Interviews
By Walt Szalva and 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
Interviewed via email by Tape Op writers: Larry Crane, Jim Kaye, Jesse Cannon, Joe Chiccarelli, Walt Szalva, Geoff Sanoff, Tardon Feathered, Matt Newport and Philip Stevenson. Intro and further questioning by Philip Stevenson If, by chance, you have not fallen off the face of the earth in the past couple of months, you've probably become familiar with journal of Mixerman, an anonymous diarist on www.prosoundweb.com who has made the band Bitch Slap the most famous characters of rock legend since Spinal Tap. Both bands have managed to catch the consciousness of the people who really know music from the inside out. But here, the similarity ends. Where Spinal Tap were loveable fops, Bitch Slap usually are unlovable lunks. Where Spinal Tap fell into success in spite of all natural adversities, Bitch Slap seems destined to never even finish a record. Where Spinal Tap were characters of fiction, Bitch Slap are real. Or are they? No one knows for sure, as their biographer/ recordist Mixerman is a character of audio Noir — neither hero nor villain, documenting and assailing the process of modern record- making like Martin Luther nailing his document to the door of the Castle church. The diary is merciless, absurd, and impossible to ignore, attacking everybody on the food chain. It's also damn funny, not merely for its narrative style but because it's a cautionary tale resonating with people on all levels of the business. Like the best documentaries, you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Tape Op writers and friends were asked to pose questions to Mixerman after which they were electronically bundled and mailed to him in his secret lair. From different mouths, the interview style may seem a little erratic, but the sentiments had a lot in common: "How could this happen?" "Where have we gone wrong?" All good questions. Here to take on all comers, we have both the mixer and the man.
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.
