interviews: electronic and computer musicians at Bleepfest 06
Here we have a selection of quite different electronic music acts and a label owner answering questions related to their work. The thing they have in common is that they will be at Bleepfest 06 in London on March 25th. Below, in spiffy random order, we talk to Bovaflux, Marloes, Man Like Me, Highpointlowlife Records, Fisk Industries, Robot Bleeping, and Stone 3.
Eddie is a videogames programmer and a computer musician and plays under the name Bovaflux.
What got you started in computer music?
I guess it goes back to my first computer really... One of the first computer programs I wrote was this simple thing to play 'twinkle twinkle little star' with the BLEEP command on the Spectrum.. Then on the Amiga I got into using trackers, and would write soundtracks for videogames me and my friends would code. I released this music disc on the demo scene called The Mad Preacher under the name Mr E which the other kids at school thought was great, but i remember it as rather crude and badly put together 4/4 techno, with some american tv evangelist ranting about the evils of tv and stuff over the top. I guess everyone starts somewhere though, eh? I keep meaning to fire up the old amiga again sometime to have a dig through those old tracks.. I reckon there must be a couple of forgotten gems in the hundred and something tracks i made then!
When you're putting textures together, do you hear what you want first and try and get it or do you explore and pick out sounds you like? or both?!
It's a bit of a mix, but i would say that more often than not, it's a case of trial and error, just playing around with sounds till something just sounds right. Then I'd try adding bits in and taking stuff away, trying out different effects.. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I do what I do really, as when it's going well, you just get into a flow, and aren't really thinking about what you're doing anymore, you're just on autopilot. It's kind of like when you're into a game of tetris or something like that, you go beyond thinking in terms of left, right, rotate, etc, and it just all happens by itself..
You have something to do with gaming I think. Is it games music you're involved in? How constrained are you by what you do in that vein?
No, I don't do music for videogames, but I do program them. I've often thought about being a game musician, but I'm not really the kind of guy that can turn out tracks in a specified style to hit a deadline, so it's not for me. I have a lot of respect for the musicians I work with though, who seem like they can pretty much turn their hand to anything required. I have kind of worked on videogame music of sorts, in that I was a programmer on Music 2000 for PlayStation2, and in the sequel, MTV Music Generator 2, I wrote an original track for them, and did the remixes of the Roni Size and Gorillaz tracks (Jazz2 and Dub Dumb). I did actually do a dirty ruff ragga mix of the Gorillaz track which was wicked, but is now sadly lost, along with the other more experimental tracks which I submitted to them. It's a shame they didn't use some of the weirder stuff really, as I think the MUSIC series sometimes got labeled as more of a remixing kit, when in reality there was more than enough scope for doing whatever you wanted. I'd really love to work on a next gen version of it actually, there'd be all sorts of new avenues you could explore with the power of the next gen consoles.
Marloes is part of goto10.org and is an audio-visual specialist. Actually, after this went up, she has had to cancel but we'll include her in this anyway.
What tools do you primarily use?
My laptop, a gamepad, and pure data.
In working with sound and vision do you find there are unexpected synergies where the overall emotional effect is more than you might have thought?
I would say the overall effect (emotional/rational/conceptual/or other) of a generative audiovisual performance is very different compared to music performance, for both performer and audience. You can't really compare it to a music performance or to what a VJ might do. The way the sound and the image influence eachother (sometimes directly by using a soundsignal to contol a videosignal or visa versa, sometimes indirectly by finding meaningfull combinations of sound and image) is unique to this kind of performance. The fact that certain combinations of sound and image can amplify the overall emotional effect of a scene has been proven throughout history. It is used all over, from circus acts that combine the start of an act with the sound of a gong and the climax with a drumroll and a clash of 2 cimbals, thus raising the concentration and increasing the tension of the audience, to the most known example of movies with good soundtracks. The whole thing can of course also backfire, when for instance the sound and image get disconnected because on of them is stronger than the other (i usually walk around for days with a commercial tune in my head, completely unaware of which product one was trying to sell me).
When putting pieces together, is it mostly an intellectual process or do you get to a sort of jamming thing?
It is at first very much improvisation and working on 10 things at a time, not knowing if those 10 things will ever come together and start making sense. After lots of messing around it usually does start to make sense and the different modules start connecting. At this point it comes closest to 'intellectual process' but i'm not sure if that is the correct term. It all ends up in one patch that is performable and tells a certain story that i've been thinking about while patching.
Stone 3 is a musician from Nottingham. www.stone3.org.uk
How did you get started in computer music (this question has been asked more than once!)?
I started out fiddling with a Roland D10 synth of my dad's when I was about 10. Just used to fire it up and trip out on the sounds while my dad tried to explain MIDI to me. Preset Patch B87 'WaterBells' is a thing of majesty and was once used by Lee Perry himself (to my delight). I still use the synth as a controller keyboard.
What are your favourite tools?
Ableton Live, guitars and acoustic instruments, toys, reverse sounds.
