This month, we chat with Dan Karcher, the amazing and admittedly quirky designer at bluedaniel.com. As Dan discusses his various adventures, from aviation to motion picture to broadcasting, we come away with a surprisingly philosophical picture of art, life, and the role the web has in it all.

How long have you hosted your site with Lunarpages and which hosting plan are you using?

Dan: Hmmm, to the month and day I don’t specifically recall, but I DO know it was before the millennium. This I know because we were all secure with Lunarpages services in the “fear of the unknown” with year 2000 coming. So I’m thinking ’98 or ’99?

What makes you stay with Lunarpages?

Dan:  Simple. None of us are “account numbers” in the eyes (and ears) of Lunarpages. We are all individual people with individual needs. Lunarpages has always approached it that way (at least in my experience they have). I have personally watched Lunarpages grow over a decade and more, and they have never once lost their touch with customer service and technology. To me, they’re the “Uncle Fred” who gave us that free ice-cream cone when we got a good report card at school. Well, Uncle Fred’s now grown up, we’re ALL grown up, his ice-cream parlor is now an ice-cream factory, but he’s still “Uncle Fred” to us all. He still knows us and he still knows how to keep us “kids” happy on a summer afternoon, with sprinkles at that! Lunarpages has grown so much over the years, and they still give us extra sprinkles simply because they know it’ll put a smile on our face, and we’ll bring our friend with us next time.

Do you get much traffic on your site and does your LP hosted server handle it well?

Dan: A majority of the sites I build are high profile sites, hence they need a rugged casing. Or better, that road we often travel is a street many like to travel. It may be that country road along rolling hills and meadows, and it may be that high street cutting down a metropolitan city with traffic at every turn. Either road; we can’t afford potholes, lest we find ourselves at the local garage getting our rims straightened, which messes up our day and drains our collective wallets. The roads we travel on Lunarpages have nary a pothole, if any at all. And if there was a pothole, we never knew it, because the road crew were out there filling it in in our sleep and paving over as strong as the day the road was built.

Tell us a bit about your site and what you do there.

Dan: Basically it’s a hub that inventories and archives my Flash and film works. It’s not a “personal” site per se, in example I do not keep a blog, nor am I specific about me in the “About” section (which I am often criticized for). I would like to think that section defines exactly what I do and the purpose of the site – “One’s work can be seen as an immeasurable journey to rediscover, through the detours of art, those one or two great and simple things, in which their heart first opened.”

Describe your average visitor to bluedaniel.com.

Dan: To bluedaniel.com itself, amazingly the average visitors are thousands of folks a day who are seeking an area on the site that is, ironically, not supposed to be seen. When experimenting with some ideas, I hadn’t any purpose other than… experimenting and really hadn’t a clue what to do with any of it.  Meanwhile, having noticed how many false hits to the site occurred regularly (likely fans looking for Blair Witch material, Family Guy or what-have-you, I then decided it might be fun to use this “experiment” as my “404 – File Not Found” page.  Within weeks that blew up, when suddenly – posts, digs, tweets and more were linking to it by the thousands per day. It’s a heavy 404 and is far more involved than many may observe (though equally many others do). There is so much hidden, deep linking within the 404 page that it’ll keep you busy for quite some time.

Tell us about the design of your site. Did you design it yourself?

Dan: The site is organic in nature. It’s not a hi-tech in-your-face pile of advanced technology. It’s home. My digital home if you will. Thus I treat it that way.   And just as I would not prefer to cover my walls in a large flat screen TV, the latest in modern furniture or appliances, I’m at home when I’m beside my fire, with my feet up on the great large ancient coffee table, looking out the window as snow falls in the woods outside.  To a degree, the site reflects my life at home.

You change bluedaniel’s “season” 4 times a year. It’s currently in its Spring state. Can you link us to the other seasonal versions of your site?

