User Profile

Born and raised in New York City, Anastasia Blink-Warhol (a.k.a. "Nasty Byte") developed interests in avant garde music and film at a young age. It all started one day when she came upon an overseas broadcast of Stockhausen's "Gesang der Junglinge". By age 10, she was making her own experimental audio recordings. A few years later, while attending New York City's Music and Art High School, she became drawn to the world of experimental video, witnessing Nam June Paik's now famous "TV Bra for Living Sculpture".

--"When I discovered that Nam June Paik had an education in music that was similar to mine, my own journey from electronic music composition to music video directing was suddenly corroborated. I have interviewed many people to find that they study one discipline and become known for another." -- NB

Around the same time she began to study what has become the main influences of her directing style: the films of Ingmar Bergman, Luis Bunuel, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Werner Herzog, Salvador Dali, Jean-Luc Godard and Man Ray.

--"It was from studying the Masters that I could see how to use dynamic, ecstatic visual imagery that builds drama and taps into deeper emotions. Extreme intimate close-ups of faces and hands have the power to draw us into an intensely personal experience." -- NB

After graduating Music & Art High School, she went on to the New England Conservatory of Music, where she earned both the Bachelors' and Masters' Degrees in Music Composition. Nasty Byte studied music composition with William Thomas McKinley, electronic music with Robert Ceely, music theory with Donald Martino (Pulitzer Prize in Music 1974) and Robert Cogan.

--"I utilize the knowledge I learned at the Conservatory when working on music videos. I always first examine the structure and mood of the song, with the goal of enhancing what is already there, rather than changing or adding to it. I find myself applying Tom McKinley's teachings on attention to detail, Don Martino's lessons on Fibonacci Numbers, the Golden Section and the Golden String, Robert Cogan's Color Theory, and Robert Ceely's quest for experimentation and humor in every project I undertake." -- NB

Since 2003, Nasty Byte has produced and directed multi-camera video shoots for over 100 concerts, and has also edited over 100 videos. Her first music documentary, "subKulture - the awakening" had its World Premiere September 10, 2005 at the E.VIL City Film Festival in New York City. Her live concert tv series, "subKulture" won the 2006 Vollie Award for Best Performance Program. In progress: a video installation for electronic composers Chuck Bettis and Ikue Mori (members of the American Composers Forum and participants in the Sonic Circuits Festival of Electronic Music and Art) and more live concert videos.

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