A name by any other rose
A lot of people have asked us where the name Lost At E Minor comes from and what the phrase implies. Well, several years ago I came across a compilation of obscure electro music called Famous When Dead, which is off the commendably experimental German label, Playhouse. One of the tracks on the album was by the production duo, Light Fantastic, and was titled Lost At C Minor. It’s an awesome song which weaves and winds its way through several distinct melodic changes. Anyway, the name kinda stuck in my head. There was something quite beautiful about the symbolism of being lost in a minor key world. C Minor is an interesting chord, but being a musician with an ear for the melancholic, I’ve long thought that E Minor was the most evocative and honest of the keys – haunting, endearing, a little sombre, yet strangely uplifting. So when we were brainstorming a name for this website and newsletter that would showcase all the magnificent cultural things that we love, the name Lost At E Minor leapt out just like the song had done the first time I heard it. It captures the immediacy of the moment but also hints at the depth of those that we feature. But above all, it’s about total immersion in this artistic, creative world we seek to create where anything is truly possible. [illustration by Sam Weber]
Tagged: Lost At E Minor, sam weber
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Combining my studies in Graphic Design and traditional drawing, I made the natural progression to illustration in 2009. Inspired by artists such as Sam Weber, Jeremy Fish, the Hanuka brothers, Edward Kinsella, and Ian Francis, my work falls somewhere between semi-realism and comic. I communicate ideas through a mash up of watercolour, vector, and graphite. Read more
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YOU'RE SAYING (6)
Gary said | 2 October, 2006
Oooo… That’s how the name was derived. Been wondering about it myself really. Interesting, never thought of that. Thanks. 
Zac said | 2 October, 2006
nice theory jake. makes alot of sense too. maybe subconsciously there’s something in that. hey, and gary, i know you love your rock music, so i have a tip for you to check out if you haven’t already: two gallants. american duo. so good.
ellyy said | 2 October, 2006
What a beautiful story, strange too cause when I was trying to find a blog name I pressed some random keys on my piano to find a chord I liked and then rearranged the note letters to form a name.
I came up with eggface, but I think yours is far more poetic. Great minds eh? :}
Sophie Ward said | 14 December, 2008
I love your site, it is regular bliss, constantly changing and always interesting. I’ve played piano since I was 8 years old, and have a weird brain for nifty word constructions…. Everything you share is exactly what I enjoy. Thank you for keeping a true pulse on what is happening in our culture. You all rock at E Minor.
The Beautiful Kind said | 8 October, 2009
I’m so glad you shared this! I love how things play out like this, like serendipity. Here’s to haunting and endearing!
HAVE YOUR SAY
More stuff right up my alley: Italian painter Agostino Arrivabene, who makes huge, fantastical paintings that look like they reference classical and biblical stories. His more recent work is less crazy, but it’s still really amazing. Read more
Maryland Institute College of Art student Noelle Stevenson recently did a re-interpretation of the Lord of the Rings story as a ‘modern-day buddy road trip story’ called the Broship of the Ring. Read more
An intelligently told, morally complex tale with a raft of unexpected twists, Gone Baby Gone is one of the most original films of recent times. Most films give you a sense of their narrative arc and it is easy to recognise the major plot points. Read more
The strategy based architectural firm Popular Architecture has created a scheme that takes on the spread of cities. Based on the estimation that London will need to provide housing for 100,000 new people each year up until 2016, this building houses 100,000 in one hit. Read more
Designer Haik Avanian has set up a website through which you can send an old sweater for his mom to reknit into a new item. Seeing as he only has one mom, not all orders can be filled, but you can keep trying.
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You’d be hard-pressed finding a designer with a more impressive background than Jessie Hill. While most of us were waiting to outgrow our awkward teenage years, she was already on her way to Los Angeles. Leaving her Sydney home at just seventeen to pursue her love of fashion, it wasn’t long before Jessie Hill made a name for herself, styling cool kids like No Doubt and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Read more
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If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
Jake said | 1 October, 2006
It’s funny you say that.
I actually thought that the name “Lost at E Minor” was selected for an entirely different reason. The E minor chord is probably the most basic of any chord played on a standard guitar, and thus the first chord which most beginners will learn.
I had assumed that Lost at E Minor was a tongue-in-cheek mention of this basic chord, and a reflection of our ever shortening attention spans as consumers in the digital age.
Maybe I should stop thinking about this sorta stuff so much….