press release - Past the Mark

PRESS
RELEASE
Contact:
Label: ptm@nu-jazz.net
Band: info@pastthemark.com
Past the Mark is a transatlantic collaboration between Vince Pastano (one
of Italy’s most in-demand guitar players) and Marc Urselli (New York-based
3-time Grammy award winning producer/ engineer/composer). The project
started as long-distance collaborative-composing experiment back in 2003, but
unfortunately due to their insanely busy schedules, it took a little over 7 years for
them to write enough material for a full album. However, in the meantime, Pastano
released at least 5 other records of his own and Urselli recorded and/or mixed
around 100 records in that timeframe.
Musically, Past the Mark is a mixture of the composers’ backgrounds in electronic
music and rock. The production is entirely electronic-based and mixes drum’n bass,
ambient, world music and downtempo into a unique blend of sampled acoustic and
electronic sounds. All the melodies, riffs and counterparts are played by the electric
guitar, which is turn is treated, effected, sliced and diced digitally. The compositional
process always started with an idea of either one of the musicians, who then would
send it to the other to continue writing on and around the original idea.
I N F L U E N C E S
“The result is an
eclectic mix of
influences, styles
and moods with
deep roots in the
rock traditions and
the evolutions of
electronic music”
If you need a frame of reference, imagine what would happen if Jeff Beck, Trent
Reznor and Brian Eno got together and wrote some music, and if in turn they were
influenced by David Bowie, David Torn, Aphex Twin, Tom Waits, Autechre, Led
Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that in spite of all those influences and the fact
that they’ve been writing together for 7 years, the songs onthe album sound quite
homogeneous. There is not a disconnect between songs written in 2003 and songs
written in 2010, in fact the different influences and musical evolutions complement
each other quite well and even the musicians themselves still like the earlier
compositions as much as they like the latest.
B I O G R A P H I E S
John
Zorn
Lou
Reed
Laurie
Anderson
Faithful
Les
Paul
Sting
Jos
Stone
Lila
Downs
Eric
Clapton
Jeff
Beck
Mike
Patton
Keith
Richards
Buddy
Guy
Richie
Sambora
Johnny
Rzeznick
ZZ
Top
Sam
Cooke
Joe
Perry
Mick
Hucknall
Luther
Vandross
and
many many more.
Marc Urselli (www.marcurselli.com) is a 3-time Grammy Award winning engineer,
producer, mixer, composer and sound designer. He is currently resident chief house
engineer at the legendary NYC studios EastSide Sound and also does live sound on
tours with John Zorn, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Faithful and others. His credits
include John Zorn (with whom he recorded over 25 albums), Les Paul, LouReed,
Laurie Anderson, Sting, Joss Stone, Lila Downs, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Faith No
More’s Mike Patton, Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Bon Jovi’s Richie
Sambora, Goo Goo Dolls’ Johnny Rzeznick, ZZ Top, Sam Cooke, Aerosmith’s Joe
Perry, Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, Luther Vandross and many many more. He also
composes music for TV and film and does sound design for commercials and mixing
for film and TV. In 2008 alone, he recorded and mixed more than half adozen movie
soundtracks. Marc played in numerous bands in the 90’s, most notably the black
metal band Funeral Oration and the industrialmetal band the M.E.M.O.R.Y. Lab
(www.memorylab.net) who in 2009 just released their posthumous debut CD of
15-year old recordings on the Canadian record label D-Trash records. Marc also is
founder and editor of Chain D.L.K. (www.chaindlk.com), an online music magazine/
newswire/forum dedicated to electronic, ambient, experimental, dark music which
receives more than 30,000 monthly visitors.
Vince Pastano (www.vincenzopastano.com) is a very accomplished guitar player
based in Bologna, Italy. He grew up on massive doses of guitar-driven rock and
currently plays with Italian pop star Luca Carboni, as well as with his pulp-rock band
Pulp Dogs (www.pulpdogs.it), his new age-ambient acoustic duo Araliya (www.
araliyaofficial.com)and many other projects. He has played as a session musician
on dozen of records and has collaborated with many established Italian singers,
songwriters, composers and producers, such as Lucio Dalla (with whom he played
on thetheater production “La Tosca”), Hiroko Kouda, BeppeD’Onghia, Federico
Poggipollini, George Mann, Stef Burns, Barbara Cola, Roberto Terzani (Litfiba),
Adrienne Arno, Ignazio Orlando (CCCP, A. Bocelli, G.Nannini), Riccardo Sinigallia,
Grazia Verasani and manyothers.
Vince released his romantic dark-wave debut solo CD “Compro Verità” on UltraTempo
records in 2009 and is currently working on a followup solo CD.
Past the Mark leaves a mark, and goes past that mark.
D E
L U X E
3 D
O R I G A M I
C O V E R
*All versions of the CD are made with eco-friendly materials
The title of Past the Mark’s debut CD is “Hakhel Tribulation”.
The CD includes 10 songs for a total running time of 48 minutes and is available
in three editions:
1. Digipack available from www.Nu-Jazz.net and www.CDBaby.com
2. Deluxe 3D cover origami version limited to 48 hand numbered copies,
exclusively available through the band’s website at:
www.PastTheMark.com
3. Digital Download available from iTunes and all major download sites.
The deluxe version of the CD features a 3D cover which according to the angle of
view shows the face of one or the other member of the duo. When you open the
case the CD is popped out by a pop-up origami-type cardboard fold-out.
N U J A Z Z
E U R O P E
G l a s g o w
S c o t l a n d
Keep your mind open to
new musical ideas.
Respect unusual material
that on first listen may be
difficult to understand.
Don’t be afraid to take
chances.
TOKYO:
Satoko Fujii (piano) Natsuki Tamura (Trumpet)
GLASGOW:
Raymond MacDonald (saxes) Neil Davidson (guitar) Tom Bancroft (drums)
An international collaboration of ‘improv’ music
:-) listen | buy | www.nu-jazz.net
OTHER VOICES
Raymond MacDonald (saxes/piano)
Aoife Mannix (voice).
An improv CD of poetry and jazz recorded live at the Centre for
Contemporary Arts Glasgow, Scotland.
:-) listen | buy | www.nu-jazz.net
All tracks based on stories written for the
Glasgow 2020 project.
Sub-Urban Collective is: Una McGlone, Raymond MacDonald, Aoife Mannix,
Malcolm Lindsay, Stuart Gorman, Emma Roche, Julio Virella, Pete Fletcher,
Aileen Campbell, Michael Deans, Stephen Hawkes.
:-) listen | buy | www.nu-jazz.net
Nu-Jazz Europe
is an independent music label, dedicated to creating a voice for composers and
musicians to collaborate across musical and geographical boundaries.
Glasgow Scotland | www.nu-jazz.net | petefletcher.bandcamp.com