Seven questions... with Stoo Nicol from @crosstheborder

I believe there are only two types of music: good and bad. To this end... I love a wide variety of music and I absolutely adore vibrant folk music... the kind that tells the stories of the common man (or woman) AND gets you dancing. This defines the folk music of Cross the Border... a band I really look forward to hearing live in McSorley's sometime soon.

Anyway... I caught up with Stoo Nicol from the band... and asked him my wee mini interview. Here's what he said...

Tx

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1) Who are you and what do you do?
I am Stoo Nicol, singer and front-man of the Celtic Folk band Cross the Border. What we do is create Celtic Folk inspired music (without rigidly sticking to one style) that we enjoy and that doesn't necessarily adhere to traditional folk guidelines and standards.


2) What are you working on at the moment?
We are currently working on bringing our new line-up up to speed with the established set list from our first album and previous live shows. The new guys we have brought in are all very exciting and dynamic musicians from various backgrounds and I don't think that process will take very long at all. After that we have begun gathering songs for a "Traditional Album" which we hope to have recorded before the end of the year. The idea is to approach traditional songs in the same manner we have approached our own material thus far, to play each song in our own fashion so that we remain true to the music we love and I guess therein lies the challenge of keeping the songs recognisable but approaching them in a fresh and exciting way.


3) Who inspires you?

- Name an artist who has inspired you.
As a band we have so many different inspirations from so many different backgrounds, some of our musicians come from rock backgrounds, funk, folk, and grunge etc... So tying it down to one artist is difficult. So I will sidestep the more "famous" of our inspirations and go with someone who has inspired me while on the road. I am immensely proud to be friends with an artist called Steph MacLeod who we have played with in various locations in the UK. Steph is a recovering alcoholic, Christian and truly talented musician who writes songs about addiction, his faith and basically every facet of the world he comes into contact with. Despite not being a church going Christian myself, Steph's musicianship, lyrics and his story in general is so energising when you listen to him that you can't help but fall in love with the music. The story of a man with talent falling into hard times, becoming an alcoholic, becoming homeless, finding faith, cleaning himself up and producing great music about his story is hard to top.


- Name place that has inspired you.
Scotland.

- Name some "thing" that has inspired you.
I guess brotherhood is a huge inspiration in my own and subsequently the bands writing. Most of our first album centres around the bond of brotherhood be it between a nation or just a group of people.


4) What drives you to do what you do?
Music in general can be a great friend and confidant when you are feeling low, a guide when you are feeling lost and a great way to express your thoughts when other forms of communication fail. I guess most of the band just has a need to create and express themselves. In some cases music is the one thing you hold on to when everything else around you is in disarray.


5) What values do you wish your creativity to express?
Staying true to ourselves is one of the strong values in the band; we don't want to be dictated to by the changing face of music, trends or constrictions of genre. We want to always just create whatever music we feel is right at the time.


6) What role does community play in what you do?
It plays a huge role in what we do, we have been very lucky through social media to make some great connections from our manager/soundman, to our friends, to our fans in as far afield as Germany, America, Japan etc, radio dj's in foreign countries... It's quite unbelievable when you look at it in this way. In fact the band itself just could not exist without community, without social media the band would not have been formed as I met my fellow founding member Gary Painting on that most prehistoric of social media sites MySpace. Similarly our percussionist Lewis and Zouk player Duffy, who I met on MySpace also, Richi our bassist, Alistair our guitarist, Yuuka our fiddle player and Paddy our drummer/percussionist I met also on social media. We have found it really humbling to watch our community grow in places like Germany without us having even set foot on German soil yet. Hearing from people enjoying your music and sharing your music in a country you’ve yet to land on has been quite an emotional experience for us and we are blessed to be able to share in that sort of community.


7) What is next for what you do?
Next is getting our "Traditional Album" recorded after which we will be looking to writing our second album of original material early next year. In between times we need to find time to travel and gig including a monthly residency in Glasgow venue McSorley's which we are all really excited about.

