FRS;
Describe what you played
tonight?
I played a lot of original material, dub plates and
dub versions of various tracks and breaks mixed with lots of electric sounds
from the laptop. So, I had the vocals stripped away and I would mix in another
bass line.
FRS;
Did you decide what was in tonight's set in advance and do you improvise?
Sure definitely, there are certain parts that were
very specific to the film I showed. I do both, like I mixed Kraftwerk with
jazz, that I made up on the spot. I thought it was fun and kinda cool.
FRS;
You play a lot at clubs and festivals all around the world and also do these
formal art house gigs. Do you prefer either sort of gig and how do you vary
your approach?
It's both; they are both all good. If I'm in an arena
like I was tonight and I play a full on four to the floor mix, it just doesn't
work. I have done it! I like pushing it. It's just very unfocused. Tonight
the focus was primarily on the whole sense of the division material and
what it was saying. People could see me and just what I was doing, so they
can put it together in their minds.
FRS;
Is the way you had the decks and sampler set this evening how it is when
you create and record your music?
No, I make my music by playing around with it a lot!
It's like I play a sample and then think about that sample as a fragment
and then with different fragments I think of how to take it all apart again.
I play upright bass and I do all the scratching. I like the idea of hip
hop and break beat culture as something that doesn't just have to be knucklehead
type stuff. You can actually have rhythm science and rhythm thinking. I
like Adrian Sherwood; he's done some cool stuff, Scientists, Mad Professor.
All these people are kind of bugged out, like science fiction.
FRS;
How do you think being a turntabilist is related to being a musician?
I always talk about jazz, as it is always another
form of improvisation. That means it is an evolution of what's art and what
is going on. This whole one-man band type of idea is getting more and more
intense, especially with the software available now.
FRS;
In one of the movies played during your set the image of the World Trade
Centre collapsing is repeated. How do you feel about what is happening in
New York?
It's one of the more bizarre moments in contemporary
history! Strange patterns have developed. The psychology of the city has
changed. I reflect New York in my work. It's like a mirror that I hold up.
On Songs of a Dead Dreamer I was experimenting with some alternative sonic
environments within New York and the kinds of stress that tends to go with
the geometric city. There are too many people living with too much on their
minds in a strange electronic culture now. With the films I think of it
as a sort of chess game of images that can go back and forth. Now I am thinking
about how people manipulate the media as if it is a game. Since 9 - 11 any
song with progressive lyrics has been banned. All main stream radio stations
received federally authorised instructions of what to play. But most basically
had that before! Eminem is a perfect example; he is not political in the
sense of saying what is going on? But he is cultural in that he talks about
a lot of the more twisted parts of America. So you can do one but not the
other. It seems if you are political you are banned and if you say that
everything is fucked up and fuck you, it's undirected anger and that will
go through the system. The ruling structure is now so dubious that people
are feeling a loss of faith.
FRS;
You have worked on and written for many music, digital culture and art magazines.
Has your media background helped you to promote yourself ?
One thing I did find was that there were critics who
were getting bitter about me getting exposure. A lot of them wanted to do
music. So, in fact it was almost negative. It's all tactics in media. I
had to bypass a lot of that. In the US it is an older generation that control
the media, which is why it is so lame! The thing with critics is they want
to feel they simply control the narrative and that this is how things should
be. And, well wow I don't feel like doing that! As an artist you can not
let that stuff get in the way.
FRS;
Tell us about Modern Mantra your latest mix album that only uses music from
Shadow Records?
The
reason I call it Modern Mantra is that it is all about when you hear a repetition
and your mind clears, but with hip hop and drum an bass and other stuff. Shadow
Records was one of the early independent labels that dealt with experimental
indie, hip-hop, rock an roll and all sorts. I listened to things like early
Sonic Youth and mixed it in with ambient and dub. When I was first coming
up I was into hip-hop and how people would make up their own rhymes to the
beat. The words guided your experience but all the beats were left with left
with no voices so people could think about it. Here I am balancing that by
going back to early experimental vocal hip-hop. On Modern Mantra we have Liz
Fraser from the Coctaeu Twins. She sings in her own language. I love this
stuff because it is as if it's perfect for these strange times.
FRS;
Is there any advice you can give to those who aspire to creative innovative
music?
Always do your own thing and definitely think about
different ways of doing what you are doing, rather then ever trying to fit
into what other people do.
Claire
Bastin / Smart Monkey
