KEVIN EARL TAYLOR
American artist Kevin E. Taylor is not only a painter but he is also exploring the world of sound and video. Here are his answers to our questions:
12/2008
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
Are you one of the artists who knew he would become one since his childhood?
I always liked to draw. When I was probably 7 years old, my friends and I used to do our best to copy this guy who could draw really well. We drew lots of 18 wheeler trucks, spaceships, and guns. I stuck with it and eventually quit copying. When I started skateboarding and listening to punk music in 1984, I really started to see where art fit into life. Skateboard graphics, record covers, we even made our own magazine - all of that really got me going. In high school, I casually took an art class and started to discover I had a bit of talent. When it came time to start thinking about college, I couldn’t imagine myself in any more math classes or doing any more book reports on boring subjects. I might have started out going to art college to escape the “books”, but I once I discovered 20th century art and all the different artist’s processes and concepts, I caught a sort of creative fever. I knew then, I had always been an artist, but it took me that long to figure out that I could actually make a life of it.
Primarily, I use oil paint on wood. I’m not into canvas so much, but lately have been thinking about working on large unstretched canvas that I can roll for easier storage and shipping. I draw a lot with mixed media using whatever’s lying around- coffee, white out, and hi-liters might all be found within my work. I found a women’s maskara brush the other day, and got some really interesting random results with it. Drawing, I’m mostly into mechanical pencils and cheap ball point pens. Occasionally, I branch out and explore some sound, video, or sculpture, but I tend to think of that as more a “hobby”. Generally, I don’t really operate in mediums – I’m an artist… I make stuff with other stuff.
A wall is definitely more fun. It’s more of a physical thing. Like wrestling a giant. You get a real sense of accomplishment when you tackle something bigger than you. when I’m looking at a blank wall, it’s kind of like staring a bull in the face. It’s like, “OK wall, so you think you can take me, huh?” (laughs). I’ve done a wall 60′ x 20′ before and draw on stuff as small as little yellow post-it notes. I even have a little ongoing series called “post-itutes”.
As humans, we have removed ourselves from nature. We see ourselves as controlling, managing, or existing beyond nature. This attitude dissolves the awareness that we ARE nature. Humans tend to forget that we are mrere animals with instincts of survival, sex, and nourishment. The further we separate from nature, the less we understand our “human” faults and issues we continue to develop. My work re-presents the human and animal together as one anthropomorphic entity, embedding the pair into a hopeful, yet apocalyptic landscape. On another level, my paintings happen in a similar way to dreams. I rarely plan or sketch things before hand, and I tend not to pre-conceptualize either. I improvise a lot. I like to let each painting have it’s way with me, simply out of respect that it will be around a while longer than I will. It should have it’s say. When the painting is done and it becomes a familiar part of my life, the painting’s “meaning” begins to reveal itself through conversations with strangers, friends and with my own self. In the same way that a dream creates itself, leaving you to stab around at it’s meaning, once you awaken, a painting develops an identity of it’s own. This allows an image the ability to be more functional through becoming relative to a broader audience. Artist statement below:
I attempt to expose the animal within. Much of that which is assumed to be chaotic and incomprehensible within the human paradigm can be clarified through the observation that we, like all organisms are bound first and foremost by natural law. Over time, civil responsibility has ordered a physical detachment from nature, however a deeper mental architecture remains intact. It is this power play with which we struggle internally. I take interest in formulating a parody, amplifying an analysis, and offering visual depiction of this all at once grotesque, lovely, and hilarious production.
How did moving to San Francisco affect your art?
Mostly, the move has challenged me to push further as an artist. Being surrounded by so much great work/talent all the time, in a thriving city full of experience, you feel like you’re always running behind and the only way to make an attempt at keeping up is to get in the studio and get to work. I’ve been affected in a more technical way as well. I’ve worked a day job in the Macintosh lab at The Academy of Art University for 3 years now, and have plenty of time to draw in between helping students. I draw pretty much every day. I’ve been able to really hone my drawing skill through this. It’s been a really great thing for me, since good draftsmanship is the foundation of most of my work. It’s also been great to explore the city knowing that a lot of the current scene in San Francisco is built on remnants of the skateboard culture that inspired my friends and I back in Charleston, South Carolina in the mid 80’s. I’ve met and become friends with a few of my childhood heroes just by being around. It’s really great.
Which came first? The music or the art?
It’s hard to say. I came from a musical family background and made some attempts at playing music when I was much younger. I drew as far back as I can remember and I still have drawings I did when I was 3 years old. In high school, I picked up the guitar and haven’t put it down since. That was also about the time I started getting more into making visual art. I remember when I was in art school, telling my friend Jason how I wished I could explore music the way some of the minamalist visual artists explored imagery. He said, “why can’t you?”. He turned me on to some more experimental recordings that I’d never heard. John Cage, Steve Reich, etc… This openend up a new direction musically for me. Until then, I’d just been writing songs and making stuff that sounded like, well, music. At that point, I started thinking more openly about sound and using it like a medium. I guess for that reason, art and music are one and the same to me, although music occupies more of a recreational post in my life.
When and with what intentions did you start writing your songs? How much of your music and songwriting feed from spontaneity?
That’s a hard one. I never really had lessons, so once I got the hang of holding the guitar and playing chords, I started making up things just to practice with. Eventually came a song with some lyrics. That led to more songs and more lyrics. I got really into recording on a 4-track and that brought on all kinds of experiments involving sound. Before I knew it, I was having trouble remembering how many songs I had written and had to keep lists just so I wouldn’t forget them. I’ve got boxes full of tapes I’ve never even listened back to. As far as the process, songs are typically spontaneous. I don’t really sit down and say “OK, I’m going to write a song.” Usually, something just pops into my head, a melody or just a lyric, and I head straight home and try to record it. I’ve even dreamed a couple songs up while I was sleeping! Other times, I’ll just start making a beat and then build on top of it until I’ve got something worth listening to.
Pretty much. A couple are projects that I’ve been kind of a silent partner in, but the majority of them I’m directly involved with. I’ve always liked all kinds of music, so I don’t like to set up boundaries for the kind of music I make. Having different projects are just a way to categorize the different styles and help me think about them individually. The first of them all, Matter is somewhat successful in bringing all of the styles together into one. In science, matter can exist in various forms and still be named matter. I’ve always tried to use that concept with that project.
There’s the music, but occasionally, I’ll find myself pairing that with video. My website (www.kevinearltaylor.com) links to my blog, which has pages devoted to that stuff. Once in a while I’ll make a sculpture, or do a screen print edition with my buddy John Pundt (www.zen-grafix.com) back in Charleston. I have a collaborative project with my girlfriend, Miha (www.fmtishere.com) that involves accessories and other stuff. I have limited edition prints available through Fine Grime (www.finegrime.co.uk), and I also engrave on metal objects such as flasks, and lighters which you can find in my Etsy shop online. Basically, I like to make stuff. How has exhibiting your work overseas felt like so far? How do you find it different in opening an exhibition say like in Japan or in Europe than in the States?
It’s great. I want to travel more. I’d love to do a tour where I lived in a city for a month, did a drawing in the gallery, maybe showed some pieces and then moved on. It’s really fun to meet new people and learn about their scene and culture. I really like seeing local bands and going to shows I’d never have seen otherwise. I’m honored to visit different places, and feel lucky to be welcomed into strangers lives on the basis of my artwork alone. things different in the states, because art is really driven by money, unfortunately. I’ve found that overseas, people are concerned with the art first, and the price tag last. I like galleries who are willing to take risks for the sake of exhibiting art they actually like, rather than the art which puts money in the bank or associates them with an image. On a more realistic note, traveling these days isn’t the easiest thing. The world is in such an uncertain, strange and violent time. I wish I knew more languages than I do, so I didn’t feel like so much of an “American”! (laughs)
I never imagined I’d say this, but it would be an album by Yoko Ono. “Approximately Infinite Universe” was released about a week after I was born, but thanks to my friend Tim Cohen, I heard it for the first time this year. It’s got a mood I really enjoy. It exposes feelings of chaos, frustration, insanity, love, hate, serenity and playfulness all at once. The album climaxes with her 40 year old plea unto humankind, “Now or Never” which seems like an eerie warning attempting to prevent the problems we’re dealing with today. I’ve never been a Beatles fan, so I’ve always (ignorantly) pulled away from Yoko, but recently I’ve seen more of her visual artwork that I enjoyed and this album is truly worth a listen.
