I’m excited to announce two new songs featuring Stephen Fry! It’s been an honour to work with Stephen, an international treasure, to produce something very unique and honest. A fitting tribute to human space flight, exploration and imagination.
Co-founder of Planet Labs announced as the first of four customers on Blue Origin’s second human flight.
San Francisco, CA, September 27, 2021 — Dr. Chris Boshuizen will soon become the third Australian to fly to space when he boards an upcoming Blue Origin New Shepard flight with three other passengers.
Dr. Chris Boshuizen will join fewer than 20 non-professional astronauts who have been to space after he launches to space on New Shepard from Blue Origin’s launch site in west Texas. Traveling above the Kármán Line, the international boundary of space, fulfills a lifelong dream for the space pioneer, who has worked for two decades to make space flight more accessible.
“I have always wanted to make space travel as easy as catching a bus, and so I am excited to be one of the first passengers,” says Boshuizen. “I hope spaceflight becomes cheap enough in the future that everyone can have a chance to look down on the Earth from space.”
Chris’s initial attempt to find a path to space ended abruptly when he was rejected from pilot school at the Australian Defence Force Academy at age 17 when his admissions test showed that he was partly colour blind. Instead, Chris studied physics and mathematics at University of Sydney, completing a PhD and later organizing the Space Generation Congress, an annual gathering of the space youth of the world.
His stewardship of the Congress eventually led to the NASA Ames Research Center in California, where Chris worked on a number of programs, including a lunar lander and one of the earliest electric airplanes. His most influential project was the invention of the NASA Phonesat, an orbital satellite composed of an entire smartphone. The Phonesat demonstrated that low-cost, high value activities were within reach of regular citizens.
The success of Phonesat inspired Chris to co-found Planet Labs in 2010, in order to further reduce the costs and complexities of spacecraft. The company, where Chris was Chief Technology Officer for 5 years, has launched over 450 satellites, which would have cost over a billion dollars with conventional satellite technology. Today, Chris is a Partner at the venture capital firm DCVC, where he continues to follow his vocation by funding and growing startups that are democratizing space flight.
Chris is also an avid musician and DJ, writing and producing music from his home studio in San Francisco and performing as Dr Chrispy.
The video is an eye-popping and surreal journey through the mind and into outer space, taking the sample-heavy and synth-driven dance track to a whole other level. Shot on location in a secret lab in San Francisco and at Sia lake in Cyprus, the video connects the two places through the song’s theme of astral projection and out-of-body experiences, or, as the long time Cypriot reggae master and dub poet Haji Mike likes to call it, “Afro Travel”. In the video we see Dr Chrispy receive a strange signal on the screens of a wall of vintage oscilloscopes (the real life Dr Chrispy is bona fide Aerospace Engineer, having co-founded his own space company, Planet Labs). Before long, the signal is revealed to be coming from Haji Mike, who is manipulating the celestial airwaves with his dub poetry. Realizing he can communicate back to Haji Mike with a beat, Dr Chrispy is suddenly pulled through a wormhole shaped like a giant iris, travelling to the edges of the galaxy and back before he is ultimately trapped in the “other world”, while Haji Mike cooly rocks out on the mic to the sublime beat of the song.
The ambitious music video was conceived of, and created by, Dr Chrispy and Haji Mike themselves, with editing assistance by Sydney, Australia-based Gus O’Brien Cavanough. The video features a blend of on-site camera work shot by a small crew in each location and photorealistic animations depicting the protagonist’s trippy journey deep into space. This music video marks Dr Chrispy’s second time portraying his love of things space in video form. In 2019 he released a painstakingly detailed recreation of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft’s exploration of our solar system, set to his soothing and ambient electro space jazz track, Voyager at the Heliopause, which notably included lyrics encoded in Morse Code. Assisting the production of both videos was Dr Chrispy’s longtime collaborator, Bay Area-based graphic designer Drew Mcgaraghan, who conceived the “iris” and animated it, and who also designed the cover art for the Transitory EP and many of Dr Chrispy’s prior releases.
Released in 2020, the TRANSITORY EP is a collection of short stories, each one a first person narrative from a different speaker. With the stories woven over old school beats and instrumentation, every track features sampled monologues or dialogue with a mixture of live, sampled, and electronic instruments to create a nostalgic feeling that is simultaneously comforting yet unfamiliar. The three different tracks, each with distinct themes, cycle from morning, to afternoon, to evening, mirroring our own self-reflections as we move through our day. We are different people late at night than we are early in the morning; who we really are is TRANSITORY.
