Guitar, 1912 by Pablo Picasso
Guitar, 1914 by Pablo Picasso
Salman Khan y Steven Zucker
A place to support Independent Sound Art
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 2, 2015
10 Flamenco Guitar Masters
"It's something strange, but I never used to think of myself as playing music. I was living a special kind of life, flamenco."
Paco de Lucia
Niño Miguel
Paco de Lucia
Carlos Montoya
Pepe Habichuela
Pepe Habichuela
Enrique de Melchor
Manolo Franco
Manolo Sanlucar
Paco Peña
Victor Monje "Serranito"
J. M. Cañizares
Niño Miguel
Flamenco is an art-form of deep inspiration, a necessity of the soul, a lament against life itself, and a shout to the freedom which is born within the heart
Coming Soon to Prepared Guitar
OLD tocaores in the Flamenco World
Sabicas, Niño Ricardo, Ramón Montoya, Mario Escudero...
Fresh names in the Flamenco Guitar
Niño Josele, Miguel Angel Cortés, Chicuelo, Viejin, Pepe Justicia, Antonio Rey...
OPEN Flamenco Ways
Raimundo, Diego Carrasco, Manuel Molina, Pata Negra...
10 Essential Flamenco Guitarists
To Be Continued Soon
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Richard Carrick 13 Questions
Richard Carrick, a Guggenheim Fellow, writes music of spatial depth and robust stasis, characterized by continual development and the evocation of profound human experiences. Described both as "charming, with exoticism and sheer infectiousness" and "organic and restless" by The New York Times, Carrick's music is influenced by his multicultural background and experiences as well as his commitment to inspire professionals and youth through composition.
His 2015 CD release, Cycles of Evolution, includes pieces commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Either/Or, Sweden’s Ensemble Son, Hotel Elefant, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, and DZ4. Other recent CD’s include The Flow Cycle for Strings (2011 New World Records) and Stone Guitars (2014).
His 2015 CD release, Cycles of Evolution, includes pieces commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Either/Or, Sweden’s Ensemble Son, Hotel Elefant, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, and DZ4. Other recent CD’s include The Flow Cycle for Strings (2011 New World Records) and Stone Guitars (2014).
Lauren Cauley and Elisabeth Jeffrey in "Trust," by Miro Magloire and Richard Carrick. Photography by Jaqlin Medlock.
He has been programmed and presented internationally at festivals including ISCM World Music Days-Switzerland, NYPHIL BIENNIAL, Mid-American New Music Festival, Konzerthaus Wein, and Darmstadt Summer Festival, and performed by musicians including the JACK and Mivos Quartets, Nieuw Ensemble, Sequitur Ensemble, Tony Arnold, Magnus Andersson, Steven Schick, Rohan de Saram, and many others.
Richard Carrick's "Prisoner's Cinema" Photo by Dominica Eriksen
Carrick is co-founder, co-artistic director and conductor/pianist of the New York-based contemporary music outfit Either/Or, which promotes work of the most vital contemporary composers and is declared "first rate" and "a trustworthy purveyor of fresh sounds" by The New York Times.
Carrick has taught composition at Columbia and New York Universities and has presented masterclasses and lectures throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. He is a cornerstone of the teaching artist faculty for the New York Philharmonic, through which he has mentored hundreds of young composers internationally.
Born in Paris of French-Algerian and British descent, Carrick received his BA from Columbia University, PhD from the University of California-San Diego with Brian Ferneyhough, and pursued further studies at IRCAM and the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. Recent works distributed by Project Schott New York.
