTfonts, a sub-brand which designs and collects families of “breakthrough” font designs for use in its own communications, as well as making them available for others for use with desktop publishing. Published titles include fiction, verse, and essays, in addition to instrumental music and audio design, for which Eric Scott reaches critical mass as Creative Director; alternating in his capacities as composer, recording artist, designer, author and producer. As a web domain, Dayfornight.com is an unusual urban kingdom defined by that which lives above – and below – its “street level”… • An overground commercial district comprises three principal sites, the re:Fresh Design Gallery, H O SPITAL, an experimental website where visitors can go to diagnose their “urban malaise” and The-Depot, a virtual community and international marketplace of talent and friends of Day For Night… • A fictititous underground subway network called NIGHTlink spans the domain, offering an “Internet Journey-by-Rail”… The domain deploys an intuitive, graphic interface comprising urban streets and wallscapes, as well as numerous analogues for underground railway travel. The term day for night originates in filmmaking – the process of shooting night scenes during hours of broad daylight by employing blue filters — alternately meaning, a “special effect.” Subsequently, this became the title of the 1973 Francois Truffaut film which netted him an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film — and which, on a broader scale, furthered his personalized film-making style, by representing the filmmaker as the bemused subject of his own film. Day For Night represents a creative vision, largely self-contained, and equally self-referential. Eric describles this as part of his “elliptical search” for the truth; a lexicon of textures, sounds and graphic possibilities. Clients of Day For Night have come aboard expecting the finest in misdirection... Disney Online/ Touchstone, Glenn Takakjian (Joeyporkchops. com)…from the entire NIGHTlink Artist Projects network to the “findings” book “Secrets of Caesars Magical Empire,” produced in conjunction with Caesars World ITT and Naczinski & Associates LLC, Day For Night has been consulted whenever a disorientating level of creative misdirection is in the brief.
What is DAY for NIGHT? 1. Day For Night ©2000 Day For Night i 2. Internet Theatre. Graphics of places to describe people who use words & pictures & music to describe places & things. 3. Day 019. NIGHTlink. Are you commuter literate? Make the connection. Take An Internet JourneyBy-Rail. Artist homepages. 4. Day 060. re:Fresh Design Gallery. You with me? 5. Day 070. H O SPITAL. Experiments conducted daily. 6. Day 080. The-Depot. Virtual community.
2. Internet Theatre, or, "Breaking that information-highway hypnosis." Graphics of places to describe people who use words & pictures & music to describe places & things. image: Noel Poster (distressed type). you are, by implication, here -->pause) You sense you are, also, elsewhere. The Situationists were a league of French political artists during the latter 20th century, whose views on social upheavals relied upon an almost surreal or dadaist manipulation of image or media. Often, their détournements, or "diversions" involved supplanting old meanings with newer, oftentimes abstract or even subversive meanings as a beginnings to social upheaval or reform. And if the Situationists had been web designers? Détournements of the late 1960s now find additional relevance as the worldwide web willfully subverts itself; an internet we are now beginning to take for granted occasionally distorts as it disorients us, distracting us away from net-complacency.
Internet Theatre describes one of the primary objectives of Day For Night: The process of maintaining the proverbial "fourth" (filmic) wall to stand intact while holding court on the web. We are concerned with developing a hands-on approach to this type of a work, as much as with the work its cope, platform or specific medium. Internet Theatre is as much a show about presentation as it is the presentation itself, observing peculiar boundaries for time and places of work; offering each project a laboratory for a new experiments in web communication. Internet Theatre is guided by a dictate equating project with a process, previously identifiable in the dedication of method actors who assume character. Each project is lived to completion under an adopted character or guise. “We measure success on a project like noelcrane.com by the bewildering level of positive disorientation we can create with it; when a casual viewer or visitor can positively cross-reference a world created on television with a separate reality existing on the internet.” Eric Scott, Day For Night
Take Inter Journ by-
Noel Crane is a second-year graphic arts student at the University of New York in Manhattan; he is also resident advisor on the 7th floor of his dormitory and dispenses homespun wisdom on demand. As a sideline, Noel designs fonts in his spare time and has a webpage to support his interests in getting a career in the graphics biz some day. More interestingly, though, he has fallen in love with a girl named Felicity Porter who is one of his freshman student advisees. “Noel” primarily inhabits a television world created by the producers at Imagine Television and Disney Online... This world holds court on Tuesday nights on the Warner Bros. Television network as a tv show known as “Felicity.” Of course, Noel has no idea how we watch his every move on television, nor does the interactive world he has "created" online indicate any such confidence. Noel remains blissfully unaware that we are writing our pleas to him to shake him from his information highway-hypnosis.
The creative premise was NoelCrane.com could be the homepage of any young and technically-gifted college student, someone noodling with HTML or JavaScript for the first time; a hobbyist. Noel's real "imaginary" site experienced a sharp rise in visits over the next weeks, capping just over 43,000 visits during the month of November; many of them from repeat visitors. It was a fairly auspicious start for a web designer whose work was neither registered with the search engines, nor plugged at the end of the program.
In fact, there were no mentions to a TV show, or even a girl named Felicity at first, but only a passing nod here or there (a November activities planner for Kelvin Residential Hall boasting the signature "F. Porter" appeared online two weeks after Felicity was seen discussing its deadline with an enquiring Noel.) We like to think of this as a representative piece of internet theatre: Tapping into the web's awesome theatrical
an rnet ney-Rail
potential. Chaining a suspension of disbelief similar to that of film, theatre and television, and subverting the web (although in a positive way) – misdirecting an audience while entertaining them and giving them a bird's eye view into his life outside of the show. The site's primary objective was to reinforce viewership from within the ranks, and to encourage a new dialogue with the show's audience, and this seemed to be working. By presenting an idiosyncratic, non-corporate web page, masquerading as a student's web site, it gave the fans a private window to some of Noel's graphic tastes and insights. Also, by omitting any merchandising ties-in or sponsorship plugs, quickly gave the Felicity listservers and mailgroups something to talk about. In many cases, fans who learned of the site would hyperlink it to pages they created for the show as well.
01
Pop Culture 1991-1994
01 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
01
NIGHTvision August 2006 I figured it’s about time to sit down and just plainly address what Day For Night means. It is a container for all of my work, for all that has relevance in my work. A focal point for community, and bringing together as many talented and genuinely creative, responsible, forward-thinking people together, in the motions of creating a lasting team. Day For Night is an amalgam of filmmakers’ terminology and early, inspired web misdirection pursuits. It is a legacy brand created before the fact; a blueprint for my thesis and life’s work. But maybe, let’s go a little further into this one. Few artists have the foresight to create a vision for their work beforehand, and that is ultimately left to the curators who discover their work for them – often posthumously – and attempt to catalogue the work, give it meaning and a sense of purpose. This is a matter that is generally open to a lot of critical interpretation; short of following a personal diary to corroborate the facts and create the K. system, the total body of work produced by
01 W.A. Mozart are still left to interpretation more so, than that of his descendants, who blog their entire day, warts and all, and expect someone to plough through the daily entries. Therefore, some attention must be given early enough on, to what “vision” means, before a blog will make sense in the absolute timeframe of “future” past-tense. Day For Night.com has always been meant to be the ultimate breadcrumb trail left before the fact. I’m not ashamed to discuss this, I would always prefer to give direction to the projects, the bodies of work, and even the catalogues of others, because as an outsider, I bring the perspective and organizational skills to most projects, to enable a kind of order-within-disorder. But first things first. Day For Night.com is a listening library. It’s a changing gallery; an installation of music online. Music is an evolving medium, and it is Day For Night style to behave like revisionists, during this revisionist age. Like other software, the tracks at Day For Night are occasionally subject to embellishment, remix and upgrade. As paper libraries do, when one of our
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
NIGHTvision titles becomes tired or dog-eared, we replace it with a fresh one – sometimes after re-editing or remixing, and often in a newly-published editions. NIGHTblog is finally, our chance to share the music produced in-studio every day – to keep our fans up-to-date about what happens during the apparent lulls between landmark postings announcing album releases on the Day For Night imprint and web site launches. Our decision to post new work and MP3s as they happen is the culmination of a long-drawn out inner monologue about why Day For Night went online in the first place. Yes, we could try to genrify ourselves. Internally, we have derived three principal classifications, hopefully to exercise no further limitations upon our ears and minds. 1. Electronica / Avant-Rock Instrumental, experimental, leftfield and ambient work. 2. New Music / Modern Composition Avant-garde, jazz-classical and modern composition for keyboards and/or ensemble players. 3. Songs and archival works Indie pop and post-80s. More and more artist-driven imprints have sought to replace the ubiquitous term label. Departing from the traditional image of major-label domination as a business model, the indie web models represent the artist’s ability to produce and distribute music of a professional caliber, using affordable mastering equipment, while yielding a greater return on investment and a direct payment to the artists. Independent projects, as a term, better describes our output when com-
01 pared to the methodology of conventional record labels. Our development costs are often absorbed internally, and fuel future commercial projects and commissions, resulting in a continuous workflow, where artists and label can move at a comfortable pace and in harmony. Decisions about an artist’s fit are based singly upon relevance of the work (often in-progress) to the whole of the Day For Night catalogue. So what is Day For Night, as a business? Day For Night originated in 1991 as a recording imprint and independent-projects label, based in Santa Monica, CA. Promoting multimedia, while emphasizing a lightly-branded, personalized design style, Day For Night CD releases to date include works in contemporary music and new media released on CD, CD-R, DVD and the web. In nearly-equal parts, the Day For Night Catalogue continues to offer an esoteric mix of creations – combining music, art, typography, design and literature. This imprint is not a traditional record label– its commercial releases will be limited, over a course of time,
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
NIGHTvision to 100 total, while its push for to recruit new artists from the outside world is often shadowed by inner development goals – first, to release the full schedule of projects scheduled at this time, many of them still in the works. For this, I occasionally reach critical mass as Creative Director; every day, I shift gears in my capacities as composer, producer, recording artist, designer, typographer, and author. The many endeavors include software releases from sub-brand digital type foundry NIGHTfonts, which is currently designing experimental typefaces – as seen in some of Day For Night business communications – and for distribution via commercial outlets, for application in desktop publishing. Day for night originates in the filmmakers’ lexicon, and means the created illusion of nighttime in broad daylight by employing special lens filters. Within this term creative or technical misdirection is implicit – like any special effect that conceals or subverts reality. I refer to this, throughout my various discussions of Internet Theater, one of Day For Night’s key conceits – as well as a personal design focus. One primary example of this is my self-initiated NIGHTlink Rail internet project, which first launched in 1997, and continues to evolve, slowly, in parallel to the Day For Night catalogue as it grows... From its early marketing campaign (“Take An Internet Journey By Rail – It Still Beats Walking.”) and the mock train stations, NIGHTlinkRail becomes an emblematic parody of the label’s catalogue: CD project titles are also often referred to by name and, interchangeably, by catalogue number (“Day 001” through “Day 100”). This cryptic emphasis upon cataloguing and order also informs the schematic design of the NIGHTlink Rail Travel Planner – one that might easily be mistaken for a real subway map. The station-stops along this network also share into, and cross-brand, the Day For Night catalogue projects amidst playful marketing hype banner ads that cover railway station walls like fly-bills.