Britain’s indie-rock and dark wave collective Piano Magic’s Glen Johnson and Cedric Pin called themselves Future Conditional and sat in front of their Ableton live to record the album “We Don’t Just Disappear”. The amazing sounding electropop album is like a reincarnation of all the great albums from the 80s. They have taken such great voices along the way too such as Bobby Wratten (Field Mice/Trembling Blue Stars), Angele David-Guillou (Klima/Piano Magic), Carolyn Allen (The Wake), Dan Matz (Windsor for the Derby) and Melanie Pain (Nouvelle Vague). Future Conditional is answering some of our questions…
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
12/2007
Can you go back to your personal favorites and pick some albums that have been influential to you in making such a record as Future Conditional?
Glen : For me, personally, these albums were certainly an influence on Future Conditional :
The Human League - DARE
Section 25 - From The Hip
New Order - Lowlife
Kraftwerk - Computer World
OMD - Architecture & Morality
What makes “We Don’t Just Disappear” different from a lot of the recent crap that are being tried is that it doesn’t sound like the new, yet it doesn’t sound like the old. It’s as good as the old, it gets it perfectly well and adds to it, thus it standouts from the new. It’s amazingly successful in that sense. Has there been any recent albums that you’ve felt similar for?
Glen : It’s very kind what you’re saying! I think the general idea was to make a record that was in some way a homage to early 80’s synthpop without sounding “dated.” Some would call it “retro-futurism,” I suppose but I prefer “futurist-retro.” To answer your question though, I really like the band, Colder. It’s glacial electropop but incredibly good to dance to.
Is the music for the album pure computer programming? What did you calculate it with?
Glen : It’s a combination of “hard” and “soft” ware. We did use some 80’s synths and beats but the project was “calculated” on very modern software - Ableton Live. It’s a great tool for sequencing and looping; very crisp, clear, “robotic.”
What are the statues that are on the cover art of the album? Where are the photos taken?
Glen : I’ll let Cedric answer that.
Cedric : All photos were taken during a nice stroll on a cold and sunny winter afternoon. Inside the inlay they are from a 19th Century cemetary in Beziers/France. At that time reknowned artists (like Injalbert, Villeneuve etc…) were often asked by rich wine makers to decorate their graves…The front cover picture is from another cemetary in a little
village nearby: it’s a hunter with his dog and if I’m not mistaken it was made in 1888 by a sculptor called Bouvas.
Did you write the lyrics for all the songs in the album or does the vocals you guested for the album also contributed in terms of the lyrics?
Glen : I wrote all the lyrics. I’m quite particular about that. I think I’d be nervous about giving another singer the freedom to write their own lyrics, unless they had a very, very good track record.
Did you know Bobby Wratten from before or has this been your first collaboration with him?
Glen : I’ve been a fan of Bobby’s music since the 80’s when he was in The Field Mice, through Northern Picture Library and more recently, Trembling Blue Stars. It’s his voice that I was most interested in though. He always sounds so sad, so sincere!
There’s an ongoing conceptual approach in the album with the lyrics, the music, the cover and everything, which you explain as “…glacial electro/human emotional interface. The future is a robot with a human heart.” The album gives this feeling of contradiction and incompatibility perfectly well, and it’s of course quite depressing at the same time. Can you tell a bit about your thoughts and influences on creating this approach for future?
Glen : I think it’s inevitable that we (humans) will continue to play God when it comes to robots. We won’t be able to resist attempting to create a machine as close as possible to the human. We’re a curious race. We don’t like questions unanswered, particularly when it comes to science. Of course, Kraftwerk originally conceptualised the electro/human interface, though lyrically, they always tended to be closer a robotic, “cold,” predominantly factual repertoire. Future Conditional transplants the human heart right into the cyborg’s chest. Or so we like to think.
Both versions of “The Last Engineer” are awesome. Which version came first? Piano Magic or Future Conditional?
Glen : Thank you. The Future Conditional version came first. We liked the lyrics and decided to try them within the Piano Magic context. It works equally well, we think.
The lyrics for the song (“The Last Engineer”) is impressive. Regarding to its lyrics, can you name any recent bands in UK that you really like and support at the moment?
Glen : No! And I thought for a good moment about that. I honestly can’t say I listen to much new UK music. This past 2 weeks (during a Piano Magic European tour), I’ve listened most to Klima, LCD Soundsystem, Sebastian Schuller, All Sides, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, The Organ, CSS, Studio.
Is this a one album project or do you think you will keep on with Future Conditional?
Glen : We are already some way into album 2. There’s no great hurry but as long as it’s fun to do, we’ll keep doing it.
11/2006
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
Linder Sterling, more referred to as Linder, a feminist key figure in Manchester punk scene, the visual artist who is well-known through her montages that uses the female body. She is very recognizable with the cover she did for Buzzcocks single “Orgasm Addict” and also as a very close friend of Morrissey. To learn more, here’s the interview we did with her:
You are being referred to as one of the most interesting characters of Manchester scene. But I think you don’t live there anymore. Where did you move? When and why?
I left Manchester four years ago. I wanted to live by the sea and so I moved to a small village on the north west coast of England. Living on the edge of the land, and creating on the edge of culture, seemed to offer a good parallel between geography and creativity. Also, I was interested in exchanging the harsh landscape of a city for an ever changing seascape. Here, you can be truly reflective.
What was there for you before punk happenned? What have been the influences that punk came on top of?
Before punk, I was immersed in the various worlds of Feminism, Surrealism, Pop, Jung, Tamla Motown and Roxy Music - you can begin to see the appeal of collage! A rich interior world for one so young. I was quite isolated until 1976, then suddenly, I met my “family” for the first time, a strange assortment of friends, all overly sensitive and slightly damaged by life in some way.
Among with Peter Saville, you have been one of the few educated artists in the punk scene and you both have important roles of shaping the art of punk and later on post-punk periods, even iconizing them. In this sense, do you see yourself as a pioneer? Especially in an environment where everybody was doing their own clothes, own hair, own posters, everything, have you felt as beaconing them?
I was in Munich last week, for the opening of the exhibition, ‘The Secret Public: last days of the British underground 1978 - 1988′ and Peter Saville and I gave a talk together there - the first time that we had ever done such a thing. It was very interesting, because although we had both been very involved at the same accelerated moment of British culture, we had arrived at that point from very different backgrounds and with quite different intentions. Peter and I differed in terms of politics, class and economy but we united aesthetically..
In the very early months of punk, there was a certain bravery required to dress the way that we dressed, people were generally very hostile to anything new - especially in the north, and so the simplest of journeys - to go to a shop to buy milk - became quite an ordeal.
It almost feels like there’s a retrospective looking back for the beacons of that early time. Here by the sea, beacons are essential - to avoid shipwrecks, and maybe culturally we all look for our life savers at various times in our lives.
Being a woman is quite a crucial part of your identitiy as an artist. What would you say is (or was) the definition of feminism in punk philosophy? Where does punk movement stand for you within this female identitiy?
Punk was such a jumble of attitudes, a contradictory collage of old and new. Not many people had spent their teenage years reading the first wave of feminist writings of the early 1970’s - well, Morrissey had, but not many others. So, when punk happened - and it all happened very quickly - there was a lot of catching up to do. Sexual politics was high on the agenda for some, and others put their attention to playing three chords badly (the best people did both!). Somehow there was room for all, and the frustration that we experienced with each other, as well as with the outside world, made for a very fertile creative time. Punk championed all the underdogs, and in Britain in 1976, women were still discriminated against on many levels and so fell into that class.
Do you feel that you belong to Manchester? Or how does Manchester and all that scene feel different now?
I belong to a Manchester that is now invisible - and that’s how it should be, cities shouldn’t stay still, they have to change and evolve. Sometimes I walk the streets with Morrissey or Howard Devoto and we piece the jigsaw puzzle together again, it’s not difficult, traces are still there. I love the myths - complete with the inaccuracies - that pop culture spawns but sometimes I get fiercely protective of those I love, and want to make sure that everyone gets those stories right.