Bio by Brad Balliett
1. What do you remember about your first approach to sound?
2. Which was the first and the last record you bought with your own money?
3. How's your musical routine practice?
4. Which work of your own are you most surprised by, and why?
5. What's the relevance of technique in music, in your opinion?
6. Why do you need music? Can we live without music?
7. Tell me one impossible project do you like to realize?
8. What are the challenges and benefits of today's digital music scene?
9. Depict the sound you're still looking for, or the sound you'd like to hear.
10. How do you feel listening to your own music?
11. What special or extrange techniques do you use?
12. Which is the main pleasure of the strings? What are their main limitation?
13. What’s your craziest project about?
1. Can you describe a sound experience that you believe contributed to your becoming a musician?
2. What do you recall about your playing learning process?
3. Tell me one musical work which has provoked a change in your music.
4. What is your relationship with other disciplines such as painting, literature, dance, theater ...?
5. Where are your roots? What are your secret influences? (Non musical ones, books, people, experiences, art...)
6. What would you enjoy most in an art work?
7. If you could, what would you say to yourself 30 (or 35) years ago, about your musical career?
8. What quality do you most empatize with in a musician?
9. Which living or dead artist would you like to collaborate with?
10. What is some valuable advice that someone has given to you in the past?
11. What instruments and tools do you use?
12. What is the most recent musical experience that has attracted your attention?
13. What projects are you working on now and what does the future hold?
What do you remember about your first approach to sound?
I remember recreating classical music on the piano (I had a good ear but didn’t like sightreading) so I would just re-orchestrate pieces on the piano instead of really learning every note. I used to add lower octaves to Beethoven sonatas, thinking it sounded better! Of course it did, but only years later did I realize he was writing for a smaller piano and had he had those lower notes available to him, I wonder if he might have also added them?
How's your musical routine practice?
Ha, that is funny. Wish I had a routine. Juggling composing, performing and conducting makes a daily routine impossible, but I do spend plenty of time preparing for each project, months in advance, so I don’t try do to anything at the last minute.
What's the relevance of technique in music, in your opinion?
Big question with a short answer! Technique is a tool; it is something you need in order to forget about it and make music. But there is no standard technique you need, everyone studies until they can do what they want with their instrument. I have way more piano technique than guitar technique, but (or because of?) I often find the guitar more inspiring to improvise on.
Depict the sound you're still looking for, or the sound you'd like to hear.
After having performed Helmut Lachenmann’s Salut fur Caudwell numerous times, I wrote a solo classical guitar work in 2009 for the Swedish guitarist Magnus Andersson. I composed my piece entirely on the instrument and heard every sound with my ears next to the instrument. I fell in love with the intimate nuances of the guitar sound up close. But when I head it in performance, beautifully performed by Magnus, I realized so many of those rich details were lost in the concert hall.
I’m still looking for a way to capture and project these rich, soft sounds of the guitar in larger halls, without them sounding loud or amplified. It might be acoustical impossibility, but I keep trying with different pedals and amps! And if anyone has suggestions on how to do this, I’d love to hear from them.
How do you feel listening to your own music?
Used to feel very strange and too intimate, but these days it feels really good in general. More specifically, each piece is so different from the next that I never have one feeling towards my music, each piece has its own feelings. I’m always hearing the reason for writing it, how it was presented, what I’m hoping to accomplish with the piece, and those unexpected happy results that sometimes appear from myopic composing practices.
Richard Carrick - piano, Stephanie Griffin - viola, Margaret Lancaster - alto flute, Chris McIntyre - trombone, Josh Rubin - bass clarinet, David Shively - percussion, Alex Waterman - cello
What special or strange techniques do you use?
I use whammy bar way too much compared to ‘legit’ guitarists! You have to remember I’m a pianist by training, and I returned to the guitar precisely because it does so many things the piano doesn’t do: microtonal tuning, pitch bend, crescendo, electronic processing, etc. So my guitar playing focuses on these aspects of the instrument.
Which is the main pleasure of the strings? What are their main limitation?
I am in total love with the purity of the sound. and how it evokes music from such diverse and rich cultures. Piano always sounds like a western instrument. Guitar can sound like it is from anywhere in the world. Very liberating, but also makes it very difficult to write for, since it is easy to fall into cultural cliche’s.
