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Twilight Circus Dub Sound System


    Interview for " REMIX Mag " - New Zealand, 21.01.2001


    name, rank and serial number? and perhaps a little bit of your history as well sire!

    leftenant general ryan moore, serving in the dub army since 1981. first enlisted in vancouver, canada and now currently stationed in the netherlands.

    what is currently occuring in the world of Twilight Circus?

    currently upgrading the secret dub labs with various sundry audio items & fine decor, mainly rescued from garbage skips around town; the decor that is, the audio items tending to be rescued from dusty shelves in forgotten corners of tv stations, warehouses, garages etc. i like old dust. recording work is going on all the time so that various dub blasts are being generated for sound system play and future TC albums.

    Your sound is considerably different to many of your contemporaries in the dub field, is that a hinderance or do you think it helps you to stand out amongst a digitally orientated genre?

    The TC tracks tend to use more 'live' instrumentation like acoustic drums and bass guitar than most modern dubbists, who focus more on a programmed, synthesized kind of sound. some people seem to appreciate the more organic TC sound, whereas others are more up for programmed action. not sure of this is a boon or a hindrance in my case . people have shifted to programmed drums really out of neccessity as its a whole lot quieter, cheaper & easier to program your beats at home.

    In laymans terms, how do you obatain such elephantine bass sounds?

    in recording, the sounds you start with in the 1st place are of utmost importance; with bass, the source sound is crucial. for the past few albums i've been using a bass i call 'the eagle' which i bought for $25 at a shop in amsterdam. it was the laughingstock of the shop - a homely, selfmade 1960's thing constructed of plywood. it's almost impossible to play, looks like a home hobbyist's disaster, but this ugly duckling has 'the sound' i'm looking for - which is a seismic thud with no high end frequencies to speak of. for occasional synthesized bass action i normally use an old moog analogue synth, which, for subbass sounds, is unbeatable. these source sounds then tend to be lovingly caressed and squeezed by various geriatric tube devices & broadcast limiters, which helps the elephant bass stomp somewhat.

    Whats currently tickling your tastebuds in a musical manner?

    hmm, lessee... very much enjoying the continued flow of reissued classic 70's dub lps & 45's - these days are better than ever before for dub addicts with drastically improved record distribution and widespread availability of dub delights. recent home listening fun has been centred on vinyl reissues of classics from serge gainsbourg, funkadelic, curtis mayfield and various used bin LP scores. as well, i'm lapping up various minimal, experimental techno 12 inches ala basic channel and whatever floor shaking hardcore UK jungle 12's i can find at my local indie stockist. one of the semi regular gigs for the TC sound system is in the chill out room at a local monthly youth centre jungle party - imagine 700 teens boogying down to jungle & hardcore dub sounds. just did one of those this weekend - madness!

    Whats the future for Twilight Circus?

    more dub blasts & more live shows around the world with the new and improved TC sound system experience. i hope this will someday include some live action in your part of the world!

    Do you have an army of Twlight Circusateers to help you produce your hand crafted covers?

    there have been a few 'drawing bees' over here at m records hq , where the talents of unsuspecting visitors have been put to the task - but the vast majority were done by yours truly & the m records designer, ania rachmat. these days, out of neccessity, the hand crafting factor is being minimized although, 'horsie' still retains the hand drawn concept..man oh man, those 'horsie' pressings were sure a lot of work! to get the work done for the initial pressing, we holed up for a few days in a cabin in the middle of nowhere on the rugged, wind swept west coast of vancouver island, canada; i think that's why there was a 'sea theme' in some of the artwork - with sea stars, flourescent algae etc.