01 Another similarity shadows the 1973 film of the same name, furthering a personal authoring style, as did the œuvre of late director Francois Truffaut. Where Day For Night the film represented the filmmaker as the bemused subject of the same director’s own fiction, I compare this to his own continually “being at the heart of Day For Night’s big picture, and living inside many of the details as well.” Real-world clients have approached Day For Night, requesting the finest in this brand of creative misdirection... from Imagine Television, Disney Online, Touchstone Television, to its inner Artist Projects network, Day For Night Multimedia has consulted and delivered when even the most daunting levels of creative misdirection is in the design brief. The sum of the label and its multimedia endeavors represent this artist’s vision – one that is largely self-contained, and occasionally self-referential – and one which I describe as part of my “personal search for an absolute truth about New Media.” Creating a lexicon of sounds, textures and graphic possibilities, Day For Night consciously articulates its own subjective experience, as well as its
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
NIGHTvision own, sometimes beautiful, flaws. Occasionally, I pause, to differentiate Day For Night – the label – from Day For Night Multimedia, Inc, which effectively becomes the marketing extension of other strategic partners, clients and affiliates of Day For Night. I still use the DBA Day For Night to refer to both the contentcreation side, as well as the design and marketing services. Day For Night Multimedia works with new commissions and integrates my personal vision as an artist/Art Director, with the specialized needs of its clients. Core services include: Creative and Artistic Direction • Creation / Planning / Strategy† • Characterization, background and development • Graphic and Identity design • Art direction and packaging design [ view ] • Typographic / Typeface design Siteworks / Convergent Multimedia / CD-R • Motion media design • Interface and usability planning • Programming • Web implementation and commerce strategy Music and Audio Composition • Underscore • Audio design and production Our professional objective is to design manageable multimedia user experiences. We place extra attention upon the way people read (or more frequently, don’t) unto a specific medium. The realities of designing for a post-literate consumer culture always pose new challenges for a business with something to say.
01 This is why we always discuss values before beginning any visual design process. We recommend doing a preliminary project analysis for clients, before touching upon artistic or graphic design concerns. We look forward to engaging you soon in a dialogue, and to begin the collaboration that will be your next successful proj∂ect. Strong information design is a positive balance of the following: 1. Freedom and flexibility within the creative process 2. Clear business strategy 3. Narrative and story-telling issues (strategic use of emotional wordpictures, misdirection, etc.) 4. Rich information design 5. Pragmatic interactive design, resulting from user research, and applied behavioral sciences Project rates for services can be made available upon request, or as part of the estimate we produce following our initial consultation with you. So many people have asked me, and continue to this day – what do I mean by “Internet Theatre”...?
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
NIGHTvision
02
Wordscapes 1991-1992
02 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
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Artist’s Mission January 1, 2010 As an independent artist and designer, I have deliberately avoided some of the limitations, both of specialized areas of work and the obligations of commitment required in a design studio environment. Generally, I prefer to work solo, when that allows me more room to experiment and change, and to choose commissions of a wider diversity (from web creation to record covers, corporate work to unique commissions). Presently, I am pursuing only the commissions I believe in and can support morally, socially and politically. This approach leads me into essentially close relationships with clients. With two of my experimental projects thus far – NIGHTlink – An Internet Journey By Rail, and HOSPITAL – I have indulged a passion for imagemaking... Siteworks offering a unique marriage of progressive ‘musics’ with flexible visuals. Both are joined in a network unified by a starting-point and an end-point. In the middle lies a finite universe of 100 virtual underground stations, each one representing a completed Day For Night project. ...This might be tied in to a longtime fascination with underground travel, allowing me to develop a more effective context to integrate my music and images, making for a journey that is both unique for each visitor, and yet, like a subway system, governed by a powerful internal logic.
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Artist’s Mission What I do is not a ‘job’ but a vocation, something that is fundamental to my life. My approach to doing projects is continually informed by a passion for language and for architecture – a balance of form, space and order. I admit a tendency to being something of a ‘trainspotter’ – this informs creation of an ordered universe, where the beauty and serendipity of random order can ultimately be introduced to play a catalytic role in the creative process. Future hopes include continually challenging the accepted notions of applied arts – experimenting with unknown materials and new technologies – to extend work into a wider diversity of projects and to work more with environmentally-aware clients. Eric Scott, Santa Monica, CA
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Original Composition 1979-2015
03 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview February 1, 2005 The Creative Process - Eric Scott e-viewed by Prof. Aaron Prevots Aaron Prevots: “Since receiving a grant to record songs in French and place them online, I have become all the more curious how others envision the creative process. Interviews lend themselves well to discovering artists’ interests, trajectories and thought patterns, so I decided to use this form to find out more. I am investigating ideas from experienced artists, musicians and designers – and learning everything from conceptual influences to setting the egg-timer for 20-minutes’ work. Selections from my own humble efforts and collaborative projects have also been included below.
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview
Part 1 of 3: Beginnings First of all, how did you get started with web design? I may have actually become a web designer to spite a former employer of mine. It was 1995 and I was approached by the company CEO, who was hoping to “tempt” me into doing the company’s webpage as a side project, like a hobby, ie, “for free.” Although I did appreciate him asking me, I wasn’t into that, really because it showed his lack of concern for my personal time. So, purely out of resentment, I flatly told him “no.” Then I went off for a bit, and thought, “wait a minute...” because I realized that I should actually consider learning about all this new web stuff in order to design my own site, and come back with that in response, and that idea really stuck. I had already been thinking about Day For Night becoming a full-fledged business, and so I finalized my DBA and felt the authoritative juices flowing as I was, for the first time, beginning to validate in a business context what I had been doing all along with Day For Night as a label and imprint for my music.
What’s with the Underground obsession? In 1991, I made an unusually high volume of train journeys when I went to France and England, and this started a trend in my vacationing, namely that it became more about taking trains, and going to places where you could get around on foot, in between stops. I’m always a reluctant driver. But the Tube in London is exceptionally well-organized, with the Paris Metro being a very close second. Around that time, I also began to read up on the London Tube and its relationship to the origins of the sans-serif typeface. Frank Pick’s design of the London Underground, as a premier transportation brand was a significant development in the world of design during the first half of the 20th Century. Pick contracted Edward Johnston, the typographer who, by necessity developed an eye for environmental design, as he was developing the standardized type formats for what later became the signage and lettering systems which are used throughout all LUL communica-
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Interview
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Studio Work 1994-1998
04 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
04
Th
he Day Begins: 1967-1979 December 20, 2008 Auto-Illogical Responses To The Early, Funny Works There’s something kind of bittersweet, and perhaps, ultimately “telling” about the earliest work of any artist. It displays the young artist at his, or her, most vulnerable, and parents will sometimes retain a small handful of their child’s first drawings. Recently I, too, uncovered a vast trove of my output from childhood – consisting of drawings, handmade books and objects, and especially, illustrated writings I created between the ages of 3 through 18. First of all, let it be known that from an early age I was obsessed with zany, Tex-Avery-style animations and Three Stooges references. I always loved the vintage Warner Brothers/Bugs Bunny cartoons – and the complete non-sequitur of their malevolent, explosive visual gags had already left its mark on my sense of humor, long before the time I was five years old…which meant that my stories – illustrated
04 little books I would draw on letter-size sheets in the afternoon after school and then, later on, bind up or staple into volumes, would often simply boil down to a single gag – ending in an explosion. Then, there would always be this final, lingering frame… the Merrie Melodies-styled, “Cut-To-Shock” reaction. End of story. Many of my books would become surreal – at certain levels, possibly demented, simply by recounting the visual storytelling alone: (1) Our Hero – a man on a diving board – plunges into a swimming pool, only to be sucked instantly, into the drain – as observed by a large, gawking bird in passing - whereby he crash-lands hard into the underground lair of a vinyl-clad, fetishistic, lipsticked Catwoman – who shoves his bloodied, crying figure into a bottle, which she sells off (after performing a lewd sex act upon him, we presume) in her day-job guise as an eccentric Milkmaid. A large Ogre (one of her regular customers), mindlessly downs the bottle, swallowing our hero – and segueing into cut-away view, in which the Hero passes through the Ogre’s digestive system – after barreling messily through the giant’s bodily organs – breaking the ogre’s heart into two pieces on the way down to his belly – a murky soup of human detritus. The Ogre, whom we find, now plummeting out of control through a strawberry patch and down a hillside (during his regular afternoon walk), sends the hero flying back up out of the Ogre’s body, blasting through the giant’s brain and killing him instantly (oddly, the Ogre is smiling during this process), and sending our Hero flying a dozen miles through the air back to his home, where he, in turn, crash-lands through the chimney and splash-lands in a full bathtub. (Now dressed as Santa Claus!) Later, as my TV influences got more mediocre, so did the gags. So the “cut to shock” would be replaced by “cut to tepid character expression” – very dry contrast to the explosion set up beforehand. I inherited my Dad’s dry, deadpan sense of humor, and was applying it now as the coda to the gag.
