Steve Schmitt has been one of Seattle's most distinctive guitarists and composers over the last 20 years. His sinuous, left-handed riffs and strange melodies have helped to define the long-running trio Diminished Men, who've reigned among the Pacific Northwest's most adventurous rock groups since 2004.
Schmitt comes from an artistic family whose members attended Black Mountain College, a hotbed of innovative creativity. His itinerant father Rupert ran a poetry journal called Scribble in the early '50s and hung out with members of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and beatnik poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti; Schmitt’s aunt danced with Merce Cunningham; and uncle served as John Cage's teaching assistant; they attended classes taught by Buckminster Fuller & Bauhaus student color theorist Joseph Albers. In Schmitt's clan, a subtle pressure to become an artist asserted itself, and he gravitated to animated movies, photography, and the mysteries of the guitar.
In the late '90s, Schmitt got hip to Ennio Morricone and other Italian film composers such as Piero Piccioni and Pierro Umiliani, as well as exotica and lounge music. In the early 2000s, Schmitt met drummer Dave Abramson and they formed Diminished Men. After Diminished Men signed to Alan Bishop’s Abduction Records, Schmitt became exposed to Bishop and Hisham Mayet’s Sublime Frequencies label, which turbocharged his growing interest in harmonic minor scales and non-Western interpretations of Western music. Assimilating these influences—along with a deep dive into Turkish psychedelia abetted by Abramson—Schmitt found many ingenious ways to incorporate reverb and darkly beautiful melodies into his guitar playing and compositions. His music is proof that when talented players channel foreign music, unexpectedly interesting sounds ensue.
-Dave segal.
Personal notes on- Music, Sound Manipulation, motion graphics & Name dropping
Diminished Men has played with legendary bands such as Pere Ubu, Skerik, Wayne Horvitz, Secret Chiefs 3, Dengue Fever, Tinariwen, Bad Luck, Master Musicians of Bukkake, Chrome, Rangda and La Luz, and has live-scored several films during showings at the Seattle International Film Festival. We have toured internationally and received praise and support from publications such as Wire UK, Maggot Brain (third man records) Vice, The Stranger, Quietus, Herald of Scotland, and The Seattle Times.
Motion Graphics & Animation
I attended a two-year multimedia program and studied a curriculum that included photography, animation, and other disciplines. I concentrated on animation and the various mediums with which to achieve it, learning all aspects of motion graphics from motion tracking to physics and shape animation, from hand drawn looks to scene composition.I went to work at Tuned In, digitally coloring cell frame animation in Photoshop, but was soon drawn back to my first love, music.
Creative Problem Solver
In the past decade I have written music for documentaries & film, including work with Sci_Arc in Los Angeles, and contributed to ad hoc motion design projects for clients including several looping descriptive videos for UC Berkeley Hass Business school.
I bring a unique skill set to the motion graphics table with my proven ability to compose music, troubleshoot animation problems, and creatively marry music and motion in a way that creates a cohesive infographic or ad to support a company brand and message.
-S Schmitt
Seattle WA
stephanoschmitt@gmail.com