Dan: Wow, I have been rotating the seasons 4 times a year for so many years now. Every now and then I remind myself to update the overall design; that I’m sure I’ve tired out the current version, but I can’t ever seem to get around to it. So come the next season, I rotate a season from a previous year. But just as I begin to rethink the canvas and experiment with new ideas I also realize, “Why am I doing this? My own house is 250 years old and I have no desire to update it. Improve and maintain yes. But to update? No. The house has remained as it’s been all these years and that’s exactly what attracts me to it.”  That’s what happens when I attempt to update ol’ blue.  I discover there’s no specific reason to do so. That I’m comfortable with it as it is. Otherwise it wouldn’t be honest.  If you truly want to experience how much I have NOT advanced over the years, there is an archive link on the site for previous versions.

How did you come up with the name Blue Daniel? Is there a story behind it?

Dan: I’ve had a love/hate relationship with that name for years, but it’s a long established brand now and for what it’s worth am still proud of it. But the actual name is a play on words. To be more specific, originally way back when before it became what it is now, bluedaniel.com was the site for a radio program (jazz) I hosted at Princeton University.  The show had a theme song that concluded the program; a live cut of a Cannonball Adderley concert where Cannonball announces at the end – “That my friends, was the “Blue Daniel.“  Being the ever anti-narcissist, I chose to name the show “The Blue Daniel” as opposed to repeating my own name each time I had to announce.  So, instead of saying “You’re listening to Dan Karcher on WPRB” I preferred to say “You’re tuned to the Blue Daniel on WPRB.” That covered two issues I had with the title. One, it gave title to the actual program, not me. Because, two: it wasn’t MY show. It was Miles Davis’s show when I spun Miles Davis, it was Charlie Parker’s show when I spun Charlie Parker.  It was their show; it was the listener’s show.  I considered myself the host, not the subject matter like other programs I heard on the air.

The title “The Blue Daniel” itself is a play on words, a play on the words “The Blue Danube” when the classic title was borrowed in the culture of jazz.

My issue with it (having mentioned my love/hate relationship with the title), is that it is not my nickname, my favorite color is not blue (it’s green), nor am I depressed.

But somehow, it works.

What is a film designer?

Dan: It’s a title that sort of manifested itself. As Hollywood and the internet grew more and more close, and have become to rely on each other, and because of the niche my experience was creating, the credit more or less evolved and is slowly becoming a standard in the industry. I am not a “web designer“ per se. I know the absolute basics in web development, of html, css and php coding, etc. but I’m a far cry from those with the knowledge, qualification and experience in back-end coding.  The by-product of what I create in Flash becomes a website, but if I’m approached to create a full blown website in say – html5, I may respond not unlike a deer in headlights. Nearly all my works are done for the motion picture industry and are used in the film itself to the various platforms of marketing involved, from title sequencing to downright poster design and more.

What is a website producer?

Dan: That title, or credit, evolved as well.  As opposed to being a hired gun where I’m instructed what to do and be provided the assets, as a website producer it’s the opposite, in creating the artistic direction and assets of the film’s site.  Basically I’m there at ground zero when the film’s initially developed to principle photography to post production, then of course release, be it theatrically or straight-to-DVD. Initially I’m provided with a script or treatment (pre-script synopsis) where I can get a taste of what I’m getting myself into. Then comes pre-production. At that point I may create a film site based on proof-of-concept material . “Proof-of-concept” being material that is used to “prove the concept” of what we intend. In example, the “Bloody Benders” site is 100% proof-of-concept. I created that years ago as a “pitch” site when a close friend of mine named Mark Patton, of whom I‘ve worked with on a number of (wonderful) films he‘s written, came to me with, amazingly, his very first script, one he was closely attached to and wanted to dust off. I create many pitch sites that are film sites for investor interest, some are open to the public whereas some are locked to password access only. The pitch sites will contain items such as the full script, budget and revenue forecast, operator’s agreements, film selects, casting sides, etc.  It can often be a rather boring collection of material for the general public, but it’s confidential material, this is locked up to solicited investor interests. It takes a whole lotta cash to make a film and we need to start somewhere, so this is it.