What projects are you working on now and what does the future hold?
After over 10 years in NYC, I’m now into working in new musical environments. I just spent time in Seoul studying Korean Gugak (Traditional) Music where I learned the vocal traditions and how to play the Piri (a double reed wind instrument), and will be spending time in Kigali, Rwanda, where they have a rich drumming tradition. It is important not to take too many things for granted, and also immerse yourself in other traditions to fuel and develop your own ideas. Somehow, your own ideas become clearer.
JIMI HENDRIX Memorial by Hallvardur Asgeirson
JIMI HENDRIX
Jimi Hendrix is for me the beginning of the transformation of the electric guitar from an acoustic guitar with a little bit of apparatus added, to a whole other instrument altogether. While the humble setup of fuzz, wah and uni-vibe with expression pedal may not seem like much, in combination with several marshall guitar stacks it enabled Jimi to transform his instrument as well as the sound of rock music as we know it.
At the basis Hendrix was a blues player. He was influenced by Muddy Waters for example, as well as other players such as BB King. Muddy had his own experiments with feedback which he always regretted not having been allowed to release on record. But perhaps it took a figure such as Jimi to make these ideas part of the mainstream.
Les Paul had made innovations in the use of the guitar such as multilayering and sped up phrasing, Jimi takes the instrument to a whole other level.
At the time the use of effects and distortion was considered ‘gimmicky’ by some of the more traditionalist blues players. However to me it has always seemed as simply an extension of the instrument. Just as logical a conclusion as the addition of a coil to a plank & 6 strings.
At the time the use of effects and distortion was considered ‘gimmicky’ by some of the more traditionalist blues players. However to me it has always seemed as simply an extension of the instrument. Just as logical a conclusion as the addition of a coil to a plank & 6 strings.
Jimi had as much in common with John Coltrane as he does with his fellow blues players.
With distortion and feedback the electric guitar is extended with sustain & a greater frequency spectrum. The way is an interesting choice. A simple band pass filter is capable of controlling the frequency excited by feedback.
With distortion and feedback the electric guitar is extended with sustain & a greater frequency spectrum. The way is an interesting choice. A simple band pass filter is capable of controlling the frequency excited by feedback.
Hendrix’s setup of fuzz, wah, univibe, occationally octavio and delay is one that is simple by today’s standards, but at the same time, there is nothing more needed.
The instrument is transformed into a more dionysian tool which transcends time & space. Oscillating wildly between the dionysian & appollonian axis.
The instrument is transformed into a more dionysian tool which transcends time & space. Oscillating wildly between the dionysian & appollonian axis.
Before Hendrix, the synthesis of the guitar was similar between the electric and the acoustic.
The instrument has a sudden attack, with the sound of the pick bringing a short noise to the beginning of the sound. Then there is the meat of the sound, the tone, followed by a quite sudden drop.
But Hendrix changed all that. The addition of feedback, distortion & was changed the instrument for all future. Feedback does two things, it opens up the overtone series & prolongs the tone of the instrument.
The instrument has a sudden attack, with the sound of the pick bringing a short noise to the beginning of the sound. Then there is the meat of the sound, the tone, followed by a quite sudden drop.
But Hendrix changed all that. The addition of feedback, distortion & was changed the instrument for all future. Feedback does two things, it opens up the overtone series & prolongs the tone of the instrument.
The way gives an extra amount of control over the sound, as bandpass filters the frequencies about to be feedbacked.
Thus Hendrix transcends the blues not only into jazz but also into electronic music.
But Hendrix’s focus was never on technique. Others have followed which have played faster & more precisely with a cleaned up sound. Hendrix’s focus is more on soul, emotion, sound, feel. All the other parameters of great guitar work.
Thus Hendrix transcends the blues not only into jazz but also into electronic music.
But Hendrix’s focus was never on technique. Others have followed which have played faster & more precisely with a cleaned up sound. Hendrix’s focus is more on soul, emotion, sound, feel. All the other parameters of great guitar work.