What do you relate the male hegomony in the British music scene today to?
Oh, it’s all so tedious! But maybe that’s how bad the music world has to get sometimes, so that enough people get very pissed off and then make something NEW. There is a saying, “you need grit to make a pearl”, and any day now I hope that some young women somewhere - and hopefully out in the bigger, wider world beyond Britain, will become so irritated that they make a very beautiful set of pearls.
“The Secret Public” exhibition in Munich you just mentioned about… Is it an exhibition of your photographs that you took during the period? What are the works that you are exhibiting there? Isn’t the Secret Public the fanzine you were doing in the early days?
The exhibition in Munich is attracting a lot of attention. I think that people are now ready to begin quite generous surveys of that period, trying to dissolve boundaries between high and low, the underground and establishment. I have some of my very early photomontages from 1977 exhibited there - across the gallery is an installation by Richard Hamilton, a hero of mine at that time. The exhibition is named after a fanzine that I made with Jon Savage, our funds were so low that it didn’t get published until 1978. The fanzine was interesting because it was made by a gay man and a feminist, two voices not often heard at that time, plus we had a sense of humour whilst taking ourselves incredibly seriously - not an easy feat!
Who are some of the other artists that you admire and would like to point to (female artists much appreciated)?
I’ve already mentioned Richard Hamilton but all of Pop nourished my psyche as a young woman. We have the luxury now of discovering those that were overlooked at the time - for example, Pauline Boty, a British Pop artist, used her paintbrush how I later tried to use a scalpel - she looked at sex, status and the female subject, all decoded and deified at the same time. I return again and again to the female Surrealists - Leonora Carrington (from the north of England!), Kay Sage and Eileen Agar. Contemporary artists like the young Lucy McKenzie and Lara Schnitger are very exciting to follow too.
Do you have some unusual interests or habits that may have been feeding your art?
Oh, living too much in an allegorical landscape, an interior world, I’m very good at shutting out “real life”. Out in the big wide world though, I love the chance meeting, the chance finding, the chance remark - all that which was not forseen on life’s journey.
Here, an unavoidable question comes… Is it true that Morrissey has written “Cemetery Gates” for you?
The answer is always avoidable!
What are you working on currently? Or what’s coming next for you?
An exhibition at PS1 in New York and a show at Modern Art, in London. I’m making photomontage again - for the first time in thirty years - and really enjoying it. Also, this year, at Tate Britain, I made a performance piece, The Working Class Goes To Paradise and I had three rival rock bands playing simultaneously for four hours, whilst women danced. There are invitations to repeat this in Moscow and Tel Aviv
What are your favorite tunes lately?
Kristeen Young, the Esbjorn Svensson Trio, I’m listening again to albums by Alice Coltrane, Karma by Pharoah Sanders, Jack Johnson by Miles Davis - good for motorway driving and of course, always, eternally Morrissey!
We interviewed American artist Meredith Dittmar about her unique clay art and her life in general…
07, 2008
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
How did it all start for you? When did you discover the gift
and passion for making art in you? I read that you’ve studied computer
science at college.
I started sculpting and drawing a lot in college. I come from
a long line of MIT engineers and since I did well in math &
science, I just fell onto the technology path. In college I did
anything and everything but study. It took 4 years for it to dawn on me
that I hated my major! My greatest education was realizing what made me
happy. I found polymer clay freshman year (93) in a bead store and I
havent put it down since.
The beauty of your works are very much related to the materials
you use. How did you come up with this technique? Was it a long process
which involved a lot of trial and error or was it something that got
out quite smoothly?
Its really just something that has evolved over time. Each
time I work I come up with new techniques, invent new tools, and push
my skills. Its all happens very organically. Also the internet helped
me learn more about polymer clay and what it can do.
How do you start a piece? Does working with clays involve some
sort of sketching with pencil on plain paper, or is it more likely to
sketch with the clay itself?
My process is always changing. Sometime I just sculpt with no
ideas in mind and see what evolves. Lately whenever I get an idea. I
throw it in a sketchbook with some small simple sketches and I collect
images of things I’m inspired by. Then I start working and don’t really
look at the notes again. When I’m done the work usually ends up quite
close to the concepts I originally wrote down.
As someone who builds amazing characters three dimensionally,
do you find working on two dimensional pieces, such as paintings,
boring?
No I look forward to exploring painting more thoroughly
someday. I am really inspired by great painters. Creating is creating.
I just happen to be more versed and inclined to 3 dimensions. Both
mediums have their advantages and challenges. Lately I feel like m
really in a way, trying to paint with clay - to be both a painting and
a sculpture at once.
What is your working space like? Can you describe me the most
inspiring setting for you to work? What kind of an atmosphere do you
set up for yourself before you start to work?
I make a huge mess when I work, so whenever I start a series I
like to completely clean my space. Ive got a lot of pictures, books,
and random clay experiments around. My workspace is generally a very
busy area. I like to work alone and try to minimize interruptions.
Also sound is really important. Im always messing with the music to
find what fits my mood. If my head is getting too involved in my work I
listen to Eckhart Tolle to work through it.
What is a usual day for Meredith Dittmar like? Can you describe
a bit about your daily activities and what you do? Are there specific
hours of the day when you feel most creative and productive and prefer
to work at or are you easy with that sorts of things?
I’m a serial monogamist when it comes to routines! My husband
and I create a routine or I create one for a project and stick to it
for a while… eventually it dissipates and some new pattern emerges.
However, there definitely are a few components that are pretty
standard for me. I always get up around 6am or even earlier because
I’m really a morning person. (unless on a vaca/party routine) I write
emails, handle business, and make some lists to make sure I stay on
track with things I don’t love to do. I take an hour+ to exercise
which is either the gym, running, rock climbing or dancing. I Meditate
and/or listening to talks on wie.com and integral.org nearly every
day. Evenings I hit the dog park and hang with husband/friends &
do stuff in beautiful Portland. The rest of the time I sculpt!
Where is the usage of plants and animals and the signs of nature in your artwork coming from?
I grew up on a “martini farm” meaning we didn’t make money
from our land - we just loved and collected animals. I rode horses and
spent all my time in the outdoors. Im an avid backpacker, snowboarder
and lover of everything outside.
You work a lot on the facial expressions of animals and creatures. Is this some sort of “humanizing” the animals and creatures?
Maybe. I don’t perceive animals as anything less than human. I
don’t even really see technology or plants or objects as less - its all
made of the same stuff. To me its all one. I think we are just the
eyes of an infinite organism. I try to connect eye to eye with the
creature being created and let It come through my hands into the clay.
Do you have a pet yourself?
I grew up with lots of animals but right now I love my
roommate Oscar, who happens to be a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. He’s
so smart and funny and hardworking and perfect. He’s more popular and
has more friends than I do!
How did the “My Guys” project start? What is the idea lying behind creating a variety of guys?
When I first discovered polymer clay I immediately began
making little guys. I’ve made them constantly for 15 years. I estimate
I’ve made over twelve thousand unique guys. There’s no idea behind it
they just happen.
Do you like talking about your works?
Actually I don’t like it at all but I’m getting more used to it.
What are you working on currently?
I am currently working on some lit shadow boxes that will be
shown in the dark. Im playing with mirrors and some freestanding tables
with landscape-like scenes on them.
You have mentioned in your e-mail that you have visited
Istanbul. When was it? What brought you here? Were you a tourist or was
it some work related trip?
I visited with my family in 97 as a tourist. We also went a few other places in Turkey including Bodrum. So nice.
What did you like best about Istanbul?
The city is beautiful with amazing architecture, history, and textiles. Oh and I LOVE the food.
What are your favorite tunes these days?
Hmm this changes really fast but Id say right now its Avett
Brothers, Nobody & Mystic chords of Memory, Santogold, Fleet Foxes,
K’naan, Ohmega Watts
What are your favorite magazines, if any?
Cabinet, The Bear Deluxe magazine, The Atlantic
What do you find exciting in art in general today?
I love art that tackles the evolution of consciousness and expresses oneness.
Who are your favorite artists/illustrators/photographers?
