After reading a handful of posts, I thought that it would be fruitful
if I shared what I've been thinking about and reaching towards in my own music..
First off, I'm a college student and not unlike many of you, I have day to day
problems such as friends, girlfriends, etc.. The reality is that my life is
fairly mundane.. Although I'm proud of growing up on Chicago's South Side,
one of the most culturally fascinating places on earth, it can get really
depressing in terms of a day to day existance.. As a teenager, I went
through the entire angst, depression thing.. Having an only casual
relationship with the house scene, I latched onto a long list of 80s
mope/noise rock.. Over time, I realized that this music just perpetuated my
low emotions.. By way of a good friend, I was introduced to techno, and I
instantly latched onto it.. I think it was overwhelmingly because it
sounded otherwordly, new, and most importantly, it made me feel like I was
escaping my limits.. Hell, records like Beltram vol. 2 sounded like it was
from another universe, it was exciting to get records labeled "Made in
Belgium" and the like.. With all this in mind, I found it an incredibly
strange relationship when I started making my own stuff.. It shocked me
that I was able to create such otherwordly sounds in the confines of my own
environment.. I felt as though I was releasing something untapped in me..
With the music came the parties.. Though I went to alot of parties, I
always resented the crowds and felt no attachment to entire drug/nomad
culture, it was always the experience of the music (and a little nitrous)
that drew me.. It's such a beautiful anomaly (eek spelling?), because it is
the only music that thrives in the urban wasteland, but is at the same time
distinctly sleek and futuristic.. It's been about six years since I started
making tracks, and naturally, I've spent alot of time thinking about this
habit that takes up so much of my time and interest.. When I started, my
influences were a mix of noise rock and old
electro/house from the likes of WBMX, and there was no distinct direction
or goal in what I was doing.. Much of it was spontaneous, or on accident..
What stands out in the old tapes is the sheer amount of detail in the
programming that I was willing to put in.. I think this comes with the
program when your main keyboard is a CZ-101, but this important because I
found that I had to remind myself of this dedication later on, because as
my facilities grew, it became increasingly easy to pump out hours and hours
of quick loops which worked, but went nowhere.. If nothing else, I think
this is the most noticable difference between old Detroit versus newer
stuff. Derrick put so much detail in his sequences and it was more free and
song-like. On the other hand, much of the newer tracks live off of loops
which are so easy pump out nicer gear.. Recognizing this flaw, I promised
myself to avoid loops as much as possible, thereby making a fundamental
departure from the bulk of the genre.. As my dad's old Miles fusion records
like "In A Silent Way", "LiveEvil", and "Live at the Filmore" made they're
way into my crates, I found it increasingly harder to enjoy my house and
techno collection.. I still loved the electronics, but the level of emotion
seemed so much lower.. This break, I've been listening to alot of Chicago
art-rock such as "Brice-Glace", "Labradford", "Tortoise", and "Gastr Del
Sol".. These artists are exceptional in the sense that they're making the
progression that so many techno artists seem unwilling to make: they use
the electronic, but they break away from alot of the structural constraints
of typical sequencing, recapturing that groove that Miles had that WASN'T
based on loops but rather on improv.. I think my other aversion to alot of
recent releases is that they are full of nice sounds, but the melodies are
in really uninspiring keys and the melodies seem stuck in circa '81.. I
think the fundamental point is that we have opened the eyes of the masses
to new options in the way of sound and the failure of the majors to co-opt
a new form of music distribution, which is truly underground.. However, we
must remind ourselves, that the musical advances of Mahivishnu John
McGlaughlin and Miles Davis during the seventies were too significant to
ignore.. We as artists should take this new perspective we have and commit
to the age old tradition of reevaluating old concepts, updating and
tranforming that which we feel is exceptional.. Our music is only new in
the sense that it's purely electronic.. Most all of the music ideas we
mistakingly take for our own have been in place for years..
I apologize for the length, but I think this sort of
train-of-thought writing is more productive..
On Now - Miles Davis "Lonely Fire" off of the "Big Fun" LP
Please comment, because that's the only way I can learn..
Jamie Hodge
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6
mQCNAi5f89wAAAEEAOiU42TYXhzZGB9GyVUPiphK/V549aDA1KDGccxmPY70ynVt
EUi0Q/X/sHNj73fKCiv6jeoIlagAiamgQT6cL5FGGGkPApyWqrffEClBX67G+mQK
Py+gpGCbDw7FEQPoY4Pfqi0Uf0KMPMBDg1k/djjStVQePNLimYBwiB5FzDvpAAUR
tBtpcmRpYWxAaXJkaWFsc3lzLndpbi11ay5uZXSJAJUDBRAvF7csgHCIHkXMO+kB
AXUhA/9/KthPVRLH6IpgagPK7lZ5qWYM2lhBSxMv9LDKV7nZVRxnsnO55fpQj1r1
popw6JkYAG0BdRTOwUjPhcItyIbEjFGWkmXxDqAjpoKKcpmrajPB6mGtsrZG948A
FxPlPlXqmcg9bGB7x0RYlwZ6baka778MNB8LK15GoUriwUYUPQ==
=FP+2
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----