ireallylovemusic vs ascoltare
bravo on tripel. it’s becoming a label like no other in my opinion.
Thank you. I appreciate what you do as well, thanks for helping the little guy!
firsty, the pr that comes with your releases describes your music as
‘plunderphonics’ – umm what’s that!?
Well the word ‘plunder’ implies stealing; so depending on your stance regarding copyright issues then perhaps plunderphonics is not best suited to each individual. However no thanks to current copyright law the term plunderphonics is entirely apt. But to answer your question plunderphonic music is a style that employs blatant copyright abuse, whereby samples are used unwittingly, usually with no attempt to hide or disguise their source.
who else makes ‘plunderphonics’ type music that you recommend?
John Oswald, Negativland, V/Vm and People Like Us are the first to come to
mind. I have great respect for these artists for having stuck their neck out!
Oswald had to relinquish many of his recordings to the Canadian authorities,
Negativland got sued for their U2 EP and V/Vm have recently incurred problems
with Frankie’s yes-men. I found this quote by John Oswald
“If creativity is the field then copyright is the fence”
you are obviously proud of your past with gwei-lo as this is referred to on the pr/website, forgive me, but i never heard any of the bands stuff. what was gwei-lo all about then, and which records should anyone interested track down?
Gwei-Lo was my first proper band. In retrospect we were an instrumental post rock outfit inspired by mid 90’s electronica, post-hardcore and dub music. To a certain degree we tried to incorporate this into a band set-up. Listening to it now, it’s very emotional music. We released one EP on Wild Strawberry music and afterwards an album on the Cocteau Twins label Bella Union. Unfortunately our guitarist and good friend Alex Brooker died during a live performance and Gwei-Lo disbanded soon after.
apart from the terrible tragedy that beset gwei-lo prior to the albums release, what spurred to move from gwei-lo, a band set up, to ascoltare, a solo adventure?
I never thought of myself as a great player and always felt I was better suited to electronics and the idea of continuing with the band without Alex seemed pointless to everyone concerned. Besides it’s healthy to move forward.
what is the idea behind ascoltare music?
Not to have preconceived ideas but rather to respond to the moment in much the same way a good chef approaches food and cooking. Utilize fresh produce available rather than sticking to a pre planned ingredient list. Follow the gut first and the mind second. Kick this philosophy tomorrow by following the mind first and the gut second. Keep switching. Confusion is helpful, for those who need to know it’s ok not to know. However I’ll contradict this statement by saying I do sometimes work to a preconceived brief and to a certain degree conceptually, especially if I ever decide to apply for arts funding. These guys have you round a rope. But you’ve got me thinking now! There are no hard and fast rules. I think the Assassins quote, which I read from Burroughs best sums it up. “Nothing is True - Everything is Permitted”.
to the untrained ear, a lot of the music that you make under the ascoltare banner could be described as random electronic noises, in an almost improvised setting. just how do you set about creating a piece of music/art? is it setting up a set of samples/synth sounds and improvising for a few minutes, or is this disingenuous to the process of creation?
I change my approach constantly but yes your quite right there’s a lot of improvisation in my latest stuff. For the moment perfect music to me are sounds you accidentally stumble across in everyday life. So to a certain extent I’ve been trying to create accidents through spontaneous set-ups.
However the starting point for a track can be developed from many sources; usually an idea comes from whatever I’m currently immersed in at the time. For example I recently created a track derived from Big Brother commentary. I sampled the narrator’s time references and then inserted the same time space after the narrative. I realised I could create an arrangement which wasn’t based on gut intuitition. This idea came from reading an article on Brion Gysin’s ‘pistol poem’, which involved samples of pistols being shot after numeric counting. There is very little relation between my piece and Gysin’s but it’s an example of how my inspiration can develop randomly from subjects I’m currently interested in. Of course there are also times when I just rock out and get things done, just that sometimes it’s not as simple as finding a synth sample.
what tools of the trade do you use, is it all the cliché of laptops and cracked software ?
I tend to use whatever cracks my mate Andy installs on my computer, so yes majority of it is software but I do have a Glocken Spiel, Guitars and as a few microphones.
how do you decide when a piece is finished, when do you think, ‘i have tinkered with this track long enough now’, after all, its not like a basic rock band who set down each track, make it sound good and move on.
My personal stance on this is that nothing is finished until it has been manufactured.
do you ever get the urge to just make something nice and melodic a la brian eno these days, or, even a basic 3 minute pop song ?
I have to admit I’m finding it hard to go back and compose traditional arrangements because it involves such a philosophical switch. It’s taken a fair amount of time to recondition myself, so much so that straight compositional practices seem out of reach. I’m having the same problems with television and film, after having consumed so much reality TV, watching actors seems almost impossible.
where did the passion to make such obtuse non-conformist music come from ?
That I can’t answer. I’ve always been attracted to weird sounds from an early age.
i am aware that the death of john peel hit you hard, was he aware that you used his voice to introduce the alscoltare album ‘visceral vendor’?
