In order to start doing remixes, it's often best to have a plan. Even an analog plan will work, if you're someone as skilled as Richard Jankovich, aka Pocket, who's been called upon to do remixes for everyone from Beck and Of Montreal to Elk City and Eskobar.

So he literally sat down with a pencil and paper ("how old school," he chuckles) and made a list of all the people he wanted to work with someday. "There are hundreds of names on that list," Pocket says, "the impetus was my own somewhat personal need to work with my idols. People like Bernard Sumner, Daniel Ash, Paul McCartney, Richard Butler from the Psychedelic Furs. I literally hit the pavement and began contacting a lot of them; the whole point was to create the equivalent of having your iPod on shuffle with your favorite music - but with the music all made by me, if that makes sense. So, as the songs came together, I kept reaching out to more and more singers, getting more and more people on board - and it steamrolled into what you see now."



What you'll see - and hear - now is what's being called "renowned remixer and producer Pocket's most ambitious and exciting project yet" - an entire album's worth of singles, dubbed simply music-by-pocket, that will be released in a unique fashion; each single will be released digitally and individually throughout 2009. Included in this intriguing set will be the likes of Shudder to Think's Craig Wedren, The Church's Steve Kilbey, Belly's Tanya Donelly, Menomena's Danny Seim, and The Chameleons' Mark Burgess, among many, many others.

It's a selection of artists and tracks that's a literal potpourri of genres, all blended together into the sounds that Pocket himself wanted to hear. "I was a high-schooler in the '80s," Pocket reminisces, "so people like Mark Burgess and Steve Kilbey had such a massive impact on me and my music. But I was also cautious to avoid making a novelty record with this - I wanted to include contemporary artists as well. The bottom line, though, with all these singers is that I am a fan of their work. That's the common thread."



Of those singers, the legendary Robyn Hitchcock is the first one whose Pocket-enhanced single ("Surround Him With Love") was released to the masses. Interestingly, the two musicians didn't meet face-to-face until the song was completed - production was done via the internet - but they did get to hang out afterwards.

"Working with Robyn was really interesting - he's a fantastic songwriter and artist. I didn't interact with him at all in-person until after the song was done. Later, he came through town, touring with Peter Buck (R.E.M.), and asked me to meet him."
 "Town" being Los Angeles - Pocket recently relocated from New York City, where he was a resident for over 10 years.

"NYC is the best city on Earth, no doubt. But the whole time, everyone in New York hated L.A., and I have to say that I absolutely love it here. L.A. has changed dramatically in the last 5 years - there's great music, great food, world-class art - it's like NYC, but with a ton of sunlight and a billion cars. I'd encourage all New Yorkers who diss L.A. to give it another chance."



Los Angeles is being good to Pocket studio-wise, as well. "I'm getting loads of remix jobs, which should keep me busy; plus I'm planning the first ever live performance of Pocket, which should be interesting."

And what else does this busy multi-tasking talent have planned for his L.A. summer of 2009? "Well - I'll be writing a book, recording a rap album, producing a film, investing in real estate, writing a book about vampires, remixing the rap album, act a little... okay, those were all lies," he laughs mischieviously. "I'll probably go to the beach... and work on my studio tan." Listen to the remixes as they're released and snag stems of each to make your own fan remixes at www.music-by-pocket.com.