The Field Interview

Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com

How do you go about composing your music, do you get just an idea that you work with, or do you get it all at once and build from there?

It’s probably more a feeling, usually when I hear a particular song I rearrange it in my head. It can be any song, from Lionel Richie to Fleetwood Mac...but I don’t know if I should say that in case I get sued!

I’m sure Lionel Richie won’t be reading this! But it can be any track then?

Yes, every time it’s a track that I have some kind of special connection to, or means something to me.

Has there been anything recently that’s caught your attention?

No, not really, I’ve been really dried out. I’ve just been playing so much, I haven’t really had time. We’ve been touring since last summer, more or less every weekend, but I just play weekends then go back home. Especially when you’re playing in Europe it’s so easy to get home, so I’m always back home on Monday.

That must be hard though.

Yeah, it is, but I’ve had a couple of breaks now where I haven’t really played at all.

Do you have to plan out time then for when you want to compose new songs?

Yeah, I try to, but I think we’re still going to do the rest of summer, perhaps a bit in the autumn, then I’m going to take a break for a bit from playing live at all, and just try to focus on making new music.

So will you be touring just across Europe, or will you be moving across to America?

We’ll be going to the States hopefully, and we’re working on visas and stuff, but they are really, really strict. We’ve had some problems with them before, but it’s really urgent as the tour is supposed to be happening at the end of May, as we’re going to Mutek in Canada and that’s no problem. But then we’re supposed to go on an East Coast tour, but it’s just the embassy interviews left now.

A live set featuring you and !!! !!! !!! recently made an appearance on Pitchfork TV, how did this collaboration come about? Do you hope to collaborate again with any other artists?

Well, it’s like that now, I’m not playing by myself anymore, I now have a band, but with the Pitchfork thing we were talking about it on the bus and then they asked if we’d like to do it. I was really satisfied with it, I was kind of dreaming of playing with musicians again and not playing by myself, because it’s much more fun for me and the audience and everyone. So we started playing with live instrumentation and no computer, trying to be more like a band than a DJ.

Yes, it must be hard to keep the listener interested in you’re just running off a laptop.

Absolutely, especially when you’re playing in the States where they haven’t really had it taken to them; they still very much like watching, and to watch a guy with a laptop is really, really boring. Europe is so ahead of the U.S.A really, like they’re ten years afterwards, so here you’re used to a guy with a laptop...but they’re still like “why isn’t he sweating on stage? He should have that laptop between his legs” [Axel imitates air guitar, but with laptop].

So what instruments do you now use live?

Synthesisers and bass and acoustic and electronic drums. And it’s now a sampler instead of a laptop, there’s no computer in it. It’s really nice.

How did you translate it from a record to a live show? How did you know which parts to play?

The last record is somewhat in between both the living room and the dancefloor, and since I’ve been playing a lot by myself I’ve been figuring out which parts work on the dancefloor, so it was already taken care of in a way. We’re basically doing the same tracks I used to play, but rearranged them and added stuff.

Do you ever get a vibe off the audience, sort of like “we want to dance” or “we want to stand around”?

Yeah, but I don’t know, I think I just keep on playing, regardless of what expressions they may have in their face, it’s like take it or leave it. We’re really much more free now, I guess, before I was more like a slave under my laptop, now we can do whatever and we can just improvise and jam.

Do you think you’ll include a band in your next record?

I don’t know, I think it’s probably going to be me making the music, perhaps inviting the band to play on some tracks; we haven’t really recorded stuff. I think we could do something but I don’t know if it would be under The Field’s name or something else, we’ll see.

I’m interested in the Sound of Light EP you composed for The Nordic Light Hotel, can you tell me more about that and were you ever worried you would be making lift music?

It’s really strange, the hotel contacted me and asked if I could do music for the hotel environment, and you have these thoughts “is it going to be lift music”, but they had it in every room, you could stream it directly by just pressing a button. Then they had this...like, a postcard with a CD, that you could buy after a visit, but then they started selling it on Kompakt and other stores, so I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think it exists anymore.

It is odd though that a hotel would be like “oh, make some music for us”?

It’s really strange, I was there for two nights and on the first night I got sick, I had a fever and started puking, and that kind of set the standard for the thing, because I couldn’t really work with it and I didn’t know what to do. For me it was really chaotic and I don’t really like it, there’s only one track that I’m happy with. It was more like a job, you know, kind of a commercial thing, “this is what we ordered from you”. It’s not a follow-up, some people think it’s like a follow-up EP, but it’s not, it was just for the hotel and I don’t even know why it got out, but people tend to forget why I did it.
This is quite a cheeky question, but do you think of members of an audience use drugs they’re more open to your music?

Yes! There’s a total difference, you can see with what towns you’re playing in and there’s a lot of drugs, the audience is totally different.

So are you expecting that from Minehead?

No, I think everyone’s going to be drunk on beer, but that works as well, intoxicated either way. But there’s a big difference between Barcelona and Stockholm, or Berlin and Stockholm; Barcelona’s pretty liberal but Stockholm is quite conservative.

