{"id":3634,"date":"2021-01-03T00:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T08:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/josephaleo.com\/blog\/?p=3634"},"modified":"2021-07-01T23:31:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T06:31:24","slug":"soundwave-40-fitz-gitler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/josephaleo.com\/blog\/soundwave-40-fitz-gitler\/","title":{"rendered":"SOUNDWAVE : 40 : FITZ GITLER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s guest deejay is Fitz Gitler, and he has a beautiful mix to ease us into 2021.<\/p>\n\n

I met Fitz when I asked Jason Randall Smith (listen to Jason\u2019s mix here<\/a>) who he knew would be interested in sharing a mix on SOUNDWAVE. Jason did not steer me wrong. Fitz is a musician, deejay, and designs sounds for theatrical productions, many of those in collaboration with director Tim Lee. He also creates under the name Techniken Defunkus or Techdef.<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019m particularly fond of this mix because it was the perfect soundtrack for an eight-hour wintery drive to Sacramento last week. Fitz\u2019s mix had my tapping out rhythms on my steering wheel and grooving in my seat. Don\u2019t be lulled by some of the jazz standards because there are plenty of surprises. More than once, I found myself scrambling to purchase albums featured on Fitz\u2019s mix. As I write this I\u2019m listening to Dan Tepfer<\/a>\u2019s album, Goldberg Variations\u200b\/\u200bVariations<\/a><\/em>, which is a delight.<\/p>\n\n

If you love Fitz\u2019s mix, and you will, check out his music on Bandcamp<\/a> or his sets on Mixcloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Fitz has some words about his mix below.<\/p>\n\n

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Pavlo Storonsky AKA Tineidae<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

See you then!<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>

\"Fitz
Fitz Gitler
Photo credit: Cyndi Shattuck<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Twenty years ago, I met Jason Randall Smith behind the decks in a tiny bar in New York\u2019s East Village, and music forged our friendship. I\u2019m honored to be in his company and the full cast of mixes that Joseph has artfully assembled.<\/p>\n\n

Jason and I were thrown together by our friend, EL Soundscraper<\/a>, who I\u2019ve known since junior high, but fortuitously reconnected with because of our shared love of music. Enrique (Soundscraper) called my tracks meditation music\u2014not the sound, but because of how it functioned for me. This mix I created for SOUNDWAVE does that; it\u2019s a sort of spirit guide through the insomniac thoughts of the small hours, and a kind of requiem too. This year has had no shortage of tragedy; there\u2019s enough to go around.<\/p>\n\n

I already loved music in college, but then I met Bill Hileman, aka Ronin Tengu, aka DJ Payce, aka Gandalf Punk. He gave me his world: hip hop, techno, ambient, jungle, acid jazz, funk, plenty of mischief, and more. He passed last month, too young, taken by cancer, not COVID. Bill is with me in every mix, laughing and needling me to keep searching. Too few experienced his true wealth of knowledge and love, but he influenced many, and his spirit lives on in his musical descendants.<\/p>\n\n

It falls somewhere among the worlds of jazz and electronic music, but really it\u2019s a sound design of sorts. I\u2019m still exploring the loose idea \u201cfree-format\u201d that I first witnessed in the middle of the night on college radio in the early \u201890s.<\/p>\n\n