Hendrix was indeed technical but it was a bluesier side of technique more organic then ‘correct’.
When Hendrix was alive, he was following technology closely, having pedals custom built and playing them onstage the same day. Roger Mayer ofter went to a gig do deliver an octavio in such a manner. I’m sure if he were alive today he would be using electronic processing in the same way as he used fuzz, without ever losing focus of the soul and emotion of the music.
When Hendrix was alive, he was following technology closely, having pedals custom built and playing them onstage the same day. Roger Mayer ofter went to a gig do deliver an octavio in such a manner. I’m sure if he were alive today he would be using electronic processing in the same way as he used fuzz, without ever losing focus of the soul and emotion of the music.
Prepared Video I: Kim Cascone
Kim Cascone. Lunar Mansions - for Organ & Sine Waves.
Recorded 29 October 2014, Union Chapel, London
“Lunar Mansions,” a twenty-one minute drone piece commissioned for the Union Chapel Henry Willis Organ, continues my recent work with low-frequency difference tones (beats) and meditative states of consciousness.
The intent of this piece is to provide an “aqua sonus” of undulating frequencies created by the difference between the tuning systems of the Union Chapel pipe organ, tuned in equal temperament, and computer generated sine waves that are tuned in just intonation.
This effect will, hopefully, fill the Union Chapel with pulsating frequencies creating acoustic Moire patterns and conjuring associations and visuals for the listener. The piece will be played in darkness for a meditating audience.
Kim Cascone & Keith Rowe – With Hidden Noise
Anechoic – a002. Dec 2000
...like a field recording of sunspot activity or insects building nests inside an...
Peter Marsh 2002
Perversely, this almost molecular level of control allows Cascone to build more chaos into his tools, and generate systems that operate under their own rules. His background as a film sound designer (most notably for David Lynch) might lead you to think of his music as being cinematic, but it really isn't (unless it's film of cells replicating or some amino acids getting it on).
On the face of it, his hookup with AMM guitarist Keith Rowe may seem unlikely, but Rowe's recent work with laptop ensemble MIMEO and Cascone's collaborations with guitarist Kevin Drumm point to the common ground this rather lovely square 3" CD maps out; though not a collaboration in the usual sense (Rowe gave Cascone a live recording to work on) there is a sense that the two mens worlds are meeting in the middle.
On the single track, Cascone spins out a dronework of resonant buzzes, pulses and indistinct voices from his source material. Of course, Rowe is hardly the most conventional of guitarists; played flat on a table, the strings are alternately caressed, rubbed and thwacked by fans, brushes, bowes and knives in an aesthetic that would give Hendrix nightmares. Fed through Cascone's DSP wizardry, Rowe's guitar transmutes into gentle, hollow drones, fractured by tiny sounds like the cracking of ice; Cascone treats Rowe's occasional eruptions with windtunnel ambience, trailing off in fizzy distortions or chiming sinetones.
Its dark, atmospheric stuff, like a field recording of sunspot activity or insects building nests inside an electricity substation, strangely meditative yet slightly unsettling. Give yourself up to it and its a deep, deep listen; when it's over the rain on the window or the hum of your fridge sound different, stranger, louder.
Kim Cascone studied electronic music at the Berklee College of Music and the New School in Manhattan. He founded Silent Records in 1985 and has released more than 50 albums of electronic music on Silent, Sub Rosa, Mille Plateaux, Raster-Noton, Störung, Monotype and Emitter Micro. Cascone has performed with Merzbow, Keith Rowe, Scanner, John Tilbury, Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros and worked as assistant music editor on two David Lynch films.
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Kim Cascone 13 Questions
13 Questions INDEX
Kim Cascone 13 Questions
13 Questions INDEX
Buster Jensen 13 Questions
Danish guitarist Buster Jensen born in 1989 in Odense, on the island Fyen. He is studying masters in Copenhagen at Rythmic Conservatory.