Mars-1, MC Escher, Hieronymus Bosch, Alex Grey, Robert Hardgrave, Andrew Goldsworthy, native artists from all over.
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
10/2008
American artist Esther Pearl Watson grew in a house where his father used to build saucers with the materials he collected from the streets in the backyard. And her works tell you fascinating stories about these backyards, houses, gardens, fields, cars, the flying saucers and people…
I believe your artwork is taking much inspiration from your father. He is the Gene Watson in your paintings, right?
Yes. I believe I am an artist today because I grew up with a creative father.
What or who else inspires you?
Outsider artists who create works because of some personal reason and not really planning a career inside the art establishment. I also like storytelling and am fascinated with zines and people who make them.
You have the greatest bio ever! Can you tell more about your father and how he was building saucers when you were a child?
I consider my father to be a visionary artist and he considers himself an inventor. I explore our relationship during that time within the paintings.
Did you use to draw all the time back then?
I knew I wanted to be an artist since I was 8 years old. I made art all the time out of anything around me. I made paper dolls, corn husk dolls, dolls out of plastic bags and mops. I made little mini-comics and books. I drew non-stop. But mostly, I was interested in people and stories.
Please tell us a scene or some thing that you miss most from your childhood…
I miss wondering around through cornfields, or abandoned houses or through fields along railroad tracks. As an adult I seem to be too aware of the boundries of others.
How old are you?
I am 35 years old.
Have you studied art? Or did you start drawing/painting naturally?
I always drew as a child. I began to formally study art around 15 years old when I took some figure drawing classes. I attended Art Center College of Design, graduating in 1995 with a BFA.
What was your earliest paintings like? Have you invented your characteristic painting style over time or was it there all the time?
My style changed through maturity and education. I used to draw Manga because that is what I liked to watch and read as a child. Then I drew angst politicians because I grew up in the 80’s during the whole Jesse Helms period in the US. In college, I was interested in children’s vernacular because it rebelled against all the students who wanted learn to draw accurately so they could work for Disney as animators. These days, I am more interested in the conversations people have with work in museums and galleries. The type of painting i do now evolved from all of these things, from learning more about painting, pulling from a more honest place and from living for a short time in the Hudson River Valley of New York. I loved the views from my studio window, the rolling hills and the cornfields. My more recent work continued to be of landscapes but moved from NY to Texas scenes, where I grew up.
The titles of your paintings are usually rather long, and they appear right on the paintings in a casual style, which adds certain anarchy to your work. Do you remember the first time you did it? How did you start the tradition?
While living in the Hudson River Valley, New York, I began painting landscapes in the winter. The paintings were not winter landscapes, but of Summer. I wrote across the sky the title and the advanced date. I personally love work that has the artists handwriting involved somehow. It feels so direct. The artist wants you to know something, doesn’t want you to miss it. It feels spontaneous and true.
Can you tell how Fun Chicken started, what kind of a collaboration it is and how it is shaped?
My husband, Mark Todd, is an artist. Back in 1996, when we lived in Brooklyn, NY, we needed a name for our shared e-mail address. One day, we passed a machine with big, bold letters “FUN CHICKEN!” across it. When you put a quarter in the machine, a chicken would chirp and lay a plastic egg with a small toy inside. We thought the name was funny and nonsensical. Later, we wanted to start an online store of some sort and Funchicken made sense to us. We wanted it to be separate from our other work.
Who are your favorite artists?
Lots. William Steig, Donald Bachelor, Horace Pippin, Harriet Powers, people who do recreational paintings that end up in thrift store and yard sales. It always seems to change.
What have you been listening to a lot lately?
Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs
What taste in movies do you have?
I like home-made movies.
What are you working on currently?
“Unlovable” book for Fantagraphics, 410 pages. And a solo show at Billy Shire Fine Art that opens in January.
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
July 2008
Here’s one of Sweden’s youngest bands, literally… Two sisters aged 15 and 17 not just dreamt about being a band together but actually made it happen and attracted the ears of many besides The Knife’s Karin Dreijer who released their record with Rabid Records.
Tell me about the first music that you’ve listened to when you were kids. Not the first music that influenced you, but the first ever music that you’ve ever been familiar with…
Johanna: When we were kids we were always surrounded by the favourite music of our parents. They loved Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground, Talking Heads, Pixies and Television. They had a pretty good taste back in the days, and they still have. I don’t know how this early encounter with music has influenced us, but it certainly got us on the right track.
So did you grow up in a house that has always been full of music? Do you have other siblings too? Are your parents being supportive for your making music?
Klara: Yes, one could say we’re a musical family. Music is truly our shared passion. Our father for example had a rock band called Lolita Pop during the 80’s, which was relatively popular in Sweden. It must be fun for him seeing his daughters walking the same path as he did himself.
Johanna: Both our parents are extraordinarily supportive. They want to help us in every possible way and almost always attend to our shows. Other kids our age might be embarrassed by their parents, but we’re rather proud of them. We also have a little brother who is five years old. He sings like a god, but we’re afraid he is too young to join First Aid Kit. However we wouldn’t be surprised if he became a big star one day!
Younger sisters usually start listening to music under the influence of their older sisters. Has this been the case with you too?
Johanna: Actually, we’ve experienced the total opposite of that. During our earliest teenage years we listened to different types of music. I listened to a mixture of Japanese music and German techno, while Klara slowly headed into the world of alternative country.
Klara: At first Johanna disliked the country music, because it was so different from what she liked at the time and she simply could not comprehend it.
Johanna: Then gradually I began to mature and realized that the music Klara was listening to touched me in a different way.
Who are the first musicians/bands that made you want to start writing songs and get up on stage?
Klara: Bright Eyes! After I heard “First Day of My Life” I was completely astounded by the music of Conor Oberst. He taught me simplicity - the fact that you can make brilliant music and captivate a crowd with only your voice and a guitar. I guess it inspired me to write songs. And after the first couple of songs were written we naturally felt like getting up on stage and performing them for our friends.
More into your influences… There’s Gary Numan blinking at your MySpace! Who else has been influential to you in terms of songwriting? Your sound is very much reflective of old folk musicians as well as newer folk tendencies such as CocoRosie.
Johanna: Gary Numan’s influence on our music is merely fictional, but in a sense he did teach us that music can be fun.
Klara: Our real influence comes, as you noticed, from both the newer and the older American folk and country music. The newer being the “freak folk” section with artists such as Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and Antony & the Johnsons in addition to alternative country acts such as Jenny Lewis, Ryan Adams and Neko Case and the older being Woody Guthrie, Karen Dalton, Bill Monroe and Gram Parsons among others.
How was the contact with Rabid Records achieved? How did Olof Dreijer find out about you and produce your cd?
Johanna: It was Karin Dreijer who found out about us. She lives in our neighbourhood and she’s a friend of our uncle. Yet we didn’t get to know her until her daughter began attending to the same kindergarten as our brother. One day at the kindergarten our mother told Karin we we’re making music, and she gave her our MySpace address. Karin liked what she heard and decided to see us live. That was when she really became interested in working with us. Initially she thought it was too big a business releasing a CD with us on her label, but as time passed by she changed her mind. A few months later she offered us a record deal.
Klara: We produced the CD ourselves. Olof didn’t have anything to do with it actually. Why take for granted that he runs the record company? Is it because he is a man?
Can you tell a bit about the recording process? How much of the music has been finished and done before recording? How much of it has been added during the recording process?
Johanna: We recorded the EP in my room during the winter of 2007. Klara and I are no technical masterminds, so our father helped us with the recording part. He plays bass and drums on the CD as well. The songs had all been written when we started recording, but we really had no idea of exactly how the songs would be arranged. The arrangements gradually took form when we recorded.
You’ve been playing many shows around Sweden. How are the reactions to First Aid Kit from outside of Sweden?
Klara: We’ve received some comments and praise from other parts of the world and we would be very happy to release something outside of Sweden. However, we have some studies left before we can devote our entire time to music, something we really hope to do in the future.
One could expect your music to be much more naive in terms of the lyrics and the music. But neither your music, nor your lyrics sound that naive; they are rather much too intense, deep and mature. Especially in terms of the lyrics, what do you think has been influential in this sense? Is it the music you’ve been listening to? Is it the books you’ve been reading too? Enlighten us please!
