# Jason Staczek

Jason Staczek (born December 4, 1965) is an American composer, record producer and keyboardist.

## Life and career

Staczek was born in Washington, D.C., attended high school in Miami and studied physics at the University of Michigan. He played the Hammond organ in Seattle bands and sessions beginning in the 1990s. From 2002 to 2008 Staczek co-owned Chroma Sound, a music and film post-production studio and record label in Seattle. Clients of Chroma Sound included Presidents of the United States of America and Robyn Hitchcock. In 2003 Staczek was hired as staff composer for The Film Company, a Seattle film production studio, through which he met and developed a working relationship with Canadian director Guy Maddin.
Staczek has composed music for the soundtracks to the films Brand Upon the Brain! (2006), My Winnipeg (2008), Keyhole (2011), Jobriath A.D. (2012), The Roper (2013) and Song of the New Earth (2014). Brand Upon the Brain! premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, where the silent film was accompanied by a live orchestra conducted by Staczek, narrated by Louis Negin, with sound provided by three live Foley artists and a castrato-style singer. Staczek went on to conduct orchestras accompanying the film's live performances in Berlin, Buenos Aires, New York, Mexico City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Staczek was named a Sundance Composer Lab Fellow in 2012. His concert work for cimbalom and orchestra premiered at Benaroya Hall in Seattle in March 2013. The piece was released on the album Celebrate World Music which won the 2014 Independent Music Awards Vox Pop Award for Best Contemporary Classical Album.

## Partial filmography

| Year | Film | Director | Studio / Developer | Notable Mentions |
| 2006 | Brand Upon the Brain! | Guy Maddin | The Film Company | Manohla Dargis (New York Times) Best of 2006. Staczek to conduct orchestral performance of live show presented by Basel Sinfonietta, June 2015. |
| 2008 | My Winnipeg | Guy Maddin | Buffalo Gal Pictures, Documentary Channel, Everyday Pictures | #3, Time Magazine's Top 10 Movies of 2008. |
| 2008 | Holding This for You | Marissa Rae Niederhauser | Marissa Rae Niederhauser | Official Selection, Dreamscapes 2009, Seattle International Film Festival. |
| 2009 | Night Mayor | Guy Maddin | National Film Board of Canada | Won Best Experimental Short at South by Southwest in 2010. |
| 2011 | Keyhole | Guy Maddin | Everyday Pictures, Buffalo Gal Pictures | Won Best Canadian Film award at Whistler Film Festival 2011. |
| 2012 | Jobriath A.D. | Kieran Turner | Eight Track Tape Productions | Critic's Pick, The Village Voice April, 2014. |
| 2012 | The Roper | Ewan McNicol, Anna Sandilands | Lucid | Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival 2013. |
| 2014 | Song of the New Earth | Ward Serrill | Woody Creek Pictures | Nominee, Documentary Award Seattle International Film Festival 2014. |
| Filming | And We Were Young (Work in progress.) | Andy Smetanka | Andy Smetanka | |

## TV Series

| Year | Title | Director | Producers | Notable Mentions |
| 2014 | Rocketmen (Work in progress.) | Webster Crowell | Alycia Delmore, Mel Eslyn | |

## Partial Discography

| Year | Album | Artist | Label | Credit |
| 1999 | Trad Arr Jones | John Wesley Harding | Appleseed Recordings | Hammond organ, accordion, harpsichord, piano |
| 2000 | Rock Star God | The Makers | Sub Pop | Hammond organ, piano |
| 2002 | What It Is And How to Get It | Shuggie | Good Ink Records | Hammond organ, piano, Clavinet, Wurlitzer |
| 2003 | Only With Laughter Can You Win | Rosie Thomas | Sub Pop | Hammond organ |
| 2003 | Motherfuckers Be Trippin' | Supersuckers | Mid Fi | Hammond organ, piano |
| 2005 | Live Seattle 12/03/04 | Goodness | Kufala | Hammond organ |
| 2005 | Alive Without Control | The Black Halos | Century Media Records | Hammond organ, piano, Mellotron |
| 2006 | Nothing but Time | Garth Reeves | Chroma Records | Producer, engineer, Hammond organ, piano, accordion, guitar, percussion, tambourine, backing vocals |
| 2011 | Keyhole | Jason Staczek | Milan Records | Primary artist |
| 2011 | El Sonido Nuevo | Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils | Hablador Records | Piano, Hammond organ |
| 2011 | Marble Son | Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter | Fargo | Piano |
| 2012 | You, Anniversary | Lindsay Fuller | ATO Records | Audio engineer, Hammond organ |
| 2012 | Pull It Together | Shannon Stephens | Asthmatic Kitty | Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ |
| 2012 | Lung of Love | Amy Ray | Daemon Records | Vocal engineer |
| 2013 | Imitations | Mark Lanegan | ATO Records | Harpsichord |
| 2013 | Celebrate World Music | Various Artists | Burmer Music | Composer of "Lila Sziv" |