Th
he Day Begins: 1967-1979 I reviewed almost all of this preserved, early work not long ago, while deciding which pieces to scan in to the archives for posterity (and insurance). It’s quite shocking and humbling. I actually remembered being a much better artist as a child than the work portrayed. Instead, I was treated to loads of hastily-rendered storyboards – I’ll call them that for the sake of accuracy – and as a whole, they summarized my approach. I was developing a very eccentric style, which would require (now) far too much explanation to introduce properly. My wife can be my most lucid critic sometimes, and I decided to withhold showing her these until she’s been married to me for at least ten years. I think I was keen at times on appropriating the best bit from a cartoon and building upon that to develop a book. My father had already shared with me the “Big Little Books” he’d had growing up. In our upstairs room on the shelf there were about twenty books he’d shared with me from the 1930’s and 40s. Collector’s items now; they showed the early craft and illustration of L. Frank Baum, among others. I soaked this up as
04 an early influence; these were beautiful books in the way they were published and clean looking volumes, consistent bindery and design. You got a sense of series from these, and were instantly collectible. In 1971, it was DC and Marvel comics that had my full attention, and I was teaching myself to draw Super Heroes, and kept busy inventing my own. My friend Ed Singer (who shared my initials) formed ES/ES Comics with me as a way of a creative outlet, in the mind of publishing an original comic book series. Later, I remember this after-school project I stumbled into, in which cats and dogs were at war and I began to draw this catalogue of incidental, and mostly unnecessary characters; the back-story, perhaps. I was nine. The two other friends who began the project, Robert and Ed, had come up with the idea, and would illustrate these vast landscapes in which identically-drawn dogs and cats were mapping their respective battlefields. I was just along for the ride. But more recently, I became aware that I was already “cataloguing” at an early age. But the absolute worst of it came across in my travel journals – an awkward and spotty series of memoirs, written over the course of family vacations between 1975 and 1979. I can see now that, in hindsight, I was practicing in how to write what people wanted to hear me say, and I was getting better at doing that, than I was at illustrating my actual ideas at that time. Perhaps I was just trying to mold myself into a “simpler” person, which is what makes these come across as all the more eccentric. I was feeling pressure to entertain – these were written to be shared with the whole family during a reading session in early Fall of each year. I looked forward to reading them aloud, it was nice watching my parents’ face as they would recall fond memories by hearing my telling of them. But the pressure to entertain because a lot of things were left out, when I felt quite bored. You know, you’re on holiday with your parents and you imagination takes over – except that my imagination was not even functioning outside of those four walls; the writing style was
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he Day Begins: 1967-1979 painfully self-conscious and not enjoyable. I didn’t want anyone to really get into my head, d’you see? The results read to me now as sad; I would love to read what I was actually thinking, instead of missing out on life, and substituted more bad puns, cartoons and jokes, mostly illustrated with a multitude of unnecessary captions and arrows. And, suffice it to say that, this writing style would get much worse before it got any better. Nobody has any real idea why stuff happens this way. But you just breathe a sigh of relief when it’s all over. I’d say I began to find my feet and how things happened – I discovered Monty Python’s Flying Circus and became really inspired; I really wanted to be great at what I did. The other one was when I started writing songs, and all the awkwardness began to leave my body in a musical form instead of verbal expression. And, It was masked much more eloquently as musical notes I really couldn’t have dressed up any better. So in 1979, with my first year playing the guitar, a lot of things began to change quickly.
05
The Subway down to the
Internet Theatre 1996-2013
05 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
05 brand is favorable to therm. Much like the fans who stick with an indie band attending their local concerts and building up the record and download sales throught healthy word of mouth. An endorsement passed along by a friend or someone you trust is better advertising than a campaign, and we find those artists and bands often still around 10 or 25 years later; not having outstayed their welcome in the process of discovery. In contrast, overexposure through ham-fisted media campaigning is more often the kiss of death for a new act, artist, tv show, movie or brand. (Consider how much greater the opportunity for longevity, for one of the runners-up on American Idol or Pop Idol, with an amicable following, than for the season winner, whose every trivial movement will be televised for 365 days following their win. An insignificant win, of course, unless short-term sales is your only yardstick for measuring success.) We knew that it would take a small team to execute our strategy, which was to convert the ALIAS storyline into a series of little puzzle pieces, and to leak out useful Easter eggs on a weekly basis. It wasn’t much done at the time, in fact the term viral marketing hadn’t
really been invented yet, but the idea was simple enough to grasp; that followers of the show would congregate in bulletin boards, forums, and discussion groups, and begin to share minutiae and trivia about the show… but what if we could get them talking about something REALLY BIG? I originally had the idea that we should turn the objective (landing at the same time as the end of the 1st television season) into a major geo-locating game, where the prize would be a piece of buried treasure (actual buried treasure!) and it would be located underground, at a set of GPS coordinates which would be leaked through a long “Great Race” kind of game, played (at first) only online, and in the final round, in the real world. The desired object could be an “original” uncatalogued drawing by the fictitious seer and polymath, Milo Rambaldi. The network wouldn’t have it; for them it was too risky having a geolocation search with uninsurable results. Shame, because the head writers on the show, Jesse Alexander and Jeff Pinkner were fans (like I was) of the movie “The Game” in which Michael Douglas’s character is frightened into a coerced and manipulated game of cat and mouse and this kind of suspense
05 impressed us all; the kind of Game we all wanted to play, where the level of misdirection was part of the cloak we would all sign up for. It was at the first meeting where Jesse mentioned another online game in which you would enlist, only to be immediately contacted to be told that the game was being terminated early and that there would be no game, a matter beyond the control of its sponsors. Two days later, you would receive an urgent fax stating that its database had been compromised and that there had been an explosion in the warehouse, that the creators were fleeing for their lives; you get the picture. We all loved the sexiness of a movie like “The Net” which managed to take what seemed like a dull subject, and glamorize it with a sexy lead in the form of Sandra Bullock. More of this, please. I strategized with Jesse how we could leak out simple things, photographs, audio recordings, and so on, to leak these out to select fans – winners of a simple competition – they would then do the duties of publishing their findings on message boards, and we would let the community take over from there. Of course, there could be no evidence of our tam
pering with anything, it would have to appear as though the game was entirely being played through the filter of the fourth, invisible wall which we could never acknowledge or break.
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The DNA of a Label Song Stories 1979-1991 There was a time when I approached everything with the mindset of a songwriter. Pure and simple. There was no Day For Night. There were only songs, literally a couple hundred of them, and a very unclear road on how to get there – wherever “there” really was. Realistically, I’d had the “basics” of the music industry explained back to me, over and over again during the late eighties and early 90s by at least a few music industry types who understood the various “leagues” of music, and what it meant to reign in a league you were prepared to play strongly in. In 1987 I was also pursuing my “day job” of recording engineer, having studied technically for a year at a prime recording arts school in North Hollywood – in order to justify abandoning my other, other day job of “shop worker.” I was determined to bring everything I knew about making music, production, and arrangement, to a field in which I could become a producer-songwriter-arranger—engineer. Just think about how sexy that was to see the ones who did it well… Martin Hannett, Steve Lillywhite, Martin Rushent, Arthur Baker, Shep Pettibone, Gillles Martin, John Robie… all working somewhere in between the indie world of pop and the underground world of dance. I was really inspired to follow in their footsteps. Up until about 1989 I was still eagerly writing songs with standard “intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorusoutro” format. They had proper lyrics and arrangements. I was always writing them around my voice. I didn’t expect to have to justify any of that work for any other singer, and felt confident that “if New Order could pull it off, then maybe so could I.” After all, I felt like a decent enough singer and would
05 probably make fewer embarrassing mistakes than Bernard Sumner, if it came down to a record label exec interrogating me on what I brought to this “pop” table. At this phase, I was recording songs as home demos until I felt ready to go into a 16 or 24 track studio to cut professional demos, and compile them in a cassette-calling card format. The protocol was then to submit them to as many label’s A&R departments as possible, and wait for the first signs of momentum generated. It took one A&R guy explaining that he really liked what he heard on my tape – but that, flat out, he couldn’t sell it – to change my tune. I was competing in a pop arena, with pop sensibilities, but targeting an indie label for
The DNA of a Label the advanced attention and support that I could get from that kind of relationship. The indies didn’t have, in that day, any real pull in an industry dominated by the majors. The guy didn’t even want to try and explain how much harder it would be to create a successful pop record than a successful indie record – and by indie, that meant almost everything and anything other than pop – industrial, electronica, punk – genres like these were all fair game to a credible indie musician, as long as you, and your label, had credibility. Even dance was a place dominated by producer/Djs and where you had to have a credible reputation in nightclubs to make it as a dance artist… The logic during the eighties however, was that to succeed in indie, it helped to show you understood dance music to bolster your following – that your music was remixable. I had aimed every song as a potential 12” in the hopes that I could always be building a song around a wicked remix beat as well as a credible indie single, something worthy of being released by any of the many genuinely inspirational boutique labels I admired… Factory, 4AD, Crepuscule, Rough Trade, all had my interest and seemed to share my sensibilities in the relationships between indie and dance. And both really appealed to a specific side of my brain. Then in 1989, I suddenly felt I’d stretched myself to a point where I wasn’t growing as a songwriter… and the “rejection notice” had come back too many times, where the “industry” opinion was that the music was great, but I’d never be able to take it anywhere serious with those vocals. I was tired of having to be bull-headed about standing my ground, I just wanted to make music that I liked and not have to deal with the depression of sending tapes round randomly to labels that couldn’t give a toss. I was already getting the suspicious reaction from advisors who thought that being “selfpublished” was indicative of personal failure… Either a sign of not playing well with others, or smacking of desperation. But the material that I was now forming came from a deep
05 point where I needed to establish credibility as an out of the ordinary film composer, who ccould write unusual and arresting music that went way beyond underscore to something that could become foreground music – maybe even steal the show away from the film (many of them were not that good anyway at the university level) and I admired Michael Nyman’s approach to Peter Greenaway’s film scores (also shared by Philip Glass, Wim Mertens and other post-minimalists) and thought that my role should not be to blend in, but to construct unusual, challenging or difficult musical situations that were ultimately rewarding for the viewer. Thus began the first seed to launch Day For Night two years later.