Playing guitar, lapsteel and keyboard in many different constellations. Among others: Guldimund with Adi Zukanovic, Rune Risager, Søren Jensen Buhl, Sven Dam Meinild; Juju Me, with Sven Dam Meinild, Asger nordtorp, Peter Albrechtsen, Anders Haaning and Stine Steendorph Petersen; Onkel Ond Band: a party band mixing the sound of Jimi Hendrix, Duke Ellington, Kurt Weil and Fela Kuti with Emil Thorenfeldt, Emil Gemmer Kromann, Simon Sommer, Malte Nordtorp, Asger Blomkvist, Kaare Bjerke and Andreas Møller Bøttiger and Asbjørn Storm Kampan; ZetZum Zorglub with Kristoffer Tophøj, Andreas Moller Bøttiger, Sfen Dam Meinild, Lars Greve, Kaare Bjerke and Ulvetimen with Kristian Kjærulff Ravn, Simon Alsing Busk, Jakob Pagaard,Kasper Nyhus and Anna-Karina Knudsen. He has also played with Echo Me , Benny Andersen, Anders Mogensen, Gilad Hekselman and many others.
He has composed and played lapstel, guitar, keyboard various at various theaters and theater setups.
Nominated for "talent of the year 2015" with Onkel Ond Band at Odense Live.
Nominated for the "Klods Hans Prize" for best act 2015 at the H.C. Andersen festival.
His mains influences are Jim Campilongo, Colin Stetson, Mark Knofler, Son Lux, Darkside, Daft Punk, Ali Farka Toure, Niclas Knudsen, Morten Nordal, Hilmer Jensson, Ry Cooder, PJ Harvey, St. Vincent, Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, Godspeed your black emperor, Arcade Fire, Talk Talk, Shuggi Otis, Gabriel Faure, Arvo Pärt, Nils Frahm.
What do you remember about your first approach to sound? Which was the first and the last record you bought with your own money?
I remember that the first records i started listening to was by Dire Straits and The Doors. I loved and still love the crispy sound of Mark Knofler's stratocaster, and it is still something i try to replicate when I am at my rehearsal space.
The first record was with Backstreet Boys and the last was Radiohead - A moon Shaped Pool. Also, I think the sound of the rain in Riders On The Storm is kind of a turning point for me.
How's your musical routine practice?
It depends on which mood i am in, and the forthcoming gigs. If i have to play music which is technically diffycult, I rehearse scales and speed. I usually create a beat in ableton which i then jam along with. When I am writing music for ZetZum ZorGlub or Onkel Ond Band, I play with effects and don't pay attention to technique.
Which work of your own are you most surprised by, and why? How do you feel listening to your own music?
Hmm.. I am genererally not surprised by my own work because i work a lot every day and use a lot of time composing and preparing my tunes for my bandmembers.
It's weird. I don't listen to it like a listen to Radiohead for instance. I listen to and analyze myself all the time.
What's the relevance of technique in music, in your opinion?
About technique, it depends of which type of music it is, and in which direction you want to take it. I recorded some music with Gilad Hekselman, and it was amazing what he could do on his guitar. In my opinion he is a very accomplished guitarplayer, who doesn't seem to have any technically difficulties. My self, on the contrary, has a lot of technically difficulties if chose to meet Gilad on his terms and play a jazzsolo, and therefore i play in my own kind of way, where technique is a relative term, and who decides who has the best technique, when the music is my own and moves on the my own terms? We played some of my tunes, and it was a true pleasure to witness Gilad adapt to my music, good technique or not.
Why do you need music? Can we live without music?
First of all i think it is fun. I don't think there is any reason to seperate music from life, it seems like it is natural for people in general to express themselves through music and art. So no, I don't think it is possible. People has always expressed themselves, even though it was not allowed because of political og social reasons- look at pussy riot for instance?
What are the challenges and benefits of today's digital music scene? Depict the sound you're still looking for, or the sound you'd like to hear.
