AudioBuddha

DJ Handle: AudioBuddha

Affiliations: Dead Dub Society

Origin: “I was part of an electronic trio called AudioBuddha and, when we split up, I went solo because I couldn’t find anyone who shared my vision,” he tells SFR. “I suppose you could say my birth as a DJ came out of necessity.”

After leaving his bandmates, Brisk kept the moniker but moved in a very different direction.

“I like to call it ‘tribal-Banjara dub,’ which is to say it’s very influenced by Eastern music: Indian, Balinese—even Native American music.”

Story: Brisk attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, where he learned about electronic music.

“We had this electronic music lab there, and this was in the early ’80s when people used actual synths and tape loops,” he says.

Though he’s only been a serious DJ for approximately two years, Brisk has remained at the forefront of the local scene by constantly playing and promoting himself.

“I act as a composer as well as conductor, which is really what DJing is all about,” he says. “My music is about more than booty shaking; I want to open minds.”

Brisk plans to release a five-song EP near the end of May. “It’ll be some new tracks as well as some remixes of older songs of mine,” he says. “I’m really excited.”

Follow SFR music news on Twitter: @SFRsA_Sharp - Santa Fe Reporter

"Audiobuddha produces a thoughtful brew of synthetic music. Not synthetic like a cheap polyester dress, but synthetic like a sweet silk/cotton blend. It’s Moby melded with Kraftwerk, perhaps, or Mozart mixing with Pink Floyd. Dramatic, symphonic synth lines swirl gently next to Nathaniel's processed violin; crunchy chords harmonize with arpeggiated melodies, creating an intense, sweeping wave of music that crests, ebbs, and crests again."

© Copyright 2000-2006 by the Santa Fe Reporter - Santa Fe Reporter

Best New/Emerging Band
Best Emerging Artist

Unusual Content

After the seven-man music explosion that is Unusual Content takes the Southwest, and then the world, by storm (a key part of their MySpace mission statement), we hope they'll look back and thank the little people who voted them "Best New/Emerging Band” way back when. Missing Stateside , back in the U.S. via Iceland, re-emerges on the Burque scene in second. Audiobuddha (who is technically from Santa Fe, but we'll let it slide) and Left Brain rocked themselves into a dripping sweat to tie for third. - Alibi

A huge thanks you to the people of Santa Fe for making us one of the top three "Best Experimental Bands" for there yearly "best of Santa Fe" issue!

Here is the link:

http://www.sfreporter.com/cms/story/detail/best_experimental_band_2008/3841/ - The Santa Fe Reporter!

RadioIndy Review of your "Alchemystical" CD

Audio Buddha’s “Alchemystical” is an ambient electronica album from a trio of classically trained musicians. This New Mexico outfit is comprised of vocalist Ishtar, keyboardist Steve Brisk and violinist Nathaniel Mahlberg. Each member is classically trained at their respective instruments and all of them show their immense talents on this collaborative effort. All of the ambient and electronic sounds are created by Brisk’s keyboard, often coupled by the strong, classically influenced performances on violin and vocal to create a unique sound. Audio Buddha’s songs are intelligent, eclectic and spiritual, aimed at getting themselves and the listener in touch with the divine. The production quality of “Alchemystical” is great, so the album sounds polished, professional and ready to bounce off the walls. “Birth of Dance” opens up the album nicely with waves of ambience, a sudden burst of violin and a beautiful vocal performance that collectively tell you what Audio Buddha is all about. “Mother Goddess” has whispering, summoning vocals and an incredible backing arrangement. With “Alchemystical,” Audio Buddha has created a fascinating and unique genre of music you’ve likely never heard, but certainly should hear. Fans of spiritual, classically trained electronic music should take the time to see what Audio Buddha is all about.

-Chris & the RadioIndy.com Review Team
- RadioIndy.com

RadioIndy.com has named you a Gold Artist

Dear Audio Buddha,

We screen thousands of songs by indie artists and name the best artists RadioIndy.com Gold Artists. We focus on musicianship, songwriting and recording quality when determining your Gold artist status. Congratulations - You are a Radioindy Gold Artist! Feel free to copy/paste the Gold Artist Logo above onto any website(s) to announce your award.

These are the image URLs:

http://www.radioindy.com/images/gold_lg.jpg
http://www.radioindy.com/images/gold_md.jpg - RadioIndy.com

While very exhilarating and meditative, the dusty southwest of the United States is the nursery of Audio Buddha. This ensemble, like the one-man-act Beirut (both from Santa Fe), incorporates different auditory bodies of the organic ethnicity of the world- rooted deeply. Their album, Alchemystical displays great passion for music. The tribal track, "Lemuria," encompasses thick vocals and droning strings, much like the tall grasslands of Africa. It's almost an ode to the lemur of African wildlife. Melodic percussion of the marimba, the backbone of the piece, pays more tribute to the exotic continent. "Mother Goddess" is another gorgeous piece; beautiful, haunting, and playful. It's extremely wispy, like strands of thin white clouds filling up a dusky sky that pass over the full moon. The track with the most fun is "Anodyne," rounded drums lightening the mood, like a starter for a dance party to honor Mother Earth or any other live-and-love-in-the-moment type of ritual or get-together. The song is so uplifting that it nearly blesses the Earth just by having it come through speakers. Not only are they a talented group of musicians, but also friendly to the Earth; they hold support in websites for hunger and the rain forest - a selfless act of world consciousness.
- RE:GEN Magazine

Santa Fe Muzik Fest Day I


Sat, 08/11/2007 - 06:50 — lee
Well, we just got back from the Downs. We're a little tired and a little tipsy thanks to the awesomeness of Santa Fe Brewing Company's Pale Ale. Anyway, two of the best shows I saw today were...

