icehouse may 2026

Solo local performance coming up in a couple months at Icehouse, teaming up with Deep Glens, Heckadecimal, Abby Wolf, and Whole Earth.

new hat

This is my 4th one of these.

Rules

My creative colleague recently shared a list of ten creative rules that he incorporates into his creative practice.

Here are mine. As Keith suggests: use them, bend them, break them, make your own.

1. Change the process to change the outcome

Change what you're doing in order to arrive at a different result. It sounds very obvious, but in practice I've found that it takes a little bit of discipline to remember to do.

Here's Mick Gordon giving a talk about this rule.

2. Do not fight your tools

Maybe it's your software. Maybe it's your ink. Maybe it's your desk.

Whatever it is, you gotta know when to give up on trying to get your tools to do something that they don't do very well.

3. Do it because it hasn't existed before

Bring something into the world that didn't exist before. The scale upon which that is measured is subjective, but it's still a huge guiding rule for me.

4. Trust your taste

You know what's good and you know what you like.

5. Plant seeds, be a gardener

This is borrowed from Brian Eno.

Striving towards a specific outcome is often a frustrating and fruitless journey. I have more fun when I try things and then see where they lead without a destination in mind. As things grow, prune and guide them, but let them find their way.

6. Juxtapose

It's an old creative strategy, but it's huge for me. Take two things that don't really belong together and put them together.

7. Subvert expectations

Whatever the listener is expecting, do something else.

8. Kill the ego

Don't worry about whether the album will sell. Don't worry if you can top the last performance. Don't think about any success.

Just make the thing.

9. An audience of zero to one is ok

It's OK to create something that doesn't really have a place in the world. It's OK to create for yourself. See #3 and #8.

10. Do the work

Borrowing more from Brian Eno and Rick Rubin.

You gotta put in the time and effort. Inspiration is always out there lurking, ready to hit you. But if you aren't working, it'll never hit.

Density

I've been thinking about density in my compositions a lot. In particular, how do dense rhythms and complex sound design come through on a PA system?

It's easy to get excited about a wild idea in the studio. But will it translate well to the audience during a performance? Will those 16th-note drum patterns sound good in a big room?

Complexity and density in a live setting can be fine, but I also think some compositions are better suited for headphones or at-home listening rather than on a stage, on a PA, or in front of an audience.

Algorithmic Art Assembly 2026

The third Algorithmic Art Assembly will be happening in San Francisco March 26-28, 2026.

I'll be performing on the first evening, with Sebastian Camens on visuals.

Thrilled to be sharing the bill with these fine artists over three days:

Carl Lostritto, Catty Dan Zhang, Char Stiles, Chia Amisola, Claire L Evans, Codie, crobo, Daniel Temkin, Deli Kuvveti, Gábor Lázár, Kara-Lis Coverdale, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Luisa Mei, Lee Tusman, Nathan Ho, nnirror, R Tyler, Ruaridh Law, Sebastian Camens, Tom Hall, tsrono, William Fields, Wolff Parkinson White

You should go!

Jesse Whitney 'Air' listening party

February 20, 2026 at 12:00 PM CST.

https://aethersound.bandcamp.com/live/jesse-whitney-air-listening-party

new music: variadic daemon

Pleased to announce new music: variadic daemon, available both on vinyl and digital. Free download is available at kindohm.com.

First

idk.

I deleted my Meta accounts. I don't really post anything any more, but I feel compelled to have an outlet where I can write and share info. I thought maybe I'd use Signal for that, but Signal isn't ubiquitous and not everyone wants to use it. Signal is more of a direct-messaging app anyway.

So here's a blog, and an RSS feed, that anybody can get to.

Enjoy.