Pablo Avion

Pablo Avion
Background information
Origin California, USA
Occupation(s) Comedian, Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Years active 2005–present
Associated acts Melinda Hill, Nate Bargatze, Silversun Pickups, Giant Drag, Tanya Haden, Nick Lucero, Korel Tunador, Steve Nieve, Dean and Dan Caten, Fern Mallis
Website http://www.pabloavion.com

Pablo Avion (born Pablo Lopez, also aka Paul Avion or Pablo Van Arsdalen, a native of New Orleans, LA) is a musician,[1] occasional comedian,[2] and writer [3] from Los Angeles, CA.

Avion performs music and comedy under the name Paul Avion, and runs Fashion Week Online under the name Pablo Van Arsdalen.[4]

Pataphor

He is inventor of the pataphor, an extended metaphor based on Alfred Jarry's science of 'pataphysics, which has appeared in art exhibits,[5] short films,[6] musical compositions,[7] interactive games,[8] and literary studies.[9][10]

He is cited in The Disappearance of Literature: Blanchot, Agamben, and the Writers of the No.[11]

"It is the linguistic register of pataphysics that bestows its most useful political meaning, as Pablo Lopez has demonstrated in his book, Pataphors, where he coins the term 'pataphor' to further extend the unworking, refusal, and creation at issue in Jarry's work into the operations of language. As Jarry claimed that pataphysics existed 'as far from metaphysics as metaphysics extends from regular reality,' a pataphor is a figure of speech located as far from metaphor as metaphor is from nonfigurative language.' While metaphysics and metaphors attain one degree of separation from reality, pataphors and pataphysics move beyond by two degrees. This allows an idea to assume its own life, a sort of plasticity freed from the harness of rigid representation. Metaphors, in other words, operate on the level of the same; they juxtapose apparently unrelated material in order to draw out subtle identities. Pataphors unsettle this mechanism; they use the facade of metaphorical similarity as a basis for establishing an entirely new range of references and outlandish articulations: a new world in the midst of the old, the novel taking to the streets. Just as Kafka sought to forge a new form of life on the basis of absolute separation from historical progress, on cultural 'intransmissibility,' and just as Blanchot pursued the 'pure novel' that exists in a relationship of absolute refusal of the established world, so the pataphysician seeks to initiate a new world on the grounds of a tenuous unreality."[12][13]

Musical career and releases

Pablo Avion moved from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 2005, settling into the Silver Lake music scene, home to artists such as Jenny Lewis, Elliott Smith, Giant Drag and the Silversun Pickups. He originally formed the band Par Avion, which featured a revolving lineup, including musicians such as Tanya Haden (cellist, sister of Petra Haden, now wed to comedian Jack Black), and Ben Mumphrey, producer of Frank Black & the Catholics.[14]

In 2009, as musician "Paul Avion," he was chosen by SPIN.com as an Artist to Watch,[1] and he is also known for living and working in the slums of Africa for the now-defunct site, SPIN Earth.[15]

As Paul Avion, he is noted for music that encompasses a wide variety of styles, from folk to experimental to electronic pop,[16][17] with most of his songs apparently coming from dreams.[18] He has said he considers himself a "sound explorer" in the vein of Joni Mitchell or Leonard Cohen, who he cites as major influences.[19][20]

He has received further press in College Music Magazine, Glasswerk UK, Sentimentalist Magazine and other outlets.[17][21][22][23]

He has released a number of singles, such as "Stand Up, Be a Man" and "Fibromyalgia", which have appeared on PBS' Roadtrip Nation,[24] Fuel TV's extreme sports show, The Daily Habit, and AMC's Hollywood Icon.[25]

In June 2009, Under the Radar Magazine's Digital Sampler, Volume IX included the single "Art School Dropout" along with a number of bands from Sub Pop, Merge Records and Saddle Creek Records.[26]

In 2010, he announced his first solo album, entitled R U With Me. The first track released was "Henry Sage & Mrs. Wolverton".[27][28][29][30][31]

As of December 2010, R U With Me had reached number 7 on CMJ's new adds chart and had hit the top 30 lists of various stations,[32][33] as well as receiving write-ups and recommendations from several.[34][35][36] The album also scored at the top of a poll of "What Record Are You Looking Forward to Most" by Magnet Magazine.[37]

In October 2012, he released Summerland / Self-Destroyer.[23][38]

Summerland / Self-Destroyer charted in the top 30 at several stations, including Radio UTD and KSPC.[39][40][41]

Fashion career

He runs publications such as Fashion Week Online and New York Fashion Week Live, where he's interviewed musicians such as Steve Nieve, in collaboration with Sting and Vanessa Paradis.[42][43]

He's interviewed fashion icons such as Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared2[44] and New York Fashion Week creator Fern Mallis.[45]

Comedy career

Under the name "Pablo Avion," he has been active in stand-up comedy, with appearances at Los Angeles comedy clubs including Flappers and The Comedy Store in Hollywood.[46][47][48]

In November 2014, he was featured on a podcast with comedian Nate Bargatze (Late Night with Conan O'Brien; The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon).[49][50][51]

He is a collaborator with comedian Melinda Hill, (Funny or Die's The Program with Maria Bamford).[52]

Activist work

In January 2010, the now-defunct SPIN-owned publication SPIN Earth announced the publication of a series of articles covering Paul Avion's trip to the slums of Kenya.[53][54][55][56]

On November 3, 2010, the video for "Stop Joseph Kony" was released, filmed while living in one of Africa's slums, and[57] meant to draw attention to atrocities committed by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda.

