Synthesist, drummer, sound sculptor and electronic groove creator Vir Unis is a significant voice in the world of atmospheric / tribal / ambient music. With an emphasis on rhythm and pulse, underpinned by deep synthesizer textures, Vir Unis realizes music that moves between the organic intensity of ever evolving fractal grooves and the harmonic complexity of mist strewn sonic atmospheres. Able to move easily between genres and moods, Vir Unis' music can quickly mutate from sweeping synthesized soundwaves to frenetic, pulse-driven grooves.
Presently residing in the mid-west, Vir Unis (aka John Strate-Hootman) initially released The Drift Inside and Aeonian Glow on the Green House label. On his first two CDs Strate explores his passion for experimental sound sculpting while demostrating his talent for creating modern rhythms on later releases. Vir Unis has also collaborated with Steve Roach on Body Electric and Blood Machine, with James Johnson on the Perimeter series, with Saul Stokes on Thermal Transfer and with The Elf Machine on Tokyo Highway.
Of music, Strate says, "I consider music to be a visual medium. Not just in imagining pictures while listening to music, but in a much more direct way. I see music when I listen to it. It creates patterns, textures, and all sorts of mandala like structures. In designing images on the computer, I try to capture the things I see in music. Painting, drawing, and computer aided design is all musical too. So, there's this sort of synesthesia that occurs naturally if you tune into it, and that's why a lot of artists are able to cross over into various mediums, because they all derive from the same source".
Partial Discography:
Imaginarium (CD) Mirage (3) 1998
Body Electric (CD, with Steve Roach) Projekt 1999
The Drift Inside (CD) GreenHouseMusic 1999
The Electric Body (VHS) Timeroom Editions 1999
Aeonian Glow (CD) GreenHouseMusic 2000
Aqua Culture I (CDr) Zero Music (USA) 2001
Blood Machine (CD, with Steve Roach) GreenHouseMusic 2001
Dreamers At The Edge Of Decaying Light (CDr) In The Bubble Music 2001
Live At Gathering 23 (CDr) MP3.com 2001
Perimeter (2xCD, with James Johnson) Zero Music (USA) 2001
Pulse N Atmo (CD, Album) Groove Unlimited 2001
Live At The Miramar (CD) AtmoWorks 2002
Lumen (CDr, Mini) In The Bubble Music 2002
Mercury And Plastic (CD) AtmoWorks 2002
Symbology (CDr) AtmoWorks 2002
The Yellow House (CDr) In The Bubble Music 2002
Thermal Transfer (CD, with Saul Stokes) Hypnos/Binary 2002
Book Of Mutations (CD) AtmoWorks 2003
Perimeter II (3xCDr, with James Johnson) AtmoWorks 2003
The Live Transmissions Volume 1 (CD) AtmoWorks 2003
Easting (CDr) AtmoWorks 2004
Everything Seeks Balance (CD) AtmoWorks 2004
Live Transmissions 2 (2xCDr) AtmoWorks 2004
Tokyo Highway (CDr, with The Elf Machine) AtmoWorks 2004
Not Even The Rain (CDr)
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