MORPHEUS
MUSIC INTERVIEW - RESONANT DRIFT
22.06.09 - anticipating
release of The Call
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| Q:
Can you give us a bit about your personal background
as musicians? |
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Bill: I formally studied various
instruments in my younger years. However, in college I got
busy and put it aside for several years.
Gary: As a teenager I studied drums with noted jazz drummer,
Chuck Flores, in Los Angeles. I also played guitar, keyboards
and woodwinds. I was an art major and music minor all the
way through college studying jazz, Bach and electronic music
at UCLA. I've been in local southern California bands from
my teens until now. I've played a variety of styles from rock,
blues, funk, country, classical to jazz. I currently gig around
San Diego playing contemporary jazz. Over the years, I've
opened for various acts like Charlie Daniels Band, J. Geils
Band, Doug Supernaw, and Brian McKnight. Over the last five
years, I've drifted towards ambient and electronic music.
As an artist, I find ambient soundscapes analogous to painting.
The "sound canvas" has elements of texture, color,
composition, values, edges, atmosphere, etc.. The sounds of
Steve Roach, Robert Rich and Michael Stearns got me hooked
on ambient. Over the last year, I've had the good fortune
to study and learn from Steve Roach. He's been a huge influence
on my approach, sound and studio set up. |
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Q:
What got Resonant Drift going back in
2004? |
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It was nothing more than the
need to express some emotional and spiritual thoughts and
feelings through this medium.
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Q:
How did Gary Johnson get involved with
the previously solo Resonant Drift project?
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We met at a master workshop
given by Steve Roach at the Timeroom studio in Arizona in
May of 2008 where we and four other students studied with
Steve for an intensive week of ambient bliss. Besides the
obvious connection with the music, we found we lived an hour
away from each other so we thought it would be nice to get
together and make some sounds together. We found that we had
a real synergy and that our interest and talents really complemented
each other. |
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Q:
This is now your fourth album – how would you say it
builds on previous releases? |
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Bill: The addition of Gary
really took the sound to a new level. We consciously were
focused on a more deepspace and consistent sound.
Gary: I think our collaboration on this album reflects much
of what we gleaned from Steve and the synergy, between Bill
and I, created a space that neither one of us would have
reached individually.
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| Q:
Did you have a conscious goal when setting
out to record The Call or did the music take its own direction? |
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Bill: I
knew I wanted something more deepspace and consistent than
previous releases. It was nice as that was the exact direction
Gary was looking to go as well. But also much of the recording
did take a life of its own. It was more like “discovering”
the music more than “creating” it.
Gary: I agree with Bill. We both had a similar point of
reference and the recording was very spontaneous, much of
it first takes. |
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Q:
When you work together, who does what? |
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In general, Gary plays the guitars
and Bill does the synthesizers though at times we lay down
tracks on both instruments. However, there are other elements
such as the field recordings (Gary), looping (Bill), sequencing
(Gary) and we both play percussion and ethnic instruments. |
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| Q:
What crucial pieces of equipment make
up your studio? |
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Gary: The guitars
I used on "The Call" are a John Suhr - Scott Henderson
model strat style guitar, a Danelectro baritone guitar I bought
from Steve Roach, and a Fernandes Revelle sustaining guitar.
Many of the "melodies" on the CD were done with
the Fernandes. I processed the guitars through a Digitech
Space Station, before running them through a rack full of
reverbs, delays, loopers and effects. The synths I used on
the CD are a Nord Lead 2, an Oberheim Xpander, and Blacet
modular synths. My essential studio gear would be my Mackie
Onyx 3280 mixing board, Lexicon PCM-91 reverb, Line 6 Echo
Pro delay, Eventide Eclipse, Looperlative looper and Doepfer
MAQ 16/3 Sequencer. Again, I credit Steve Roach and Roger
King with helping me put my studio together. Much of what
I have is cloned from Steve's studio setup.
Bill: Roland JP-8000, Moog LP, Alesis Micron, Korg Radius,
Looperlative LP1, Lexicon MPX 550, Mackie Onyx 24-4 , Spectrasonics
Atmosphere, computers, Acid Pro, Sound Forge, Cubase, Ableton
Live |
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Q:
Steve Roach is credited on The Call –
how did you involve him and what exactly did his ‘sonic
enhancement’ consist of?
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Steve mastered
the CD which consists of EQ, cross fades, eliminating hiss/pops
and adjusting sound levels for the tracks and the CD as a
whole. The sonic enhancements are processing effects applied
to the tracks. The sonic enhancements are Steve's blend of
custom reverbs and delays, the "Secret Sauce" as
he calls it. Because of his expertise and artisic credentials,
naturally, we gave him complete freedom to do whatever would
make the recordings the best they could be. His master touch
really pushed the sound and sonic quality to a higher level. |
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Q:
There is a lot of music being released
nowadays in this genre, what would you say makes a good ambient
album?
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Bill: A good
ambient album is one that strikes a chord with those that
produce it. It has to say something and mean something to
the people that make it. It has to have a feeling and create
an atmosphere and space for the listener.
Gary: Indeed, ambient music is more of a personal expression
than commercially produced Top 40 music. When making music
that speaks to the deepest part of our being, you have to
stay true to your artistic vision. Anything else would just
sound contrived and corny. I personally like to listen to
ambient music that makes the "sky open up", so to
speak. Music that somehow changes your level of awareness.
If your music can do that, wow, what a gift to your listener.
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Q:
We always like
to know what’s ahead – any future plans for your
music? |
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We are marketing
and promoting the current CD. Beyond that we are already talking
about and conceptualizing new music and we have a few collaborations
with other artists on the table. We both are very pleased
with our first effort together, but feel like we've just scratched
the surface of our potential. We look forward to exploring
many more soundworlds and atmospheres. We'll just let the
music take us where it will, go with the "drift",
if you will. |
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| Thanks
to Bill and Gary for allowing us that interview.
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