Chinto is my solo project involving beat looping and live electric guitar that I started a couple of years ago, shortly after moving to Prague. As much as cooperating with other musicians in bands is endlessly fun, I also needed a musical space where I could experiment and create completely on my own terms. The vibe revolves around trip hop, downtempo and electronica, resulting in a eclectic genre you could call exotic dance music or perhaps tribal shoegaze... or just have a listen and judge for yourself! Stemming from my love of efective simplicty and belief that skill is more important than equipment, I play an entry level Telecaster electric guitar (stock pickups and all!). To complete the contrasting nature of my music and to add an organic vibe, I'm using a Launchpad + Ableton Live setup during performances. My personal challenge here has always been joining brave minimalism and intricate complexity - which on one hand means not being afraid of playing simple, but on the other hand finding space for plenty of creativity.
I've been working on the concept of Chinto since 2018. Anticipating the time challenges linked with single-handedly producing any large project, I planned a twin release of two shorter albums instead of going for an hour long first release. Knowing that, I named my first solo album "Ying" - it was completed and released in June 2020.
The cover features a digital illustration made on the reference of the Telecaster I'm using for Chinto. The release was supported by an animated music video for "The Single" in the isometric style of the cover, featuring the limited setup on which I used to work.
A nice little break between albums, Rosy was made on a pleasant autumn at the dawn of the Great World Pandemic of 2020.
Almost exactly a year after, "Yang" followed "Ying" as my second full album. Both records contain seven songs and exist as counterparts, differing slightly in terms of their signature sound, while still coming together into a consistent, hour long live set.
In order to further underline that dual nature, the cover is a visual remix of the same intricate illustration.
With The Stoned Ape Theory becoming the priority project for some time, it took me over three years to complete "III", and with it - Chinto came back with a blast. The extended time spent on this album allowed me to learn and really think about where I want to go with this project and what I'd like it to be. Showcasing a medical grade precision mix of exotic influences, the third album is a new turn on the project's journey, but not a complete revolution. There's also the first track with my own vocals!
Album art is a 3D scene prepared in Cinema4D and rendered in Redshift - realistic enough to convey the simple message and surreal enough to suggest another one.
Machinima is the art of creating a visual narrative within the constraints of something like a computer game. GTA V and GTA Online give you the opportunity to record clips in-game and edit them afterwards in a dedicated Rockstar Editor, so it's a very good tool for such creative adventures. In the end, that's what creativity is, right? The ability to find solutions to problems - and if there are no challenges, it may be difficult to create. Most of all, however, it's fun to challenge yourself and the results can be very interesting!
The release activity around "III" featured a large set of related posts focusing on various inspirations, technical details of production and how-to videos detailing some of the equipment and software I used. Another recurring behind-the-scenes subject was my musical notepad - carrying not only all the tablatures for my songs, but usually a larger or smaller doodle connected to the song as well. Look, a platypus!