Discography

Videography

Other appearances

References

  1. 1 2 "SPIN Picks: 8 Undiscovered Bands Worth a Listen". Spin.
  2. ↑ "Flappers Comedy Club and Restaurant :: Burbank :: Claremont :: Comedy Workshops".
  3. ↑ "Moschino Attacks Itself, Celebrates Fashion at its Most Playful - Fashion Week Online". Fashion Week Online.
  4. ↑ "Pablo Van Arsdalen - Van Arsdalen". Van Arsdalen.
  5. ↑ "Tara Strickstein’s “Pataphor” at Next Art Fair/Art Chicago 2010 - Art Talk Chicago".
  6. ↑ The Pataphor. 27 October 2006 – via YouTube.
  7. ↑ "Music - Pataphor". Pataphor.
  8. ↑ "PataNoir".
  9. ↑ "The Disappearance of Literature".
  10. ↑ "Pataphor and Pataphors: Official Site Home".
  11. ↑ The Disappearance of Literature: Blanchot, Agamben, and the Writers of the No (Reprint ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. 2015-03-26. ISBN 9781501306808.
  12. ↑ "Pataphor and Pataphors: Official Site Home".
  13. ↑ "The Disappearance of Literature".
  14. ↑ Website Brands, Inc.(tm). "Paul Avion". Coolspotters.
  15. ↑ "ONE Member Paul Avion Blogs Africa Visit for SPIN". ONE.
  16. ↑ http://skopemag.com/2009/04/07/may-2009-sonicbids-"artists-2-watch"#more-8892
  17. 1 2 "Artist to Watch: Par Avion - Collegenews.". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  18. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150907151211/http://www.antimusic.com/news/10/dec/02Singled_Out-_Paul_Avions_R_U_With_Me.shtml
  19. ↑ "Interview with Paul Avion". MusicRemedy/. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014.
  20. ↑ Team Clermont. "Team Clermont • Paul Avion". Archived from the original on 2 November 2010.
  21. ↑ "Par Avion – ‘Fibromyalgia’ EP".
  22. ↑ "Paul Avion - Glasswerk Magazine".
  23. 1 2 "WLUR 91.5 FM Music Review: Paul Avion".
  24. 1 2 "Listen!". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.
  25. 1 2 "Arnold Schwarzenegger Action Hero Quiz - Question 1".
  26. ↑ "Paul Avion - SPIN.com artist to watch » MUSIC".
  27. ↑ http://musicremedy.com/p/paul-avion/videos/henry-sage-and-mrs-wolverton-48327.html
  28. ↑ http://loudvine.com/blog/mp3/paul-avion-henry-sage-mrs-wolverton
  29. ↑ Administrator. "PAUL AVION, R U WITH ME?". Archived from the original on 24 August 2011.
  30. ↑ http://my.losangeles.cbslocal.com/pomona-ca/tags/Paul%20Avion
  31. ↑ http://americanmusicchannel.com/news/11-16-2010/paul-avion-releases-r-u-me-december-7th
  32. ↑ http://www.kuci.uci.edu/show_feature.cgi?id=1009
  33. ↑ "Charles Stepczyk". Twitter.
  34. ↑ Ryan. "Review: Paul Avion, RU With Me".
  35. ↑ WPTS Music. "WPTS Music: Paul Avion".
  36. ↑ "WLUR 91.5 FM Music Review: Paul Avion".
  37. ↑ "What Record Are You Most Looking Forward To Next Week?". Archived from the original on 29 March 2012.
  38. ↑ http://teamclermont.com/roster/14028/paul-avion
  39. ↑ "Spinitron - WZBC Artist: Paul Avion".
  40. ↑ "KSPC CHARTS 12/04".
  41. ↑ Demir Candas (26 April 2016). "News - RadioUTD". RadioUTD.
  42. 1 2 "About Us - Fashion Week Online". Fashion Week Online.
  43. ↑ "Fashion+Music: Vanessa Paradis, Steve Nieve, Sting, Elvis Costello - Fashion Week Online". Fashion Week Online.
  44. ↑ "Interview with Dean and Dan Caten (DSquared2) - Fashion Week Online". Fashion Week Online.
  45. ↑ "Interview with "7th on Sixth" Creator Fern Mallis - Fashion Week Online". Fashion Week Online.
  46. ↑ "The Comedy Store - Hollywood :: Martin Harris Comedy Night".
  47. ↑ "The Comedy Store - Hollywood :: Martin Harris Birthday Special".
  48. ↑ "Pablo Avion / aka RoboCop 7, for some reason » SHOWS".
  49. 1 2 "FlappCast". FlappCast.
  50. ↑ "Pablo Avion / aka RoboCop 7, for some reason » AUDIO / VIDEO".
  51. ↑ "Nate Bargatze". IMDb.
  52. ↑ "Pablo Avion / aka RoboCop 7, for some reason » ABOUT".
  53. ↑ "ONE - ONE Member Paul Avion Blogs Africa Visit for SPIN". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012.
  54. ↑ http://www.spinearth.tv/feature/Avion-In-Africa
  55. ↑ http://www.pataphor.com/images/avion-in-af-lg.jpg
  56. ↑ "SPINearth.tv".
  57. ↑ "Stop Joseph Kony" song 2010. 2 November 2010 – via YouTube.
  58. ↑ "Sonic Vogue Records".
  59. ↑ "Elleeven: Groovetonics Volume 2--SOLD OUT".

External links

Bibliography

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