It is easy to get you music out to a big audience, and it is not that expensive anymore to record.
Hmm. I like the sounds in general. Sometimes i try to express a feeling through my guitar - sometimes i succed sometimes i don't. I like the sound of flesh againt steel: I experiment a lot with playing guitar without a pick.
What instruments and tools do you use? What special or extrange techniques do you use?
A 72 Fender Telecaster, A 63 Jazzmaster, A 64 Epiphone Proffesional and a Custom Shop 60's Reissue Stratocaster. A lot of delays and weird effects. And Ableton.
Nothing special in techniques, I think. I concentrate upon making my pick and fingers sound as good as possible. I do not prepare my guitar or anything.
What do you recall about your playing learning process?
That it is hard work playing music. One day you think your on the top, the next day it's the worst decision you ever made was to start playing music.
What is your relationship with other art disciplines? Where are your roots? What are your secret influences?
I read a lot of books. I have named a few of my tunes after some of the characters in Dostojevskis litterature.
I have a lot of influences, most of all I think my family and friends. My fellow friends which also play music, are sometimes the ones, who influence me the most, by introducing me to new music for instance.
If you could, what would you say to yourself 30 years ago, about your musical career?
You should have practised more.
What is some valuable advice that someone has given to you in the past?
Be kind to people and don't be late.
What quality do you most empatize with in a musician?
The i like the most are those who can adapt. They can make the music sound great whether it's jazz, rock you name it.
What is the most recent musical experience that has attracted your attention? Which living or dead artist would you like to collaborate with?
Dirty Projecters - Swing Lo Magellan. Jimi Hendrix.
What’s your craziest project about? What projects are you working on now and what does the future hold?
Onkel Ond Band is a nine man high band, which play my tunes, and is mainly improvised. Sometimes some really freaky stuff goes down in this band. Last summer i poured a beer over my guitar, and people got quite surprised.
I am recording albums with ZetZum ZorGlub, Onkel Ond Band, and one of my friens called Asger, who has a band which is called GuldiMund. Besides that there is a lot of diffent small projects.
Lee Riley 13 Questions
Creator of Drones & Other Noises, Performer, Improviser, Installations builder, Lee Riley is a sound artist based in Oxford (UK). His work explores ways of not just hearing sound but seeing it from unique perspectives formed in installation, performance and improvisation. Sound has a strong visual presence throughout his work. In performance Lee explore extended techniques of playing guitar and other instruments. He improvises musically both as a solo artist and with other musicians.
Lee Riley has shared collaborative projects with other musicians and visual artists. His background includes print based graphic design and photography. Since 2007, Lee have explored the world of sound. In October 2012, he completed an MA in Composition and Sonic Art at Oxford Brookes University.
In May/June 2015 Lee curated the 'Seeing Sound from Inside-Out' exhibition at FaB15 (Fringe Arts Bath) He has installed works and performed at 'The Space Between' Salisbury Arts Centre, FaB14&15, OCM (Oxford Contemporary Music) Open 2013 at the Pegasus Theatre, Modern Art Oxford, Ovada Warehouse in Oxford, The Old Fire Station in Oxford and Arts Complex in Edinburgh. He has also played in various venues across the UK - venues include pubs, clubs, empty shops, basements, a living room, a chapel, an office complex, a warehouse, a library, theatres and gallery spaces.
Lee Riley has shared collaborative projects with other musicians and visual artists. His background includes print based graphic design and photography. Since 2007, Lee have explored the world of sound. In October 2012, he completed an MA in Composition and Sonic Art at Oxford Brookes University.
In May/June 2015 Lee curated the 'Seeing Sound from Inside-Out' exhibition at FaB15 (Fringe Arts Bath) He has installed works and performed at 'The Space Between' Salisbury Arts Centre, FaB14&15, OCM (Oxford Contemporary Music) Open 2013 at the Pegasus Theatre, Modern Art Oxford, Ovada Warehouse in Oxford, The Old Fire Station in Oxford and Arts Complex in Edinburgh. He has also played in various venues across the UK - venues include pubs, clubs, empty shops, basements, a living room, a chapel, an office complex, a warehouse, a library, theatres and gallery spaces.