Audio Buddha
I had to drown the beats coming from the tents on the left & the right, but these guys were great. There weren't that many people watching, but there weren't that much more at any of the other stages. Check out their web & MySpace pages or the cool video below.

- www.santafenights.com

SMOKING BUDDHA

CD release parties are some of the best gigs audiences could ever experience. Where some musicians view the recording process as sterile and antithetical to the live musical experience, a record, CD or download is still—no matter how accessible the technology to make one has become—truly something to celebrate. Audio Buddha, an electronica trio that has earned a loyal following by playing steadily in and around Santa Fe, releases its debut, Alchemystical. What’s remarkable about this band is that it offers a different kind of musical experience than what normally pours out of the bars and clubs of this town. This is both a blessing and a curse, as exposure goes. With the shortage of music venues, the bottom line of bar sales often dictates, rather predictably, music selections. Still, the band, undeterred, plays its driving beats live where it can and has now harnessed its grooves onto a disc for you to enjoy anywhere.
- Santa Fe Reporter 6/11/2008

Into the belly of the AudioBuddha


I think there’s a time in almost every person’s life when he listens to a particular kind of music and has a sort of quiet epiphany. It’s like a child biting into unfamiliar fruit and realizing, Hey, this is bloody good. I want more, and I want it now. It’s a breakthrough, really, to grab onto a particular style of music and run with it, either as an active listener or as a budding performer. The music we feed our ears has just as much of an impact on the person we become as the fuel we choose to keep our bodies moving — which is why I am forever grateful that bacon is unavailable for instant download.

I had my own epiphany in 1987 during my first year of college: small-town kid with hardcore-punk leanings (that would be me) had been paired up in a dorm room with a California stoner whose aural proclivities were decidedly New Age. A busy head shop a few blocks from the University of Northern Colorado campus supplied us both with our musical booty. One day, the shop owner offered us a free cassette tape with the purchase of — never mind.

Anyway, the album was Dead Can Dance’s Spleen and Ideal (1985, 4AD Records). We reluctantly took the tape home and popped it into the deck. After a beginning-to-end listen, I realized that this unfamiliar fruit was indeed delicious and began to seek out other artists on the UK-based imprint. The 4AD label and everything about it became my tiny obsession, and for years, I was convinced that the ethereal sounds of the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, His Name Is Alive, and minimalist composer/pianist Harold Budd were the be-all and end-all of decent music.

For me, discovering European electronic music changed everything. It became an integral part of my bread and butter for years as a DJ in Santa Fe — but people change, too. By the time I left the nightclub scene in the mid-’90s, I had little to show for it besides a decent record collection and a few new bad habits.

Fast-forward to 2006. While browsing the CD section at Borders in the Sanbusco shopping center, I heard some music outside my own head that sounded very much like something I had imagined for years: the perfect marriage of the 4AD music I love so dearly and the electronica that at one time kept me gainfully employed. (In an odd coincidence, I was at Borders researching a story about Ivo Watts-Russell, the founder of 4AD, who kept a residence in Santa Fe at the time.) Through their music, keyboardist/programmer Steve Brisk, violinist Nathaniel Mahlberg, and vocalist Ishtar — known collectively today as AudioBuddha — have managed to capture what I once perceived as lightning in a bottle.

With influences that run the gamut from the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, New Order, and The Clash to Brian Transeau (aka BT) and Kraftwerk, it’s no wonder their signa­ture sound instantly piqued my interest. A few weeks ago, AudioBuddha completed work on its debut album, a self-produced seven-track CD titled Alchemystical. Ishtar’s breathy, abstract vocals and Mahlberg’s digi­tally assisted, Asian-influenced string work produce mounds of memorable melancholy; and Brisk’s fine-tuned synth, programming, and sound ­production skills elevate the trio’s esoteric sound to something far more accessible than your typical New- Age schmaltz.

Oscillate/Osculate presents AudioBuddha and guest Unborn Soul for a concert celebrating the release of Alchemystical. The ethereal meets the electronic at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 14, at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail. Tickets are $8 at the door, $4 for CCA members. Call 982-1338 for details.
— Rob DeWalt

rdewalt@sfnewmexican.com culturaticomplex@blogspot.com

A weekly column devoted to music, performance, and aural diversions. Tips on upcoming events are welcome. - Pasatiempo - Santa Fe New Mexican