Big news – We just got featured on BoingBoing! A huge thanks to Cory for taking note of our work – we couldn’t be more thrilled. And welcome, BoingBoing readers! We hope you enjoy what you see here and spread the word about our project. Somewhere out there, we just know there’s a music lover …
Support XyloVan on Indiegogo!
That’s right, friends, we’re campaigning on Indiegogo right now! Please jump in, check out our video and give as much as you can to help XyloVan get back on the road and all gussied up with new lights, sound and instruments. Please share this link with your friends and help us bring more music to …
Xylovan’s neighbors – and our coming Indiegogo campaign!
So – a little background: a) We live on a narrow, hilly street, but most of the neighbors are cool. b) We’re almost ready to kick off our IndieGogo campaign to give Xylovan a badly-needed new engine c) Not all the neighbors are cool, it seems d) We just jumpstarted it (had to use both …
Building “The Light Fandango” on playa
Like XyloVan’s other mutation (Janus), The Light Fandango took shape over many weeks of building, sewing and all-round hackery. And like Janus, the final product was disassembled for transport (via its own bad self) to the playa of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, where we then built everything back onto XyloVan to achieve its full mutation …
What happened … And what’s next for XyloVan
So here we were, all ready for Burning Man 2013. We were gonna drive up there, set up XyloVan for all the Swing City visitors to play, get re-married on Tuesday, volunteer at Gate and Cafe again – just have a total ball. Look! Here’s Xylovan all stuffed to the gills with gear, ready …
Xylovan down, but crew will make it to BRC
Sad news, friends. Xylovan suffered a mysterious overheating problem en route to the playa. After toiling 12 hours to replace the thermostat and water pump in a gas station in one of the sketchier parts of Pacoima, we were heartbroken to discover that the problem still wasn’t cured, so we made the best decision we …
Lucidity Festival 2013
Lucidity Festival was a much needed calm in the storm of our lives. Lately, it’s seemed like the plates we’re spinning are spinning us, and someone keeps adding more plates! At some point, your realize your life is living you, and you need to re-center, to find peace and solidity among solid souls with good …
L.A. Burning Man Bequinox 2013 – The first time
We built Seraphim, a 24-foot-high multi-ton wooden sculpture, in the desert last weekend near Joshua Tree, for BEquinox, the inaugural spring gathering of the Los Angeles Burning Man community. Four artists adorned the flame vortex with angels representing the four largest cultures of modern L.A. – Latino, African, European and Asian – and participants wrote …
L.A. Decom 2012 – Unifying angels and syncopating devils
Bigger, lusher, deeper, louder – better. The L.A. Burning Man Decompression Arts Festival grew in scope and beauty this year. We were really staggered and touched by all of you gorgeous people who came by to play and chat with us – and we wish we had met even more of you, but Decom beckoned, …
XyloVan walkaround – L.A. Decom 2012
XyloVan in full voice – L.A. Decom 2012
Be warned – it’s LOUD. And that makes us happy.
Drumming on XyloVan at L.A. Decom 2012
Contemplative jam at L.A. Decom 2012
Thank you LA Decom friends!
We had an awesome time meeting you all and hearing you play! We’ll have some photos and video up shortly. Meantime, come find us on Facebook!
Photos from Caine’s Arcade Day of Play
Fun at Caine’s Arcade – The Cardboard Challenge Day of Play
XyloVan was thrilled and tickled to be invited to join hundreds of kids (and grownups indulging their inner children) at the Caine’s Arcade Cardboard Challenge DAY OF PLAY. Kids in Boyle Heights (and at Cardboard Challenge events all over the world) built wild, amazing toys, games and masks out of cardboard, tape and a little …
Burning Man 2012 – Whoa, what was THAT all about?
We left the playa 8 days ago. We’re still trying to figure out this exhilarating, \ exhausting, just-got-mugged-in-a-brothel feeling. Our 9th burn – the 6th for our two kids – started out wild. Then it grew wacky, turned mostly wonderful – and then veered toward the horribly woeful and deeply weird. In the end, 2012 …
Burning Man 2012: Burn Wall Street – and torch that Egyptian god while you’re at it
At some point – say, \next year – we’ll probably quit aiming a camera at the same damn spectacle that everyone else is videoing and actually absorb a burn face-to-face with open soul, unfiltered by a 2-inch screen. Until then, we’re happy to share these videos of Burn Wall Street and the Anubis burn: Word …
Mutant Vehicle of the Year Award for Burning Man 2012
XyloVan loves meeting fellow mutant vehicles. On Tuesday night, we stumbled across “Fusion,” a fantastic V8-powered desert roadster hand-wrought entirely of stainless-steel tubing, laboratory reactor vessels, LED arrays and raw badassery. We can’t find much on the web about it – no build log, a few photos on Facebook, but it appears to be tied …
Contemplative Laura
Laura – a multiinstrumentalist who dropped by to discuss XyloVan mallet technology found a mood: