Ghosting.TV is a unique monthly event in LA that showcases a tight selection of 15-minute short screenings, indie gaming curated by LA Game Space, and many more surprises… All wrapped up in a friendly party vibe. Two years ago, Kristel Brinshot, Ricky Calvit Jonsson Jr., Johnny Woods, and Steve Smith started it out to support local talent. Since then, it’s become a venue for experimental animators, video artists, and musicians the world over.
“Ghosting.TV brings together a like-minded community of artists in real life to enjoy and explore personal works,” co-founder Ricky Calvit Jonsson Jr. tells The Creators Project. “It has always been about educating the greater public about experimental animation and video. What makes it unique is the opportunity it gives all of us to collaborate and share ideas that are bigger than ourselves. You can’t always get that online or in a traditional gallery setting.”
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Sam Newell at work
“It definitely makes LA an international hub for brave work. The community keeps evolving, pushing, and challenging each other. That’s what makes it so exciting!” he added. A few Saturdays ago, we attended Ghosting.TV Vol.15, enjoyed some visual delights, played large-scale outdoor video games, and finally had a blast with the kick-ass A/V set by Los Angeles-based hardware trio, KrOn.
We spoke to the band to learn more about the origins of KrOn but also to get some details about how they create their Mortal Kombat-Safari House-Horror Synth and bring audiences through an uncanny journey that fits somewhere between Sega Genesis game, a warehouse rave, and something out of Dario Argento’s imagination.
Visuals by Sam Newell, extracted from KrOn’s A/V performance
The Creators Project: Can you tell us about the origins of the project? How did you guys meet?
Sam Newell: We mostly met on the internet (dreams do come true). The original concept was we wanted to play with our synthesizers a lot live. We ended up making a boy band…
Sean Krell: I’ve known Michael for years and have always wanted to do something musical with him and the timing was just perfect for KrOn.
Michael Sherrer: KrOn started out jamming backstage at Ghosting.
Sean Krell at work
Can you tell us who’s in charge of what at KrOn?
Sam: Michael opens up dimensional portals, Sean flies the mothership into them, I shred when we get there.
Sean: I play a Eurorack format modular synth with a monome and a keyboard, Michael plays a Yamaha groovebox and a keyboard and Sam does visuals on the LZX video synth.
Can you explain how each of you works? Also, what’s the workflow when you play together?
Sam: I use an LZX Visionary modular video synthesizer with a few odds and ends attached it is all played live and it is all analog. Typically we have practice and I attempt to capture KrOn’s enormous energy. We have great feedback within the group, some back and forth about what looks good and sounds good. We watch a lot of video games on youtube for inspiration.
Sean: The modular handles bass/lead/drum duties as well as all the effects and processing. Additional voices and percussion come from the Yamaha RS7000 and Michael and I play live keyboards whenever we need something with a bit more human feel to it.
Michael: I use a Yamaha RS7000, Arturia Microbrute, Kawai K3m and a Ibanez AD202 analog delay. We all bring ideas to the jam.
Photos by Ryan Aylsworth unless otherwise noted
Photo by Triantafyllidis Theoklitos
Why do you use analog rather than digital? What are the advantages?
Sam: I can certainly speak for the video end of things. Playing a computer live is boring and I think the crowd can tell it’s too mechanical and feels pre-recorded. The flexibility, fun and raw output of a video synth is really something else. Have you seen how many blinking lights our collective machines have?
Sean: It’s not so much about analog (a lot of the modules in my system are digital) as it is about using hardware. There are no laptops and all the songs are performed live. Improvisation is a big thing for us and the set never sounds exactly the same. Using a modular helps with this due to the fact that there are no presets and you really have to dial in each sound for every song.
Michael: We use both digital and analog gear but we only use hardware.
What’s next for KrOn?
Sam: Trying to get into that one way Mars trip as the in-flight entertainment.
Sean: I’d love to play a festival this summer so we can hear these songs on a gigantic system. For right now though, we’re working on our first EP and hope to release in a few months when we find the right home for it.
Michael: The Mothership.
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Explore the Cutting-Edge Art Spectacle That Was Mirage Festival