Klara: The lyrics, as you can probably tell, are often stories and almost nothing is autobiographical. This might be because we haven’t experienced too much, but I don’t think any musicians really only writes about themselves. It would be impossible for them to go through so many horrible things. All country musicians would be ill-fated murderers and thieves.
Johanna: Like most artists we get the inspiration from the music we listen to. We also watch a lot of films. We love films, right now were in a middle of a Hitchcock craze. I guess we collect things from everything we do or see and that becomes something of its own. Sometimes we give songs a particular subject; for example “You’re not coming home tonight” is about the tragic life of a housewife and “Tangerine” is about a poor victim of adultery.
Have you been facing any difficulties making music or playing shows and festivals at young age? Is the world causing you any trouble because you are young? ‘
Johanna: We haven’t had too much a problem with getting in to clubs where we’re playing, but occasionally we have to bring a parent with us to our shows if there’s age limit.
Klara: People tend to look at you like you don’t really know what you’re doing. Recently we met a sound technician who treated us like children who had never stood on a stage before. Those people aren’t too many, but they do exist. It’s really hurts to be treated that way. People don’t seem to take us seriously - but we are dead serious! We can’t see how anyone could regard it as an impossibility for young girls to sing about housewives and business trips and truly understand what they’re singing about.
What’s best about making music as a duo and moreover as sisters? Are you planning any other musical actions besides First Aid Kit? What’s next for First Aid Kit?
Klara: You don’t have to be afraid that the band will split it you yell and argue. You can always be brutally honest. It’s good to have someone with you that you truly know - it makes you feel secure and supported. We as sisters are quite different. I’m often carefree and impulsive while Johanna is strictly rational, so I guess we balance each other of quite well.
Johanna: We’re not planning to quit First Aid Kit right now, but maybe someday I’ll feel like doing jazz funk and then I might go solo. Nevertheless, next year we will graduate from school and we’ll see what happens then. Anything is possible. In ten years we might be doing duets with Bright Eyes, who knows?
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
October, 2008
Matthew Robertson, a graphic designer himself, has put together almost everything that Factory has released -that includes posters and Christmas cards too!- in a sophisticated book called “Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album” and let us view them in a single publication. During the febrile process of getting hold of the releases, he has been told a lot of stories from the old days which adds the soul to this book. Fac 461 not to be missed! We talked to Robertson about the book and about the old days.
I was fortunate enough to have an older brother and sister buying Factory releases. So I borrowd their stuff for years. I owe a great debt to my sister for bringing home New Order’s ‘Shellshock’ (Fac 143). It was unlike anything I had ever seen or heard. This record made a huge impression and introduced me to Factory. When it came time for me to start buying my own records I got the Happy Mondays ‘Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) (Fact 170). The front cover featured a selection of desserts and a platter of wet fish on the back – it was in stark contrast to what I’d come to expect from Factory but still very cool.
The collection includes almost every release in the Factory catalogue. This is mostly 12-inches, LPs, CDs and cassettes I’ve gathered over the years. There was a period about 15 years ago when people were a little tired of the Factory / Madchester thing and it was quite easy to acquire this stuff. I remember going to a second hand record dealer in Sydney and paying $50 for huge stack of mint condition 12-inches and LPs which included some really rare items. As a designer the most valuable items to me are things like business stationery (Fac 7 and 311), Haçienda club (Fac 51) anniversary posters and Factory Christmas gifts which ranged from a CD card cases, postcards and a photo prints of the Factory HQ. One of the rarer items is the Factory 10th Anniversary wall planner (Fac 240) which was printed in a limited edition of 200. However, I treasure the Thick Pigeon ‘Too Crazy Cowboys’ LP (Fact 85) designed by American artist Laurence Weiner. Like much of the Factory catalogue it is an artwork in itself.
My partner and I first got the idea for the book a decade ago. During a visit to England in 1998 we realised how much of an impact Manchester and Factory Records had made on our lives through music and design – even though we had grown up on the other side of the world in Australia. We were really astounded that there were no books specifically dedicated to Factory’s visual legacy. But it was slow start and it did not really come together until I was lecturing in design at university. It soon became apparent as to why no one had taken on the task – there were so many individuals to get on board and serious issues regarding copyright. The research and coordination took a few years part-time, and just over 6-8 months to write and design once the publisher commissioned the book.
I didn’t know any of the Factory crew before starting the book. Peter Saville and Anthony Wilson were the first people I approached. The book would never have happened without their approval. They, like most of the other Factory designers, gave invaluable assistance and were extremely generous with their time. I spent hours with Peter discussing his work in detail and his thoughts on the whole Factory experience. He also gave me unlimited access to his archives and offered feedback on the writing and design of the book.
The process was exciting but exhausting. None of the Factory items had been properly documented by any of the designers, so we had to photograph everything in the book besides the architectural spaces, portraits and logos. I had made a definitive list of items for inclusion early on, so we knew exactly what had to be shot. However, we relocated to England in 2004 and the collection was in storage in Sydney. I had a few things sent over, but once I got to know all the contributors it was easier to borrow the items. So the designers, Anthony Wilson and my friend John Cooper (www.cerysmaticfactory.info) loaned various items. I made countless trips across London on the Underground carrying flight cases and portfolios to our photographer in Notting Hill.
No, we included pretty much everything. There were a few items that did not make it, but this was more to do with the design being unremarkable. All significant Factory items are featured in the book.
Quite a few interesting facts were revealed once I spoke to the designers about specific releases. Each design has a story to tell, though some are more exciting than others. It was interesting to discover that the respected writer and broadcaster Jon Savage designed the sleeve for Crawling Chaos ‘Sex Machine’ (Fac 17) . Also, that Anthony Wilson designed the sleeve for ‘A Factory Quartet’ double LP (Fact 24). It is a well known fact that the label often spared no expense on design. The sleeve for New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ (Fac 73) was supposedly so expensive to manufacture that it sold at a loss. There are plenty of other items in the back catalogue that are extravagant. I was shocked to discover that the animated flick-book they produced in 1987 as a Christmas present (Fac 235) featured a cover that was printed in using six spot colours in addition to four-colour printing. Ask any designer or printer and they’ll tell you how excessive, and expensive, this is. It was also astonishing to discover the designers specified all over colour printing on the inside of some 12-inch New Order singles. There was also an instance of The Durutti Column rejecting the sleeve that had been designed by 8vo and choosing to go with another designer. The artwork was complete and ready to go, but instead opted for a completely different concept.
I can see the influence on contemporary bands like Bloc Party. Not that this is a criticism. But there was also Coldplay’s ‘X & Y’ which used a colour coding system similar to New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ (Fac 73) and ‘Power Corruption and Lies’ (Fact 75). I am also convinced that the yellow and black hazard stripes that appear in countless music magazines and on club flyers are a throw back to the Haçienda’s identity. Last year a major UK clothing brand ran a seasonal campaign that shamelessly ripped-off this industrial look. Not to mention title graphics I’ve seen on several music channels both in the UK and abroad. But these are all literal appropriations. One just had to flick through the pages of most design annuals to see other, more subtle, traces of Factory’s influence. This, as I wrote in the book, is not surprising given that many of today’s image-makers, art directors, designers and photographers grew up during the Factory era.
I think people are always receptive to items produced with the same values that Factory instilled. However, given the massive shifts that have occurred in the music industry, since Factory, it is harder to see how such a label could make such an impact these days. Most of the younger people I work with acquire music as digital downloads. The tactile relationship we once had with artefacts like 7 and 12-inches has gone. Record sleeves were often the sole interface been the listener and the music. But this was a time less saturated by media vying for our attention. But there are still labels out there doing interesting stuff. I like that Thrill Jockey in the US offer full-length streams on their website and do the whole iTunes thing, but still ensure the CDs and vinyl have high production values. It is a very different landscape and I often ask myself what would a forward thinking Factory be doing in 2008? It is also worth noting that several years ago Anthony Wilson launched one of the first music download sites. Unfortunately it was ahead of its time and it people did not really get into it.