DR CHRISPY (aka Dr. Chris Boshuizen) is a music producer, songwriter, and award-winning aerospace engineer dedicated to sharing his love of both music and space exploration. During the day Chris works at Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm DCVC where he supports the next generation of space and deep tech entrepreneurs, while at night he runs a small home studio in San Francisco where he is recording new music.
Haji Mike started DJ’ing music in 1979 and as a musician is known for his hybrid of Jamaican dancehall and Cypriot melodies which he calls “Vraggamuffin,” and he is also a dub poet and DJ, playing weekly on various radio stations around the world.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, September 10, 2020 — DR CHRISPY (aka Dr. Chris Boshuizen) is a music producer, songwriter, and award-winning aerospace engineer dedicated to sharing his love of both music and space exploration. Following the recent release of his exciting new Transitory EP, which included collaborations with a diverse group of special guests and innovative producers from around the world, DR CHRISPY is now proud to announce TRANSITORY ECHOES, featuring all new remixes of the Transitory EP tracks from Robert Peckyno, Kevin Ochoa, Contre-Attaque, T-ROM, On Being Human, and D-Noise. TRANSITORY ECHOES will release online everywhere music is streamed and sold on September 18, 2020.
Two singles from TRANSITORY ECHOES will be released in the lead up to the album, including a House remix from T-ROM dropping on the US Labor Day holiday weekend (the perfect party track for a late summer playlist), and a creative and innovative dance track from Kevin Ochoa the following week.
DR CHRISPY released his Transitory EP in July of 2020, presented as a collection of short stories, each one a first-person narrative from a different speaker. DR CHRISPY worked with contributing artists for that project including The Stunt Man, Haji Mike, Med Dred, Synthapex, Psybolord, and Aeronexus. The three different tracks on the Transitory EP, each with distinct themes, cycle from morning, to afternoon, to evening, mirroring our own self-reflections as we move through our day. This creative effort has been a huge success and immediately caught the attention of several other notable producers in DR CHRISPY’s orbit, which led to the creation of this new TRANSITORY ECHOES remix project.
DR CHRISPY is an undeniably prolific creator and community builder. As an active partner at the Silicon Valley-based VC firm DCVC, Dr. Chris Boshuizen helped finance and launch the companies Capella Space Corporation and Rocket Lab. Together these two companies launched a satellite into orbit this August, and to celebrate the launch DR CHRISPY wrote and produced the commemorative instrumental track “Infinity Rising,” which featured on launch day as part of the live streaming event now viewed by over 100,000 people! This anthemic and uplifting single celebrates the dedication and hard work of both of these teams, who despite hardships and setbacks have brought their dreams into reality. Appropriately, “Infinity Rising” perfectly captures the euphoric feeling of a dream realized through hard work and perseverance.
VHS was DR CHRISPY’s first full-length release, which ranked Number 8 on the Synthwave Radio Best Albums of 2018 list and was widely praised, with Exclusive Magazine calling it “a wonderfully ambient, bouncy, fun, even thoughtful at times collection of instrumental tracks.” BabySue.com says, “Whether you’re out clubbing or at home trying to get things done, these nifty little rhythmic creations will likely be just what the doctor ordered to get things going.” Chris wrote the majority of VHS while traveling as an aerospace engineer, capturing the vibe of each place and moment in time he visited. DR CHRISPY released two singles in 2019, including “Drive,” which features a high tempo driving beat and catchy instrumental hook, and his tribute to the NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft “Voyager at the Heliopause” (with music video).
For the following VHS REMIXED project that released online November 22, 2019, the tracks of VHS were reimagined by producers from all over the world including The Stunt Man, Psybolord, T-ROM, Kevin Ochoa, Manor Sound, Always Romantic, Synthapex, and B Wiley. The resulting collaborations created an album that elevates the original VHS to brand new heights that even DR CHRISPY had not imagined.
