Interview April 2008
Interview with ore.lt, first published February 2008. These guys asked some good questions so I’m re-posting the interview in its original English version here.
Why have you left USA for Germany?
In the USA, cash is king. It’s hard to build anything sustainable from the ground up if you’re doing weird music. You have to put too much effort into hype and spin - which is not my bag - I’m horrible at that stuff. I chose the pure but insane method, and reoriented everything in my life towards making music. I moved to Berlin with absolutely zero connections and have been able to build things gradually the natural way, by just making my music the best it can be and letting the rest happen on its own. There are amazingly talented and creative people in the USA, and I miss that. But move to Europe, where I can play on amazing sound systems, get treated with hospitality and acceptance, live a simple stress-free life, invest in gear and personal growth instead of gasoline… no worries about crime, or owning and maintaining a car, eat healthy non-plastic food, take walks in the park … hey it’s great, but I’m still torn. I miss my family, and my home terrain where I understand the deal a bit more. The country I grew up in is not the country it is now though, and I have more problems with it every time I go back. Europe will never be a total home.. I feel like a cultural refugee of the lowest order. Having met real refugees here who fled actual death and destruction in their home countries, my situation is obviously frivolous in comparison. I don’t know where I will end up in the future. We will see. Right now I am feeling like I miss a bit of the chaos. Maybe just another tour there will be enough.
Is this city inspirational for you?
Berlin gives you space - which is both its strength and its trap. Life is so quiet here that you don’t feel pressure of anything you should or shouldn’t do. Your mind is clear and you can listen to your heart more easily. It’s given me that vital space to develop. Berlin’s downside is that if you’re not self-motivated you can get lazy quick, so you have to be careful.
What do you like the most about Berlin?
Quietness and space - parks that are pleasant, open green space, apartments that aren’t a total ripoff, trains that work, friends take time for each other - treat each other like actual humans - not a disconnected hustle grind rush. these things are pretty unusual for a city…
There are lots of styles of music used to characterize your stuff. How would you self describe it?
emotive, cathartic, introspective, melodic, distorted, heavy, quiet, percussive
Your first official releases are about punk mixing with jungle. Is it hard to put these styles together?
Punk and jungle actually go really well together - the moods, sounds, and tempo all fit. Boston’s Toneburst collective did a show called “Junk” which had punk bands playing alongside jungle DJs, in something like 1998.
What made to move your musical content from instrumental music like hardcore to electronic like jungle and ambient?
In the early days I found hardcore’s guitar/bass/vox/drums sound palette to be too limiting, I wanted to hear some more sounds…. so electronic music was a great way to expand.
Was the fact that that you were playing drums inspirational for your present musical expression?
Definitely. What you learn at an early age stays with you, and everything I do is filtered through a drummer’s perspective. I’ve been working on guitar a lot more lately, but I’m a drummer at heart.
Are you still practicing drums?
I still play on my practice pad at home, but not a full kit.
is guitar only for the noisy part of your music?
I use guitar in my melodic tunes as well, it’s really expressive. Coming from electronic music in the USA, which is an extremely small scene… I got into a mode where I hated guitar music and all it represented. It’s a totally understandable reaction that a lot of people there develop, an “us versus them” mentality. Totally counterproductive and limiting. It kept me away from guitar for many years…. I’ve let go of that nonsense as I’ve gotten older and fallen in love w/ the guitar for what it is - an amazingly expressive sound source and intuitive controller far better than the little midi keyboards I’d been using for years.
Are you able to play any other instruments?
I play hammered dulcimer, bass guitar… a bit of whatever is around.
Speaking of your release “Lost Tracks” I have to admit, that it was quite unexpected to attain from you some of that ambient music when I knew you only as a punk/break core producer. How come you are so widely creative?
Work in every style informs another. You always learn something new.
Would you be able to play ambient set at “Big Chill” or any other lo-fi kind festival or event?
I would love to play at such an event, definitely. My ambient sets are going more in that direction.
I’ve got your “Say More Fire/Music Is The Weapon” LP. I love first track so much. It blows your mind with this unexpected power in it. But it is not-typical your kind of music if we speak of your first releases. Are you trying not stick with the same style or is it just progressive “go forward” of your creativity?
I’m not consciously trying to follow any kind of rule… but you know, some days you feel aggressive, other times quiet. I just write what I feel and sort it out later. the way the styles change is more a mirror of my life changes than anything else. What’s been most encouraging in the past year is that I find people actually like many of the different styles simultaneously, they’re more open than ever.
Mary Anne Hobbs played “Say More Fire” on BBC Radio1 at her show and she’s rated you very highly. What does it mean for you to be valued by this person?
It feels very good and validating to have that happen. I’ve loved her show for a while, and I listened to the Peel show all the time, so being played on the BBC was a long standing dream. Writing music, that’s the best feeling though - that spark when you’re immersed in making a tune, and suddenly it’s 7 am and the birds are chirping. What happens afterwards is great, but it’s not healthy to focus on that too much.
What do you think of mass media if we speak about “spreading the word”? Don’t you think it makes music too pop-ish?
I think it’s a waste of time to worry about if a kind of music is sounding too pop / underground / or too this or too that. Just find what you love and support it. That is all. Mass media distorts everything - ignore it. Just find the music that truly truly moves you, gives you chills, or makes you want to riot in the streets. If it’s YOUR reason, and not some reason some marketing company put into your head in order to get you to buy stuff, it’s right. The KLF have some wonderful things to say about music subcultures and how they fit into the pop music scheme of things http://www.piratecinema.org/the_klf/the_manual.txt
One of the most impressive music trends for the last few years is dub step. Are you up for it? Does it make an impression for you?
Absolutely, dubstep has been a big influence lately. Vinyl from about 2 years ago has a vitality and fun to it to it which I love.
And the last one. You are traveling as a musician around world so often. How do you feel about meeting so many people from different cultures with different point of views?
The past few years of travel have been amazing, Hearing all kinds of viewpoints is one thing, you can get that from reading - but it’s another thing to live how they live, eat their food, ride the bus with them, sleep on their floors, read their newspapers, and get bombarded with their advertising. You love and hate everyone all at once. You see the same patterns of intolerance / power grab divisive politics all over the globe. Different specifics, same old tactics. Then you start to realize how adaptable you are, and how you’d probably be the same way if you grew up there…. You get really lonely and you start to feel like you don’t belong anywhere. You also blend in everywhere and you can feel completely at home in the most ridiculous surroundings. It’s a weird life. I feel extremely grateful to my fans, and friends, that I’ve been able to do it at all - and for this long. This kind of life might not be possible for much longer, once we adjust the costs to the true impact of all these planes flying around the world.
04.08.08
