archetype live (2001)
echoplex and archetype Live
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The idea of the a.mbiencer.ecovery s.ystem is extremely interesting to me. What are some of the details of how it works, and are you still doing this type of performance?
It's very interesting to me too. For those who don't know, it's like improv ambient with 2 or more people creating sounds. I haven't done this type of thing in awhile, though...a few years. The last time was when I was in Columbus, and I played a noise festival. A drummer and I collaborated on an improv noise performance. We blended into the next performer by way of having the following performer (a very well known mash-up type artist who goes under the name Evolution Control Committee) playing over what we were doing, and we faded out. As for the ambient version, Todd [Sines] and I haven't done that since the mid-nineties. We did a techno/house version in Feldkirch, Austria a few years ago. We both used the reactor without a MIDI sync, and it actually worked out fine. It's a challenge to create something on the fly that's worth paying attention to. These happenings can turn into doodling quite easily, and who wants to listen to that for an extended period of time? I kind of miss doing things like that on a regular basis. I guess it's a question of time- no one has any. It's something I think you need to do on a regular schedule with someone you know musically who can complement any musical situation you throw at him or her and vice-versa... kind of like how jazz musicians can play improv together without stepping all over each other. You said in a 1997 interview, "For electronic music, I want the rules to be constantly broken. I want it to be able to control its own destiny." To what extent and in what ways do you think the genrefication of music and music scenes affects this destiny? A very interesting question. I think genrefication is sort of like domesticating animals; you take something you like and get rid of the "bad" or unsafe qualities so that it's ready for mass consumption. Next just mass-produce it, and you're done. So at that point of mass production the music stopped controlling itself. Its destiny becomes more about being sold than the exploration of an art form. And of course after time passes it gets stale and boring, and most people move on. The situation varies. In the case of drum and bass it didn't get popular in the pop music sense (maybe in the U.K. and some of Europe, but not in the U.S.), but it leaked into pop culture. It somehow suffered the same stale fate as the more generic styles of electronic music. But the good thing is that it helped spawn other styles like broken beat. With a diverse production background in hip hop, techno, jungle, dub, etc - what do you see as unifying characteristics? In what ways can the lines between these styles be blurred? The short: rhythm. The long: mentally they all come from a similar place: socially, politically, and economically oppressed minorities. Just kidding. Sort of. They all started as vehicles of expression. They also served as an escape from or reaction to hostile environments, making something from almost nothing. The will to survive or push to succeed becomes the fuel for artists to create something new from the remnants of old. It's not just about the producers of the music but the community it creates and the dialog it inspires, the wide spectrum of people it can speak to. Combine that with the heavy rhythmic presence in all those styles. And, each has been derived from elements of black music. What are some of the ways that various arts have come together at 21/22 or ele_mental events? We (the ele_mental collective) have been interested in connecting the dots between the disciplines (Graphic Design, Art, Music, DJing, etc) since we came together in late 1991. We used elements of design to give mental hints for the type of events that we were producing. We also tried to incorporate this idea into the environment or atmosphere for the event. For 21/22 we tried to keep things tied to a minimal, handmade look and feel. I think this was also reflected in most of the music that was released. Check out http://www.ele-mental.org/ for some ele_history. You seem really interested in the idea of fusing disciplines and exposing people to new things, whether through the unification of visual/sonic aesthetics or through the mixing of the expected and unexpected at an event. What are some of the successes/accomplishments of this approach, and what type of resistance have you seen? Well it's kind of hard to say what was a success and what fell short. On the production tip, I would say that I never had the space to take things as far as I wanted, even on my own imprint. Glyph is a step in the right direction. Even with your own label and solid distribution it's hard to get a complete thought out if you have to worry about getting money to keep a roof over your head or whatever life distractions you got going on. It's not impossible though. DJing, I think is much easier, but these days it's hard to find prime DJing opportunities. But when I do DJ I would say it's about 50/50. Not a lot of people can dig on my cut-n-paste steez and genre-straddling taste. I can understand that though. Sometimes you just want the song to play without unexpected interruptions. But I am from the Midwest, and that's how we do. What advice would you give someone interested in starting an "interdisciplinary collaborative platform" along the lines of 21/22? Set some realistic goals and build upon them one step at a time. Stay focused. Find like-minded individuals who can work with you. Keep money out till it's necessary. What/who are some of your strongest nonmusical influences/interests? Minimalism in design and art. 70s science-fiction TV shows. Detroit. Chicago. New York. Barcelona. Tokyo. Music often informs social structures or imagined social structures. In what ways might techno music, experimental electronic music, or the dynamics of the event space inform (or reflect) modern social dynamics? Wow this is like a math test, I had to read this question a few times :-) At this point in time it's hard to tell. Because of the apparent collapse of the old independent underground music system and DIY parties, things are shifting on the underground, new musics are being developed...But if we were to go back to the late 80s and early 90s, you would find these happenings called Temporary Autonomous Zones, aka Raves. These were social anomalies. These things were (not all but many) temporarily suspending things that usually define us socially, like socioeconomic class, ethnicity, age, gender, belief system, willingness to abuse substances, geographic location, even musical preference to a degree. Now you might think that this is not all that special- everyone listens to hip-hop, right? Well, after it's been pop-ified then of course everyone can share, but if it happens in the introductory stages then it must be all good. Seriously think about how many times in history that has occurred...on a global scale. I think technology has done the same for the citizens of earth in the past decale--brought us closer together through communications, economically, by learning more about each other, depending on each other, making it less about our differences and more about common goals... This is all theory though. Who knows what the hell is going on anymore? In a post-90s world of electronics-in-everything, how can the conscious remnants of techno/rave culture maintain a provocative edge? Move on!! Embrace change. Better yet, instigate and incorporate change. You can take what you liked about raves and techno or whatever with you. But let the people who want to relive that moment forever preserve it-you can go visit anytime. Get ready for the new shit that's coming. Keep your eyes, ears, and minds open. What are you currently working on? Not much unfortunately. Moving to New York has put me in stay-alive mode- can't do much else at the moment. On the back burner, I'm producing hip-hop tracks for L.A.-based (soon to be New Orleans-based) Voice (www.featherperm.com). That stuff will be co-released by Public Transit Recordings out of Canada. An "arch tight" release for PTR. Not sure when that will hit. I am supposed to do one more Glyph record for the distributor I am working with for 21/22, but I haven't been able to get that finished. A Swiss label, moto music, is waiting to hear some new tunes from me to work out a second release. Don't know when that will happen. My name is still on the Black Nation site, so maybe Jay [Denham] will want to hear some music from me. Oh yeah, I got a demo for Droid too. interview by bijan for droid (email) january 28, 2005 |