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Thank you for sharing Stoo... please check out their music (here) and, if you get a chance, go see them live in McSorley's.

Seven questions... with Mike Lemmon aka Neue

Mike Lemmon aka Neue really caught my attention with his album The Planets... and I was really curious about what he did. So I asked him my wee mini interview.

Here's what he said...

Tx

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1) Who are you and what do you do?
I'm Mike Lemmon, and I'm a designer and electronic musician living in Portland, Oregon in the US. By day, I design products and software at a very fun and challenging design firm here in Portland. When I can, I like playing with synthesizers.


2) What are you working on at the moment?
My design job takes up a lot of creative energy, so outside work I've been continuing on music projects and experimentation, and my own design and entrepreneurial projects, which helps to keep fulfilled creatively. On the music front, I've received a lot of really positive feedback on my album The Planets that I released earlier this year for my project Neue, which has been incredibly inspiring and humbling.


3) Who inspires you?
- Name an artist who has inspired you.
I've always been drawn to composers of film scores, or other musicians with what I would describe as a cinematic style that creates a sense of place. Impossible to pin down to one, so I'll mention some recent favorites. Brian McBride of Stars of the Lid, Clint Mansell, and John Murphy come to mind.

- Name place that has inspired you.
The San Juan and Gulf Islands in Northwestern Washington State/British Columbia. This is a place of immense and serene beauty.

- Name some "thing" that has inspired you.
One thing was the first "real" keyboard synth I got as a teenager, a Yamaha CS1X. Finally having real knobs to play with was so freeing. So many geek-out jamming sessions on that keyboard. There's been a lot of interests that I've had in my life, but electronic music has always been an undercurrent.


4) What drives you to do what you do?
I love solving problems, which speaks to my designer roots. My degree is in Industrial Design, which is about half engineering and half art classes. I actually found it hard in a lot of these art classes that were about pure expression, it was sort of like, what's the point? A friend of mine described the difference between art and design well: that it's ok for art to spiral forever, but design has a destination. I absolutely love art and am envious of people who can seem to freely and expressively create, but this has helped me realize how much I love constraints and how constraint drives creativity. So when I create, it's really about understanding the constraints and embracing them. Or even inventing constraints if I have to!

When it comes to how this translates to my approach to music, it's easy for my music sessions to be about "learning and experimentation". This is an easy way to kill hours of evenings and weekends. Again with constraints, I'll frequently try to envision a set of scenes which the sound can represent and almost tell a story about through sound about the scene. This is basically how I created my album The Planets. In that case I had these real places as context around which to focus. Other constraints I use are of instrumentation or time. I'll just say that I need to create something in an hour, with this set of instruments, and see what comes together. This might form the basis of something new and unexpected.


5) What values do you wish your creativity to express?
Creating a sense of beauty and elegance, but with many layers of interest and intricacy to uncover over time.


6) What role does community play in what you do?
I've been drawn to the online community for connection and inspiration. There's so many people empowered to create today, it's a constant source of inspiration.


7) What is next for what you do?
At some point there will be another album, and probably will share some new tracks later this year. And some day I'd love to work on a score for a game or a film, so we'll see.

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Thanks Mike! When my friend @myopicaardvark buys your music then that is a big honour (imho)... he is a soundtrack buff and knows his stuff.

Seven questions... with James Underwood from @iskrastrings

I find the answers I get from the creatives in my timeline totally fascinating... and after featuring the work of Iskra Strings I asked James Underwood if he would be up for answering my wee mini interview... and he jumped at the chance.

Enjoy... oh and check out the extra couple of tracks from their Soundcloud. Awesome.

Tx

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1. Who are you and what do you do?
I’m James and I am a violinist with a collaborative group of string players called Iskra. We mainly perform as a string quartet but occasionally the name is used as an umbrella for different musical incarnations.


