SDO is the practical result of a filmmaker making music and is the end result of a journey from film, through abused technology, to rediscovery of actual music.

In 1998 classically trained musician J.C. Sutherland moved from Seattle to Los Angeles to study film, in the process of scoring for his and other films, he rediscovered his love for music and began to immerse himself in the study of music technology and practical theory. However, knowledge unchecked is not always a good thing, “In 2003 I released a solo album that no one got, as far as sequencing and editing, I felt like it was a masterpiece. But looking back, as far as musicality and soul, it was a pretentious travesty.” Sutherland continues, “I fell in love with the power of the technology, and songs turned into exercises on cramming stutter edits and dueling filters into all aspects while seeing how many modes I could use in a song. Unfortunately for the album, but fortunate for mankind, our souls are not in binary and I have come to realize that most good music is complex simplicity. The Seattle Digital Orchestra is the soulful reaction to my earlier work.”

Combining classical elements with cinematic themes and throbbing beats takes the orchestra beyond the realm of experimental music into something that is infinitely listenable, “Unlike before I am not trying to reinvent the wheel, I am simply trying to refine it and make something meaningful. The studio allows for many complicated colors and varied sounds, but complex elements combining to make something simple are often the most beautiful.”

SDO’s released Before Third Stage in 2006 and Apparent Horizons in 2009. The next project is set to be released in late 2011. Sutherland is currently working on his new project, En Bokeh, with vocalist Hollie Pritchard.