home
news
discography
tour dates
images
jukebox
sound clips
mail order
reviews
interviews
distribution
stores
information
f.a.q.
booking
guestbook
contact
site updates
links
|
Twilight Circus interview by: Isabel Garcia Pallarol.
for " La Rebelion De Los Antioxidantes "
on Radio Ciutat, Barcelona.
ONE TIME WE RECOGNIZE THAT KRAFTWERK ARE THE FATHERS OF THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC, DO YOU AGREE TO START TO CLAIM LEE PERRY AS THE CAPITAL SOURCE OF ACTUAL ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC ?
i'm not really familiar enough with the history and development of
electronic / dance music through the 70's and 80's but i would imagine
that all the known figures working in electronic music through all the
past decades have influenced new artists and new musical developments in
the electronic music genre and all its sub-genres. in music, people tend
to adapt and build on past ideas - mutating them and reinterpreting at
will. so, people can claim or others can proclaim certain artists to be
the originators or fathers of styles / ideas but, where does it all
really start? kraftwerk are certainly electronic music pioneers who have
had a massive influence on modern electronic music and certainly dance
music like techno, house etc. also lee perry is one of the main figures
in the creation and development of the dub style along with king tubby
and others - some of whom are probably completely unknown.
HOW DO YOU DISCOVER THE DUB ?
making tapes from a college radio reggae show in vancouver in 1981 and
also hearing it at the time from some friends who had some dub tunes
from augustus pablo on tape. i was instantly attracted to the whole
sound and stripped down aesthetic of this music - the cavernous reverbs
and wonderful echo trails..mmm - superb! as i'm also a bassist and
drummer, i imagine that this "skeleton" mix of mostly bass and drums
appealed to me in a visceral way- also, those wonderful spacey
psychedelic dub sounds! ahhh - i love it!
ALSO, YOU ARE A PART OF " THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS ", " THE TEAR GARDEN " AND " DOWLOAD ". THE MUSIC THAT YOU MAKE IN THESE GROUPS, DOESN'T INFLUENCE IN YOUR WORKS WITH " TWILIGHT CIRCUS DUB SOUND SYSTEM " OR THEY ARE TOO DIFFERENTS THINGS ?
the musical style is certainly different as you could say that lpd and
the tear garden are involved with psychedelic, experimental,
acoustic-electric , "whatever" ideas, and that download is fully
electronic dance / experimental. but really, a similar philosophy is at
work in all these groups and also in twilight circus which is - to
experiment and break out of existing or perceived boundaries while
producing music in an intuitive, spontaneous way which is interesting to
the ear of the makers!
I DON'T DARE TO DESCRIBE THE DUB THAT MAKE NOW AS NEW DUB. BUT SURE THAT IT IS DIFFERENT TO THE DUB THAT WAS MADE AT 70's & 80's, ASIDE TECHNOLOGIC QUESTIONS. WHAT DIFFERENTS THINGS DO YOU SEE BETWEEN THEY ?
well, firstly - there is more than 20 years of musical and cultural
change between the dub which is made now and the dub which first began
in jamaica in the 70's. a lot of the dub made now, which is mainly
coming from england, is very connected to current styles and ideas in
dance music and is also influenced to a large degree by the legacy of
u.k.'s premier roots sound system operator - jah shaka, who kept the dub
and spiritual roots vibe alive through the 80's. what we have now as
well, is a whole "dub aesthetic" which is to say that, people like
myself set out specifically to make dub music from the start whereas, in
the early days in jamaica, a dub mix was usually done of an existing
musical track - just dropping out the vocals etc and making a dub remix.
i think that with the activities of england's on-u sound
label/collective in the 80's, was really where recordings started
getting made specifically to make a finished "dub" record.
another big difference between the sound now and in the 70's and 80's is
that people are almost exclusively working with electronic instruments
like drum machines, samplers, keyboards, sequencers etc whereas in the
past, the music was pretty much entirely recorded with various musicians
and instruments all to tape in a recording studio. so, just like with
artists who are working in dance music, people can record and mix whole
dub albums at home, by themselves, and without disturbing the
neighbours!
with the music of twilight circus, i'm doing it the "old way" -
recording real live drums and playing instruments to tape, not out of
principle, but because i find it annoying and slow working on music
computers and sequencers. so, its just a whole lot faster for me if i
go and play it instead of spending hours programming things! i do use
quite a few electronic instruments like analogue synths and a
sampler/digital synth though- but i just play the sounds straight to
tape.
DO YOU THINK THAT SPIRITUAL MISTYC IS STILL IMPORTANT IN THE DUB TODAY ?
certainly some of the dub artists nowadays are trying to promote that
spritual "vibe" ( see - the jah shaka legacy and the spiritual vibe of
some 70's dub ) which is cool. i always liked the heaviest dub and
reggae sounds, the type that are a bit scary as opposed to happy,
pop-sounding material.
