Here’s a brief (totally staged) look at what my typical day consists of these days. Nothing but web work from morning till night.

I’ve been listening to Tettix for a couple of years now — since before he was Tettix, actually.  Probably since the first time I heard Technology Crisis I wanted to animate something to his music, likely with giant robots.  That never materialized for me and I always figured he’d say “no” when asked if a no-name could use his work uncompensated.

I think his music came up in conversation at the first ever Jet Set Zero production meeting back in Seattle and we all said “yeah, it would be rad to have that on the show,” then never did anything about it.  After our success with Space Captain in Season 1 though, I started seriously considering contacting him.  I thought it was going to be a difficult process of convincing him to let us use his music so when I got an immediate “sure, your show looks cool!” the next day I was left pretty confused with all my follow up arguments dangling in the wind.

Getting his music on the show has been great, but it was all seriously just a ploy to let me use Earth’s Assault on the Central A.I. in… something.  I didn’t care how or in what context, I needed to work with that song.  So thank you Judson, and thank you to all the other groups we’ve worked with over the past year. You’ve been a big part of making Jet Set Zero what it is today.

We’ll probably be using more of Tettix’s work in the future along with our ever growing roster of new musicians, so stay tuned and don’t forget to check out the artists’ pages!

Judson Cowan, better known as Tettix, graciously allowed us to use his music throughout our second season. Watch Episode 3: Things To Do in Tokyo When You’re Broke to hear how his song, “The Graves of Good Humans”, allowed us to communicate the surreal melancholy of our time in Tokyo.

When Jed first approached me about using my music for JetSetZero I didn’t fully appreciate the scope of what the guys were doing. I get a lot of fans wanting to use my music for this or that – and I’m always willing – but the majority of it thus far has been YouTube dabblers and first-year film majors. Needless to say: one season later I’m glad I signed on.

I’ve always strived to tell a story with my music. I usually insert subtle hints at what the story in my mind was but I mostly leave it up to the listener to interpret. I’m always curious to see different people’s interpretations too. It really gives me no end of joy. Some people apply my music in ways that hit pretty close to the mark. Others apply it in ways I never would have imagined. I cannot think of a more flattering application than JSZ’s adventures in Tokyo. A truly remarkable story. It’s a constantly evolving beast that I think has grown into something the guys never would have expected when they embarked but I’m sure all of you viewers – like myself – have been spellbound the whole way. And as much as I hate to end a sentence in a preposition, it’s a story I’m humbled to be part of.

I would never have the balls to sell my place and quit my job. To give up all the creature comforts I’ve amassed over the years. To fly thousands of miles from my home country without an inkling of what lay in store for me. All I can do is sit in the comfort of my studio, thousands of miles away, and type “absolutely!” whenever Jed asks to use a new song. I may have only contributed music, the other great bands who have been involved may only have done the same, the viewers may only have contributed their time, but we’re all cheering you on and we’re all thrilled to be along for the ride.

Ganbatte, fellas.

To learn more about Tettix, and for a full song archive, visit www.tettix.net. You can find “The Graves of Good Humans” on Technology Crisis II.

Finding fun in Tokyo without any cash is a constantly evolving creative challenge.

Finally, an episode out on time!  Ever since I made it back to the States I’ve had trouble keeping things on schedule.  Before I went to Japan I was always at a two week lag from real time, and when I was with the crew on the road I was experiencing things as they happened, but at all times I had to be thinking a few weeks ahead to do my job as producer.  About 60% of my time is spent as editor thinking about what did happen, and about 40% of my time is spent as executive producer/director thinking about what will happen, and the result is that I spend a clean 100% of my time confused.  I was too inexperienced when starting this project to know why production and planning staff are almost always separate, but I think I’ve got the gist of it after living for a few months in this scheduled haze.

This week also marks the debut of our newest musical contributor: Tettix!  I’ve been listening to Judson Cowan’s music for years, both in his current incarnation and under his previous handle of Cicada.  His work has been featured in a number of creative spots, including this Boing Boing short.  It gives me no shortage of pleasure to be editing to his music, in this episode The Graves of Good Humans from the startling Technology Crisis II.  I hope to use a few more of Tettix’s tracks before Season 2 is up, but in the meantime check out all his albums at www.tettix.net or purchase his songs on iTunes!