offthesky interview

Can you tell us a bit more about the ideas behind "Creek Caught Fire" and how it branched off from the Creek Studies release?

It’s safe to say the creek caught fire is the bigger brother to the creek studies. All the sounds came from the same set of recording experiments surrounding an intense period of time where all the source media was reaped to generate calories for those two bodies of work. That was also a personal phase of exercising minimal deconstruction during which the root fundamental sound source - the sine wave - served as a sole starting point for most of the pieces; much like starting a painting off with a simple gesso on wood approach.

Describe your working methods/process when you're working on new material?

I always make a note to begin with a field recording, or a melody taken from an acoustic instrument. However I feel that all rules are meant to implode upon themselves eventually so typically a new subtly evolved approach presents itself at the outset of each song/album. Again, a prominent theme with these two releases is the twine of the sine tone that ties much of the content together on a frequency plain. Specifically speaking, Ableton coupled with a slew of home made Reaktor patches makes for a good base where as all the acoustic elements add in subtle flavors. I recently acquired an old de-funkt player piano and vibraphone that are already shaping the nature of the releases that I’ll present in 2010.

How did your Kentucky surroundings influence the project?

Well certainly bourbon always helps to create a good warm mood that helps ideas flow. Seriously, there is a rich lush flora that sits atop a massive tectonic playground -i.e. the Appalachian mountain range. Since I’ve pretty much grown up around this uneven earth I’ve become curious for a time as to how the subtle seismic movements have affected the landscape, the culture, etc - but I think to truly musically capture that effect; one would have to create a piece of music that spanned a thousand years.


How are the live shows going? Did you get a good response at the Decibel Festival?

This past year I’ve had the opportunity to perform under several different projects/monikers that have lent many important lessons and ideas. Aside from the slew of more local events, I was able to open for Matmos in Boulder with a performance installation concept that entailed several painters on stage slinging paint on a giant canvas while I processed the sounds coming from several sensor microphones affixed to the back of it. We had a live drummer and a live projection visual element that made for a super weird show. The sound was certainly more akin to this juxta phona band I’ve been working with briefly as of late. This show was a great production feat overall however I realized that an artist certainly needs an encompassing solid working contract to make sure that all financial angles are covered in the end as sometimes unseen issues arise. The "business aspect" of traveling and getting compensated is certainly the most annoying part of any gig but with any production where budgets are needed, all bases should be covered first and foremost.

At other points in the year, I was also able to travel to Mutek to perform live video mixing which is paving the way for a series of offthesky videos and a DVD release later in 2009. Decibel was certainly the most successful performance in terms of critical feedback - though I’m not yet convinced that playing live shows, Even the prestigious festivals, does as much for an experimental musician's career compared to more permanent magazine write-ups or album releases. Though certainly there are bragging rights attached to playing along side more established artists, I will always put more attention to making music and spending time alone in the studio as opposed to the more superficial communications that come with live pa.

What other projects are you working on?

Currently I’m finishing and gearing up for 5 offthesky releases in 2009. The most difficult part is coordinating with all the various record labels exactly when to put the record out so that each record gets its due sale/exposure. I’ve found that at least 2-3 months between each release works really well and keeps the global audiences' interest. I’ve also found that with experimental music it's certainly important for an artist to release through many different outlets - though some labels do not like this and want an artist to focus in with them - I’ve found that now a day this is counter productive for artists trying to get established. Each label has a different unique distribution angle and promotional angle that can, in time generate awareness to help get an artist to the public. Enough spread out releases, if they are consistently interesting, will help generate traffic to all the various labels involved with that artist so it's all good for everybody in the end.

But aside from my personal views on the business approaches of an artist's career, I’m most excited about the "offthesky - geometry of echoes" DVD release coming out on Anticipate Recordings Fall '09. It’s my first foray into the realm of film capturing, editing, etc. I’ve enlisted the help of a collaborative multimedia expert partner, Sarah H.Dot from Denver Colorado. She and I are scouring archives and collecting a large array of textures and film clips based upon the idea of paranormal activity and resonance in a space. This concept started out with the dwelling spells Zymogen release and we're taking it to a higher level via filmmaking. My goal is to have it featured in an Imax theatre at some point - I guess there’s nothing wrong with aiming big?