I am working as a freelance designer including collaborative work with Peter Saville. One of my favourite bands in Sydney, Crow, reformed recently and it looks like we’ll be doing some stuff with them. It is a privilege to be able to work on projects like this.
‘Unless’ by Mist & Sea on Popfrenzy Records.
Article by Alex Mazonowicz
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Brian Eno in the sleeve notes of Music for Airports
It’s fitting for a man obsessed with the space, or location of music that one of his most recognisable pieces of music is the Windows 95 start up sound - a six-second wave that welcomed anyone using a PC in the mid nineties. A self-confessed non-musician, Eno has had a remarkable career. He began as keyboard player and live mixer for the ground breaking 1970s band Roxy Music only to leave in 1973 stating that he’d made his decision whilst idly wondering when he was going to do his laundry during a concert (although a dispute with lead singer Brian Ferry was also cited). More comfortable in the studio, Eno has recorded a variety of rock albums both as a solo artist and as a member of various groups. As a producer he helped shape David Bowie’s ‘Belin’ trilogy, and moulded U2’s The Joshua Tree amongst others. It is perhaps what he terms himself as a lack of musical ability that has pushed Eno towards his greatest contributions to modern music. His fascination with machines and electronics, which started as a child when he would beg his parents for a tape recorder, combined with his theories of non-liner composition and randomness in creation has led him to create some of the most stunningly original recordings of modern music, and in the process influence generations of creative minds and even create a define a new genre of music. Ambient.
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Brian Eno – In a music lecture as part of New Music America 1979
Creation
Known for a rather idiosyncratic way of recording and composing, Eno would often try to inspire musicians working with him by asking them to play in unusual ways or under unusual circumstances. He would put together complete strangers of different musical backgrounds and abilities or place people on instruments they wouldn’t normally play. An appreciation of the spontaneous nature of music, Eno’s obsession with chance would inevitably produce erratic results. One session featuring an acoustic piano, electric piano, guitar and bass was seemingly spoilt by the dual pianists’ inability to hear what each other was playing. On a playback, Eno noticed that amongst the ethereal chaos that there was one short section that the two instruments unwittingly played two lines that interlocked in an interesting fashion. The section was slowed down and repeated with extra instrumentation – originally designed to cover over a guitar scrape – giving a feeling of slowly evolving melody that had no real beginning or end.
The second section features six different notes all played back on tape loops of differing lengths. One loop, for example repeats ever 23 seconds, a second every 25 seconds and a third every 29 seconds. Although the notes remain the same the same, the time relationship between each notes continuously changes. At times they are all spread apart and at times they all bunch together. Sometimes the phrase seems to be started by one voice and at other times a different voice seems to be leading. The entire album and concept bought to life in the studio is a prime example of the mixing desk as an instrument. Working with ideas used by Ahmet Ertegün, the Beatles and George Martin, William Stevenson, Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, Eno began using the studio and the mixing desk as the primary instrument for recording.
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Brian Eno – In a music lecture as part of New Music America 1979
To be credited with creating a genre is, of course, high praise indeed, but Music for Airports was by no means the first ever record that one could call ‘Ambient’. Even as early as the 1890s Erik Satie was composing music intended to create atmospheric backdrops to dinner time, and Pierre Schaeffer and Stockhaussen to name but two artists, had long been experiment with electronics to create soundscapes. Nor was it the first time that tape loops and the mixing desk had been used as a tool to create music – the Beatles had been experimenting with such things in Abbey Road from 1965 onwards. Eno is, however, credited with coining the term ‘ambient’ music. Music for Airports received a lukewarm reception at best when first released. It was difficult for fans of his eccentric rock music punctuated with synth sounds and electronic storms to appreciate something which seemingly lacked punch, but Eno was laying the groundwork for something different. Created from the mind of a non-musician, Eno highlighted how atmosphere could be more important than melody, how mistakes could become the backbone of a piece. His use of echo, delay and other studio effects now became composition tools rather than frills placed at the end of the recording process, and a mere six seconds of recorded music could become the back bone to an entire piece of music. Unlike other music being created in the seventies who were using the studio to create multilayered recordings, Eno was stripping down is music to four of five tracks. Years later these composition ideas, along with the conceptual idea of an acoustic landscape would appear in many different forms of music. Trance and other forms of techno build upon this idea and of course bands such as the Orb are incredibly indebted to Eno’s Ambient label. But on a scale even greater than music style, Eno contextualised music by not only thinking of the piece but also, where it should be played, and even for what reason – Music for Airports is intended to be a soothing work that can simultaneously relax the casual listener and challenge those who take a greater interest. This contextualization of popular music as a genre is an important part of the lineage of those who have approached pop music as the important art form it really is.
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Brian Eno – In a music lecture as part of New Music America 1979
I’m as yet to come across anyone who has actually heard music for Airports in an airport, or even anyone who has experienced any of Enos records in the environment they were perhaps made for. Muzak, originally the name of a corporation that supplied backgrounds for lifts etc. but now a term used for excessively bland music, is around us constantly. If it isn’t rerecorded versions of popular hits intended for restaurants, then it’s popular radio channels playing directionless pop music or unoriginal techno. All taxi drivers should be issued with John Cage’s 4”33’, if you ask me. Music for Airports, is not Muzak, it succeeds were where muzak fails. As easy to ignore as it is to listen to, Eno once said, the piece assembled from synths and studio tricks has an almost distant feel, as though the emotional response is intended to be no emotional response. What happens then when New York’s premier contemporary classical collective decided to perform it in its entirety, with acoustic instruments, live? Bang on a Can were no strangers to minimalist or ambient music, after celebrated renditions of Terry Riley’s In C and works by Steve Reich, but how to approach a piece not designed for live music? With subtlety. Band on Can added only a few flourishes in terms of instrumentation and remained faithful to the original recording, which almost ironically diverted them away from the original concept. The randomness was gone, for instant had the recording button for 2/2 been pressed at any other time other than it was a different recording would have emerged, whereas Bang on a Can’[s interpretation, played from a score, would be almost the same whenever played. ENo once commented that live performances always changed but recorded music remained the same from repeat performances. This almost full circle seems fitting the piece. HOW ironic also that a piece intended for airport tannoys should be performed in a New York concert hall, but with this a new depth is given to the piece and the concept lives on. Constant reinvention gives beauty to the simplest of pieces and whether played in the background as our acoustic environment and closely listened as the object of our obsession, Music for Airports, electronic or live, retains its subtle heart throughout.
STANLEY DONWOOD INTERVIEWED
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
07 / 2006
An exciting time of the year for the Radioheads… It’s not just for the ears, it’s also for the eyes. Thom Yorke released his first album that he recorded without the rest of the gang and it’s called “The Eraser”. Stanley Donwood answers Bant on the story behind the artwork of the album.
Although I wouldn’t have guessed for it goes perfectly well with the content, according to what I read on the website, this work was not initially made for the cover art of “The Eraser”. How did they end up together? How do you connect “London Views” to “The Eraser”?
I didn’t connect the two; that was Thom. I just sort of encouraged the connection.
Has there been a researching process for the “London Views” work, for it is a panoramic view of the city?
A kind of accidental research I suppose; more an agglomeration of disparate pieces of information that coagulated to form the eventual artwork. I realised the other night that I’ve actually been going on about this artwork for literally years; boring my friends at the pub and definitely boring my girlfriend. Originally I was going to make medieval-style pictures of modern cities being destroyed, using vellum, tempera paint, gold leaf and so on. But somehow I forgot about that and concentrated on the single colour woodcut style.
For the actual process of carving the picture, I used a London A-Z map and Google images. I was actually in London, but I didn’t want to pollute the purity of a more imagined scene by going and doing that en plein-air stuff.
I suppose the floodings that took place in Cornwall in 2004 are one of the stories that ended up in the album cover art. Have you actually experienced any natural disasters yourself? What are some other stimulations and trulife stories that have been effective on “London Views”?
No, I’ve been lucky. The floods in Cornwall are the closest I’ve ever been to a real disaster.
Are we free to assume that “cnut” is a delibarate misspelling of the word “cunt”?
No way. Cnut is an alternate spelling of Canute (also Kanute) who was a Saxon king of England from 1017 until 1035. There is a legend about him which states that his advisors were so convinced that he was a divine being that he could control the tides. To show his humanity and humility, Cnut went down to the beach, ordered his throne to be taken there, sat in it, and commanded thje tide to cease its advance. It didn’t.
