James Joel Holmes

[excerpt]
In Space, Everyone Can Hear Your Beat
We recommend that the legions of cranky, sourpuss, Grandpa Simpson-like people who don’t consider ambient electronica a “real” form of music give a listen to Summerhead (MySpace.com/SummerheadBand). Eden’s Watchtower recording artists James Joel Holmes and Gary Svedin create captivating, arrestingly beautiful songs sure to silence even the most determined haters and please anyone who appreciates music so finely crafted and thoughtful that it’s positively awe-inspiring. Who knew that “basement beats” (Summerhead’s self-defined brand of vintage and space-age music-making techniques) could sound so elegant? (JP)

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Portia, Portia, Portia
Px3 on Buck Dexter, The Green Peanuts and Summerhead

by Portia Early
Salt Lake City Weekly

[excerpt]
Summerhead, “Winterplace”
If you like trance/electronica, this is your local band. Summerhead have been around for at least four years, have released several CDs, and are known for their ethereal modern sounds and German techno influence. I posted “Winterplace” (featuring Suzanne Vega-like vocals from Iberis) on MySpace.com/DJPortia a few months ago, and I received about 20 comments in three days about it. It’s a definite must-listen for ambient fans. (MySpace.com/SummerheadBand)

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Silent Night
SLC indie label Eden’s Watchtower celebrates Christmas with Dead Trees and a Conspiracy.

by Jenny Poplar
Salt Lake City Weekly

These days, the world is teeming with locally run, independent record labels. But how many regional imprints release a Christmas CD, with an annual music showcase to back it up? Locally, there’s only Eden’s Watchtower.

Lanky sound engineer and musician extraordinaire Hyrum Summerhays started Eden’s Watchtower Records in 1996 so that he could distribute his now-defunct band Elsewhere’s debut reverb-heavy cassette. In recent years, graphic designers James Holmes and Oliver Valenzuela—both employees of EWR’s sister company Cue Media—have also help run the label and create its trademark artsy album covers.

Summerhays’ passion for downtempo, thoughtful, finely crafted music eventually led him to sign other bands. His current catalog (online at EdensWatchtower.com) includes an impressive and diverse array of in-state acts, including ethereal darkwave folk-rockers Q Stands for Q and basement maniacs The Child Who Was a Keyhole (imagine a cooler Osmonds cranking out sunny indie pop on Mars, and you’re halfway towards a feasible description of that over-the-top band).

Summerhays believes that marketing is the most difficult part of running a record label. “It’s almost like we do the opposite of promoting ourselves: We bury our work,” he says with a slight grimace. Not an entirely surprising statement from a musician who has fronted a series of bands best classified as “shoegazer.”

EWR has had great success using MySpace, independent Net shop CDBaby.com and iTunes to promote and sell music online. “We’re not pissed off at the Internet, we love it! If somebody pays $1 to buy a song, we get 60 cents,” Summerhays says with great enthusiasm.

Although the physical distribution of CDs is expensive, Summerhays says Eden’s Watchtower will never stop selling them. “CDs are like candy,” he says, with a wide grin. Artful packaging, for people like Summerhays, makes purchasing music a more satisfying, holistic experience.

The legendary British label 4AD—which, in its heyday, boasted bands such as Bauhaus, The Pixies and The Cocteau Twins—has had an enormous artistic impact on Summerhays and other EWR bands. “In the ’90s, you knew you could pick up a CD by a 4AD band that you’d never heard before, and it would be great. All of the music they produced was so high quality. We really strive for that at Eden’s Watchtower.”

Summerhays speculates that 4AD artists have always been particularly popular in Utah because the beautiful, moody music that they produce allows Mormon kids to indulge their creativity and be a little weird without foraying into territory that would make most bishops cringe. In many respects, the bulk of 4AD’s artists produce music that’s the opposite of the traditional rock movement—slow, quiet and not at all in-your-face.

Three years ago, Summerhays—in his characteristic slow, quiet and not at all in-your-face way—decided that it was time to make the holiday season a little less lame. “There’s a lot of really terrible holiday music out there,” he says, “I just thought that maybe our artists could do something that wasn’t so awful.”

