Interviews
By Walt Szalva, Bob Marshall
In pro audio circles and throughout the vast realm of the internet, Fletcher is a ubiquitous and highly vocal presence. Always quick with commentary and an endless font of knowledge regarding even the most obscure pieces of gear, he is also the owner of MercenaryAudio, a purveyor of high-end boutique...
Interviews
A self-described late-bloomer who "didn't even think about" playing music until he was 18, Ken Andrews' recordi...
Interviews
Roger McGuinn is known to most people as the leader of The Byrds, the folk-rock band from the '60s who fused Bob Dylan and folk musi...
Interviews
Interviews
Interviews
I initially encountered David First performing a composition of his microtonal drones called "My Veil Evades Detection; My Veil Defies Exhaustion; My Veil and I Divorce" at an old rec room called Cuando on New York's Lower East Side. The piece's dense, slowly evolving microtonal drones are typical of the work that has earned him respect in New York's avant-garde music community. While First is best-known today for these drone based compositions, in the past, he has played guitar — in one of Cecil Taylor's large ensembles at a legendary Carnegie Hall concert and with former Television guitarist Richard Lloyd [Tape Op #56]. Ecstatic Peace will soon release a CD compiling the work of the Notekillers, his late-'70s punk-era band. "It's always been a weird pendulum swing with me, from totally noncommercial extended sound-oriented things to song- oriented things." He brought his experience recording and playing so many styles of music to his new pop album, Universary, most of which he recorded himself at home.
Howard Johnston is the co-owner and chief engineer of Different Fur Studio, tucked away in the once ignored, now ultra hip dot-com Inner Mission of San Francisco. In business for over 25 years, Howard has worked with a dizzying array of musicians including The Residents, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Bill Frisell, Brian Eno [Tape Op #85] and David Byrne [#79] (on My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts), Devo, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock (on the classic Headhunters), Too $hort, Sir Douglas Quintet and Snakefinger. He's even done movie soundtracks, including Apocalypse Now. We talked to Howard between afternoon and evening sessions on a hot Friday, discussing when to offer the benefit of one's experience, "best time" and avoiding dinosaur-hood.
Keith Fullerton Whitman, aka Hrvatski, is a record buying addict who blends experimental drum 'n' bass, academic music and his washer and dryer into some very exciting and listenable music. I was first introduced to Keith's music when I borrowed Oiseaux 96- 98 from a friend. I had heard about Hrvatski prior to hearing the record and had expected something with far less live instrumentation. I thought it would be more like Kid606 or Matmos records than old Pink Floyd albums mixed with complex drum 'n' bass beats. I bought my own copy of Oiseaux 96-98 a few days later and listened to it over and over. Then I started lending my copy to friends who normally listen to "rock" music like Shellac or My Bloody Valentine [Tape Op #26]. They too went out and bought a copy to listen to over and over. More than 2 years has gone by since then and I still think of Oiseaux 96-98 as one of the best experimental electronic records that "rock" type people can enjoy. Keith has a wide range of material from spastic cut-up drum 'n' bass rhythms to electro-acoustic drones and has had songs and records released on Planet- Mu, Kranky and on his own Reckankreuzungs- klankewerkzeuge (RKK) label (to mention a few). This combination could only be expected from someone who used to write "The Metal Detector" for Guitar World magazine, studied at Berklee College of Music and worked as an employee of Forced Exposure.
Ask JD Foster. From his days playing bass with the likes of Dwight Yoakam, The Silos and Lucinda Williams, to producing and engineering the records of Richard Buckner, Marc Ribot, Eszter Balint, and Green on Red, JD Foster has left his distinctive mark in recording studios across the map. From his Manhattan home JD spoke to me about his recently completed production — and recording — of Marc Ribot's recent solo guitar record Saints, his fanatic attraction to gates, and why a producer is, or isn't, very important to the recording process.
