Andrew Schneider (bonus): Unsane, Cave In, Scissorfight

BY SCOTT EVANS

I didn't expect Andrew Schneider's Brooklyn studio to be on a tree-lined residential corner: Unsane records happen here and nobody calls the cops??? But, as it turns out, it's entirely possible to have a studio on a block filled with brownstones and restaurants. Apparently floated floors, friendly neighbors, and New York City's built-in 24-hour white noise generator all help. Andrew got his start in the mid-'90s, playing bass and screaming for Boston noise rockers Slughog. Now based in Park Slope, he spends most of his time making fantastic-sounding loud rock records for bands like Unsane, Keelhaul, Made Out Of Babies, and Cave In. He also plays bass in Brooklyn's PIGS, works as a freelancer for Blue Man Productions (see our interview with Todd Perlmutter) and has a new online label, Coextinction, co-founded with Chris Spencer and Dave Curran (Unsane) and James Paradise (Players Club). Coextinction Recordings has released an EP every month for the past year, each tracked and mixed by Andrew in quick, John Peel Session-inspired, bursts. Andrew and I talked for a few hours in his Translator Audio control room while his dog and honorary co-producer, Brady, napped in the live room.

An Introduction to Squarepusher

BY VIJITH ASSAR

Tape Op issue #89 features a rare interview with Tom Jenkinson, a man known to the world as Squarepusher. Below is an "introduction" of sorts for someone that might be new to the music this man has created over the last 15 years. I've been lobbying for years for the enigmatic British IDM genius to grant Tape Op an interview as a rare lens into his bafflingly technical creative process, and it finally happened when he decided to swing through New York in March for his first U.S. show in at least as long as I've been watching his career. This was an extremely intimidating undertaking, as Tom Jenkinson composes his tracks from deep below the surface of his DAW, diving deep into fundamental DSP via audio programming platforms like Reaktor in order to build his own tools before he gets to use them. One has to assume that he doesn't actually get to discuss this stuff with other people too often, but because his approach is so carefully considered philosophically, he nonetheless made for a fascinating interview, even for folks who don't instinctively know how to make an LFO do anything useful. This guy is a magician, but for some reason only a legend in very specific circles. So, for the rest of you: we are really excited about this, and in the hopes that you'll jump on board with our enthusiasm, here's a quick introduction to help you prep yourself.

Squarepusher: is Tom Jenkinson

BY VIJITH ASSAR

I suppose music technology is just like any other niche in that as you disappear deeper down the rabbit hole, it gets harder to find the other rabbits. Tom Jenkinson would probably qualify as an actual mole by this point were you to fully consider his 15-year reign as the premier virtuoso figure in glitchy drum and bass. But his albums as Squarepusher have also reached into other territory — most famously Music is Rotted One Note, on which he played every instrument himself; a one-man band without any sequencers hosting a jazz-fusion cafeteria food fight. Starting with 2008's Numbers Lucent EP and its follow up, Just A Souvenir, he moved into a friendlier version of digital music. But 2009's Solo Electric Bass is exactly what it implies — and the guy's got some serious chops. All this constant reconfiguration points to a generally restless and adventurous nature, but what's especially impressive is just how deep his reach extends when it's finally time to change course. He writes his own software for MIDI and audio processing for most of his digitally-minded projects using the deepest nether regions of audio creation platforms, like Native Instruments' Reaktor Core Technology. It's quite astonishing to think that Jenkinson can create music in this fashion at all, let alone come up with something that's truly beautiful.

Trevor Horn: Art of Noise, ABC, Yes, Frankie...

BY LARRY CRANE

1. Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire: really. 2. Record Producer: known for albums and hits by ABC, Seal, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Yes, Dollar, Belle and Sebastian and Grace Jones. 3. Musician, songwriter and singer: as heard in The Buggles, Yes and Art of Noise. 4. Record label owner: ZTT Records. 5. Studio owner: SARM Studios in London. Trevor is all of these, and more. We sat down with him in his offices at the soon-to-disappear SARM Studios one afternoon. One thing I can tell you is that the man who crafted some of the wildest-sounding pop hits of the '80s was a delight to meet and chat with.

Trevor Horn (bonus): On the Therapy of Being In A Band...

BY LARRY CRANE