In regards to the “Bloody Benders,” I opened the gates to the public because we were pitching not only the story, but also the experience. Unlike an investor’s site, Bender’s doesn’t contain public access to sensitive material, but does reveal a sense of that we’re planning in development for the film.

As a result of “letting ‘er rip” to the public in addition to offering production docs, the would-be film got plenty of attention, including the attention of John Carpenter.  That said, the Bloody Benders is now, finally, in production.

From there, more than often, it becomes an on-set process of capturing and developing the daily’s, behind the scenes, video and stills.  Come post-production comes also working with the film’s composer as well as the editor.

Afterwards, when all the assets are laid out, the site begins to emerge (in development) and it is then I sit down with the director, or sometimes the producers, and tweak the site to ensure it has become an extension of the film, not simply an online representation of the film. At least I hope.

The process is not unlike a pianist who sits down to improvise a composition. I don’t mean to improvise a spontaneous random set of notes, but to compose in real time the notes already established in their head. Bach was known for doing this. Keith Jarrett does this each and every day. When they are improvising, they are not playing the piano, they are not actually playing music. They are literally making music.  They are, for lack of a better term, throwing up.

Which is exactly what I am doing as a film designer / producer.  By all means I am not a Bach nor Jarrett, but what I AM doing is throwing up when I make these sites. Having digested all that the writer had in their imagination set to paper and all that the actors, producers and director have envisioned for their film. If I can get into their head but for a moment, then I have all I need to create their film site… to throw it all up.

Name your top 5 geeky characteristics.

Dan: Hmmm. A loaded question I dare say! Well, let me think here.  Geeky is a matter of opinion, yea? Or is it fact? I would have to say my geeky characteristics are likely a series of ironic anti-geek geeky characteristics.

1. I don’t own an iPhone.

2. I don’t own an iPad.

3. I have a Mac but I prefer my pc.

4. I’m painfully nostalgic and sentimental.

5… I recall when I as a teenager, walking down a street on a summer night with Walkman on my side and headphones on my ears.  Walking towards me were a few girls; rather attractive young ladies I might add. We stopped, I removed the headphones and talked for a bit. One of the girls wanted to know what I was listening to on my Walkman and placed the headphones on her ears. She was likely expecting something along the lines of the Clash or the Police. Alas, it was Prokofiev.  I think.  Geeky as it may sound, that unexpected sound she heard actually turned her on. Yes, I scored. Next up, Nat King Cole.

How has social media helped you to promote/grow your film design business?

Dan: I don’t use Twitter, but I am on Facebook quite a bit. Interestingly I have never used it to promote my works professionally, rather – I do so to promote my social works, because being on Facebook inspired two essential works very close to me that have nothing to do with film. For my old school friends (high school), a portal to reconnect – The Amphitheater and for my summer camp friends – Eagle’s Nest Camp.

With the Amphitheater, after I had (reluctantly) finally joined Facebook, I was met (as we all are) by so many old and dear friends I knew and had long since lost touch with from over 30 years ago. As we all reconnected I began to think, “Here we are reconnecting on a digital social network, yet I recall the real social network in which we met, in which we all “friended” each other.”  Our high school’s very epicenter was (and is to this day) this great enormous amphitheater filled with wisteria and a running brook. A place where we all gathered at breaks, lunch, before class, after class, and during class if we were cutting class. This was the place friendships were formed and lifelong friendships established. The amphitheater was the original “social network” for our generation. And here we are, dozens of years later congregating once again online on Facebook, and so many were finding me, which by default of my career is rather easy to do. But could they find each other? That’s when I decided to recreate the amphitheater online in an environment where they could reconnect with each other in a virtual environment in which they all first met.