What's the relevance of technique in music, in your opinion?
I think technique is the most important aspect of music, all musicians have their own way of approaching an instrument the technique can be different depending on the players ability and style, I don’t really regard myself a guitarist, but a guitar is my current choice of instrument, my technique is abstract and the guitar is a tool I use to create sounds that form my music.
How do you feel listening to your own music?
I think listening is the most useful thing in creating music; I listen to certain tones and frequencies that is important within my sound. I record my practice sessions and listening helps me recreate elements and ideas when it comes to playing live.
How's your musical routine practice?
I tend to practice more when I have a gig. I try to practice most weeks but find having breaks keeps the sound fresh each time I play.
Painting: Colin Lawson, Sound: Lee Riley, Animation: Chanté St Clair Inglis
What special or extrange techniques do you use?
Most of my techniques are improvised but I do have a palette I work with and it evolves every time I play depending on the setting and mood. The most extrange techniques I used are definitely dragging a guitar through the streets.
Can you describe a sound experience that you believe contributed to your becoming a musician?
It is hard to pin point a first sound experience, I have always been interested in the sound of engines and machines. I love the fact you can make the guitar sound like a thundering engine or make machine like sounds out of it. I never thought I would be on the stage doing it, in the past I have always loved watching gigs and still can’t believe I get up there myself.
Which living or dead artist would you like to collaborate with?
I would love to work with Mike Patton, I admire lots of his work, his voice is amazing and he is not afraid of trying new things and has crossed paths with many other musicians I really like. You can learn from others when collaborating adapting your techniques to work in a new context. I would especially like to work on a score based project with him.
Why do you need music? Can we live without music
I need music because it is a form of expression and creation. I have always had a creative mind and music seems to be my main focus at the moment. I do find it hard to say way it is so important but I couldn’t live without it.
Tell me one musical work which has provoked a change in your music
I think my music has got darker not sure why? I have seen and heard lots of live music but when I first experienced Sunn O))) I actually felt the music in a new way quite literally. I want the audience to experience that with my music in some way. Sunn O))) are dark and intense and it isn’t a direct influence but is certainly had an effect on me.
What would you enjoy most in an art work?
I think art to me is similar to music; I like to experience something new that I have not seen or heard before. Sometimes art can be an unexplainable experience, I like to take that experience away with me and reflect on it later.
What is your relationship with other art disciplines?
I have a links to all of them; I am interested in the performance side and how the audience react to performance art. I have been doing more performance based art recently and worked with a dancer that I hope to so again soon. It is another form of expression and still fairly new to me. Sound and body have a strong relationship that is fascinating, I noticed my movements more than usual when collaborating with Macarena Ortuzar.
Which was the first and the last record you bought with your own money?
My first was ‘Metallica - Black’ and most recent that keeps getting stuck in my CD player is the recent ‘Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss’ album. I guess the heavier side of music has always been with me.
What are the challenges and benefits of today's digital music scene?
Finding your audience can be hard, but with digital music at the finger tips it is a good source for bedroom artists to get noticed. I am still exploring it and not sure of the best options. But it is how I listen to my friends who are in the same boat. It is a good way to support other music makers out there.
What projects are you working on now and what does the future hold?
More collaboration, I have enjoyed working with some good friends recently. I have a couple of splits and compilations in the pipe line. I hope to record a full length album in the near future. More of a studio based setting with big amps. I hope to gig more in 2016 after a trip to America in March. I am currently working on a new trio with Mike Bannard (guitar) and Chris Pethers (drums). A recording project at the moment, maybe live at some point, maybe even a release. They are from a great band called Masiro. You might like them.