I suppose I’m vaguely making a point about global warming/sea level rise.
Are there any secret, hidden things in the booklet of “The Eraser” ?
No, there aren’t, unless they exist in the differing opinions of the people who see it. This is, I realise, quite unusual for me, as I often find myself layering hidden meanings into artwork. I intended this project to be more ‘tabloid-like’ – really bold, very graphic, almost like a shout rather than a whisper.
You mention that only 8 copies of the original piece has been made as the technique is fascinatingly hard. Are they all sold out by now?
No, they aren’t. I think that they’re quite expensive. But if you’re feeling wealthy…
About global warming threat, Noam Chomsky said that there is still hope to win over it, but unfortunately there is no time… How are we supposed to go on as if there is nothing, knowing that the Apocalypse is soon?
I have absolutely no idea. It does seem quite hopeless, but perhaps that’s just my own 37 year old pessimism. Human existence does seem to be a largely savage endevour, briefly punctuated with short periods of happiness. I think that I’m quite depressed though, so you shouldn’t listen to me.
To you, what are the most inconvenient things about London today? Which place in London is the most peaceful place to you?
The most inconvenient thing is the internal combustion engine. The most peaceful place is by the pond in Temple, just off Fleet Street.
Have you sensed anything interesting among the band members, some chemistry that is different from the previous albums? Or any “worth telling” stories?
There isn’t a Radiohead Official Secrets Act, but there might as well be. If something was ‘worth telling’, then I couldn’t possibly tell you it.
Any tips about the cover of the upcoming album from Radiohead?
Ha ha. I think it would be unwise for me to be too definite because I don’t know how it’s going to turn out. The first occurences will probably be on the front few pages of www.radiohead.com, and keep an eye on how we are living in the last days of our hallucinated economy…
Do you have favorite websites? What is the opening page of your personal computer?
I am so unbelievably dull that the opening page on my computer is my email page. My favourite websites are, maybe; www.schnews.co.uk, and http://www.zmag.org/weluser.htm, and http://www.project-ctrl-alt-del.com/These aren’t really ‘favourite’ websites, just some that I return to. I do a bit of research using the internet, and I’m quite curious about how something so new has so radically redifined our ideas about communication, academic study, activism, and, er, shopping.
What are some of the tunes that are playing constantly on your music player nowadays?
I haven’t got a music player. I have accidentally totalled my record player during a fit of techno-rage. The last thing I played on it was ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ by Ian Dury.
What has been your favorite song on “The Eraser”?
Skip Divided. I think it sounds dirty.
A colorful plastic can with the shape of a cigarette box; The Buddha Machine is as interesting as a record can get… Christiaan Virant of the China-settled electronic duo FM3 answers Bant’s questions on their box-shaped-album.
For how long have you been living in China? Was music the reason for you to move there?
I moved to China in the 1980s to study music and chinese. I’ve been here now for two decades, first in south china and hong kong. Then about 10 years ago I moved to Beijing.
For how long did it take for you to prepare the Buddha Machine?
The birth of the buddha machine is a long story that goes back more than 10 years to when I first found a small buddhist chant device in a temple in southwest China. Because our music was already very lo-fi and based on constant, hypnotic repetition, the chanting machine seemed perfect for us. I had the buddhist chanting box in my bathroom in Beijing for about 6 years and every musician who visited my house said the same thing: “dude! you should do an album inside that box!”
But it wasn‘t until we meet with Staalplaat in 2004 that we got serious about the project. It took about a year to find the factory, tweak the loops and hardware and finish the packaging.
Are the nine loops some music that you composed especially for The Buddha Machine?
The nine loops are kind of like our “greatest hits” from the past 6 years. We took them from various albums or live recordings, with some dating to 2001. Two of the loops were taken from a live performance we did at the Louvre in Paris in 2004. Like all of our music, the loops are based on traditional Chinese instruments that we play and then manipulate inside the computer. Each of the loops on the Buddha Machine is a different classical instrument. For example, loop 1 is called Ma because it is based on the mongolian Ma Tou Qin, or “horsehead” fiddle. loop 2 is a Gu Zheng, which is better known in the west as a Koto.
How many Buddha Machines did you make at the very beginning, when you didn’t know whether it will become popular or not? Around how many are sold now?
When we were designing the box, the plan was to produce about 500. We had a deal with Staalplaat records in Berlin. They would release the Buddha Machine as a FM3 album. Kind of like a CD, but with a built-in speaker! We figured they would sell about 300 worldwide. Our plan was to keep 200 units to give to friends and use for performances. But those first 500 machines sold so quickly that we did a repress. and then another. and another… Many of our early customers were musicians who then started sampling the loops or using the machines in live sets, which made them even more popular. At present, we have sold almost 20,000 machines!
The Buddha Machine takes the original boxes used in the Buddhist temples as a model to itself. So what are the differences between your Buddha Machine and the original boxes? What modifications have you done to it, both psysically and technically?
The FM3 buddha machine is made in the same factory that makes the buddhist chanting machines, so the basic electronics are the same. We changed the speaker and some small parts inside to get that distinctive lo-fi 6-bit sound and we changed the size and outside design of the machines. Plus we decided to make them in different colors. the original machines were only in black.
I guess the music business, like other businesses, has very strict rules in terms of the type of the products to be released and distributed. Your album though, was in a very unusual shape and nature. Did you experience any problems or difficulties while releasing it or distributing it overseas?
Yes. This was a problem. At first, our distributors said the buddha machine was an “unusual format” and claimed it would be hard to sell. They didnt know where to put it in stores and how to ship it to customers. But once they heard the machine, they fell in love with it and were very eager to get it out there. So they helped quite a bit! In Japan we still have problems, because they have strict rules about what can be sold in record stores. They consider the buddha machine a “product” and not “music” so some stores are not able to sell it!
Do you use The Buddha Machine during your live shows?
Yes. This year in Europe we are touring a live set called “Buddha Boxing”. It’s essentially a sound game played with Buddha Machines. No PA, no mixer, no stage, no lighting. A simple, go anywhere performance concept.
We came up with the idea while on tour in Holland and Belgium last October. By 2005, we had stopped using computers for live performance and were instead using a custom-built acoustic zither and a traditional stringed instrument called the Gu Qin. One night during the usually boring lulls between gigs, we we messing about with six buddha machines and just kind of started to play cards with them, throwing down different loops and trying to make a nice tune that would make the other guy react. Suddenly we realised this would make a great live set. Two guys mucking about with coloured boxes is certainly a bit more eyecatching that someone staring at their computer screen. And it freed us from carrying around 90kg of stringed instruments. So after that night, we locked our gear in Belgium and started the buddha boxing live sets.
For next year in Europe we are now developing a performance called the “Marshall Plan”. Instead of playing very quietly, we will use two Marshall guitar stacks and play very deep, rich and dense drone sets. With vocals, organ, guitar and buddha machine!
I read that the first person to buy Buddha Machine was Brian Eno and he actually got a couple of them for himself. Who are some of the other well-known musicians that have experienced The Buddha Machine?
Eno was my very first paying customer! He bought six based on a prototype i showed him at dinner in Beijing in 2004. Our second customer was Thomas Felhmann from the Orb. He took about a dozen. And then shortly after that Alan Bishop from the Sun City Girls ordered 24, based on a photo and an email description i gave him! Monolake and the crew at the Ableton software office bought something like 30… So from the very beginning we had great support from some quality musicians! Many, many big-name electronic artists have a buddha machine. We used to try to keep a list of people, but it became too difficult!
What are your suggestions to get the best results from the Buddha Machine? Suggestions on where to listen to it and for how long to listen to it, etc…? Or how many to buy as I heard that people are buying more than one Buddha Machines…
There is really no “best” way to use the buddha machine. Everyone puts their own unique spin on the Buddha Machine. We saw some American band in Brussels who held the machines up to their guitar pickups to make a huge, thick fog of noise. Some polish musicians in berlin played an entire DJ set with the buddha machine as background. People use the machines to put their babies to sleep, agitate their cat, or pacify their dog. Some use it for meditation. Others put it on in their work space to help maintain sanity. Many people buy more than one and put them around the house for an “instant” sound installation. Smart kids hack the boxes and make even weirder music. Everyone finds a different “best” way to use it!