But if I was to truly bring it home, to take my sentiment and nostalgia all the way back to my greatest of memories, that would have to be my old summer camp. But this would prove to be a huge challenge twice over.  One – unlike school friends you knew every day of the school year in an environment and time of which you likely knew them since birth, in contrast – camp friends you knew only a few weeks, if that much, out of the year. And you may not have seen them again the next year.  But those few weeks were profound, and with campers and staff so amazing that it easily made up for the rest of the year, if not were even more extraordinary. So to find the campers, to even recollect some of their names, was not as easy as compared to school friends.  Two – the camp no longer exists. It’s been closed for over 30 years.  Unlike the amphitheater, which exists and is active to this day, for summer camp – I had nothing to work with to replicate a virtual environment. Instead, I would need to recreate that environment from the ground up. Literally. And I couldn’t base it upon my memory alone. I would need to match every Eagle’s Nest camper’s memory, otherwise it’s one person’s memory, not an actual recreation. The result took over one year to do.  And was worth every moment.

You are also the Sunday Morning Harmony Host at WBGO 88.3FM. How long have you been working in radio and what got you started in radio?

Dan: Broadcast has always been my primary career. My career in film is by circumstance, but broadcast was intentional. To a degree. My parallel interest had always remained in aviation, since a very young child, since the days I would bug my father to take me to the local airport to watch the airplanes take off and land.

Yet, both careers (broadcast and film) have come full circle since my days of youth, as had aviation. In high school, I was known as the class “vidiot.”  I was heavily interested in television production, film production and broadcast. Bear in mind, those interests were in production, not performance. I have no interest or desire to be on stage or in front of the camera.  I was always fascinated by the process of production, how a collective assembly of talented folks could band together and create an environment out of one’s own imagination.  So I found myself immersed in all forms of media; broadcast media, cinematography and more.  I had some advantages. My brother being an actor and my dearest friend growing up a very much established actor on screen. These two fellas would be of heavy influence and exposure. Especially Alex (many will recall him as Bill in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure“), who by the way is another Lunarpages fan and customer. But Bill and Ted’s barely scratched the surface of what and who Alex is and does. It is but a snapshot of one time. In a lifetime; a moment. Alex and I would run around the yard up and down the cellar and attic making vampire movies on Super8. Some of the material was so out there that of all the works Alex would grow up to professionally act or direct, his series on MTV called the “Idiot Box” was the one I could most identify with, as was his feature called “Freaked.”  This, because of our “idiot” history together.

Alex left for university, I left for England.  Now, when you put an impressionable young fella like me in a foreign country, what I thought I knew and wanted previously was fractured in all that I was being exposed to for the first time. This I imagine could occur with anyone. So if on a Tuesday someone asked, “Say, Daniel, what do you want to do when you return to America?” I might reply, “I’d like to fly airplanes.”  If they asked on a Thursday, I might respond with, “I’d like to work in radio.” I was everywhere emotionally, academically, socially. It was an exciting time, but also a damn fine recipe for a potential identity crisis. I knew who I was, but as teenagers we’re always trying to reinvent ourselves before we even know who we are. I was a poster child for that phenomena.

One evening when out with a girlfriend, I was introduced to a few folks, one of them being a program director of a radio station in Birmingham called BHN.  Now, in London, if you’re American, you’re no one special. If anything, you’re a pest. In the Midlands however, if you’re a Yankee, they will eat up your American accent. They love it. So when I was introduced to the program director, I had mentioned my interest in broadcasting, and was thinking of pursuing broadcast journalism when I returned to the states (must have been a Wednesday), if and when I returned (I was living in the UK at this point).  He then told me they were developing a new program called “American Heartbeat” and asked if I would interested in hosting it, that having an “American” host the show would be a novelty for the Midlands radio station.  Flattered and glamored if you will, I immediately replied yes. Of course I had no idea what I was doing, but what an opportunity.  The issue though was not having actual experience in radio broadcasting, rather was that “American Heartbeat” was a top-20 countdown of American hits.