The DNA of a Label My first release on Day For Night was to be a collection of instrumental pieces with a neo-classical leaning, to be performed entirely on piano, and to form a 15-part “love elegy” to Marie. Due to my lack of experience with the piano as a solo instrument, the difficulties which arose while trying to create full arrangements for the songs led me to add parts for a small chamber ensemble, which would augment the spare piano parts: a violinist (i.e. Blaine Reininger, in the hopes that he would accept upon being approached), a cellist (i.e. Ann Sheldon), a viola (i.e. Kate Musker), plus a wind section consisting of a trombonist, French horn player, or trumpet player (i.e. Tim Kellett from Simply Red and Durutti Column). The sound was to be that of an acoustic recording. The tone which was set for each of the fifteen pieces was that of a series of love elegies, paying tribute to the neo-classical stylings of Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, and Vini Reilly around the time of his Circuses and Bread. I chose to keep all song titles, including the collective title, my name, and all the related typography for 3 mains in a lowercase Futura demibold font; making one notable exception: anywhere Marie’s name appeared, she got the capital initial, in the same manner that the poet e.e. cummings deferred his one capitalization to God. On Dec. 31, 1990, I summarized my point as follows: “There are two kinds of music in my opinion; the dichotomy lies between 1) music that is created in order to achieve some particular commercial end; and 2) music that is created unself-consciously, and strictly for the purpose of releasing and perhaps even indulging a particular emotion.
05 Rhythm Factory is the moniker I reserve for projects intended to be of a shorter life span; projects where a higher profile might help pave the road to success; for music that supports the Warhol-esque principle that every individual’s fifteen minutes in the spotlight will come some day soon; for musical toilet paper, dance music, acid-new-beat, techno-pop, songs; for art for the $ sake. Eric Scott is the moniker I reserve for projects of personal merit; for projects where a lower profile is to be maintained as a benefit to the music; for film scores, solo piano and strings, music made to measure for the holidays; art for art’s sake. In my time, I would like to be responsible for the creation of both types of music; I
The DNA of a Label also ask that my wish for separation of musical identity be respected.” I considered approaching various labels in search of distribution: Crammed, Crepuscule, Factory, Rough Trade, 4AD, Some Bizarre, Touch, Beggar’s Banquet, Restless, Relativity, Mute, Opal, Fiction, Polydor, Wonderland, Sire, and Wax Trax. My plan for marketing my project required careful consideration as to label interest, both regarding what labels might be appropriate and what compromises might have to be made. I knew that a major label would not give the credo of artistic integrity the same weight as a smaller independent label. I examined the structure of 3 mains, breaking it down into categories: 1. 3 Mains piano/str/vocal - light 1:53 2. Moment a Deux piano/str- stately, funereal 3:18 3. Held (C. Netherlands’s theme) piano/strs/brass - emotional 2:45 4. I Have A Recurring Dream... piano - mystical 4:05 5. Maid in Belgium piano/str/fem. vocal - moody 4:38 6. Chapala St. -- 9:00 PM... piano/viol/cello - moody 3:22 7. M.L.B.W. piano/piano/piano - urban 2:50 8. Video Montage piano - ethereal 1:20 total time 24:30 side two 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Detained piano/str/drums - urgent 2:40 Angel In My Arms piano/cello - emotional 3:34 Man From The Cold piano/mar/cello/brass - moody 2:19 M. Cherie piano/str/brass - ornate 2:26 Fiece for Marie in 5 stanzas piano/strs- ornate/freeform
05 9:43 6. While You Lay Sleeping piano - pastoral, light 3:37 7. Breathe / 3 Mains Reprise piano/strclimactic finale 3:00 Total Time 27:55 I then made up a list of the recordings which had been influential to me, in the way they shared my musical vision, and created a plan as to which labels would be most appropriate for targeting: • George Harrison’s Wonderwall Music • Wire’s The Ideal Copy • Colin Newman’s A to Z, Commercial Suicide, provisionally entitled the singing fish, interview, (driving music) • M i n i m a l Compact’s Lowlands Flight • The Cure’s Carnage Visors, Faith,
The DNA of a Label Seventeen Seconds • The Glove’s Blue Sunshine • Siouxsie’s A Kiss in the Dreamhouse • Joy Division’s Closer • New Order’s Power Corruption & Lies • Section 25’s From the Hip • Laurie Anderson’s United States 1-4 • Hafler Trio’s A Bag of Cats, Ignotum Per Ignotius, Dislocated • Michael Nyman’s And Do They Do, A Zed and Two Noughts, Drowning by Numbers, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover • Wim Mertens’s After Virtue, No Testament • Steven Brown/Blaine Reininger’s 100 Years of Music • Durutti Column’s Circuses and Bread, Without Mercy, LC • Harold Budd/Brian Eno’s The Pearl • Virginia Astley’s Hope in a Darkened Heart, From Gardens Where We Feel Secure • Mikado’s Par Hasard Below is a copy of the questionnaire which I sent out as a prospectus with the first twenty tapes, as a means of testmarketing the project and seeing whether my instincts had been right in any way: Enclosed please find 3 mains, the instrumental sampler by Eric Scott. Please respond to the questions at the bottom as instinctively and as thoroughly as you can. 1. The 3 strongest pieces were (at first listen): 2. In this format (>20 mins/side), did it sustain your interest? 3. Would you listen to this actively (vs. background listening only)? 4. Did the collection present a flowing blend of moods and feelings that you enjoyed? 5. If you heard this playing in a music store, is it likely that
05 you would approach someone to inquire about it? 6. What words might you use in describing this music to a friend? 7. If this music had been part of a film soundtrack, would it have been easier to accept in this format? 8. How would you judge the quality of the performances? 9. How would you rate the quality of the recording? 10. During what types of activities might you put this type of music on (i.e., driving, relaxing, gardening, during dinner with a companion)? The responses I got back were very interesting, and indicated always a very personal set of choices, rather than a more unilateral and obvious set, as is measurable on a “pop” yardstick. Everyone had a different favorite, although there was a
The DNA of a Label general consensus was that 3 Mains, Angel in my Arms, Video Montage, and Chapala St. were the winners. In retrospect, it was an extremely satisfying project to work on and to listen to. It gave me great confidence, while paving a road for instrumental projects to come, and enabling me to create a separate identity for myself as a singer and as a composer. I set up Day For Night as a label for releasing all of my projects, immediately following this. 3 mains was DAY (matrix number) 001. It inspired me to map out the next of fifteen releases to be projected over the following year, as I had so much already back-logged. The total span of the 3 mains project ran from July ‘89, when I bought myself the Roland Piano as a birthday present to myself, along with a lot of other gear such as a new Roland R8 drum box, an Emulator II sampler, Roland 16 channel mixer, and Drawmer noise gates, through late March 1991, when I spent my last weekend at Music Animals in Studio C, mastering the finished product on the Studer Dyaxis, and adding the sound design that separates each cut. (Subsequent re-masters of the disc left out these transitions). During those (nearly) 20 months, I sketched out three more releases to handle the overflow of material that poured out of me while writing 3 mains: A Priori, Details From Within, and What If. Although these titles fell by the wayside, the tracks became the foundation for “The Performing Man” (Day 003. cd) and the triple-length “Ghosts & Masks.” (Day 013.cd) But let me flash back and supply some missing info. It was 1992 now, and I was not the founder of Day For Night. Not yet. In 1991, I had originally chosen the name “DNA Recordings”
05 – And I had, until now, been labeling the cassette-only releases with this imprint. I was up to my ears in emotion about the initials standing for something other than Deoxiribo-Nucelic Acid, for me, it was more about the French “Derniere Nuit A Los Angeles” (Last Night In Los Angeles)… A way, at that time, of commemorating the birth of the label, with Marie’s departure – from my life, from Los Angeles… And I was already up to my third release using this imprint, having also co-opted “DNA2Z” as my design moniker where responsible for the sleeves and all the graphic design. Shortly thereafter, I was browsing through the record racks at Street Sounds on Melrose and discovered something slightly annoy-
The DNA of a Label ing; that someone in New York had taken the name DNA and put it on a dance label. I had already done up the DNA black sun label and found it to be quite popular. The idea of starting again was a bit discouraging. I decided to let it pass, thinking that there would probably be no conflict with a small fly-by-night label in upstate NY. About two months later, the Recording Industry Sourcebook for 1992 came out, and to my further dismay, a different DNA still existed somewhere in Northern California. I had originally picked the DNA name because I liked the strange bio-technological aspect of such a name. Clearly others had, too. I wanted a three-letter abbreviation of whatever name I chose so that I could use it in cataloguing my recorded work in a succinct and memorable fashion. My biggest source of inspiration was Factory Records, with their “FAC 123” and “FAC 51” which had grown now legendary. I liked the odd-logic that permeated their system, such as the assignment of FAC --2 numbers to New Order’s 12” singles, FAC --4 to the Durutti Column’s releases, and the traceability of all catalog numbers by their use. The other inspiration came from Les Disques du Crepuscule, who had taken the English equivalent, Twilight, and used TWI as their catalogue header. Finally, Crammed Discs also had a readily identifiable CRAM before all product numbers. I wanted something that stood alone as a word as well as an abbreviation. “DNA” just sounded good, and I didn’t want to lose the logo image. It was while I was re-watching the Truffaut film “Day For Night” that the name occurred to me. I had learned, while shooting Mr. Petrified Forrest, that shooting “day for night” meant creating a night-time setting on film whilst using daylight hours. The reversed black-sun, to illustrate such a metaphor, and the 3-letter “DAY” to precede each catalog number
05 took on a parallel “day 1, day 2, day 3... “ interpretation.
