Michael Hearst

Michael Hearst

Michael Marcus Hearst (born December 27, 1972, Virginia Beach, Virginia) is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist and writer.

His musical instruments include claviola, theremin, guitar, piano, drums and bass. He earned a degree in music composition from Virginia Commonwealth University.

He has been a founding member of the groups Schwa, Fashion Central, Maud Gonne, Anon, and One Ring Zero. One Ring Zero’s acclaimed album, As Smart As We Are, includes lyrics contributed by various authors including Paul Auster, Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Lethem, A.M. Homes, Neil Gaiman, Rick Moody and Dave Eggers. His most recent works include a solo album entitled Songs For Ice Cream Trucks the website Songs For Newsworthy News and the soundtrack for the film The Good Mother.

Hearst also established Urban Geek Studios and Urban Geek Records, where he has produced, recorded, and worked on post production for a number of bands and projects including Guided by Voices, Kansas, and Robert Creeley.

Hearst has performed and given lectures and workshops at universities, museums, and cultural centers around the world. He has also appeared on such shows at NPR's Fresh Air, A+E's Breakfast With The Arts, and NBC's The Today Show.

As a writer, Hearst's stories have appeared in literary journals such as McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Post Road, Parenthetical Note, The Lifted Brow, and The Muse Apprentice Guild.

In 2008, Hearst toured with The Magnetic Fields as their support act, reading flash-non-fiction stories, and performing selections from Songs For Newsworthy News.

In April, 2009, Hearst performed Terry Riley's Concert in C alongside the Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass, Dave Douglas (trumpeter), Osvaldo Golijov, Morton Subotnick, and many others at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Discography

Albums

• Schwa “Footleg Room” (1991) (Joe Lee Records)
• Schwa “Phoney Karate” (1992) (Joe Lee Records)
• Fashion Central “Underwood” (1994) (Brilliant Records)
• Maud Gonne “Buff Silky” (1996) (Urban Geek Records)
• Anon “Anon” (1998) (Urban Geek Records)
• One Ring Zero “Tranz Party” (1999) (Planetary Records)
• One Ring Zero “Alice” (2001) (Urban Geek Records)
• One Ring Zero “Interludes and Out-takes from The Pumpkin Pie Show” (2001) (Urban Geek Records)
• One Ring Zero “Memorandum” (2002) (Urban Geek Records)
• One Ring Zero “As Smart As We Are” (2004) (Soft Skull Press)
• One Ring Zero and Rick Moody (2004) (Isota Records)
• One Ring Zero “New York Spleen” (2005) (Naïve Records)
• Sophie Auster (2005) (Actes Sud / Naïve Records)
• One Ring Zero “As Smart As We Are” (2006) (Barbes Records)
• One Ring Zero “Wake Them Up” (2006) (Barbes Records)
• Michael Hearst “Songs For Ice Cream Trucks” (2007) (Urban Geek Records)
• Beat Circus "Dreamland" (2008) (Cuneiform Records)
• One Ring Zero “Live At Barbes” (2008) (Barbes Records)

EPs

• Schwa (1993) (Brilliant Records)
• Fashion Central (1995) (Spin Art Records)
• One Ring Zero “The Sirens of Red Hot” (2004) (Isota Records)
• One Ring Zero and Rick Moody (2004) (Isota Records)

Film Scores

• The Good Mother (2009) (dir. Sarah Klein)

Video

• One Ring Zero “Addendum” (2005) (Urban Geek Records)
• As subject One Ring Zero “As Smart As Thet Are” (2006) (Urban Geek Records)

External links

• MichaelHearst.com - Official website
• Michael Hearst interviewed by Vol. 1 Brooklyn