OK....well
here is the update for the first part of 2002.....
The big news is that my style has taken a
left turn and veered off the road crashed through the flimsy guardrail
careened off a treacherous cliff and landed in a fertile swamp of
endless possibilities. Get it ? No? Well, I have been diving BACK
into the world of loops beats turntables samples monophonic
synthesizers top heavy bass lines and so on. I used to be all into
this kind of stuff years and years ago before the Presidents
clicked. Then for the last three years or so I tried to continue
with the verse chorus verse guitar bass drums school of thought
and it was satisfying but something was definitely fundamentally
wrong for me. I liked bits and pieces of the songs and recordings
but got easily bored and felt that somehow I was working in
black and white in terms of the range of sounds I was using. Now I
am doing field recordings and buying old vinyl and hiring actors
to read lyrics to beats recording my children telling stories and
layering 2 or 3 bass lines and jumbling ALL my interests and
influences into one sound. I call it SAMPLADELIC. It feels like I
am FINALLY home....finally working in a way that offers all the
variety and texture that I love. AND I dance all over the room and
bounce off the walls to the the stuff I am making rather than sit
there and wonder what is missing.
I can also collaborate in new ways...like
calling distant friends and having them jam for 20 minutes into a
cassette and send it to me and I can cut it up and hang it on a
beat and suddenly I have a new sound to play with. A lot easier
than forming and unforming a band every time I get bored. Sir-Mix-Alot
and I are exchanging tracks and ideas for collaborating and Tad
and I have worked on some jams. I also have plans to involve other
friends like Robyn Hitchcock for vocals Kim Thayil for guitars
Krist Noveselic for bass lines and so on. I am doing a piece with
Shane Speal a homemade instrument maker that I have gotten to know
on the internet. He sent me a one string cigar box bass years ago
that he made and recently he sent me 4 cassettes full of his instrumental
rambling that I will sift through and mine for riffs.
I FEEL LIBERATED!!!! Mostly liberated from
the vague distracted feeling that I am on the wrong track with
music. I am going back through all the songs I wrote in the last 3
years and mining them for the bits and pieces that I like and
trimming all the fat away an tossing it out. I know that you have
heard the "EUREKA!" thing from me before but this is
such a different feeling...not a desperate attempt to fix a broken
machine but a whole new operating system. New technology new
approach new result.
Cds in my heavy rotation at the moment
include:
Mr. Dibbs "Live in Memphis"...unbelievable free sampling
of pop culture
The Avalanches "Since I Left You"...kinda disco but
"Frontier Psychiatrist" is a marvel of story telling
Dj Spooky "Under the Influence"...mix cd of tracks he
likes or has touched
R.L.Burnside "Come On In" "Wish I Was in
Heaven Sittin Down"..old blues man and young computers
Stock Haussen and Walkman "Organ Transplants"...cut and
paste organ classics
Fatboy Slim "Better Living Through Chemistry"...first
record nice and raw
Dimitri from Paris "Live from the Playboy
Mansion"..still getting into this one disco but with a wink
and nod
The Busy Signals "Babys First Beats"...great samples
kinda weak vocals but strong overall
and the list goes on....
Chris and Tad are still at it but at a
snails pace as far as being a band goes. We play every once in a
while and it is so much fun. Lots of improvising and unpredictable
set lists costumes and breakdowns. We are still writing for movies
and TV and we have alot of deals pending at the moment so I wont
go into them all..couple of movies and TV adds.
All others are stalled and I don't mind. Subset
almost got an offer to finish our record then in classic Subset
style it all fell apart. PUSA is getting the rights to Freaked
back since the record company went belly up a few months ago.
So I am still getting my footing with this
new sound and I have made about 30 sampladelic jams and I am still
trying things out and seeing what works and what doesnt. I have
sent out a CD of 22 things to about 10 people whos opinions I
trust and value and then on to editing and hopefully finding a way
to release it...
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remember
9/11
remember
9/11