Where has been the place where you’ve thought “these people really get it” then?

I think Berlin is always Berlin, it’s a really nice place and the people are very friendly. Everyone in this kind of scene more or less moved there a few years ago from all over, from the states, Sweden, everywhere. Berlin gets to be the capital of techno. It’s so cheap to live there compared to other capitals.

Is there anyone you’ll be checking out at ATP?

I want to see Dinosaur Jr, Battles and we’ve just been watching A Hawk and a Hacksaw, De La Soul as well maybe, we saw Explosions in the Sky last night and Four Tet as well. Oh, and Stars of the Lid. I think Adam, the guy with Stars of the Lid, is living in Brussells.

Lichens Interview

Lichens interview (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

ATP Interview Series

I’ve read that your albums are all one-time improvisations…

With the exception of one tune on Omns, “M St r ng W tchcr ft L v ng n Sp r t” is actually the one time I’ve done overdubs on a track, and I just did a bunch of layering. It was all still improvised but I had an idea and I chose to move through the piece in three different movements and to accomplish that the way I sort of envisioned it in my head, it was a necessity to do over-dubbing, but that is the one time I’ve done that. Otherwise it is a one-time.

Is it literally all in one go then?

Yes, usually I’ll be able to go into a recording session with an idea… [Robert is met by someone carrying Battles’ drumsticks, which he will be passing onto the band]…The whole impetus for what I do and the concept came about because I wanted to try to be able to realise a piece of music spontaneously, as best I could. That being said, I do have ideas of how I want things to sound, but they don’t necessarily turn out the way that I want them to - or the way that I envision them - and that’s okay. The idea of “the mistake” entering into the equation is not something that really hinders me from what I’m doing. It’s a process that allows me as well as the listener outside to experience basically the birth and death of this one piece of music and have it able to live symbiotically in any given situation. That was the whole idea, because lichens grow anywhere and everywhere, it’s the oldest living organism on the planet, there’s one in the arctic that’s over a million years old and still growing underneath the glacier, so that’s sort of why. It’s all about the process and the evolution and realising, coming to a sort of understanding of things, and seeing that something can be created spontaneously and have an effect or not. It’s one of those things, it lives where it lives and that’s what it is.

A fellow writer at The Silent Ballet went to see you and Explosions in the sky at a venue called 'The Crazy Donkey,' do you remember that venue?

I do remember that, that was a weird show.

Apparently lots of people talked through it; how does it feel when people talk through your show? How does that affect the artist?

You know, I don’t let it affect me, because I’m there to do what I do, and it’s as much for me as it is for anyone else, so if they decide to be involved in what I’m doing and where I’m at, then that’s just fine. If they don’t and they happen to be there, the whole idea of this, the symbiosis, living in situations that are not necessarily supposed to happen - it’s not discouraging whatsoever. I tend to enjoy it more when I’ve made some sort of connection, but at the end of the day, if nobody else is getting it - or wants to - they don’t have to be there. It’s all just a matter of choice and circumstance, it’s not something that affects me greatly, but for the most part I’ve had great luck with live performances, being able to convey what I’m doing to an audience, and the audiences have been as narrow and broad as you can possibly imagine. I’ve played in front of thousands of people and it’s been totally silent, or I’ve played in front of two hundred people and it’s totally clattered and crazy. It is what it is and I can’t be bothered with someone that doesn’t get it. If they don’t get it that’s fine, I’m doing my thing and that’s what I’m there to do.

Do you ever want to tell people to “shush” though?

I think the idea of that is a little ridiculous, I think too many people put this precious idea on their art and what they do. Sure I want to be respected as an artist, I can’t say that I don’t - if I did I’d be lying - but what I do is not for everyone and I understand that. I’m not looking to change anyone’s perspective on anything. If they’re able to join me in it then that’s just fine and I appreciate that, but I can also understand the idea of someone not being there. It’s all circumstance; someone could have a bad day at work or get into a row on the train or whatever, so their day is ruined, regardless of what their plans were for the rest of the day. Sometimes you can’t make that connection and I understand that.

I’m glad you remembered that donkey venue though, I’ve seen a few pictures of it and they have a donkey mascot, was it a bit of a mistake in venue?

Yeah, it was like playing at Hooters. That was exactly what it was, very bizarre.

What can we expect from your live show - are you on your own or do you collaborate?

I do collaborate, after the show tonight I’m doing a series of shows in the UK collaborating with my friend Jeremy who plays in a tonal and textural duo called White Light. We did an album together called White/Lichens last year on the Holy Mountain label. He’s over here because he’s working for Iron & Wine doing their house sound, and we were able to coordinate it so we were able to travel together and do some performances together. I’m doing some solo and some as a duo, as White/Lichens, generally under the moniker Lichens but I have done collaborations with people - a viola player and the percussionist Michael Zerang, to name a couple. I’ve done stuff with Christina Files and a number of other people, off and on when the situation suits.

And are your collaborations improvised as well?

I think a number of the people I’ve performed with are improvisers and have worked with improvisers for a number of years, but I have worked with people that don’t really exist in that world. It’s always an interesting thing regardless of how it works, it’s always interesting and always a good time.