I’ve no idea. The sample came from Sir Peel advertising a gig. I’m not sure he ever received or heard a copy. I’m sure he would have tracked it down if he were only still here! What a loss to everyone concerned.
the album is full of funky little twists and turns, and even incorporates a heavy dose of humour within it, is this a purposeful route you chose, ie to reject the usual stereotype that electronica is synonymous with overly serious music?
There was no particular conceptual idea, although at the time I was obsessed with 3-4 minute arrangements and when it came to choosing tracks for the album I wanted each piece to be different from the next.
the packaging is always exemplary and a definite part of the whole picture. why go to all the expense and trouble for a few hundred copies? are you on some kind of mission to prove how boring normal releases are in their jewel cases?
Well there’s that old saying ‘you eat with your eyes first and then your mouth’. I say you hear with your eyes and then your ears. Synaesthetics are important, not just with music but with everything in life.
the 3 inch cd is a great missed opportunity i think, how hard was it to track down 3 inch cd-rs?
There actually quite easy to get hold of, unfortunately 3-inch CD manufacturing is still relatively expensive in comparison to normal size CD’s.
did the packaged white powder that came with the tripel labels evil twin dubbel records, debut release cause any trouble for you?
No but I was completely aware of the risks involved and thought at it would make excellent publicity should anything have happened. I could see the head lines ‘RECORD LABEL ACCUSED FOR ANTHRAX SCARE’.
There were a few incidences where by US customs sent parts of the product back to the UK proprietor.
tripel records is your outlet for your releases, did you try and get a deal through the normal channels, or did you always want to set up your own label?
I have tried many times but to no avail. Few labels want to take risks and
the labels that do tend to be small and lacking in finances precisely because
they do take risks. Most of which have a roster of artists sorted. Besides there
aren’t many labels interested in releasing a post-modern muzique concrete record
based around a cooking theme. The market for the music I produce is very small,
even more so now file sharing and free downloads are part of everyday life. I’m
not against this however but the industry is in such a state and as always the
little guy takes the biggest slap. Also it’s nice to have complete control of
your work. As soon as you work with somebody else, a percentage of your vision
is lost.
I should say that the Giving Set 7” was released by Strange Lights records,
which wasn’t a deal through the ‘normal channels’, but released by a friend who
digs my stuff.
why set up the dubbel imprint for the bastard pop releases, as these are ascoltare records as well?
The imprint was created specifically for boot material; small pressings, cheap materials etc. I’m fully aware of the consequences involved, so the business model was specifically designed not to make any money. Also I wanted to maintain hip-hop sheek, just like the old school DIY mixtape.
or is it simply dubbel = limited, tripel = unlimited? (though tripel003, and tripel004 are limited – oh the confusion !)
In comparison to the commercial music scene everything in the electronic world is limited. So your quite right it’s fairly silly to keep going on about it, it’s label hype. When you haven’t got a huge PR budget you tend to rely on as much blurb as possible.
the idea to take some hiphop/r-n-b vocals and strap their bastardised forms to soundtrack of twisted electronic noises was great and really connected with me, now, with the latest release, you have moved onto tv chefs. is there a connection between the two in your eyes, or just a random post alcohol idea?
I suppose there are similar motifs, however I think with the HipHop/RNB stuff I was lusting over the idea of spotlighting artists amongst different backdrops. Pushing hip-hop a little further into my house. I imagined this as like changing theatre sceneries without the actors knowing. Where as with ‘Fatty Parts For A Good Match’ I was playing the clown, abusing the sound FX department during a live production. Using ultra-fuck-blasts alongside blessed cheese makers.
who is next under the bastard pop target?
Not sure about the pop aspect but I’ve finished one with loads of outsiders.
I’d like V/Vm to provide a care home for this one.
why did you decide to release a split 12 inch single, and what possessed you to make it such a deliciously heavyweight picture disc?
I thought fuck it. The Goodiepal was involved, UM was involved. It had to be something extra special. Not sure how I’m going to top this release.
and who/what/where is um, and what made you decide to share the 12” with his sonic creations?
UM introduced me to Suicide, need I say anymore! One of the few artists I genuinely feel excited about, a true magician always conjuring future music.
Find out why UM hates Jim O’Rourke at www.umbusiness.co.uk
whats on the horizon then for tripel/dubbel records
Fuck knows! I’m just grateful that were still here today. Although I do plan to upload an Ascoltare remix of V/Vm’s Fast Lady and definitely more UM. And, I’ve considered doing a record called Brentisms, based around my manager who’s like David Brent from the office. I’ve been thinking about covertly sampling his Brentish behaviour and using it amongst my electronic frustration.
and finally - i am fascinated to know what sort of music do you relax to?
Relax to music! No such thing……. Well OK how about Suicide’s ‘23 minutes over
Brussels’, puts my mind at ease, Bukowski was right ’The greatest men are truly
alone’. Glad they avoided that axe!
other stuff : tripel records releases