After having worked at NASA inventing new kinds of spacecraft and co-founding the company Planet Labs, Chris Boshuizen decided to pursue his art full-time, adopting the nickname “Chrispy” that was given to him by his NASA co-workers. Unlike other notable “doctors” in the music industry, DR CHRISPY has a PhD in Physics, and in 2014 he won the Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for his contributions to Science and Advanced Manufacturing. Leveraging his years of experience with computer music, Chris will teach his fourth introductory workshop on electronic music production at this year’s annual Taxi Road Rally in Los Angeles. DR CHRISPY’s goal as an artist is to connect music and tech while bringing a message of hope and empowerment to his audience. DR CHRISPY runs his home studio in San Francisco where he is actively writing and recording new music.
TRANSITORY ECHOES will release online everywhere music is streamed and sold on September 18, 2020.
San Francisco, CA – DR CHRISPY (aka Dr. Chris Boshuizen) is a music producer, songwriter, and award-winning aerospace engineer dedicated to sharing his love of both music and space exploration. As an active partner at the Silicon Valley-based VC firm DCVC, Dr. Chris Boshuizen helped finance and launch the companies CAPELLA SPACE CORPORATION in the US (a manufacturer of its own compact radar satellites), and ROCKET LAB in New Zealand (developers of their own low-cost rocket named Electron, which is capable of launching satellites into Low Earth Orbit). These two start-ups are taking on a giant industry, and together ROCKET LAB will launch a CAPELLA satellite into orbit this August. To celebrate this synergy between two of the space industry’s most cutting-edge companies, DR CHRISPY has written and produced the commemorative instrumental track “INFINITY RISING,” which will feature on launch day as part of the live streaming event!
This anthemic and uplifting single celebrates the dedication and hard work of both of these teams, who despite hardships and setbacks have brought their dreams into reality. Appropriately, “INFINITY RISING” perfectly captures the euphoric feeling of a dream realized through hard work and perseverance. A follow up to his recently released TRANSITORY EP (an exciting release that features collaborations with a diverse group of special guests and innovative producers from around the world), the new single “INFINITY RISING” will release online on August 24, 2020, and during the livestream of the satellite launch.
CAPELLA has designed a revolutionary compact radar satellite, allowing them to collect unprecedented data about the planet Earth. Radar is a powerful tool for understanding our changing planet, as it can be used to take images at night, and to penetrate through clouds, allowing frequent imaging of many underserved areas of the globe. The culmination of three years of work, CAPELLA will launch their first operational radar satellite (codenamed “Sequoia” after the Sequoia National Park) into space atop a ROCKET LAB rocket from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The launch is scheduled to take place on or after August 24, and will be broadcast live on YouTube, where ROCKET LAB regularly attracts a live audience of over 100,000 viewers. “INFINITY RISING” will make its worldwide debut during this livestream event. Tune in live to hear the track and watch this historic space launch.
Following the release of his 2018 debut album VHS, the 2019 singles “Drive” and “Voyager at the Heliopause” (with music video), and the subsequent VHS Remixed album, DR CHRISPY released the TRANSITORY EP in July of 2020, presented as a collection of short stories, each one a first person narrative from a different speaker. With the stories woven over old school beats and instrumentation, every track features sampled monologues or dialogue with a mixture of live, sampled, and electronic instruments to create a nostalgic feeling that is simultaneously comforting yet unfamiliar. With this release, DR CHRISPY explores the unconventional, but presents it in a familiar and digestible format with mid-tempo dance beats. In addition to his own original tracks, DR CHRISPY worked with contributing artists to bring their own unique perspectives to the TRANSITORY EP, including The Stunt Man, Haji Mike, Med Dred, Synthapex, Psybolord, and Aeronexus.
The original VHS album was DR CHRISPY’s first full-length release, which ranked Number 8 on the Synthwave Radio Best Albums of 2018 list and was widely praised, with Exclusive Magazine calling it “a wonderfully ambient, bouncy, fun, even thoughtful at times collection of instrumental tracks.” BabySue.com says, “Whether you’re out clubbing or at home trying to get things done, these nifty little rhythmic creations will likely be just what the doctor ordered to get things going.” Chris began writing VHS in 2003 while traveling as an aerospace engineer, capturing the vibe of each place and moment in time he visited.
