Craft archive · 1993–2010

History
of work.

James van Leuven — also known as Plan B — has built a body of work across bands, solo recordings, film, dance theater, skate and BMX media, studio engineering, remix work, and international collaboration.

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Alias

PLAN B

Producer · musician · audio engineer · composer · remix artist

From the kit

Drummer first.

The earliest credits move through Seattle and Olympia bands including Liquid Zoo, Man-Suit Project, Automaton Adventure Series, Sub Debs, and Star Athena, grounding the work in live rhythm, ensemble feel, and independent recording culture.

From the studio

Builder of records.

Through Buoy Studios and related sessions, James’s work expanded into engineering, mastering, production, composition, and multi-instrumental recording for artists, labels, film projects, and performance companies.

From the world

Music in motion.

Plan B music traveled through documentaries, feature films, dance-theater productions, commercials, skate and BMX videos, podcasts, compilations, and European performance contexts.

Seattle roots and early bands

Recorded and performed with Liquid Zoo, Man-Suit Project, and Automaton Adventure Series, establishing a collaborative foundation as a drummer and experimental band musician.

  • LZ — drums, Black Lake Studios, 1993
  • Man-Suit Project — drums, self-released, 1995
  • Automaton Adventure Series — drums, Galleon Key, 1997

Olympia/Seattle releases and Plan B emerges

Work with Automaton, Sub Debs, Star Athena, Cub Country, Magic Magicians, and early Plan B releases connected James to K Records, Jade Tree, Suicide Squeeze, Luckyhorse, Pacifico, and Barsuk-adjacent projects.

  • Sub Debs — She’s So Control — drummer, K Records, 1999
  • Star Athena — Popsicle Summer — musician/engineer, K Records, 2000
  • Plan B — Like A Ship Sailing — musician/engineer, Luckyhorse, 2002
  • Automaton — Clarions and Banners — drummer/engineer, 2002

Plan B expands: records, mastering, installation, theater

Keepsake, the Buoy remix EP, Red Bull’s Lords of the Floor, Props BMX, Kopf Und Tuch, Granito de Arena, Oversize XL, and The Sound of Big Metal Boxes show a widening practice: recorded music, moving image, dance, and installation.

  • Plan B — Keepsake — composer/musician, GGOO22, 2003
  • Return of the Lords — mastering/audio engineering, Red Bull/Universal Journey, 2003
  • Kopf Und Tuch — composer/engineer, Düsseldorf, 2004
  • The Sound of Big Metal Boxes — audio engineer/producer, 2004

Film, dance, remix culture, and full-length Plan B

This period includes the full-length I’m The Captain, Where We Going?, remix work for Minus the Bear and Truckasaurus, compositions for documentary and independent film, and dance-theater work in Europe.

  • Conrad Ford — Don’t You Miss Yourself — studio drummer, 2005
  • I’m The Captain, Where We Going? — Plan B solo artist release, 2006/2007
  • Un Poquito De Tanta Verdad — principal soundtrack composer, 2007
  • Band of Horses — Cease to Begin — digital percussion sound design, 2007

Paris, commissions, documentaries, digital singles

Work from this period includes advertising music with Neptuli in Paris, documentary and dance commissions, the National Ballet/Don’t Hit Mama project Zwanenmeer Bijlmermeer II, and Plan B digital singles Digan La Verdad and Crow’s Nest.

  • Clé Des Champs and eZ Systems — composer/engineer, 2008
  • The Sharp End — featured Plan B music, Sender Films, 2008
  • Zwanenmeer Bijlmermeer II — composer/remix artist, Amsterdam, 2009
  • Crow’s Nest — Plan B digital single, Fourthcity, 2010

Records & releases

Plan B, Automaton Adventure Series, Sub Debs, Star Athena, Origami Ghost, Paper People, Conrad Ford, Magic Magicians, Robot Horse, Foscil, Bridge and Tunnel Club, Cub Country.

Film & documentary

August the First, Granito de Arena, A Little Bit of So Much Truth / Un Poquito De Tanta Verdad, The Sharp End, Recordings, Urban Scarecrow.

Dance & performance

Kopf Und Tuch, Oversize XL, Crush, Laundream, Zwanenmeer Bijlmermeer II, Kunstbalie Festival / Roundcorner Dance Co.

Media, ads & culture

XBOX Exhibition, Props BMX, Manik Skateboards, Diversion Magazine, Alliance Wakeboarding / Fuel TV, Amazon Wire, eZ Systems, Clé Des Champs, Stantum.

Seattle nominations and critical visibility

  • Seattle Weekly Music Awards nomination, Electronica category, 2005.
  • The Stranger’s SXSW Music Conference Top 12 Seattle Artist Awards, avant-garde/electronic nomination, 2004.
  • Seattle Weekly Music Awards nomination for best avant-garde musical act, 2003.