I knew nothing of American hits. One, I was now living in the UK, and two – you recall that incident in summer with the girls and the Walkman – I knew little of pop and rock. I knew everything about Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Coltrane and others. You want an American heart beat? Those guys are the American heart beat. Jazz, is the true American music (literally).

Fortunately for me, the program was pre-formatted so all I had to do was announce the artists and songs, and just be the American voice to host it.

Sometime later, homesickness settled in, as did the need for an actual career (BHN was a weekend gig, Saturdays I think), so I returned home, regained my focus, and went on to study aviation.  For years following, that’s all I did, I flew.  Aviation was my life. So much so it cost me my marriage. She claimed I was more married to the airplane than her. She was wrong of course, very wrong. Maybe not.

All the while as I flew commercially, I had long kept a gig at Princeton University jocking a jazz program one morning a week. I did so for no other reason than I enjoyed spinning jazz and turning folks onto this classic American art form.

One day the airline gave up the ghost, I lost my job, and at the time affirmative action played a huge role in not being able to gain employment within the industry. Enter Thurston Briscoe.

I attended an IAJE conference in New York City (International Association of Jazz Educators), where I met Thurston.  We got along famously well, and he invited me to send him a check-tape of my broadcasts.  The rest is history.  They hired me to fill in when needed, then to a host my own gig, then to host my own gig as well as join the announcing staff as the full-time fill in host for WBGO.

It’s been nearly 15 years now.

Do you have many fans/listeners? Any stalker stories?

Dan: Yes. But I prefer the word “listeners” or “supporters.”  To me, “fans” sounds condescending.  Though I am a hypocrite, in that I’m quick to admit what I am a fan of. Stalker stories?  Yes.  Can I share?  To be honest, not without invading privacy.  But yes, in this business there are those who can be a bit over-zealous at times, and sadly – the occasional stalker.

Who is your favorite Jazz musician and why?

Dan: Without hesitation, Keith Jarrett. And for a reason I will simply quote and hope it’s understood in context as to why. Art exists as a reminder. All true art is a reminder of the forgotten, or soon-to-be forgotten relationships, whether it be God and man, man and woman, earth and humanity, color and form, etc. The reason I say “forgotten” is that all future relationships are inherent in what we see now; and in this way we can “forget” the future. Silence is the potential from which music can arise. Music is the “activity-of-meaning” that is able to be actualized only because of silence. Technique is the ability to manipulate this “activity” to the greatest effect. This “effect” can obliterate the feeling of original potential and replace it with “interesting” activity (thus devoid of meaning because meaning can only exist in the balance between active and potential; and technique is only activity).  Musicians can and do fool themselves every day when they say they are “making music.” What they mean is they are playing their instrument very well. This can be done by computers. What computers cannot deal with though is value: meaning. There is a fine line between what we like and what affects us. There is a fine line between what we can manipulate and what is close to us. There is a fine line between using technique and making music. We must be open to the spaces (silence) in order to fill them just right. We must see the spaces, inhabit them, live them. Then, the next note, then next move, becomes apparent because it is needed. Until it is apparent, nothing should be played. Until it is known, nothing should be anticipated. Until the whole appears, the parts should not be criticized. Until you are participating in this, you cannot hear. Until you hear, you cannot play.  Until you listen, you cannot make music.

Can you play any instruments?

Dan: As a matter of fact I’m a percussionist.  Both Tabla and Djembe. And my steering wheel when I’m driving. I’m a mean steering column player, hitting rim shots off the wheel hold, keeping the back beat strong the column.

I actually have a legitimate fear I may set off the air bag one day. I’ve actually freaked myself out at the very thought.

I was reading an your bio and it’s VERY impressive. You seem to rub shoulders with all the big filmmakers such as Haxan Films (The Blair Witch Project), Gear Head Pictures, Warner Bros, Lion’s Gate Films, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and others. Can you give us some examples of projects you have worked on with them?

Dan: Thank you so much for the kind words, but to me what is impressive is the quality of people I choose to surround myself with.  If that makes my bio impressive, so be it, and thank you of course!  But it is by default of some wonderful people I am fortunate to work with and share incredible friendships with that allows any of this to be impressive.

