Hearing music, seeing sounds, Justin Lassen continues to create digital musical art,
in collaboration with the community.
CGSociety :: Artist Profile
29 July 2008, Paul Hellard
Just over two years ago, I looked outside the square a little to find a digital artist not so much working full-time to create images on the computer, but creating images in people’s minds with his ethereal music.
Justin Lassen has almost a decade of experience in the music, film and game industries. Many acclaimed artists had been touched by his work, having had music written by him, or they have been moved to create images after hearing his symphonies.
The first CGSociety article introduced a music composer’s work and the images painted by many in the professional art community inspired by the music he portrayed. Justin Lassen also went in the other direction and wrote pieces for the images he saw in our pages, and the pages set up by the artists themselves in their CGPortfolios. Here now is a feature, totally given over to the sound and the visual art of the combined inspirations of the CGSociety, with new compositions and some gorgeous artwork choices!
Music career
Lassen has produced remixes for artists like Madonna, Garbage, Blue Man Group, Lenny Kravitz, Robert Miles, Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park, Evanescence, Apocalyptica as well as many others. He's also worked on various high-profile projects for game and technology companies such as Interplay, Cakewalk and Intel. In 2003, he released a dark chamber suite entitled 'And Now We See But Through A Glass Darkly' (5.5 million copies in circulation) which caught immediate critical acclaim and response from both the industry and public alike. Lassen's masterful compositions have been praised and quoted by leading CG artists, film, game and music professionals the world over. In 2006 he released his wildly successful 'Synaesthesia' series on CGSociety, melding the worlds of music and CG artwork together. That was just the beginning.
Justin now has artists approaching him to compose music inspired from their images. In addition to having an audio-graphic mind, he also has a very visual imagination. “As artists approach me, I feel it is very easy to take their visual arts and convert them into musical compositions,” he says. “In a sense, the music is already composed, and my eye converts what it sees into audio, through my fingers. I believe that it is very natural for visual artists to want to add a new dimensionality to their work with audio.
As I compose tracks based on other artwork, I find so much inspiration in the color, texture and subjects of these pieces. I put myself into the scene wholly and completely rather than looking at it from afar or objectively, as if I am standing right there in the middle and get goose bumps from how real it can feel.”
Inspiration
Many digital visual artists might listen to music while painting, or become inspired by something they hear, so here, Justin is doing very much the reverse. “I feel a welcome synergy every time,“ Justin continues. “Some would call this a blessing or a curse otherwise known as Synaesthesia.“
Justin Lassen has also been busy on a wide variety of projects. In recent news he produced the mobile game ‘Red Isle: The Dark Relics' a fun re-playable gem of the mobile arena, with fellow artist and creator Damien Hostin.
He also announced a new video game concept called "Lord Retro" late last year. “I'm working with two of CGSociety's great artists, whom are wholeheartedly involved in the concept artwork that is helping me to shape this new 'retro' universe. Martin Bland and Alex Ruiz. I adore these guys.“
The soundtrack has played a big role in the inspiration of this new yet familiar universe for both artists and the rest of the team.
Last year he finished the 27-track score to the video game "Out of Hell", which is the cult-hit of the mod world with a rabid fan base. It has already been featured in famous magazines like The Escapist Magazine, PC Gamer (US and UK), as well as the top Unreal and engine modding sites (Epic Games Engine).
“My partner, and veteran modder/developer, is one of the best in the scene. I'm really quite proud of him,” quips Justin. "The game itself was five years in the making, and will come out later this year (2008)!"