The DNA of a Label
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Photograms 1994-2010
06 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
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The Guitar & t
the Music-Maker’s Craft July 1, 2006 In Conversation: Pete Moraites and Eric Scott: 2006_0701 Eric Scott: You were asking me a question about the guitar, and how much I practiced. Pete Moraites: Right, when you first started learning guitar. ES: I played the guitar a lot at first, because I felt I had no alternative. I had to practice and I probably played about 3 to 4 hours a day. I could say now that I did my major practicing in the first seven months, and after that it tapered off only a little bit, which had to do with getting comfortable, from having no callouses on the fingertips when you first started playing, and that you have to build these up as a simple survival tool. Just that those callouses will get you there, you need them to be able to do anything. A bit like having a feedback score on eBay. So actually, working hard knowing that if I played three hours a day, I knew that if I had the callouses then I could play well. At first the limping along part is just kind of miserable. I also think the amount I played had to do with conquering my vast ignorance in the overall musical realm. I didn’t have any former training at all in music. I was like a sponge, learning everything I could learn about music from the guitar, from playing chords – and the best investment after the guitar, was the Mel Bay guitar chord book, which has something like a thousand different graphics of chord inversions, which helped me to better visualize something about the language of music that had never been apparent to me before.
06
The Guitar & t
the Music-Maker’s Craft PM: Is that a tall, skinny book…? ES: …I know which one you’re talking about, and no – it’s like a regular 9 x 12 spiral-bound with a few hundred pages, with just chord charts on it. Showing you the fingering for… a “G”… so from one page alone you know there’s at least fifteen to eighteen different ways to play a “G” major chord. But they’re all really just inversions, meaning that one of them perhaps has open strings, and then if you play the same (3) notes, but higher up on the fretboard, you’re still playing G but as an inversion, with different strings, as different combinations… The relative pitches of that triad, a G, B, and D, can become a G, B, D and high G, or on a low D, go G B D G B above that, and so on up the neck to find the same pitches over and over, but with different fingerings… When you think about how Andy Summers plays, you think of higher pitches… His sound with those very “bright” and shimmering chords, and so many of them played fairly high up on the neck. 3:10
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Prosperity 2001-2003
07 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
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Shooting Day For Night
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March 12, 1993 Avenir Interviews Eric Scott on the early foundations of Day For Night. This Santa Monica label releases more than just records…and founder/designer/ musician/Renaissance-Man-For-The-90s Eric Scott discusses (by phone, with call-waiting) his concept of multimedia in an age where we are still feeling for the buttons of our music technology. SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1993 3:58 PM AVENIR: Hi. Let’s start off talking about Day for Night, for those who may not have the background. What is it all about? More >
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Shooting Day For Night. The Santa Monica label which releases more than music is rounding up its third year of releases. But it has kept a particularly low profile, more noticeably in the manner with which much of the finished product is produced; often hand-assembled…Today, founder/musician/designer Eric Scott discusses (by phone, with call-waiting) his ideas for mixed media in an age where we are still feeling for the buttons of our new Multimedia technology. SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1994 3:58 PM
AVENIR: I’d like to start off by asking you about Day for Night and what you set it up to do for you… ERIC SCOTT: Day for Night is my varied response at keeping alive what Factory Communications started in Manchester in the 70’s, but with more bits thrown in from my own life. Since 1991, Day For Night has released new music, books, software, artist-based merchandise, interactive design, and in about one month, its first collection of digital typefaces will be available through an offshoot called NIGHTfonts. For me, Factory was the zenith of the English independent scene—because they fought alongside a corporate music war by staying on the sidelines while backing up their releases with a very polished graphic image. This I found very inspirational.
OK, so Day for Night is in some ways an indie label, but the music I’ve heard is not specifically alternative in its sound. I agree, it’s not “Alternative” with the big “A,” but alternative in the way it offers something that nobody else is offering right now. Isn’t that the true definition of alternative music?
Not making music for the “flavor of the month” charts must be harder to market, though. Have you ever approached other labels?
I’ve found that there is just too much product around to interest the major labels. Unfortunately, they have all the My instinct is that they do all the wrong things with it. Who really wants to be the small fish in the big pond? Then make matters more complicated, there are very few independent labels making product like I want to do. One labe impressed with is Emigre in Sacramento. They’ve done exactly that; found distribution for a variety of media, inclu fairly accessible brand of avant-garde music.
So what tells you your market even exists? To me, it’s so obvious that it does. I make music that pleases me, first; and which pleases others around me alike. The fact that I can’t name anyone in this country whose music appeals to me on the level that I want to make, that alone, tells me there is a need for my music.
Have you tried marketing it outside of the states? That’s the next step, international distribution, along with a Web Page for downloading sound files through an E-mail address on the InterNet. Unfortunately, the scene in the states mostly caters to middle-America: copycat post-grunge guitarbands. This will become our “Muzak For The Next Millenium.”
Shooting Day For Night
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Eric Scott Interviewed by Patricia Fernandez. Why? All these grunge guitar bands have already taken to writing ballads in order to save their careers. In my book, ballads usually signal the autumn years.
What are you currently working on? I’m finishing a release called “The gift,” which adapts a story I’ve written to some soundtrack music–this will be marketed like a typographic novel in a CD box. I’m also writing arrangements for my second work in the “3 mains” trilogy, entitled “Paris sous la lune de miel;” also a part of my series of instrumental Musics For A City. And recently I finished postproduction sound design on a film called “Mr. Petrified Forrest,” which was screened last November. My involvement on the project allowed me to get one of my songs onto the soundtrack, and I issued the project a catalogue number so it can sit alongside my other work.
Your press release mentioned “day 030: Addictions,” a boxed set of your poetry, due out in November. When did you start writing poems? I’ve been telling people that I write verse, that I don’t actually write poems. It probably started with my song lyrics; though I never really considered anything I wrote to be actual verse until I started to examine what and how I write, and how this fits in with my lyrics…and what differentiates me from others.
And what do you think that is? I don’t want my words to be like the ones you hear that turn the never ending stream of clichés. I can’t write “Baby” and mean it. You know me, and it’s not how I talk. And I don’t care for flowery writing, either. My vocabulary may be seasoned with 75¢ words, (laughs) but I still maintain that verse should be an honest expression of the spirit, and that by saying things in my own way, that I can hopefully trigger a synapse in the reader that has never been touched that way before. Until I started putting this
The elements of mystery and surprise are crucial to listening; inside each listener, those are the buttons we try to push when you write a great song…
collection together, I didn’t consider myself a poetry fan, either. It genuinely piqued my interest, however, and I began to re-read e.e. cummings, and looking at the mesostics of John Cage, and in doing so I discovered some other writers whose work was new to me. Charles Bukowski I like. I exceptionally like the verse of Leonard Cohen. In his writing, I find that which I am seeking when I write my own verse. And I have always liked the song lyrics of Suzanne Vega, I’ve always thought they were exceptionally strong, unlike the frail, waif-like image people tag her with. Originally, I felt my lyrics and verse weren’t valid outside of a musical context.
ab kl nt I don’t agree, I think they’re strong on their own. Some are, but others I feel…they might be seen as less than masterpieces due to my old-fashioned adherence to meter and rhyme; something that was hammered into me when I was very young I suppose. I felt I couldn’t make words rhyme elegantly enough, and I probably wasted some time learning how to improve that, instead of learning how to be more honest.
So the myriad of titles: “Simple Words,” “Addictions,” “Hazy Memories” are they reflective on particular subjects? Yes; “Simple Words” reflects the limitations in my chosen vocabulary for writing verse. I like prefer to read simpler words and shorter paragraphs. I can’t bear to read poems that are over 2 pages in length. I feel they tend to get off the point. “Addictions” refers to the state of mind I found myself in when I wrote most of my verse for 1993. Not addicted to a drug, but addicted to a specific idea of love and romance. Struggling with that brought about most of the verse in this collection. “Hazy Memories” is in reference to my older song lyrics. Many of them I wrote about 7-10 years ago, and I felt those words risked becoming foreign objects to me if I didn’t reread them or revive them. I’ve been a bit slow about releasing my songs to the general public, and felt there was a back catalogue with a distinctive history tied to it.
Where do your songs come from? Are they born in a flash of inspiration or do they take months of composing to write? These days, I tend to write fairly quickly. My approach to music-making is usually function following form. Usually I invent something first and find a use for it later. Plus, I have this ability to focus for great lengths of time on very minutely detailed stuff, like fixing computer sequences or positioning type. Unfortunately, my biggest fear on any project is that I am gonna burn out through overexposure, especially on those where I am responsible for all the parts. “3 mains” took about a year to complete. “Technopolitan” by Rhythm Factory took
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less than two weeks, including the mastering sessions and graphic design, and is a much more satisfying memory, even today. So now I try to work faster, so that I may be continually surprised by the results.
You are a solo musician and it seems all of your recordings are worked on entirely by you. Why aren’t you in a band?
CROUWEL NEUE DISPLAY
Technically, Rhythm Factory is the band I’ve had since 1987. Many different people have been in and out of it along the way. But I’m not sure I really like the idea so much. I think being in a band means making compromises so as to support the politics of a democracy, and too often at the expense of music, which I’m not prepared to do.
At this point, would you ever considering joining up and being a background player in someone else’s band? Yes, I’ve dabbled with other musicians, if that’s what you mean,and found it a bit too stifling. I did try to collaborate musically when I was in college—I found that unless my co-writer was enough like me as a person, there was no way I could ever enjoy being part of that kind of a team. Even the Lennon-McCartney friction existed because they were best friends. And in college, I didn’t meet many musicians; most of my friends were involved with film. What did you study in college? I started off in Architecture School at U.S.C., following the lead of a high-school survey which took my aptitudes at that time and informed me that I should either be a physicist or an architect. I chose architecture because at least that was creative. I ended up getting my degree in Business, so that I could create a label exactly like Day for Night. Three of us did our thesis together, and I had to twist their arms to agree to do Underground Productions, Inc., a fictitious label which catered to developing new and unusual music for use in the film industry. It was a bit out there.