Chris visits Rocket Lab USA’s launch site in New Zealand ahead of the maiden launch in 2017
DR CHRISPY released his next single in June 2019. “Voyager at the Heliopause” is a tribute to the NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft, which launched in 1977 and has since returned stunning images from the solar system, inspiring Chris from a young age to pursue his passion for space. Accompanied by a music video featuring historically accurate animated recreations of those classic images, “Voyager at the Heliopause” is a soothing and ambient electro space jazz track.
After having worked at NASA inventing new kinds of spacecraft and co-founding the company Planet Labs, Chris Boshuizen decided to pursue his art full-time, adopting the nickname “Chrispy” that was given to him by his NASA co-workers. Unlike other notable “doctors” in the music industry, DR CHRISPY has a PhD in Physics, and in 2014 he won the Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for his contributions to Science and Advanced Manufacturing. Leveraging his years of experience with computer music, Chris will teach his fourth introductory workshop on electronic music production at this year’s annual Taxi Road Rally in Los Angeles. DR CHRISPY’s goal as an artist is to connect music and tech while bringing a message of hope and empowerment to his audience. DR CHRISPY runs his home studio in San Francisco where he is actively writing and recording new music.
The “INFINITY RISING” single will be released online August 24, 2020, everywhere music is streamed and sold. Also keep an eye out for several exciting additional remixes coming soon.
For Immediate Release – San Francisco, CA – DR CHRISPY (aka Dr. Chris Boshuizen) is a music producer, songwriter, and award-winning aerospace engineer dedicated to sharing his love of both music and space exploration. Following the release of his 2018 debut album VHS, the 2019 singles “Drive” and “Voyager at the Heliopause” (with music video), and the subsequent VHS Remixed album, DR CHRISPY is now proud to announce the TRANSITORY EP, an exciting new release featuring collaborations with a diverse group of special guests and innovative producers from around the world.
The TRANSITORY EP is a collection of short stories, each one a first person narrative from a different speaker. With the stories woven over old school beats and instrumentation, every track features sampled monologues or dialogue with a mixture of live, sampled, and electronic instruments to create a nostalgic feeling that is simultaneously comforting yet unfamiliar. There’s a four-on-the-floor beat and some outside-the-box instrumentation for the dance genre, including saxophone!
With this new release, DR CHRISPY explores the unconventional, but presents it in a familiar and digestible format with mid-tempo dance beats. The three different tracks, each with distinct themes, cycle from morning, to afternoon, to evening, mirroring our own self-reflections as we move through our day. We are different people late at night than we are early in the morning; who we really are is TRANSITORY.
In addition to his own original tracks, DR CHRISPY worked with contributing artists to bring their own unique perspectives to the TRANSITORY EP. The Stunt Man aka Greg Mindorff is a music producer, DJ, fellow space enthusiast, and Grammy-nominated mastering engineer from Vancouver who mastered the TRANSITORY EP. Haji Mike is a featured artist who contributed dub poetry vocals to the track “Transitory Evening (Afro Travel).” Haji Mike started DJ’ing music in 1979 and as a musician is known for his hybrid of Jamaican dancehall and Cypriot melodies which he calls “Vraggamuffin,” and he is also a dub poet and DJ playing on various radio stations around the world. The “Afro Jungle” remix is the creation of producer, composer, and arranger Med Dred, a roots, reggae, and dub melodica soloist and reggae music specialist.
Contributing a remix of the track “Transitory Evening,” Hadfes Oblivion is the man behind Synthapex. With a background in metal, Hadfes Oblivion has played in a number of bands and now, with Synthapex, is exploring the electronic and synthwave genres. The group recently released their breathtakingly cinematic music video “Gone This Night,” featuring a short cameo appearance by DR CHRISPY! Psybolord is a Moscow-based producer who has gone from deathcore to electronic music. Psybolord merges techno with Russian folk motifs, and classical music organically gets along with synthwave and French-electro, as heard on his remix “Transitory Afternoon.” Closing the EP is a remix of the track “Transitory Morning” from Aeronexus, a solo project by Harry Rowlands, who produces 80’s movie soundtrack-inspired tracks mixed in with synthwave.