IN YOUR LIVE SHOWS, THE SOUND SYSTEM CONCEPT IS VERY IMPORTANT. YOU STAND WITH THE COLABORATION OF MUSICIAN AND OTHER ARTISTS. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY ?
well, i'm not a dj ( at least not yet ) and don't approach my live shows
from a classic sound system approach which would be - one's own
speakers/p.a. system etc, exclusive tracks from various artists, a
record selector, dj , "toaster" and so on...i run taped versions of my
own tracks and play along with them with various guests on additional
instruments. we basically go completely berserk with sounds and crazy
activity on the stage which hopefully makes people relax and laugh a
bit. its fun to play with other musicians because they bring their own
ideas and sounds to the songs which makes it more interesting for me and
probably the audience too.
" DUB PLATE SELECTION " IS YOUR 6th. WORK. YOU ARE IN ACTIVE SINCE 1995. THIS IS TO WORK AT A GOOD PACE. HOW DI YOU THINK ABOUT THIS WORK WITH COMPARATION ABOUT THE OTHERS ?
i'm just doing what i feel like doing and i don't really feel very much
part of a "scene" at all mainly because i've been making my music and
plans in a vacuum. so, it was a surprise to hear about all other artists
working in the dub style and the existence of an actual u.k. dub "scene"
after i brought out my first release in 1995.
i should mention that i've actually been playing music since 1981 and
have been developing ideas and plans specifically for dub since then as
well. my first actual recorded experiments with dub took place already
in 1986 - it just took me a very long time to get to the point of being
in a position to record and release entire albums of dub material. so,
my musical history and background is quite different to most artists
active in the u.k. dub scene or in other countries as well. i do try to
keep in contact these days with some other dub artists - the dub army!
YOU SAY THAT IN YOUR RECORDS YOU WORK WITH " NORMAL " INSTRUMENTS, AND DON'T USE PROGRAMATIONS AND OTHER MACHINES NEITHER. THIS RECORDS WILL BE VERY HARD. IS IT TRUE ?
the thing is that i personally find working with machines and computer
sequencers to be really slow and frustrating - very non intuitive..using
the mathematical part of my brain - so, for me, the use of "normal"
instruments is much faster and easier than if i would have to sit for
days and days programming and learning programs. of course, since i have
to play each musical instrument seperately, it takes more time than if
there were a whole band playing at once. i can usually work quite
quickly though - it usually takes about 3-4 days to make a complete
track ready for mixing.
when i see the guys in download work with all their machines ( an
amazing collection of analog and digital equipment ) i'm always amazed
at how fast they are - they know the machines and programs so well that
they can work instantly and spontaneously - so, whatever method works
best for the given artist is the way to go. i do really like analogue
synths and certain drum machines like the 808 and i also work on ideas
sometimes little bit with a keyboard sequencer i have. i also really
like "sound design" ie: working with loops and samples, mutating them to
sound different. its not that i'm against sequencing or programming -
far from it, its just that i have a way of working that works for me -
the computer weakling.
" DUB PLATE SELECTION " IS YOUR 2nd. WORK WITH SLY DUMBAR. WHAT ABOUT THIS COLABORATION ?
sly dunbar "guests" in the form of a sampled drum loop - we didn't
actually meet in the studio for these recordings although, i did go and
meet sly dunbar a few times at concerts when i was a youngster. i think
mr dunbar will be appearing once again on the new cd i'm working on
courtesy of his sample cd. the magical powers of modern music!
with a similar theme: i'm currently "working" on a new record with dead
voices on air ( mark spybey - ex download/zoviet france ) even though
i'm not there - i sent a dat tape with all kinds of sounds and musical
bits to vancouver, which is getting chopped up by the producer darryl
neudorf and used for the collaboration - music by mail!
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE DUB'S GOOD HEALT AND THE REGGAE'S BAD TIMES ? IS THE INTELECTUAL AND RACIAL COLABORATIONS THE CAUSE OF THIS SITUATION OR IS IT THE GENERATIONAL CHANGE THE ANSWER ?
hmmm...there seems to be some attention given to dub these days because
of the whole connection to the dance scene while it is really a very
underground form of music, appealing to a small amount of people. i'd
love it if there were even more dub artists around and more media
attention given to this style! the more the merrier.
i don't know much about the reggae scene these days because i pretty
much stopped listening to anything made after the early 80's when the
sounds became more electronic and dancehall took over. i've heard some
interesting things recently about new developments in dancehall and
jamaican music, like more experimental musical sounds and a rise in
"conscious" singers and dj's these days, but i'm really so out of touch
that its hard to comment.
i do think its interesting that the drums have become the dominant
instrument in some dancehall now where you have tracks where its just a
drum track and vocals with and occasional bass or keyboard sound. its
amazing to think that there is so much talent on such a small island as
jamaica - such an incredible amount of musical and cultural output that
has influenced and continues to influence the whole world. its incredible!
thanks for doing this interview!
NOTHING MORE, I HOPE THAT YOU LIKE IT.
I WAIT YOUR NEWS. HAVE A GOOD TOUR.
WE KEEP IN TOUCH.
ISABEL
|
|
|