This was your Master’s degree? No, my Bachelor’s degree was in Business Administration with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship. After 4 years I’d had enough, and I decided I had to get out there and start working. I didn’t want to be like those people hanging around just to avoid having to get a real job for another three years. I might have killed myself. And I wasn’t studying what I really wanted to learn at that time, because what I wanted most were life lessons. I’d chosen Business School because it was what I knew the least about, at the time. Why choose to run a label like Day for Night, then? Because it’s the best way I can do exactly what I want with what I can do, as opposed to making music to please others first. I actually would benefit greatly from a partner whose mind was entirely focused on business, so that I wouldn’t have to do any of it.
So far, I gather it’s profitable? Yes, mostly through mail order, as well as because my manufacturing runs are kept manageably low, and the out of pocket costs are always at a minimum. I spent the first six months testing the water, experimenting with musical forms which I feel best sell what I’m all about, and with forging a design identity which conveys the essence of the music I’m creating. The advantages are in the strength of an identity built over time.
How did you get into graphic design? I wanted to design my own record sleeves. In 1991, the desktop revolution helped convince me that I could do everything myself, when necessary. I quit my career as a recording engineer with a production facility that was underpaying me and which was cheating me out of a lot of profit. For months, I had been warning them that one day I would probably lose my patience and run off to become a graphic designer, which was a creative job that I admired. Working for a jingle company, most product feels mass-produced and the creative energy level stops in the producer’s office. I finally quit and started designing immediately. Did you study design anywhere? I was already familiar with the design process and the tools, from Architecture at U.S.C. I had already been buying books on graphic design; my interest level was way up there. I just had to start doing it. I didn’t want to waste more time and money in school just to determine if this was for me. I think I have always been a designer, anyway. It describes what I do, both in music and in graphics. I’m constantly studying layout and structure. Every piece of music is basically a design problem. I’m always looking at how things are designed: album sleeves, signs on hamburger stands, movie credits; anything I’m exposed to. It all interests me for the same reason. Do you know who Wim Crouwel* is? Your graphic approach reminds me a bit of him. Of course! I think he’s a visionary designer, and it’s very interesting that you bring his name up, as two of the modular typefaces he pioneered in the sixties are the basis for type designs being released by the first set of NIGHTfonts. I like his cleanness and order; the way he stirs everything up without cluttering his designs. That happens to be what I love in the work of Peter Saville (art director at Factory between 1979 and 1992, designer of New Order’s visual identity system). His pragmatism and sense of design history is always intact. He does something by-and-large very classical, with some very subtle but ultra-modern overtones, which consequently makes his work more hip than anyone I care to mention. Did you see the exhibition of Vaughan Oliver’s work for 4AD that came around recently? I didn’t, and I’d very much like to catch it if it comes back around again. He’s another designer whose intuitive approach to work has made my life easier. (phone clicks) Oops, can you hold on? Somebody is trying to ring through. (phone clicks again. A moment later, we are disconnected.)
4:18 PM (phone rings back) ERIC: Hi, it’s me. I’m sorry, I don’t know why we got cut off there. AVENIR: That’s okay, just don’t let it happen again. I was saying something about Vaughan Oliver. Anyway, I was about to tell you about this incredible French photographer, Jean-Loup Sieff? He did a really beautiful collection of sepiatones, and I saw the book for the first time in this country over at Hennessy and Ingalls at the Promenade. You should interview him for your magazine. I highly recommend you look into his nudes! What’s your ideal woman? Oh, I don’t know. Some blonde surfer chick. One in particular?
I suppose someone who lives the free California lifestyle…lots of sex on the beach, great tan, mental problems…American, sexy, and free. Not French, brainy, and neurotic, like me! (laughs)
…I intend to keep feeling for the buttons.
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Rotterdam. He pioneered his alphabet Neue in 1967 in which a primarily functional methodology determined a simplified system of letterforms. His approach influenced modern typography by simultaneously challenging legibility, while presenting a universal (albeit never fully implemented) solution.
Do you think opposites attract? Most definitely! I grew up in a household where my life would have been impossible if I had acted out the American, sexy, free lifestyle. Which, on the other hand, definitely had its advantages. Such as, being French meant I became a composer, as opposed to, say, a bass player, for example.
Back to music, did you study in college? I took maybe three classes in music; classical voice for three years, which I’d like to point out, was the first time I’d ever sung in public, and some piano. I actually found I was ahead of the class most of the time with piano, mostly because I had been practicing a lot. But in the bigger scheme of things, I don’t consider myself a musician as much as I do a composer. I’m really not any good at moving my fingers fast over the keys, so you see, it was inevitable that I modify my definition, or become extinct! With your upcoming Sexus release, you seem inclined towards the modern, cerebral composition. What influenced you, musically speaking? Minimalism? I don’t believe in that anti-Minimalist slant, “minimal music, minimal I believe the minimalists tought us to focus on simplicity, which creativity.” is a far more effective approach to melody than I could preach. When I was young—I mean very little—I heard nothing but the Beatles in my house. My parents played the first Beatles album to death. By the time I was three, I think I knew all the words, although I’m sure I didn’t know what they meant. And I remember being aware, at age four, that my parents thought Mozart was greatest composer of all time, though I didn’t specifically recognize his music. I would ask to hear Schubert’s Trout Quintet before I fell asleep. I also remember learning how to make musical symbols, which I
would show to my mom, asking her to sing what I’d written—because I had virtually no idea—and I remember her improvising something pretty good. Which made me feel wonderful about what I’d written, even though I know she was just giving me confidence, and that what I had written was total crap. Did that make me a very young composer of Process Music? (laughs) All of which was overshadowed for years by a total inability to accept that I could grasp music from the fourth grade onwards through high school.
What happened? Between those ages, I was completely lost. I developed a learning disability, because when I was ten I became completely frustrated by music. I thought, suddenly, that I couldn’t do it, because I had never learned an instrument, I couldn’t sing, and all these kids in my class understood it already. We suddenly started having music lessons, and I was out the first day. Some compulsion inside me told me “Now it’s too late—you’ll never catch up.” I remember my father trying to help me understand harmony, but I’d made my mind up; I would be a musical failure, because I hadn’t followed the steps. Then I took private guitar lessons from this religious nut who was recommended by a friend. That was pointless. He made me play what he wanted, and told me that everything I was doing was wrong; that I would have to learn his way if the lessons were to go on. He also insisted that I had to learn to sing if I wanted to play guitar. I made the decision that day to keep my mouth shut forever, until the day in college when I changed my mind and realized that I actually loved singing. HANGMAN DISPLAY
So, which do you prefer—producing music for other people, or the self-production you do for
your own material? It’s tough to say. Maybe 50/50 of each, though the bulk of what I do is selfproduction. I like to maintain distance from the music so I can concentrate on the sound rather than the actual notes.Either way, the music I like to produce is closer to the stuff I would buy than what I would write on my own.
What do you buy, then?
A lot of things relating to the kind of music I want to make. I respect any artist who does his or her best to help give music its freedom. Do you know what I mean? Most of it is back catalogue, but I don’t care about dates: Michael Nyman Band, Piano Circus, and older independent labels like Factory, Crammed Discs and Les Disques Du Crepuscule. In general, I think the “big-I” Industry is becoming too closed off from personal music, but it can’t afford to keep on catering blindly to the masses. It’s just like fashion; there’s absolutely nothing special about fashion the minute everyone can afford to buy a poor copy of it.
I can respect any artist who does his or her best to help give music its freedom. Do you know what I mean? You once told me you hated love songs and don’t intend to ever write one. Can you qualify that? Yes. I only said I hate ballads, not love songs. I like love songs as long as they say something that hasn’t been said properly before. And yes, true, I am not overtly political, but I feel that my conviction for the music I write is a very political one, meaning that I have very definite ideas about the music. The thing that pushes me to write about relationships is the lack of good songs on the subject, which keeps me searching. It’s all a question of arranging the familiar to sound unfamiliar, just long enough to distract the listener and get him or her to open their ears and hear it for the first time. The elements of mystery and surprise are crucial to listening. Inside a listener’s head, there’s a button you press each time you write a great song. And I intend to keep feeling for the buttons.