Do you have a particular source of inspiration ... musical or non-musical?
Great music is always inspiring. Great people also, so I try to fill my world with both. Actually the whole musical process bewitches and intrigues me the more I go into it.
What is your main aim when putting something together?
I want to create something strange and beautiful that will hopefully trance people out for a moment or two (like Patch B87 'WaterBells' used to do to me as a kid). I've been trying to put something together for Bleepfest in memory of the plague dead buried in the crypt. We'll see how that works out.
Man Like Me is an electro-pop artist.
How would you describe your musical style?
Menacingly comical electro pop
Do you use any special/weird equipment?
Weird / equipment - in 'Oh My Gosh' I used the kitchen table for percussion. I use a moog for most of the synth sounds and a lot of quirky percussion, but the weirdest instrument off all to me is my voice.
How did you get started?
Back in 1984 when I was in my mother's womb we went and saw a gospel choir and apparently I was really kicking around so I would say that's when I first became inspired. Then 17 years later i got my first computer and the ball started rolling
Thorsten runs Highpointlowlife records.
You run a label that specialises in electronic music. How did you get started with that?
It started with a weekly club night that my friend and I used to run, while living in San Francisco. The sound was a hybrid of indie-pop, post-rock, electronica and techno, and we played a lot of locally produced music, from labels like Tigerbeat6, Orthlong Musork, Dial, and lots of self-produced band cds. We got to meet a local of local musicians from that, and from there we released a compilation cd of many of the artists and bands we knew around town. I moved back to the UK, and settled in London in 2002, and it was from there the label really got started, especially focussing on a lot of UK based electronic acts, who i either met online or out and around at shows. There is a much stronger and more thriving electronic scene in the UK and Europe than there is in the US, and the label naturally moved with what we were listening to and involved in. We're not a completely electronic label, although we have predominately been releasing electronic music.
Do you have any sort of formula for the label or is it just stuff that grabs you?
Its just based on personal taste, music that i feel strongly enough about that i want to support; that if i was shopping for music, its something that i would want to buy myself. I'm useless at guessing what other people might like, so i just work under the assumption that if i like something, theres a decent chance some other people will do also.
What does your crystal ball reveal about future trends in electronic music?
I think there are various strands and directions which will continue to flourish and seed new areas. Hybrid bands like Battles and Radian are very interesting to me, real bands who use electronics and noise, not just as part of a backing track, but as a full part of their sound, completely integrated. Live electronic shows are getting much better, with artists trying really hard to break away from cliche image of the unmoving figure crouching behind a laptop, with the additions of better hardware/software interfaces, and a healthy dose of innovative thinking. Sotfware is getting so much better and rather than making people sound similar, the possibilities are there for digging so much deeper into sound, with people building and creating completely unreal textures and rhythms. In short, lots of exciting new things constantly evolving and a great time for music in general!
Mat plays under the name Fisk Industries.
Did anyone in particular inspire you to start making your own music?
I'd always played guitar in rock and death metal bands before I decided to try and make music using keyboards and computers, so it was the melodies and arrangements of people like Carcass, Death and Obituary that I remember being the last 'inspirational' music I was into. Other than that it was the lure of exotic and original sounds...
When you're putting something together, would you say there's a predominant emotional state you aim to create?
There is no state I want to artificially construct to write music. Not for want of trying - but alcohol, drugs and computers don't mix - on technical terms. I definitely think it takes a fair bit of discipline to sit down and do anything. Summed up by an emotion; I would say its a mixture of being inspired enough to think "I could do that" so much that - if you're serious about your claim - from then on you spend your time and money on finding out if you really can...
What tools do you use? anything weird?
Nothing weird really. I personally like to hear original sounds in songs especially if they are 'home made' - that always beats any software presets. I have a track called 'Polska' which uses a recorded guitar to play out as a 'guitar' coupled with the sound of a moored boat creaking. Both were recorded with the same mic and Minidisc but used for completely different means in the song. One is intended as a guitar line and the other is an 'effect'. That is the beauty of modern day music: anything can be an instrument, even if its not an instrument.
Robot Bleeping makes occasional non-commercial music.
How did you get started?
I used to be, and still occasionally am, a hardcore electric guitarist. I'm also a computer geek so it was inevitable I'd get to some computer-based music.
What tools do you use?
For Bleepfest I was going to use Pd but I find I don't have enough time to really get into it as I'd like so I'll get to that later. What I'll do instead is create some tracks using everything from Garageband to basic Pd and then manipulate them with Ableton Live.
What sort of electronic music do you like?
I don't like things to be too overblown but I do like everything from lo-fi retro-bleeps and trance-dance to some breaks.
More about Bleepfest on 25 March 06
Bookmark:
post to Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
Recent on Mstation: music: Vivian Girls, America's Cup, music: Too Young to Fall..., music: Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Berlin Lakes, music: Atarah Valentine, Travel - Copenhagen, House in the Desert
front page / music / software / games / hardware /wetware / guides / books / art / search / travel /rss / podcasts / contact us