Dead Trees: Music for Christmas (Vol. 1) is Eden’s Watchtower’s successful attempt to create a decent compilation of holiday music. The cover features a drawing of a rotund, slightly sinister Santa Claus (by local artist and former Elsewhere member Matt Armstrong) who appears just as likely to burglarize a house as to send presents down the chimney. The tracks range from modern, minimalistic renditions of old classics, such as Mona’s version of “Silent Night,” to new, unconventional offerings like Summerhays’ “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

Although many of EWR’s artists either grew up LDS or are practicing Mormons, Summerhays insists that Dead Trees certainly isn’t a CD of religious songs. The primary objective is to be festive for the sake of being festive.

“Dead Trees’s slogan is ‘Christmas music for people who like Halloween,’” Summerhays explains, “So, we’re definitely not out to impress a traditional Christian audience.” Although it’s highly unlikely that any of the CD’s lovely, albeit unconventional tracks, will alienate anyone.

EWR’s Christmas shows are generally low-key acoustic affairs. This year’s performance—titled The Xmas Tree Conspiracy and taking place at Nobrow Coffee & Tea Company—includes a handful of artists who have been signed since the 2003 release of Dead Trees. The lineup includes The Happies, Patsy Ohio, Calico, Eliza Wren The Jewel Thieves, and sweet-voiced veteran EWR artist Jan Reed (aka Iberis) who contributed two songs to Dead Trees. Although Eden’s Watchtower didn’t release a new Christmas album this year, most of the CDs in the label’s catalog are available online for the bargin basement price of $5 a disc for the duration of December.

Eden’s Watchtower’s Christmas concerts are so well-loved that Summerhays and former EWR artists Theta Naught—who contributed multiple tracks to Dead Trees—decided to organize a second show the following Monday. Theta Naught will also perform an instrumental set at Nobrow, along with Calico (who are getting extra-festive this year by playing both holiday shows), Joel Taylor, poet Alex Caldiero and Repo.

“It’s cold outside,” Summerhays says. “Come to the EWR Christmas shows and warm up!”

THE XMAS TREE CONSPIRACY
Nobrow Coffee & Tea Company
315 E. 300 South
Friday, Dec. 15 & Monday, Dec. 18
6 p.m.

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Hamlet Homes Awarded for Best Web Site at the
2005 Sales and Marketing Awards
Other awards include best Rookie Sales Person, Sales Person and Sales Manager of the Year

by Lisa Millett
Bremer PR

SALT LAKE CITY (September 29, 2005) – Hamlet Homes (www.hamlethomes.com) received the “Best Web Site” award at the Home Builder’s Association of Utah (HBA) 2005 Sales and Marketing Awards ceremony held September 22, 2005 in Salt Lake City. In addition, the HBA recognized Hamlet Sales Representative Brad Cherry as “Rookie Sales Person of the Year,” Jamie Holiday as “Sales Person of the Year,” and Larry Babcock as “Sales Manager of the Year.”
The annual awards competition is sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Utah and its Sales and Marketing Council to recognize achievements in new homes sales and marketing by honoring the excellence of individual sales and marketing professionals as well as home builders and associates.

“We are thrilled to receive these awards and believe they reflect Hamlet’s commitment to providing the highest level of excellence in all that we do,” said David Irwin, Hamlet’s vice president and director of sales and marketing. “We want every interaction with Hamlet, whether in-person, on the phone or via the Internet to be positive, simple and reflect our company’s promise of ‘Great Homes, Great People, Great Experience.’”

On September 1, 2005, Hamlet launched a new design of its company Web site, produced by Salt Lake City-based Cue Media. The site provides benefits for both Hamlet and its customers. The sharp, colorful Web design has new easy-to-use features and an easy-to-read format making it more convenient than ever to shop for a Hamlet Home.

Irwin said that the newly-redesigned site is more user-friendly and includes additional photos, 360° virtual tours, streamlined videos and detailed product information, including interior and exterior photos and renderings. The site reinforces the company’s brand and utilizes searchable text throughout its content, giving Hamlet Homes a competitive advantage in Search Engine Optimization, and navigation bars on every page that speed movement through the site.