*
Wim Crouwel, the noted Dutch designer, was the chief ideologue of Total Design in the 1960s, and is presently curator of the Boymans-Van Beuningen Museum in
08
Paint Daubs 2005
08 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
08
Manifesto 1991-2010 A Business Plan for Day For Night 1. Executive Summary 2. What’s DFN about? 3. Areas of focus 4. Revenue model 5. The competition 6. Financials and Projections More >
09
Music Video
09 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
09
T
The Treachery of Image March 15, 2000 Defined by the subdivisions residing above and below a virtual street level, NIGHTlinkRail.com employs an intuitive – but surreal – graphic interface, while presenting a compellingly branded user experience – and leaving its mark indelibly upon all who enter its realm of idiosyncratic, ironic humour and web-play. At NIGHTlinkRail.com, it is both daytime and nighttime. Even when it shuts down for the night and the big virtual security bars are slammed in front of the subway exits – before reopening at 6:00 in the morning – our browser’s coordinates seem to indicate that Day For Night is in our time zone. More >
The Treachery of Image Defined by the subdivisions residing above and below a virtual street level, NIGHTlinkRail.com employs an intuitive – but surreal – graphic interface, while presenting a compellingly branded user experience – and leaving its mark indelibly upon all who enter its realm of idiosyncratic, ironic humour and web-play. ITCottage’s Kristy Manning has a meeting of minds with Eric Scott of Day For Night about the world, the web, and how safe are those alleyways? Photos: David Siegle
t NIGHTlinkRail.com, it is both daytime and nighttime. Even when it shuts down for the night and the big virtual security bars are slammed in front of the subway exits – before reopening at 6:00 in the morning – our browser’s coordinates seem to indicate that Day For Night is in our time zone. A virtual alleyscape greets us, dimly-lit and barren – or should I say deserted. Distinguished, but somehow disenfranchised, it lurks like an alchemic synthesis of urban marginalia, detritus, brickwork and intermedia. Which brings to mind an obvious question: What is good webpage design really? Let’s face it, the web all seems so intangible these days. A Java applet sitting beneath an animated billboard in a remote electronic marketplace? An annual report hovering in the ether? A virtual gallery? Is a website more like a textbook or a train station – rich with information while stylistically neutral (and maintained by a webmaster) – or completed by a turnstile and a timetable (courtesy of a stationmaster)? If Dayfornight.com has a stationmaster (and it does) it most definitely must be Eric Scott – also its creative director and curator – a hardat-work composer and intermedia specialist who works hardest at keeping himself out of the picture – or in this case the browser frame… All of which takes mettle, as he is responsible for the site’s full existence, from the musical product the site advertises – with underground travel-style posters, and wittily deployed with a parodical accuracy – down to the final programming of the Javascript on its pages. “We can probably agree that web design should be more than a row of faux-chromium buttons with bevels at the edges…” proposes Scott, when questioned about the web work he busies himself with these days… “embossed text and drop shadows running down a sidebar. Soon that will be what people mean when they describe 90s design… but what can be said of the truly immersive, branded experience? – where the visitor can explore a deserted street, click on travel posters – inspect trash and debris, scavenging in search of a history? Now that’s what really interests me…!” If that’s good web design, then he’s got a lot of competition. But this still raises the issue of the humanity missing from desolate empty streets and wallscapes? So I wonder...Where have all the people gone? lone you or I complete this landscape – together, we complete this language…" he pauses dramatically. Then, "I wrote that down only this morning.” Smiling intently, Scott sits at a table in his local coffeehouse, Diedrich’s, pausing to acknowledge the mocha in his java drink. “…This is almost as good as what we’re serving up at Last
Orders,” he says, smiling quietly at what looks like his vote on the best inside joke ever. Last Orders is the fictitious coffee bar existing in a purely virtual space at Re:Fresh, a stop along the Day For Night website. Confused yet? Because, neither serving real coffee, nor really being a bar per se, it is but another one in an ordered series of fabrications from Scott’s seemingly active imagination: metaphorically a NetCafe because it is, in actuality, a chat room powered by Java, and like the many other stops at Dayfornight.com, it has been decorated – whoops, he despises this word – converted into a modest architectural place setting, hovering arrogantly with its ochreyellow interior and a sprig of something balsamic every few feet, (or rather, pixels) like a page from the bizarro edition of a Conran catalogue. What looms in the cold – outside – is an altogether different story. As websites go, this is more of a surreal urban kingdom than a domain…A fictititous underground network, NIGHTlink, spans and circles the domain, its stations plastered with posters sometimes didactic in their urgings to visitors (“Take an internet journey-by-rail”) to visit any one of its hundred planned stations. Nearby in an abandoned warehouse above-ground, an ongoing design exhibit broadcasts its visual manifesto by way of a light-and-sound installation juxtaposing word and image, while a train occasionally roars past a porthole at the top of the ceiling. And elsewhere, around a corner just past the H O SPITAL (sic), a “mental health” teller window lets visitors diagnose their urban malaise from an interface more closely resembling the cash machine outside a bank…What kind of design brief produces a site recycled from the mystery and romance of darkened alleyways, train travel and intriguing railway signage, obscured – even under the best of conditions – by graffiti dressed in oblique codes? “I always anticipated Dayfornight.com as a natural opportunity to create something quite unnatural – maybe just in the hopes of making a real point about where we stand currently with the state of that word, interactivity” – he stresses word treacherously – “I mean, here are these streets you can go down, and the walls are plastered with signs and so forth, but all in all, it’s meant to be a representation of a real world we've by no means even come close to mastering yet.” Eric then reverts to his usual lexicon of analogues for metropolitan railway travel to further illustrate his point. “…I mean, take a train journey for instance. I happen to know some people who haven’t yet figured out how to take a subway trip without letting signs and travel logistics get the best of them…they’re actually so freaked about the people and the crime that they end up taking taxis everywhere when they travel abroad. The art of traveling with an appreciation and awareness for other commuters is of a secondary order…So in a way, I’ve given them a simple challenge on my site…NIGHTlinkRail is in some ways about reenacting a realistic journey by rail, but on the internet…It’s the training-wheels version of a real subway ride. And its focus, apart from selling music and design as part of an immersive sitework, is to underline this point about learning from the ground up.” He sets down the coffee to point out the window at a bus roaring by, emblazoned with the message...Wherever You Go – There You
Are…and looks strangely self- satisfied. * * * * * * * * * * * * or those people who love to question our nation's role in the space program when all we truly desire is closest to home, there is an analogy in the Day For Night style guide: the look and feel of typefaces are familiar, but are juxtaposed with an almost capricious disregard for the images...there is something vaguely surreal about the twists in meaning that arise from some of the visual stylings; images are flexibly interplayed with sounds to produce CD cover artwork for the musical releases, which currently number somewhere in the high tens, maybe the twenties now… Eric is somehow lost on the exact number when I ask, seeing the music as merely a point of departure for much of the work, and no longer simply an end.
As if sensing the concern he has created, Eric raises an eyebrow before reassuring, “I believe the problem lies inevitably with our all being passive end-users in a vacuum created by content-developers. And speaking as one of them,” he smiles, “we are often forgetting our responsibilities as designers of good taste – we assert so much in the name of change, when much of what we have chosen to toss out there is that laundry list of menu options.” And as though to illustrate the imminence of such a prospect, He excuses himself to take a phone call which has now left me to consider the ramifications of a society defined only by the quantity of its options rather than by their quality…only to see him turn frustrated and put away the phone “…we got cut off…” he chuckles, before resuming… “You and I are both better than the content providers, even better than our competition, and here’s why,” – and he leans in conspiratorially to make his point – “We know better.”
“It’s not been my point to try to market the CDs to sell in great quantities, mostly because I’ll only do the music in a way that’s meant to give me pleasure first…though I think it’s a really nice idea when people take an interest in what I’m doing musically…But it seems inescapable that it’s now moved along to a level for me where, if it were only about the music I were doing, I would feel half-hearted about the entire thing. And that simply won’t do.” And all of this is spelt out in the Day For Night manifesto – another horrible word, conjuring up images of Das Kapital, plain-clothed crypto-fascists cloistered in bistros, discussing the subversive mot du jour. It should probably read mission statement. Only something so transparently officious as a corporate term seems to vex this artisan to no end. Eric Scott posits that the basis for an internet (and much of new media) is becoming perverted by the content providers (and of course he loves to tell us why): “One month we’re fine and comparatively normal as a culture, and the next, we refer to the act of reading what comes from our laser printers as papersurfing. So what has happened to print then? – it’s not really gone, but we like to act like it’s on the way out. The problem is that we are accelerating, and not really pausing long enough to reflect. “For example, should we be doing everything on our laptops?” – he stops to indicate a slightly nebbish fellow immersed in his Powerbook several tables over, before lowering his voice, almost filled with apology – “…is this paperless, virtual world better than the former alternative? Certainly there might be less clutter. But we still don’t like to know how to find the very files we created during our working day. We love to complain about this, to not have to own this problem. We love to say the computer ate the homework!” Confrontational words from a guy who makes the better half of a living from designing other people’s websites. Has he no reserve? Doesn’t he worry that about clients perceiving this so-called pragmatism he grandstands, much like that late-20th century cynicism so intently resistant to change?
o perhaps there is hope yet for a web designer born in the sixties… joint creator and author of NoelCrane.com, another fine piece of web subversiveness, a little matter Scott refers to optimistically as Internet Theatre. In such a context, the web becomes even more of an anomaly: Dayfornight. com becomes more of an intranet presented on the web – an immersive, branded experience, where its higher-than-average bandwidth concerns are factored into the product’s own design; its brief somehow too deliberately experimental to fit comfortably with the corporate mold. Day For Night aspires to humanize and simplify the web by serving up an unusual dish or two – resulting from a refusal to adhere to “template” design; at times decorating, perhaps, but never not designing. Smug of him as it may sound…perhaps he is even only slightly correct in his assumption that, while increasingly more of us are making the transition from web designers to web authors – we are mostly having to suffer through everyone else’s graphic user interfaces and cookie-cutter
10
Code
10 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
10
NIGHTlinkRail... Are You Commuter Literate? February 24, 2000 Day Tripping NIGHTlinkRail, an experimental sitework from Dayfornight. com, is a network composed of 100 individual train stations. It presents us with an online catalogue of the Day For Night artist projects – from DAY 001 through DAY 100 – in the form of what Eric Scott refers to as an “Internet Journey-By-Rail.” After descending via escalator into the gateway station, the usual options in modern railway travel are addressed. .. More >
11
The Voyeur in the Window, and the
Exhibitionist Outside (Exposed)
11 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
11
Cec
ci N’est Pas Un Website September 10, 1999 Internet Theatre. Pictures of places to describe people who use words & pictures & music to describe places & things. The Situationists were a league of French political artists during the latter 20th century, whose slant on social reform took the form of a surreal near-dadaist manipulation of word and text. Often, their détournements (“diversions”) involved the supplanting of common meaning with newer, more abstract, potentially subversive meanings as a means for social upheaval and reform. More >
12
Sound Art
12 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
12
Per
rsonal Expression Sells February 16, 2001 Process What I do What I will continue to do, and what I have to offer What I need from the others What would make an ideal consortium: namely, a unified purpose especially, a team strong by its common tastes (which I am not sure we actually have in common) What do we have in common? More >
DAY FOR NIGHT Job and Task Descriptions Tasks are ranked in order of precedence (from what I do the most), grouped first into four categories: ADMINISTRATIVE, CREATIVE, SALES/MARKETING, TECHNICAL/PRODUCTION. These are then ranked, based upon my own skill levels and largely upon preferences – ie, what I would rather be doing, and therefore do the most of. Tasks preceded by an ellipsis ("…") suggests an important direction that I am heading into, and which deserves acknowledgment early. Tasks between brackets [ ] are those notable by their absence – something not getting done, and causing the business to suffer as a result. CREATIVE comes first because it's what I've based Day For Night upon, as the originator and art director of the audiovisual imprint Day For Night, where I function principally as composer, multimedia designer, musician and author. SALES / MARKETING is a direct application of my business studies into an area of the arts for which I feel an incredible passion every day – out of the need for music, design and multimedia to be always searching for a new creative voice while still being able to reach an audience, by conveying love and intelligent way. TECHNICAL/PRODUCTION, and ADMINISTRATIVE comes last because it's the part I put off the longest, in the hopes that my delegates will assume a greater part of this role – in my place. I have come to expect the following delegates in all the above areas: That quality and consistency comes from a place within them – without grudge or resentment; That they share the ability to focus upon detailed tasks for reasonable, to even great lengths of time; That the spirit of the finished work will deliver a positive or thought-provoking message; That quality and consistency will be delivered on time, and without apology...