I’ve read that you’ve collaborated with TV on the Radio, but can’t find much more about it aside from short sentences online, is there any truth to this?

There’s a lot of misinformation that floats around…

Do you want to clear this up now then?

Sure, I did a few live shows with TV on the Radio a couple of years ago, just a few New York shows that happened over a period of time, but I’m not in the band and I was never a member of the band. I guess it’s not completely incorrect to say that I was a collaborator, but I don’t really ever say that. It’s gotten out there so far - I think the last record review I had in The Wire, the first line said my name then said I was a member of TV on the Radio, and this is years after the event. It’s just misinformation, it’s not what it is, and that writer obviously didn’t do any fact checking and didn’t do the proper research. It’s too bad, but it seems like that happens with most writers these days.

Well, I hope you don’t mean me!

I say most; there are a good few, but only a few.

You used to be in 90 Day Men, how would you explain the differences or similarities between the former, and the project you’re working on now?

I don’t know, but it’s always funny with the idea of a project - I never really use that term, because it’s not a project, it happens to be where I am at that point; it’s just how I see things. I know other people will view things differently, but I don’t like the idea of using that term because it negates the idea that you have the free will to do what you want, you know what I mean? It’s like “oh you know, it’s this little side thing that he’s doing”, and it’s not, it’s what I do, there are different phases in everyone’s life and everyone moves through at different paces, but it’s all your history, it’s all my history.

Well, I can assure you that that’s just a lexical choice slip-up there!

I know, but that’s why it’s just the way that I am.

Do you know when you’ll have another record out?

I’ll hopefully be able to record a new record after I'm done with touring, but once I’m home at the beginning of July I’m going to try and work on a new record. I have a vision of how I want to try and create the situations, so hopefully by the end of the year the record will be out. That’s my plan.

Where do you record your records then, at home or in a studio?

I’ve done home studio recording and recording in studios proper. I’ve worked with a few different engineers, people that really understand where I’m coming from, and that’s the most important thing, to be able to convey what I’m trying to be able to work with.

It must be hard if you have a specific vision though, do you ever worry it will be bypassed by the people you’re working with?

I don’t think it’s ever bypassed, I’m very hands on, even to the point of live situations, during a sound check I’ll actually go out into the house and stand at the soundboard and EQ my own sound. I do like to be hands on with that sort of thing, as there are certain things that I want to be able to be heard by people, and in a certain way. It’s never an issue of bypassing though, it’s never a production issue or a mixing issue, I’m able to convey it and if I’m not able to do it myself, I’m able to tell someone else how to do it.

A lot of the bands we’ve spoken to have said the same, perhaps Explosions in the Sky have picked really hands-on bands.

[laughs] I think for the most part they have, yeah.

Am I right in thinking that the Million Tongues festival was one of your first shows?

There were two shows that I did really close together, and one was the Million Tongues festival and one was when Battles had first started touring and I opened and set up a show for them at an art gallery in Chicago. So, I believe the Million Tongues Festival was my second show and the show with Battles was my first.

I guess you know Battles from way back when then?

Yeah, they’re friends of mine, I’ve known Ian [Williams, guitarist], Tyondai Braxton, [guitarist and vocal samples] and Dave [Konopka, bass] the longest, but I also know John [Stanier, drums] and they’re all good friends.

How did you all meet then?

I’ve probably known Ian the longest, I’ve known him since he was in Don Caballero and he and I knew each other, then he moved to Chicago and we got to know each other better. Dave was in this group from Boston called Lynx, and they all moved to Chicago around the same time, so I got to know him as well. Ty I met just through playing shows, him in Chicago and me in New York and we became pretty fast friends.

Anyway, back to Million Tongues, what was that like?

I don’t know if there will be more, but I think there have been four so far. This fellow who goes under the name Plastic Crimewave, who does this magazine called Galactic Zoo Dossier which is manufactured and distributed through Drag City - he’s a known entity in Chicago, and he decided to start putting these festivals together because he has a lot of friends that are artists that are playing right now. To put any sort of a qualifier on it (which I don’t generally like to do but, I think he does it himself), it is more of a psyche and improvised festival. A lot of groups from Japan like High Rise and LSD March, a lot of folks you might see playing Terrastock, like Spires that in the Sunset Rise, Simon Finn, Jack Rose, all sorts of people. It’s a good one, I quite like it.

Is this the first time you’ve been to ATP? Does it differ?

This is the first time I’ve been to ATP; I generally don’t go to festivals. Something like the Million Tongues, it’s an onsite, site-specific festival that happens over the course of a few days, and it’s fairly easy and comfortable. Everyone goes to the same place and it’s not open air, it’s housed in a venue. I think it only really differs from ATP in that way, and that it happens on a smaller scale. The experience that I’ve had here has been very positive, I’ve been able to see a lot of people that I haven’t had the chance to see in quite a while, just reconnecting with friends and then meeting some new people and it’s the same with Million Tongues, it’s very friendly and very family orientated.