DR CHRISPY, Renowned Australian Space Scientist, Aerospace Engineer, and Music Producer to Release his New Collaboration VHS REMIXED

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 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. 

For the new VHS REMIXED project, the tracks of VHS have been 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 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 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. 

VHS REMIXED will release online November 22 everywhere music is streamed and sold.

For more information about DR CHRISPY please visit: http://drchrispy.com/ or https://drchrispy.bandcamp.com

For more information about VHS REMIXED Artists and Producers please visit: https://drchrispy.com/vhs-remixed-artists

To Order or Pre-Save VHS REMIXED on digital services please visit: www.drchrispy.com/vhs-remixed 

To Order or stream “DRIVE” on digital services please visit: http://drchrispy.com/drive

To Order or stream VHS on digital services please visit: http://www.drchrispy.com/vhs

For Press and Interview inquiries please contact Billy James of Glass Onyon PR: (828) 350-8158 or glassonyonpr@gmail.com

For Digital Marketing please contact Jerome Forney of Independent Distribution Collective: jerome@independentdistro.com

Dreaming of Home

Dreaming of Home is the oldest track on my album, VHS, with the first draft of the song dating back to 2003. It has always been one of my favourites, even in its long half-finished state. The original track came together in one session, with the intro and chorus section being exactly as they are today, along with the beatbox and horn swells. From time to time, I would revisit some of my older tracks and this one always brought a smile to my face. I was determined to finish it one day, but that proved to be elusive for 15 years, as first I needed to grow as a writer in order be able to express what I had in my head. I’m glad to finally get it out.

The name of the track comes from the feeling of longing and nostalgia created by the slow opening horn melody, which plays over the top of the low droning bass synth, creating a spacious and distant sound, reminding me of being very far from home. The light pluck melody that comes in next is a reminder of voices calling from afar. The voices are sparse and distant, till they rise with a commanding presence in the verse section. The chorus section is whimsical and playful, in anticipation of the joy of reconnecting with family and friends.

From a technical perspective, I did some musically interesting things on this track – there is the beatbox which drives the beat throughout the song, which I also used to gate the strings volume up and down n time with the beat. This created a kind of shimmering, pulsing feel. And this is the first track where I discovered the distinctive “Pluck” lead, which I was obsessed with for over 10 years and used throughout the VHS album. (Literally, every time I started a track and couldn’t find the right lead sound, I would fall back on Pluck). Together, the shimmering strings and Pluck melody of the “Chorus section” create a dreamy, nostalgic feeling.

Over the years I tried, and failed, to finish the track. Something was missing, and I just couldn’t figure out how to musically get from the intro to the chorus. In instrumental music, thinking in a verse/chorus framework can sometimes get you stuck. I had probably close to 10 failed attempts at writing a ‘verse’ and had more or less given up, but every time I listened to the original intro/chorus version of the track, I loved it, and knew I just had to get it on this album somehow.

Eventually, as the deadline was approaching to ship the album to Bill Simpkins at Alpenglow Sound Studios for mixing, out of desperation I scrapped the latest verse attempt, and tried evolving the intro melody instead. And it worked! Something was still missing however. I moved the scrapped verse melody over into a bridge to create some variation, but it sounded too similar, flat and uninteresting. I called up my friend, Planet Labs engineer and Musician Extraordinaire, Shomik Chakravarty, for some advice. Shomik came over and suggested I drop the new bridge down a fourth and then modulate back into the original key for the final chorus. We did that, and on the spot, wrote the short little Spanish guitar part (played by Bill on the album) to connect the phrases, and it worked!

One final touch was to send the horn parts out for recording. Rich Armstrong, also a fantastic trumpet player and vocalist, recorded the part with a flugelhorn. On a whim he he also added the little flugelhorn fills and flourishes you can hear throughout. With those little touches, the song was done!

This song is a little unusual, but it means a lot to me, and I am happy to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have, carrying it with me for the past 15 years, dreaming of home.

Listen to the track directly on your favourite service:
Spotify
Youtube
Bandcamp
Amazon Music
Soundcloud

Or find it on the whole album on these other services:
itunes/Apple Music
Google Music