It is because of Haxan Films and The Blair Witch Project that I do what I do today, or rather can do what I do today. Were it not for Ed Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, my experiments in Flash would remain just that – experiments.  When Flash was first developed, I became fascinated in its ability. Here then, for the first time, was a media platform where I could combine all my eccentricities in sound, image and video.  This became what was known as my “Insomnia Machine,” where I uploaded experiments about as random as could be. Some had purpose, others were ideas between planes of ideas.

After Blair blew up in ‘99, and in continuing to work as a collaborator at Haxan Films (to this day), the attention towards Blair Witch and attention towards Ed and Dan trickled down to me when other filmmakers (mostly independent, but some large studios as well) sought me out for their projects. Now, bear in mind, my career in motion picture is purely by circumstance. This all began as modest late night Flash experiments to assuage chronic insomnia, all the while employed as an announcer for NPR.

At one time, CNN’s program “TalkBack Live” took notice of my works and featured some of my experiments, primarily the “No War. Please” experiment when war in Iraq was on the horizon.  That lil’ plug gathered some heavy attention at the time, and combining that with working alongside and for Haxan Films (Ed) and Gearhead Pictures (Dan), the apple of my works haven’t fallen much since. Most of my works, not all, but most can be connected through six-degrees of separation of both film companies and their offspring, mind for the occasional gig at Sony or Lion’s Gate, Warner, and the others. One person leads to another.  Dan’s neighbor and close friend is Alex Borstein, as is her awesome husband Jackson. In turn they are also great friends of mine. Though Alex was best known for her role as Ms. Swan on MADtv back in the day, Alex is currently a producer, writer and voice to Lois Griffin and others on Family Guy.  You can do the math from there. From her personal site, to producing and directing a behind the scenes feature on Family Guy, to her husband Jackson, who is an established (and incredible) filmmaker in his own right, we take care of our own. Why spend six figures on a huge media campaign when you’ve got Karcher, who’s raiding your fridge and clogging your toilet? They ask, and I respond. “Let’s do this. And you owe me a beer by the way.”

The irony is I don’t actually drink beer. ‘Never acquired much of a taste for it. So let’s make that a Jager. An ice-cold Jager. THEN let’s get to work.

Recently, Forbes Magazine listed The Blair Witch Project site as the “best media campaign, ever.” Again, all things coming full circle. That didn’t hurt either. Ed and Dan have to take the full credit for that initially, but I’m the one who keeps it running still, and that’s a credit I’m rather proud of.

I only wish Forbes’ knew of the site that full-out dwarfs Blair Witch to a twig, Woods Movie, which was the original name of the film and is a complete submerge into the making of Blair.

Also, just as a side note considering who I’m talking to, all these good folks I’ve mentioned are Lunarpages’ customers; Haxan, Gearhead, Family Guy, Blair Witch, Alex Winter, Alex Borstein and others I’ve not mentioned.

Is it me, or is there a “horror” theme in your list of projects?

Dan: Not so much as you’d think, I hope, but yea – they’re plentiful. From Blair Witch to the Bloody Benders to my own film – White Enamel, which takes horror to an entirely different level, there’s quite a few.

But there’s plenty of redemption to be had;  The Amphitheater and Eagle’s Nest Camp, and they’re not films, they’re downright online platforms of affection from that place we all know in our hearts. Even White Enamel, which is a film, a horrific journey into the place we can never escape from, ourselves, very much has redemption.

How do you prefer to spend your offline time?

Dan: As mentioned, despite the technology of broadcast media, rich content media and motion picture design, I live a simple antiquarian lifestyle in the country. Yes, NYC is but a short drive (that’s where I work), but at home, that is where… I’m home. And there’s plenty do to.

Thanks Dan!

If you would like to submit your site for Site of the month for August 2011, become a fan of Lunarpages on Facebook and then add your site to the post for August!