| Audioplasm is the partnership of Polarity/1 (Polar Levine) and Rubio, two musicians with widely diverse influences and talents and whose work has been characterized by finding the creative sweet spot where all musical genres, cultures and eras converge. They formed a creative team, first by collaborating on individual projects and then composing, performing and producing their first CD, HEAVY MEADOW.
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At the same time they were commissioned to score a new feature-length documentary IN DEBT WE TRUST: America Before The Bubble Bursts, directed by multi-award winning journalist, filmmaker and author Danny Schechter. Polarity/1 also scored Schechter's previous film WMD: Weapons Of Mass Distraction.
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In the fall of 2006 Audioplasm launched their dual path -- applied music (films, advertising, video gaming, etc.) and music for commercial release as downloads, CDs and for lisencing.
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They offer music that is uniquely visual, evocatively textured and like no other music out there. At the same time they're well versed in an enormous range of styles and they create within each genre's conventions as well as spicing-to-taste elements of the unexpected. They can sing in English, Spanish and Portugeuse.
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Rubio and Polar have an amazing ability to play off each other's strengths and influences instantly and efficiently. They can turn around any project as quickly and professionally as anybody in the business.
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The music of Polarity/1 (A.K.A. Polar Levine) is exactly what the name suggests: conjoined opposites -- a mash-up of new: cutting edge electronica/hip hop/nu-jazz and old: roots music of America (blues, funk, country, early jazz), Brazil (samba, pagode, etc.) and West African groove science. Since age two, Polar has been exposed to every genre of music from every time and place. He hears genres as colors on a pallet -- not as categories to to be filed under or committed to. He first made a name for himself in Boston as a composer for experimental theater and dance, advertising and TV. He was also known as a performance artist, actor and visual artist.
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Much of his music at the time was abstract soundscapes constructed from mangled samples, synths, percussion, stringed instruments and noisy items found in the trash. When he moved to New York he left the art music scene and got groove. After a few years of playing percussion in samba bands at S.O.B.'s and other venues, Polar landed in hip hop which combined his interests in grooves, samples and wordplay into one form. He and rapper D.A.V. became Medicine Crew. In the aftermath of 9/11 Polar was asked to do a remix for Nile Rodgers' We Are Family Project released on a compilation by Tommy Boy Records. His experience of 9/11 which was perpetrated in his neighborhood led to a collaboration with multi-platinum Pakistan rock band Junoon resulting in their hit song No More; BBC Radio profiled Junoon leader Salmad Ahmad and Polar as part of a series on great music collaborations. In 2003 Polar founded with drummer Curtis Watts, Battery Drumline -- an all-kids samba school.
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Polar's experience as a visual artist and graphic designer has a deep influence on Polarity/1's music whose use of surreal imagery and sonic events make the music and lyrics vividly cinematic. Polarity/1's most recent CD's, SPEECHLESS and PRETTIER THAN YOU, on his subTEKst label, represent two ongoing streams: instrumentals and songs. Speechless was one of five nominees for Best Electronica CD of 2004 for indie music organization JFP. It's been remastered and ready to be rereleased. John Hollander has choreographed four tracks from Speechless for New York's Battery Dance Company's Fall Season opening in November 2006.
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Indie music site Broadjam.com had placed eight Polarity/1 songs in their Top Ten categories including Best Song All Genres, Alternative, Electronic, Experimental Electronic. Four of those have placed #1 in their respective chart.
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Currently Polarity/1 is best known for its political songs which are a regular feature of Amy Goodman's globally sindicated Democracy Now and other politics-oriented broadcasts, used in college courses on media and licensed for use in documentaries by multi-award-winning journalist/filmmaker/author Danny Schechter (WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception, and the just completed In Debt We Trust) and Pedro Carvahal (Subvertising). Polar also scored both of Schechter's films and was Music Supervisor on In Debt We Trust. His essays on music and media issues have been distributed all over the web. |
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Rubio is a product of his time, age, and his varied experience in the music business. Born in the year 1973 in his native Canada, Rubio has been performing live since the age of 8.
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He started out as a classical /standard-trained pianist who developed himself as a young musician with the artistic flexibility to move on to learning other styles, which he included in his repertoire, such as Rock, Country, Jazz, R&B, Brazilian music and many Latin and Tropical music styles. By age 16, Rubio was professionally involved in the music business on a full time basis, touring and playing with more than 100 bands in a ten-year span. In 1991 he moved to Toronto, where he decided to upgrade his musical talents, i.e. keyboard and vocals..
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While in Toronto, he was introduced to Salsa when he joined a back-up band for singer Lalo Rodriguez. After watching Rubio's performance on piano, Lalo's manager encouraged him to pursue a career in Latin music, and that New York City would be a good place to consider for this. The advice didn't go unheeded and 5 years later, Rubio left the Toronto music scene and obtained a work visa, which landed him in NYC.
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Once in the Big Apple, Rubio became involved in playing, arranging and producing Latin music. He focused on polishing his already-prodigious musical abilities. He's worked with numerous local bands and solo performers and in 1999 completed his first full-length album titled "Estaciones". Rubio continues to diversify himself within the music business.
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He's currently a music director at a South Bronx church, tours with Salsa and Rock bands and owns and operates 88 Fingers Productions, a recording studio in the North Bronx.He also works as a freelance A&R and music consultant based out of New York and on the internet with his webpage. He can also be heard online as a co-host of the Podcast show titled La Kura.
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