The Mixtape 40: listen2me

Entertainer, music lover and a little fucker.

Music has been a universal language that I feel the most at home with. It enables me to find commonality and connection with others, with an availability of rich vocabulary transcending the limitations of words alone.

I began writing and producing in the late 90's under the names of Pyramids and Autonomy. These first tracks were released on Evasive Records.

In 2000 I went on to establish my own label alongside Daniel Poli and initially with Davor Basic, who went on to host his infamous parties where many of the Suspect Package artists gathered and performed.

I had met Daniel Poli at Swag records while recording "One Time" and was the first installment on Suspect Package. 

Suspect Package was all about the unexpected, a label run by artists for artists.  A platform for up and coming undergound talent to break out and showcase their material. 

The ethos of Suspect Package was built on an attitude to remain as a steadfast  resistance against the conformity of settling on dumbed down formula.

It was a commitment that continually demanded and questioned all boundaries, that packaged musical concepts within boxed up; notional barriers. 

Suspect Package had 9 releases from 2001 - 2005 the artists:
Autonomy, Chris Pascoe,  C-Soul,  Daniel Poli, Earth Deuley, Filth, Iteration – X,  Marky Star and Red & Blue.

14 years on, Daniel Poli, detonated Suspect Package's 10th  "Long time coming" and showcased artists works by Dav, Marky Star, Sounds of the Suburbs and The Buddy System. A reminder what it is all about. 

My musical collaborations have included Rob Pearson, Lee Humphreys and Daniel Poli.

In 2003 I enrolled at Dartington College of Arts with turntables as my main instrument. The institution in its relatively short history had acquired an international reputation as an innovative centre for contemporary practice. It was one of only few in Britain devoted exclusively to specialist practical and theoretical studies spanning right across the arts.  

My studies did expose me to practical and theoretical questions regarding the role of the arts in the wider world. This experience catapulted me out of the studio production setting and out the confined limitations of my own thinking.  

It impacted the relationship I had with instruments, music and more specifically sound.  In doing so it created endless possibilities. 

The highlights:

6 minutes peice composed for a DJ mixer, guitar amp, voice, heart beat and a French 
speaking radio broadcast.

Loop capture arrangements: 

For female voice accompanied by children's music boxes.

For Electric guitar and Ebow.

A collaboration of flutes and rain stick with cello, guitar  accompanied by the River Dart and South Devon Railway's GWR 1366 class steam train.

A live remix of 8 minimal Techno and Electro Break tracks. Performed as  one track by 2 DJ's, 4 decks, 1 CDJ and two basic mixers ie no effects, loop recording or sampling functions. The duration of the remix was equivalent to the length of a new single track. 

(This project included concepts of notation relative to the DJ and turntables. Both traditional western notation scoring and graphic scores.)

2 Sonic Art peices and sound design from environmental captured audio. The Spirit of Fire - Backdraught is one of those peices.

Theoretical studies that have captured my imagination are the works of, experimental and minimalist composer's, Steve Riech, Terry Riley and John Cage. Looking at repetition, phasing, chance processes and tape loops. Composers Ligeti and Penderecki detailed layers that achieved textured avant-garde sound scapes and the interlocking patterns ubiquitous to Gamelan.

These enriched musical exposures are set into my musical foundations as I continue to create.




 



The Calvert Journal is an award-winning online magazine dedicated to exploring the culture and creativity of the New East: Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia and Central Asia.