Irwin also lauded the three sales members for their outstanding contributions to Hamlet. “Cherry, Holiday and Babcock are our best examples of dedicated sales professionals,” said Irwin. “They have a great understanding of the local housing market, enthusiasm for their work and the ability to relate to customers. We believe the success of these three individuals deserve the recognition of their peers, and obviously the judges of this competition agreed. We were happy to support their nominations.”

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The International Festival of Cinema and Technology Tour Announces Award Winners
The International Festival of Cinema and Technology announces its award winners from its IFCT 2002-2003 World Tour which took place in London, Paris, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York.

The International Festival of Cinema and Technology announces its award winners from its IFCT 2002-2003 World Tour. The tour began December 2002 in Paris, France and concluded August 24th in New York City. Tour locations included the CN Tower, Canadian Broadcast Centre, La Defense (La CNIT), and the Los Angeles Sony Culver Studios. The IFCT 2002-2003 World Tour is designed to give exposure to indie films many of which previously had been underexposed to the public. Many of the tour films incorporate themes of technology; however, technology also comes into play in how the films are showcased at the event itself.

In addition to showcasing indie film talents, the IFCT 2002-2003 World Tour repeatedly broke new technological ground. The IFCT London and IFCT Paris events became the first film festival to take advantage of recent breakthroughs in miniaturization. Employing a newly developed ultra-lightweight DLP projector and lightweight DVD playback system, the IFCT London and Paris system weighed less than 5 lbs, yet yielded vivid and stunning image quality. IFCT Toronto 2003 expanded upon the miniaturization concept with the advent of a complete playback system that included projector, DVD playback system and sound system that weighed a mere ten lbs. IFCT Los Angles featured a display of new technology which converts regular interlaced digital video to 24p with stunning results.

The winners of the tour were selected by a panel of over 50 judges who are based in London, Paris, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York. These judges consisted of film reviewers, magazine editors, music composers, acting teachers, and award winning directors.

IFCT 2002-2003 World Tour Winners

Best Short
WINNER: The Innocent Bystander (Directed by Chris Nixon)

Best Documentary
WINNER: bangkok zigzag (Directed by Robert Kirwan and Michael Dougherty)

Best Short (under 5 minutes)
WINNER: Gear (Directed by Michael Spence)

Best Director of a Short
WINNER: Joseph Ambrosavage for Sunday Dinner

Best Cinematography in a Short
WINNER: The Laughter of God (Directed by Dylan Verrechia)

Best Animation
WINNER: Limboscape (Directed by Tim Finn)

Best Computer Animation
WINNER: An Apple a Day (Directed by Juan Duque)

Best Student Short
WINNER: Mississippi Nedervetil (Directed by Heikki Kossi)

Best Experimental Project
WINNER: Leave Luck to Heaven (Directed by Todd Lincoln)

Best Original Score in a Short
WINNER: Cold (Directed by James Joel Holmes)

Best Documentary Score
WINNER: Mississippi Nedervetil (Directed by Heikki Kossi)

Best Cutting Edge Use of the Documentary Format
WINNER: Sweet Nothings (Directed by James W. Taylor)

Best Comedic Short
WINNER: Bad Assassin (Directed by Don Knowlton)

Best Use of Irreverent Humor in a Short
WINNER: Venus and Lola: Behind the Phenomenon (Directed by Tina Fallon)

Best Actor
WINNER: Pierre O'Farrell (for The Laughter of God)

Best Actress
WINNER: Andrea Diviasky (for Airtime)

Best Short Editing
WINNER: Leave Luck to Heaven (Directed by Todd Lincoln)

Best New Talent (first time filmmaker)
WINNER: Christopher Nixon (for The Innocent Bystander)

Best Use of Technology in a Live Action Short
WINNER The Binding (Directed by Greg Lane)

Best Microbudget Short
WINNER: Peter and the Wolf (Directed by Jessica Childs)

Best Music Video
WINNER: Poem Rocket "Box" (Directed by Liz Bustamante)

The multiple winners from the tour were "The Laughter of God," a drama about an Algerian Journalist in exile which won Best Actor and Best Cinematography; "The Innocent Bystander" about an American who stumbles into a Mexican village to find there has been a rabies epidemic, which won Best Short and Best New Talent; "Leave Luck to Heaven" "a series of vignettes about human loneliness struggling to find its destiny in video games and suburban gated communities" which won Best Experimental and Best Editing; and "Mississippi Nedervetil" a documentary from Finland about a young Finnish blues musician who learns about the blues from an old Mississippi blues master, which won Best Student Film and Best Soundtrack in a Documentary.