After having worked at NASA inventing new kinds of spacecraft and co-founding the company Planet Labs, Chris Boshuizen decided to pursue his art full-time, adopting the nickname “Chrispy” that was given to him by his NASA co-workers. Unlike other notable “doctors” in the music industry, DR CHRISPY has a PhD in Physics, and in 2014 he won the Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for his contributions to Science and Advanced Manufacturing. Leveraging his years of experience with computer music, Chris will teach his fourth introductory workshop on electronic music production at this year’s annual Taxi Road Rallyin Los Angeles. DR CHRISPY’s goal as an artist is to connect music and tech while bringing a message of hope and empowerment to his audience. DR CHRISPY runs his home studio in San Francisco where he is actively writing and recording new music.
The TRANSITORY EP will release online August 7, 2020, everywhere music is streamed and sold. Also keep an eye out for several exciting additional remixes coming soon.
For Immediate Release – San Francisco, CA – DR CHRISPY (aka Dr. Chris Boshuizen) is an award-winning aeronautical engineer, music producer, and songwriter dedicated to sharing his love of both Music and Space Exploration. Following the release of his 2019 singles “Drive” and “Voyager at the Heliopause” (with music video), DR CHRISPY is now proud to announce an exciting new collaboration with a group of innovative producers titled VHS REMIXED.
The original VHSalbum wasDR CHRISPY’s first full-length release, which ranked Number 8 on the Synthwave Radio Best Albums of 2018 list, and was widely praised with Exclusive Magazine calling it “a wonderfully ambient, bouncy, fun, even thoughtful at times collection of instrumental tracks.” BabySue.com says, “Whether you’re out clubbing or at home trying to get things done, these nifty little rhythmic creations will likely be just what the doctor ordered to get things going.” Chris began writing VHS in 2003 while traveling as an aerospace engineer, capturing the vibe of each place and moment in time he visited.
For the new VHS REMIXED project, the tracks of VHS have been reimagined by producers from all over the world including TheStuntMan, Psybolord, T-ROM, KevinOchoa, ManorSound, AlwaysRomantic, Synthapex,and B Wiley. The resulting collaborations have created an album that elevates the original VHS to brand new heights that even DR CHRISPY had not imagined. VHS REMIXED will release online on November 22, 2019, everywhere music is streamed and sold.
The contributing artists bring their own unique perspectives to the project. The Stunt Man aka Greg Mindorff is a music producer, DJ, fellow space enthusiast and Grammy-nominated Mastering Engineer from Vancouver, BC, Canada. As well as contributing a remix, The Stunt Man also mastered VHS REMIXED. Psybolord is a Moscow-based producer who has gone from deathcore to electronic music. In his tracks, techno merges with Russian folk motifs and classical music organically gets along with synthwave and French electro. Tyler Romanishin aka T-ROM was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to California after spending five years in the Marine Corps. T-ROM aims to push the boundaries of House and electronic music while still keeping it catchy and danceable. Kevin Ochoa loves dance music and pushing the boundaries of sound, and can often be found teaching FL Studio Master Classes at Music Conventions.
Michael Reyna (Manor Sound) is a San Francisco-based alt-pop and future bass producer. He utilizes the contrast of ambient textures and hard-hitting trap drums to create sonic environments that are both soothing and exciting. Always Romantic, from Sevastapol in the Russian Federation, released his eponymous debut synthwave album earlier this year, and contributed a full cover version of “60 MILES UP” to VHS REMIXED. Hadfes Oblivion is the man behind Synthapex. With a background in metal, Hadfes Oblivion has played in a number of bands and now, with Synthapex, is exploring the electronic and synthwave genres. The group recently released their breathtakingly cinematic music video “Gone This Night,” featuring a short cameo appearance by DR CHRISPY! B Wiley is a producer, musician, and DJ whose mission is to bridge the gaps between the soulful and darker sounds of electronic, hip-hop, funk, and psychedelic. He pulls influences from all directions to create his ever-changing sound that is somewhere between the dark and the light, the electronic and organic.
After having worked at NASA inventing new kinds of spacecraft and co-founding the company Planet Labs, Chris Boshuizen decided to pursue his art full-time, adopting the nickname “Chrispy” that was given to him by his NASA co-workers. Unlike other notable “doctors” in the music industry, DR CHRISPY has a PhD in Physics, and in 2014 he won the Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for his contributions to Science and Advanced Manufacturing. Leveraging his years of experience with computer music, Chris will teach his third introductory workshop on electronic music production at this year’s annual Taxi Road Rallyin Los Angeles. DR CHRISPY’s goal as an artist is to connect music and tech while bringing a message of hope and empowerment to his audience. DR CHRISPY runs his home studio in San Francisco where he is actively writing and recording new music.
