Thursday, april 29, 2021 • ThE BullETiN
ALL THINGS MUSIC
leased two albums the second half of the
Kartsounes and Vielma, a marriage and
year: First, the straightforward “Out Here
family therapist, live in a commer-
on My Own, Vol. 1,” featuring his
cial building near Juniper Swim
voice, guitar and harmonica
and Fitness, out of which
dropped in August.
they run their new business,
“This was an album that’s
Dreamweave Productions.
just me, myself and I,” he
“We can hold events.
said. “I have nine (albums)
We’re building a stage in the
now, all of them are a little
backyard to have small out-
different. … Very eclectic,
door events this summer —
from bluegrass to blues to
speakers, painters, artists, of
folk, and they have a lot of
“The Big Chill” is the mellower
course music, and movies,”
artists, these very talented
of Bend musician Pete
he said. “We’re putting in
friends that I have from the
Kartsounes’ two new albums.
sod and have a really nice
Colorado scene and every-
little space right in town
thing. People always ask,
Submitted photo
with no neighbors. Only
‘Are you ever going to have
one, and that neighbor will probably be in
something with just you, yourself and you?’”
our backyard with us. We’re stoked to bring
The pandemic presented the opportu-
the community together as much as we can
nity to make that kind of album. “Mindful
with COVID and wherever we’re at with the Muse” followed in November. As its title
numbers and everything.”
might suggest, it’s intended for meditation,
You can also purchase Kartsounes’ music
yoga, massage and other self-care practices,
through the site, projectdreamweave.com.
a little heavier on Native American flute, pi-
Last year, Kartsounes released the soulful
ano and nature sounds.
8-minute song “Broken,” and the hopeful
“I reinvented myself and did that, which
piano tune “Chasing Dreams.”
was actually a new-age genre. I listen to that
Kartsounes also wrote, recorded and re-
music a lot when I’m in nature, just chilling.
Continued from Page 3
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I really like that kind of music,” he said.
At Christmas, Vielma gifted him with a
Boss RC-505 loop sampler, which has fur-
ther expanded his solo music options. That
sampler is also used by fellow musician Marc
Rebillet, whose presence on Youtube blew up
big through the course of the pandemic.
“He’s crushing the internet with this im-
prov. He’s really charismatic, and he wears a
bathrobe, and he’s super funny,” Kartsounes
said. “I’m like, ‘I like that, man. This dude’s
cool.’ Well, I open my presents and there’s
the Boss RC-505 that Marc uses. I’m like ‘All
right, here we go.’”
“Here I am every day. I’m becoming ad-
dicted to laying these beats and program-
ming drum machines, where half the key-
board is techno and half is percussion,” he
said. “It’s basically … every element of music
that I listen to and like.”
When Vielma heard what he was up to,
she said, “Here we go, DJPK.”
“I’m like, ‘I kind of like how that flows,’”
Kartsounes said. Some of the tunes are sung
with his regular voice, and he’s also rapping
and making up words via a toned-down
voice “that doesn’t sound like me. It’s like an
alter-ego,” he said. “Larry White. He comes
in and talks about love and coming together.
… He’s all about the positive.”
Once Kartsounes had about nine hours
of music, he decided to put out a pair of al-
bums. The result is the more chill, down-
beat, textured “The Big Chill,” and the more
up-tempo, funky “Dig Deep.”
His facility with the new equipment has
grown commensurate with the time he’s put
in on it, which will help make for a better
show when he begins playing out live. You’ll
be able to hear DJPK May 8 at River’s Place
in Bend, but don’t expect that Kartsounes to
haul it to bars regularly: He envisions DJPK
as more fit for yoga classes and festivals.
“It’s more like a performance DJ,” he said.
“I’m constantly doing something, and it’s all
math. And it’s putting it together to create
these really cool sounds. And it could go any-
where. I don’t know where it goes — I don’t
have a plan when I start. Everything’s improv.”
If his new sounds are unfamiliar, wait till
you see him. “When I perform, I’m going to
totally friggin’ wig it out, and bell-bottom it
out,” Kartsounes said. “It’s like, I’m sick of my-
self after 26 years. I’m going to create some-
thing totally different and have fun with it.”
e e
David Jasper: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com
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