Silver began
originally under the working theme "The Fall of Winter".
A lot of my music is inspired by seasons, landscapes, and
environments. An image as simple as the skeleton of a tree
against a gray background is enough to inspire something,
and thats where the original idea came from. As the music
evolved, which it does because I am bad at staying focused
on a theme, the original idea faded away and it became more
abstract, less defined. The new title came to mind after a
particular piece was recorded and because of its lack of defined
meaning, I stuck with it.
I usually try to avoid any real defined meanings. The first
editions of " Mist" and "Mountains" for
example had specific references to places that gave the track
titles meaning. But in the latest editions I have removed
those references, leaving it more up to the listener to create
the mood the music suggests.
Q:
How does it differ from your previous
musical output?
"Silver"
appears to be moving a bit backwards in time for me, because
there are influences from "Mountains" and "Beneath
Clouds" (particularly "B. Clouds").
Its a nice merger of ambient layers that
I have been creating, with cyclic structures that occasionally
appear as rhythms, sometimes as some sort of timbral movement.
It has more life in it, more movement. It is also, I think
more melodic than a lot of my more recent music.
I have always liked melody.
Q:
What question ought we to ask you regarding
Silver - and what is the answer?
I have already
been asked what the title refers to. Pretty simply, its what
came to mind while I was working on the music.
Q:
What made you
choose to write music in the ambient style that you have adopted?
There are
certain elements of music that really attract me. Generally
its a slower tempo, but not too slow. Its melody, and chords.
But at the same time I like abstract structures, and a sense
of no beginning, no end. You can find these elements in ambient
music. I like the sound of the synthesizer, and certainly
that has been a big part of ambient music. I was inspired
heavily in my early years by the European musicians like,
Edgar Froese, Schulze, Vangelis, Heldon, Wappasou, Brian and
Roger Eno, Michael Brook... and many others.
I dont think I could do anything else. I have done some
more active music, especially in the 90s, although most
of that remains unreleased. I recorded an album called The
Last Dragons Dream in the mid 90s, and that has heavy use
of drum machines.
Over the years though I have settled in with more ambient
type music, and its where I feel most at home.
Q:
Who would you say are your musical influences?
Terry Riley, who to me is the god-father of this music. His
live perfromances with tape loops and electric organs really
opened the gates for T. Dream and Schulze.
Certain albums are big inspirations - Froese's "Aqua"
and "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale", Schulze's "Timewind",
"Mirage", "Picture Music".
Harold Budd was a big influence for "Mist", although
you would never hear it in the final music. That album was
recorded completely live, with no sequencers, no overdubs,
because I wanted to do am album of simple live music- but
I don't play piano. So I took the same approach but with
a couple of synths instead. You have to make the sounds
complex since electronic sound is not as naturally complex
as the overtones of a single piano, so although Mist was
only 2 synths, I layered about 32 digital tone generators
on top of one another to create the sounds on that album.
Michael Brook is a great influence
for me. I love guitar, and have often tried to emulate it
with synths. Certainly Steve Roach and Robert Rich. I grew
up near both of them in California, and we met up many times.
Steve really taught me about the quality of sound. The silence
behind it, and how important that is to the overall music.
The silence between notes, or i behind the field of music,
is equally important. I have never achieved it to the levl
he has though.
Q:
Clearly your music is inspired by the landscape
around you – how does this lead to you actually producing
sounds?
I like
an organic quality to the sound.
Movement within the timbre is very important,
and for many years was hard to do with digital synths.
I cant really say what about nature helps
create the sound. Nature inspires moods, and the moods create
the sounds I think.
Q:
What process do
you use to make music?
I go through
many dry phases - times when I am not able to do anything.
These phases can last for days, or even months. I have to
have a really clear state of mind, without mental distractions.
I usually start with a sound, which suggests a theme- maybe
a repeating melody or a looping phrase. Creating the ensemble
of sounds can take a long time. The rest is built around
that. Its improvised upon, and once I feel it is leading
somewhere, I turn on the recorders. I rarely use recording
overdubs.
Q:
Where do you start?
Usually with
a sound, but sometimes with an image. I like imagery, so something
like watching the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) could
inspire the type of sound I use. the sound then usually leads
to the musical structure that I build on.
Q:
How do develop a piece?
Once I have that structure going, it may undergo dozens of
changes, or if it seems to develop into nothing, I will start
from scratch. Its improvisational, with the use of sequenced
loops to create the framework.
Q:
How do you decide when a piece is complete?
I
never can get to that point. Its frustrating. But generally
when I feel it can go no further, its done.
Q:
Most of your CDs have been released independently
via the internet – why have you chosen this method of
distribution?
I like the control it gives
me. It ties in with my use of on-demand production. It allows
me total control over the music, the package, and the distribution.
Well, almost total control.
I am using 2 San Francisco based on-demand CD manufacturers.
They produce very professional, high quality CD's on demand-
meaning they are "burned" when ordered.
I just like that better than turning my masters over to
a label and losing control over it. That's not to say labels
are bad. They certainly have access to distribution that
I dont have.
There is also a huge number of people
now who think of music as part of their computer and their
portable Mp3 player. I dont listen to music that way myself,
but it is the direction things are moving. So I have some
of my albums at Emusic.com, and I also manage my own mp3
site through a host called Viztas.com. Its an entirely different
group of people buying the mp3s, vs. the CDs.
Q:
How do you see your music developing in the
future?
I dont know. Never can tell.
Usually when I start a project, the final
result is different from what I first imagined. It evolves
during the process.
I know I am getting back into more thematic
structures and rhythmic structures than I have in recent
years. "Signals in Moonlight" and "Silver"
both moved in that direction. But I also have plans for
more pure ambient music.
Q:
What music do you listen to for pleasure?
A lot of alternative and
modern Rock, Brian and Roger Eno, early Tangerine Dream
and Popol Vuh, Harold Budd, David Sylvian, Depeche Mode,
Enigma (I love Enigma!), U2, some classical, especially
impressionists, some jazz- slow moody jazz, and some obscure
electronic bands like Moodswings, Carbon Based Lifeforms...
and a lot more. Ofcourse I always like to hear what Steve
Roach and Robert Rich are cooking up.
" Steve Roach's "Dream Time Return"
is one of my all time favorite listens. It was pivotal for
Steve, and I think for e-music. Around that time Steve produced
my first album "Mountains". We have kept in close
touch ever since. Also Lamont Youngs
"Well Tuned Piano". This is an epic of solo piano
music in Just Intonation, alternate tunings that create
mathmatically pure harmonics. Something I know a little
about, but really love the sound."
My musical tastes though shift from time
to time. I never really got into the ethno-tribal ambient
music, except for some of Steve's albums. I prefer pure
electronic music with an organic feel to it.
18.12.04
Thanks
to Thom Brennan for allowing us that interview.