VHS REMIXED will release online November 22 everywhere music is streamed and sold.
San Francisco, CA – DR CHRISPY (aka Dr. Chris Boshuizen) is an award-winning aeronautical engineer, music producer, and songwriter who has spent the last 16 years tragically torn between two loves: Music and Space Exploration. His new single “DRIVE” will release online everywhere music is streamed and sold on August 30, 2019. With a high-tempo driving beat and a catchy instrumental hook, the single really captures the sensation of being behind the wheel and just driving. The soaring chorus in “DRIVE” brings to mind the feeling of being out on the open road, far away from life’s small problems. “Sometimes we just need to get away from it all,” says DR CHRISPY, and he captures that sentiment perfectly on this new track.
DR CHRISPY runs his home studio in San Francisco where he is actively writing and recording new music. DR CHRISPY’s first full-length album VHS released in 2018 and was widely praised by national and international reviewers. A collection of mostly instrumental tracks, Chris began writing VHS in 2003 while traveling as an aerospace engineer. The tracks were written all around the world and capture the vibe of each place and moment in time.
Exclusive Magazine calls VHS, “a wonderfully ambient, bouncy, fun, even thoughtful at times collection of instrumental tracks,” while BabySue.com says, “Whether you’re out clubbing or at home trying to get things done, these nifty little rhythmic creations will likely be just what the doctor ordered to get things going.” VHS plays like an auditory travel diary, inviting you along to hear and experience the evolution from Dr. Chris Boshuizen, Space Scientist, to DR CHRISPY, the Artist.
DR CHRISPY released his next single “Voyager at the Heliopause” in June 2019. The track is a tribute to the NASA Voyager spacecraft, which launched in 1977 and has since returned stunning images from the solar system, inspiring Chris to pursue his passion for space. Accompanied by a music video featuring historically accurate animated recreations of those classic images, “Voyager at the Heliopause” is a soothing and ambient electro space jazz track.
Having worked at NASA for almost five years inventing new kinds of spacecraft, Chris went on to cofound the company Planet Labs, which launched and monitors over 200 spacecraft that create a daily map of the global environment. During all this, Chris spent nearly every spare moment writing music on the one instrument he always had with him: his laptop. Much of his music was written at airports or on planes, and over a 16-year period he has amassed an impressive catalog of material with over 300 tracks.
Wanting to get some of his music out to the world, Chris decided to pursue his art full-time, adopting the nickname “Chrispy” that was given to him by his NASA co-workers. Unlike other notable “doctors” in the music industry, DR CHRISPY has a PhD in Physics, and in 2014 he won the Advance Global Award for being the Greatest Australian Not Living in Australia. After completing his PhD in Physics at the University of Sydney he found a position at NASA Ames Research Center in Northern California, one of NASA’s 10 centers around the US. There Chris worked on several fascinating projects, including a lunar lander, an electric airplane, and he also co-invented the world’s smallest satellite called PhoneSat.
With the success of PhoneSat, Chris and his friends were emboldened to try something ambitious, so they left NASA to start Planet Labs. Today Planet Labs has launched over 200 satellites that were designed under Chris’s leadership. Leveraging his years of experience with computer music, Chris has taught the introductory workshop on electronic music production at the last two annual Taxi Road Rallies in Los Angeles.
Chris has no regrets about pursuing his space career, but always felt music would one day become his focus. With a lifetime of music production experience and a lower-stress job that afforded him a bit more free time, he assumed his alter-ego as DR CHRISPY and suddenly entered a prolific phase of writing with the feeling he now had something to say. DR CHRISPY’s goal as an artist is to connect music and tech while bringing a message of hope and empowerment to his audience.
In 2016, DR CHRISPY began creating lyrical songs in addition to his instrumental music. This material will be released on his next album project. Chris still hopes one day to take himself beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, and feels he still has the passion to start another space company one day. You can catch more of Chris’s space and technology thoughts on his personal twitter account at twitter.com/cboshuizen. “DRIVE” will release online everywhere music is streamed and sold on August 30, 2019.