Stay tuned for new developments from the International Festival of Cinema and Technology for 2004!

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CD Revue
VARIOUS ARTISTS Dead Trees: Music for Christmas

by Randy Harward
Salt Lake City Weekly

On the third day of Christmas, Eden’s Watchtower gave to me: Three Sunfall Festivals! At two tracks apiece, Mo’-pop bands eat half of Dead Trees. But Summerhead’s hip-hop jam “In the Bleak Midwinter” and Theta Naught’s ambient-slowcore “God Rest Ye ...” are downright dope, ditto DulceSky’s (above) Smiths-en-Español “A Happy Christmas for a Sad Boy.” But most of this is decidedly un-wild oat-sowing from bands with singers bidding for summer gigs at Lagoon, honorary de Azevedo-hood or early entrance into the Choir. (EdensWatchtower.com)

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By Jeff Vice
Deseret News movie critic

Friday, August 04, 2000

One of the pieces of advice given most to aspiring professionals is "Think small." In the movie industry, that adage could be modified to "Think short" — as in short films.

Producing film and video works that are shorter than feature length has been a path to success for many filmmakers who have exhibited their abbreviated works at film festivals around the world — including the Sundance Film Festival in Park City each January.

It's also the path chosen by aspiring filmmaker James Joel Holmes.

Holmes has produced a handful of short works that were shot on digital-video cameras. One of them, "Flat Earth," won the Best Experimental Video prize from the 1999 Utah Short Film and Video Festival.

But he says he may be most proud of his newest, "Cold," a 22-minute work that he describes as "part ghost story, part supernatural drama."

Shot this past January in both Tooele and Salt Lake City, the film stars local actors Seth Campbell, Jonathan Douglas Mason and Jennifer Bradford, and deals with suicide, the afterlife and second chances, according to Holmes.

He says he was hoping to get the film into an independent film festival, possibly even next year's Sundance festival. But first Holmes has to transfer his low-budget piece from digital video to celluloid, something that's currently beyond his means.

"We basically had a budget of zero while making this," he said. "I put it together from money out of my pocket, which is really difficult to do. So now I'm looking for funding for (the film transfer) part of this whole process."

Consequently, Holmes is holding a premiere party/fund-raiser for "Cold" on Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Avalon Theatre, 3605 S. State.

"I'm hoping I'll at least least get a good head start after this. You can't get your film shown at many festivals if it isn't on film," he said.

However, he's already violating that truism, at least to a certain degree. "Flat Earth" can currently be seen on the www.ifilm.com Web site , which allows filmmakers to exhibit their short works and also allows viewers to rate those films.

"The rating is the most important part. That's how you get noticed," Holmes said.

So far, "Flat Earth" seems to be doing well with the Web audience, receiving a 9.9 rating (out of a possible 10). But those results won't become "official" until the film is viewed by at least 1,000 visitors to the site.

"I'm not saying we're trying to prejudice the vote, but I've been trying to spread the word to all my friends by e-mail, telling them to go there and vote," he said.

Holmes is also hoping a similar reception awaits "Cold," though he admitted to having cold feet about the first public screening of the film.

"Maybe I'm not cut out for this," he said. "If I'm already this nervous, I can't imagine what it would be like to have your film seen by a huge audience."

"Cold" is not rated but would probably receive a PG for gore and brief partial nudity. The film premiere/fund-raiser will also include a mini-concert by the composer of the film's soundtrack, Gary Svedin Larson, as well as other local musicians.

Showtime is 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and younger.

For more information on the premiere or about Holmes' other works, contact the Cue Media Web site www.cuemedia.com.