TASK DESCRIPTIONS CREATIVE
SALES / MARKETING
TECHNICAL
VISUAL ARTS Concept Graphic Design Web / Print Typography Typeface design Motion Graphics Web / Television/...Film
NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Networking/"Personal Selling" Presentation of past work Commercial Portfolio CD Rom Personal Work / Independent Projects Proposal Development Strategic/Business writing
DESIGN PRO Comping Scannin Printing
AUDIO ARTS / Music Composition Production Performance Sound Design WORDS Non-technical writing CREATIVE "Evangelism" Articulating the vision, like some used car salesman Curating the Online Gallery ...Education RESEARCH / ONLINE Design Studies/History Fine Art Studies Identifying and Collecting Resources Pooling a creative "reference library"
BRANDING / MARKETING Internal : Day For Night Marketing Strategies Branding Positioning of new work via online deployment and testing External : Clients Marketing Strategies Positioning / Brand Strategies RESEARCH / ONLINE Identifying business opportunities
AUDIO PRO MIDI Pro Enginee Sound E
COMPUTER Equipme Diag Main Rep
SOFTWARE Actions JavaScr [ AS Codi Stre Debu
RESEARCH Actions Educatio of kn Post Other pr [ New T
L / PRODUCTION
ADMINISTRATIVE
ODUCTION g ng g / Assembly / Mounting
TRAFFIC Estimating Organization of schedules [ Job Timelines ] [ Resale certificates ]
ODUCTION ogramming ering Editing
R HARDWARE ent gnostic ntenance pair
E scripting / DHTML / ript / Perl SP / CFML ] ing eamlining ugging
H / STUDIES / ONLINE script / DHTML / JavaScript on (shared library nowledge) ting online at NoelCrane.com rogramming languages Technologies ]
PHONES / RECEPTION [ Daily/timely follow-up ] Correspondence (filtering) E-mail (filtering) Shipping & Receiving OFFICE MGMT / ORGANIZATION "Running a Tight Ship" Documentation of office systems Human resources Purchasing Office supplies Hardware Software Reference materials [ …Benefits ] BOOKKEEPING / Controller Billing Accounts Receivables / Collections Accounts Payable /Paying Bills (Payroll) Banking / Signing Checks [ Purchase Orders ] [ Payroll / EDD / Tax ] [ Sales Tax / Tax Compliance / IRS ] (monthly / quarterly returns)
13
Funnybone
13 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
13
Les Regles Du Jeu On Misdirection July 1, 2006 In Conversation: Pete Moraites and Eric Scott Eric Scott:You were asking me a question about the guitar, and how much I practiced. Pete Moraites: Right, when you first started learning guitar. ES: I played the guitar a lot at first, because I felt I had no alternative. I had to practice and I probably played about 3 to 4 hours a day. I could say now that I did my major practicing in the first seven months, and after that it tapered off only a little bit, which had to do with getting comfortable More >
14
Psychometrics 1991-2015
14 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
14
Obsessions The Day For Night Matrix August 26, 2008 I originally considered doing a dialogue series here on creativity, using Day 084 “Encourage Workshops” as a springboard for my discussion with Peter, on what to do with all these ideas. There’s always about a dozenand-a-half projects waiting in the wings. Things you want to see, or to make happen; you write them down, keep a wishlist of projects on-hand, always going in the background. Every other day, you start another project, while there are still twelve that are unfinished. Then there’s this furious scramble to get the first ones done, to make enough room on the
15
Experiment
15 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
15
Strategies For Work July 1, 2006 In Conversation: Pete Moraites and Eric Scott Eric Scott:You were asking me a question about the guitar, and how much I practiced. Pete Moraites: Right, when you first started learning guitar. ES: I played the guitar a lot at first, because I felt I had no alternative. I had to practice and I probably played about 3 to 4 hours a day. I could say now that I did my major practicing in the first seven months, and after that it tapered off only a little bit, which had to do with getting comfortable More >
16
Process + Instruction
16 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
16
Prescriptions August 21 2000 More >
17
The Lexicon of
Day for Night 1991-2015
17 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
17
Artist Log1c August 2006 I figured it was about time to sit down and just plainly address what Day For Night means exactly. It is a container for all of my work, for all that has relevance in my work. A focal point for community, and bringing together as many talented and genuinely creative, responsible, forward-thinking people together, in the motions of creating a lasting team. Day For Night is an amalgam of filmmakers’ terminology and early, inspired web misdirection pursuits. More >
18
Archivalism
18 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
18 E
ric Scott / Day for Night Bio August 2010 Eric Scott is founder and creative director of Day For Night Multimedia, providing strategic consultation, and implementing focused solutions in the areas of convergent multimedia and web design, as well as branding, identity design, motion graphics, music production and underscore. His client list includes Disney Online/Buena Vista Internet Group, Touchstone Television, UC Irvine, The Phelps Group, Invidi and the Andrew Lakey Art Studios. More >
19
Screenshots from AppleTV
19 When we created the ALIAS Information Hunt, we planned a 12 week viral schedule, with the best of intentions that it could either succeed wildly or sink like a stone, leaving no trace. Fortunately, from the beginning, ALIAS fans were involved in a way similar to Trekkies waiting for a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy outside a freezing cold convention center in December. We decided early on to paint our viral marketing bullseye on the Star Trek phenomenon; it was, after all, the benchmark for that kind of word-of-mouth success. I stated openly that “our mission” was to make ALIAS into a cult brand of equal magnitude, in fact. Why? For ALIAS, it was an uncertain time. It was one month before 9/11 and nobody had a clue what the paranoid undercurrent would be, that would so soon paint over the entire affair of ALIAS’s viral marketing efforts online. I recall one month after the air attacks upon New York City and our capital, we were wondering things like “can we actually say stuff like this?” and “what would happen to us – as individuals – once the viral play gets off the ground?” I didn’t immediately imag
Redacted documents leaked by “CYAN” McCullough, leaked during the 4th week of ALIAS viral site activity. All documents were fabrications, linked to the events in the storyline from the upcoming week’s episode.
ine so many frightening, stalker-like people coming out of the woodwork, but it did eventually happen, and in a period where people (overnight) were suddenly becoming more private and reclusive, our choice for timing a realtime game. So why choose this target, and not the mainstream top 5 as a target? Easy. When you look at brands that have succeeded over generations, there is a strong indicator that the fans (and their attraction to the key element of suspense) has more to do with the viral qualities of that brand than anything else. These are, of course, fans who are smart, have a highly discriminating sense of smell, are power users of the internet and easy adopters of new technologies. They are the definition of a smart audience; and one that doesn’t care to be “advertised to,” which in marketing terms is like the difference between someone who is a good conversationalist and listener, versus one who simply talks “at you” with an agenda and barely listens to your responses. Smart audiences crave a dialogue. However, if you’re an advertiser who makes content that they enjoy, plain and
“That’s very nice, thank you, but we’d rather use
FEAR
©
to sell our idea…
…We’ll call you.”
“change–progrès–succès” ©1995 Èditions: la nuit amèricaine
“change–progrès–succès” ©1995 Èditions: la nuit amèricaine
[
]
SILENCE PLEASE We are in character here…
DAY090OBSESSION®catalogueDayForNight&EricScott2002
DAY 090
OBSESSION®
catalogue
Day For Night & Eric Scott 2002
a. Foreword. Stuart Morgan. b. The Treachery Of Image. Kristy Manning c. Day 017. Manifesto
i. PREFACE. Foreword. By Stuart Morgan. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in
1.DAYforNIGHT. Take An Internet-Journey-by-Rail. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in Eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea.
? !
!
2. Music makes you lose control Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in
3. MISDIRECTION. The fourth wall of information hunts and puzzles. In this chapter, I present the unusual side of my work; which is largely about strategy and game-playing. 1. Look at the game theory: How will people play? 2. Create a plausible base of reality around that intended creation. 3. Write, or devise the backstory 4. How will the players learn the rules? 5. Write, or devise the backstory...and revisit often. 6. Create the world around that... 7. Eliminate any possibility of underestimating the players -- visit the links to the content, backwards and forwards. 8. Make it look as beautiful, but more importantly, make it look plausible. 9. What is the overarcing theme?
4. IMAGEMAKING. The Visual Art Of Storytelling. So much goes into the art of narrative, not the least of which is the work. Like when the teachers said, “show your work” because you needed to prove that you knew what you were doing whenever you got the right answer. This unfolds many, many hours of “proof”. Where to begin? Thus far, I have kept sketchbooks, notebooks, journals, binders, cassettes, videos, CD-roms, bound books, bags, drawers, floppies and hard drives full of the stuff. Which supposedly builds character, or “image”
5. [ CODE. ]
6. PHOTOGRAPH. The Suit and the Photograph. Photographic works from 1994 - present.
7. I*CHING.
+
ii. COLOPHON. End Credits. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in
02.
Day For Night :: Manifesto. Day 017.
03.