For Immediate Release – San Francisco, CA – DR CHRISPY (aka Dr. Chris Boshuizen) is an award-winning aeronautical engineer, music producer, and songwriter who has spent the last 16 years tragically torn between two loves: Music and Space Exploration. His new single “VOYAGER AT THE HELIOPAUSE” will release online everywhere music is streamed and sold on June 14, 2019. The single is a tribute to the NASA Voyager spacecraft that launched in 1977 and returns stunning images from our solar system that inspired Chris to pursue his passion for space. Accompanied by a music video featuring historically accurate animated recreations of those classic images, “VOYAGER AT THE HELIOPAUSE”is a soothing and ambient electro space jazz track.
DR CHRISPY runs his home studio in
San Francisco where he is actively writing and recording new music. DR
CHRISPY’s first full-length album VHS released in 2018 and was widely
praised by national and international reviewers. A collection of mostly
instrumental tracks, Chris began writing VHS in 2003 while traveling as an
aerospace engineer. The tracks were written all around the world and capture
the vibe of each place and moment in time. Exclusive Magazine calls VHS,
“a wonderfully ambient, bouncy, fun,
even thoughtful at times collection of instrumental tracks,” while BabySue.com says, “Whether you’re out clubbing or at home trying to get things done,
these nifty little rhythmic creations will likely be just what the doctor
ordered to get things going.” VHS plays
like an auditory travel diary, inviting you along to hear and experience the
evolution from Dr. Chris Boshuizen, Space Scientist, to DR CHRISPY, the Artist.
Having
worked at NASA for almost five years
inventing new kinds of spacecraft, Chris went on to cofound the company Planet Labs, which launched and
monitors over 200 spacecraft that create a daily map of the global environment.
During all this, Chris spent nearly every spare moment writing music on the one
instrument he always had with him: his laptop. Much of his music was written at
airports or on planes, and over a 16-year period he has amassed an impressive
catalog of material with over 300 tracks. Wanting to get some of his music out
to the world, Chris decided to pursue his art full-time, adopting the nickname “Chrispy”
that was given to him by his NASA co-workers. Unlike other notable “doctors” in
the music industry, DR CHRISPY has a PhD
in Physics, and in 2014 he won the Advance
Global Award for being the Greatest
Australian Not Living in Australia.
Chris bought his own computer in
1998, but using it for homework was an afterthought. Instead he built an audio workstation
complete with an 8-channel studio sound card and mixing desk and set out to
learn studio engineering and mixing. He also took up frequent guitar lessons,
but over time his music workstation was replaced with a laptop, and as his
space career took off, Chris naturally developed a new habit of producing
electronic music while traveling. After
completing his PhD in Physics at the University
of Sydney he found a position at NASA
Ames Research Center in Northern California, one of NASA’s 10 centers
around the US. There Chris worked on several fascinating projects, including a
lunar lander, an electric airplane, and he also co-invented the world’s
smallest satellite called PhoneSat.
With
the success of PhoneSat, Chris and his friends were emboldened to try something
ambitious, so they left NASA to start Planet
Labs. Today Planet Labs has launched over 200 satellites that were designed
under Chris’s leadership. Leveraging his years of experience
with computer music, Chris has taught the introductory workshop on electronic
music production at the last two annual Taxi
Road Ralliesin Los Angeles.
Chris has no regrets about pursuing
his space career, but always felt music would one day become his focus. With a
lifetime of music production experience and a lower-stress job that afforded
him a bit more free time, he assumed his alter-ego as DR CHRISPY and suddenly entered
a prolific phase of writing with the feeling he now had something to say. DR CHRISPY’s goal as an
artist is to connect music and tech while bringing a message of hope and
empowerment to his audience.
In 2016, DR CHRISPY began
creating lyrical songs in addition to his instrumental music. This material
will be released on his next album project. Chris still hopes one day to take himself beyond the
Earth’s atmosphere, and feels he still has the passion to start another space
company one day. You can catch more of Chris’s space and technology thoughts on
his personal twitter account at twitter.com/cboshuizen.
“VOYAGER AT THE HELIOPAUSE” will
release online everywhere music is streamed and sold on June 14, 2019.
Last year I had the pleasure of doing an interview with ISTORIK (aka. Oleg Vasilenko) for his massively popular Synthwave blog, E:\music\synthwave. I talk about my creative process on my album, VHS, and my thoughts on space travel!