Other than FM3, what other side-projects or occupations do you and Zhang have?
We have just released a more “traditional” album on the Hong Kong label Lona Records. Its a CD of a live performance we did in Beijing in 2004. And we have plans for a Vinyl album on the belgian KRAAK label.
After The Buddha Machine, are you planning to release a classic type album or do you have other exciting plans?
FM3 has taken 100 percent of my life since 1999. We tour Europe twice a year and perform often at small venues in Beijing or around China. Zhang still finds time to do the occasional movie soundtrack or theatre production. Right now, he’s working on a soundtrack for a television series, and im mixing a live album we did in berlin this summer with Blixa Bargeld from Einsturzende Neubauten.
There are also a number of Buddha Machine follow ups. Berlin-based electronic artist Monolake did an entire album based on the Buddha Machine. Its called Layering Buddha and it will be released in October as a CD and a limited edition Vinyl boxed set. Ive heard the early mix and its an incredibly lush and rich listen!
Another project I’ve just finished and which is set for release in november on the Staubgold record label is Jukebox Buddha. For this album, Zhang and I got together 15 of our favorite artists and asked them to make a track based on the Buddha Machine. We were lucky to get some great people involved, including dub master Adrian Sherwood, drone metalists Sunno))), all-around weird guys Sun City girls and Thomas Fehlmann from the ORB.
How do you describe the electronic music scene in China nowadays?
If you had asked me this question in 2004, I probably could have given you a good rundown of the China scene. But since then, the number of electronic musicians and bands has doubled, or tripled and there are just hundreds of kids out there playing all kinds of weird stuff. Noise is a big influence of many electronic musicians, as is breakcore, which has a strong representation in Beijing. Its just such a big country and so much is happening now that its hard to give an overall picture.
INTERVIEW WITH YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS
Stuart Moxham was kind enough to answer questions about the story of the silent and unconsicous victory Young Marble Giants achieved with the band’s one of a kind album “Colossal Youth”, which has recently been reissued by Domino Records.
Interview by Ekin Sanaç
06/2007
How long did it take you to record “Colossal Youth”? Where was it recorded?
It took five days in total. Each song was mixed in less than half an hour.
It was interesting that Gang Of Four rerecorded and remixed their album “Entertainment” two years ago, once again. And it actually sounds a lot more different than the original album; much more polished… Have you ever thought about doing such a thing?
No, probably because I realise that it would be a waste of time, but Domino Records sent the original multitrack tapes to a remix studio and it was indeed a futile exercise – there is so much more to the production of a Master tape than the signals on that tape. It would be impossible even to make an exact replica from the multitrack tapes, even in the same studio with the same equipment, because the decisions regarding the mixing of the signals, etc. are not something that can be synthesised, put in a box and released by pressing a button. No matter how clever and digital the equipment becomes you cannot do anything without the human touch, thank God.
When was the last time you listened to “Colossal Youth”?
Before the recent rehearsals for the gig we did to celebrate Domino’s re-release, probably a year or more.
How do you feel about the bands that you have been influential to?
We all use other people’s ideas to make our own stuff and of course it’s flattering if someone uses yours.
What equipment and instruments did you have in your initial setup, the first gigs you ever played as Young Marble Giants?
A home-made drum machine; a Wal 40/40 Bass; a Rickenbacker ES12L guitar and a Galanti electric organ. Phil made his own Bass bin (speaker enclosure) with help from our father, who was a carpenter for many years. I used a small HH amp because I don’t like carrying heavy equipment in and out of venues. (We never had roadies and I still use a small amp for this reason. They are miked up anyway, so they sound fine. It’s also another major reason not to have a drummer as they always have loads of heavy, bulky kit.)
Were there any bands that you liked back in those days that have been influential in creating such an interesting and unlikely setup?
Early Ultravox; Brian Eno; Early Roxy Music; The Beatles; Neil Young; Cat Stevens; Bob Marley; Steely Dan; Led Zepplin; Deep Purple; Can; Devo; Joni Mitchell; Blind Faith/Cream; Kraftwerk.
What was different on stage in terms of instruments and setup during Hay-on-Wye on May 27th, from the last time you played twenty some years ago?
As little as possible, but sadly I sold my Rickenbacker many years ago, ( I’ve never seen one the same since then, even on the official website,) and so I used my ’85 Tokai Strat copy, with a Sharkfin plectrum, of course. My amp is a Fender Champ (made in Mexico.) Phil’s Wal Bass was customised by a previous owner but a zealous guitar servicer put the electrics back to factory setting and it lost the distinctive sound, so he used a modern Japanese instrument, played through a Trace Elliot amp. I was very lucky to find a 1979 Farfisa electric organ in a boot sale two weeks before the gig. It sounds authentic, but is a much more limited instrumnet because it has fewer sounds and keys.
What was it like to be up on stage again?
I have been getting up on stage to perform my music pretty consistently for the last 27 years, but it was very special indeed to do so with Phil and Alison as Young Marble Giants. I never dreamt that it would happen. We played better than we used to back in the day, of course, being seasoned hands.
You probably know that if you start touring right now as YMG, it will be something enourmous! What’s putting you away from it? Or are you planning to do a wider appearance?
We do not wish to come back and play the old material, to be a nostalgia thing. Part of the reason for playing Hay was for us to get ourselves together in the heat of battle, as it were, to see how it felt. Consequently we have decided to use the momentum of that occasion to try to write and record our second album. If/when we have some new material we will think about doing more shows, although Alison doesn’t enjoy it because of nervousness and neither does Phil. I love it, being a born show-off!
In one of your old interviews, I remember reading that at the time of recording the album you were not really aware of bands like The Slits but you were into names like Eno, Kraftwerk and so on. Yet, you are named as one of the most important figures of post-punk. Was the whole thing in a way unconscious? How do you feel about being labelled as the important pioneers of the post-punk scene?
It was largely unconscious from start to finish. I had no idea, or interest, in what my songs were about – it doesn’t matter, if you belive that nobody will ever hear them – and it’s a revelation to read in Simon Reynold’s excellent book, “Rip It Up And StartAgain”, that our philosophy, attitude and aesthetic were actually a part of a contemporary culture which was the same all over.
There have been different emotions one could attach to different Young Marble Giants songs according to different tones they had especially in terms of lyrics. Some of them were darker, some of them were much more fun. Was that due to different band members’ song writing styles?
I wrote most of the songs, and certainly all the lyrics, except for “Eating Noddemix” and Salad Days” but you’re right to say that there is an element of fun – not many people recognise that.
Does YMG still have unreleased songs?
No, we were sure that the band was a futile exercise , so we wrote one hour’s worth of music only.
Was “Colossal Youth” recorded live? Does the drum machine come from a cassette throughout the album like you did in your gigs?
Yes, live in the studio, using the only cassette copy we had, which went everywhere with us. (The original drum recordings were on reel to reel quarter-inch tape – see the liner notes to ”Salad Days”.)
Has there been any attempts from any of you to start the band again or to come together again until the BBC radio show in 2004?
I tried various ways to get the three of us working together over the years and then gave up.
If the band didn’t break up at that time and kept on going for another album, do you think that album would be a lot different than “Colossal Youth”?
Probably not.
Why isn’t your contribution to The 6ths’ “Wasp’s Nest” album did not end up on the cd, but only on the vinyl?
Ask Stephin Merritt.
Can musicians make money out of the reissues of their albums?
I hope so!
Looking all the way back now, what do you regret?
Not seeing the band as a business project and thereby keeping it safe from emotional mess.
And an unavodiable question… Are you planning to record new songs as the trio?
Good question because we have recruited Andrew Moxham, our younger brother, into YMG. (He is the person with whom I have done the most concerts and recording in my life.) He’s an outstanding, creative drummer/guitar/bass/keyboardist. And very nice chap, of course!
What tunes do you enjoy listening to nowadays?
Apart from my own I like anything which is melodic and has an interesting or original arrangement. I listen to the radio a lot.
