Turning it up to "Fahrenheit 450" with Higher Lows
There are few to none in the Bay Area or surrounding world at large that operate as expertly and intuitively across concepts and mediums as Jon Bernson. From elaborate multimedia/performance art installations at the de Young, providing immersive and atmospheric sound design for the theatre, cinematic scores and the historic succession of the canonized acts like THEMAYS, Ray's Vast Basement, Window Twins and Exray's — Bernson's current electronic artistic monolith operates on today's streaming platform frequencies under the handle Higher Lows. Alongside longtime collaborator Jason Kick (J. Chrysanthemum, Maus Haus), the duo allude to the insightful dystopian observances by Ray Bradbury in modern day cautionary tales mixed in a retro-econo-Casio melange of keys.
Higher Lows styles up the thrift-stores synths with a news reel collection of civic and civil fallout with “Fahrenheit 450”. Dialing the temperature to one notch beneath the eponymous numeric figure of its copyrighted namesake; Jason & Jon’s “Fahrenheit” bring a behind the scenes view of the track keyboard creations from Oakland’s Tunnel Vision to The Space Program in SF. Utilizing throwback CRT televisions, video backgrounds and overlays — Higher Lows take you into the deep recesses of the visual tubes where upheavals both contemporary and classic are interspersed together through montage edited depictions of political villainy and the corresponding explosive world events. The rhythmic synth punctuation, Bernson's words of warning and woe in conjunction with the flashing art house pulse of press images of danger and doom creates a catchy bop that moves like clock-hands skipping in reverse to match the motif of regressive executive leadership. The two and a half minute whirlwind time altering nightmare wonder bop reiterates the urgent need for progressive, inclusive and constructive action like a not-so-subtle to remind us all to VOTE.
Jon Bernson introduced us to the world of Higher Lows with the following creative insights:
When I first heard Various Positions by Leonard Cohen, I felt this weird push and pull. His use of a Casio backing band made the music sound like it was sponsored by Walmart, or something you'd hear playing in the background at Guitar Center. But Cohen was singing about these heavy topics that threw the music into a different context. I was too young to understand this study in opposites, but eventually, many years later, I came around. Higher Lows is my attempt to use the humor of the Casio to bring balance to the weight of the subjects I'm writing about in my songs.
The whole process has conjured up tons of Casio memories from childhood, for both Jason and myself. The musical tropes are so ingrained into our psyches. Like a GarageBand loop, each Casio pre-set has to represent an entire genre through one basic sample; all of the possibilities and variations are distilled into this super generic version of itself. It's kind of horrifying and amazing to me. Also, a welcome limitation. At a time when we have thousands of choices and so much control at the ready, it's freeing to focus on one thing and to find creative ways to make that thing work.
Keep up with all of Jon Bernson’s latest artistic endeavors via the artist’s site.