2. What are you working on at the moment?
At this very moment, Iskra are having a short hiatus whilst my family prepare for baby no.2 (due yesterday!). However, we have shows coming up with Ólafur Arnalds and Jóhann Jóhannsson that will need some preparation.


3. Who inspires you?

- Name an artist who has inspired you.
We worked with Sufjan Stevens whilst he was promoting his Illinoise album. It’s always amazing to work with one of your favorite artists. He has such a strong musical vision and has so many ideas but he works with genuine humility and generosity. He was very encouraging of everyone else’s creativity in the band and quietly nurtured a strong sense of community. It was a special time.

- Name a place that has inspired you.
London. We live on a housing estate in South West London and sometimes I have a fantasy about moving to the countryside, especially after nights like last night when our neighbours had a drunken fight which ended with them smashing up their windows and the police arriving on the scene. However, that aside, there is an artistic buzz and multiculturalism in the city that is really inspiring and we have worked hard to foster a sense of community where we live.

- Name some "thing" that has inspired you.
I’m nervous about getting too attached to ‘things’ but I’m pretty obsessive about my 200 year-old violin.


4. What drives you to do what you do?
I love music and love playing my violin. I do what I do because of the sheer joy of music making and connecting with other musicians. It’s also always really special if that music connects with an audience however large or small.


5. What values do you wish your creativity to express?
Iskra’s creativity is mostly about interpreting the work of others whilst also managing to express our own voice in a way that serves the music rather than distracts. I hope that we work with generosity, enthusiasm and a sense of adventure.


6. What role does community play in what you do?
Living in London and working as a musician can be a very isolated experience. It’s been important for me to draw together fellow musicians who inspire and encourage one another. It’s also been really important to Iskra (although not always possible) that there is a sense of relationship with the artists we work with.


7) What is next for what you do?
We have contributed strings to forthcoming debut albums from David’s Lyre, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Marcus Foster. In particular the David’s Lyre (the artist is actually called Paul) album has been a special project as I used to teach him the violin from when he was at primary school. He is now 21 years old, signed to a major record label and doesn’t play the violin anymore.

We are also talking to a composer about performing a new work (it hasn’t actually been written yet) which is for string quartet and a sequencer that will have audio samples taken from the recordings of Donald Crowhurst on his boat during his tragic single handed sailing effort to circumnavigate the globe in 1969.

Lastly, there is talk about the quartet recording an album of library music with another composer friend of ours. It sounds like fun. Watch this space!

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Thanks James! Go here for more.

David's Lyre - In Arms (Iskra String Quartet Version) by Iskra String Quartet

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Odi Et Amo featuring Iskra String Quartet (Brussels, April 2009) by Iskra String Quartet

Looking forward to this... "Another Realm" by IONA

I am a huge fan of Iona and am really excited to hear their new album... "another realm". There is something truly magical about their sound.

I am also hoping to catch them at King Tut's next Sunday too. Give me a shout if you are going.

Tx

New Views of Endeavour's Launch from Booster Cameras

A camera mounted on each of space shuttle Endeavour's solid rocket boosters capture the launch of the orbiter on STS-134 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on May 16, and documents the SRBs' separation and subsequent landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

I found this video fascinating... because I always wondered what happened to the booster rockets on the Space Shuttle. The sounds as the rockets reenter the atmosphere are interesting too.

Enjoy.

Tx

via Lowercase Noises with thanks

Photos from Wednesday's "music from a summer's evening"

On Wednesday evening... Bellshill Salvation Army's Band held a concert of familiar classical music and I was grateful for the opportunity to photograph the event.

The full set is posted on Flickr.

Enjoy.

Tx

a wee photosafari to the Clyde

Friday was a glorious day... and I got the opportunity to head out with a couple of work chums for a wee photosafari to the Clyde.

I have included some of my faves... and posted the remainder as a set on Flickr.

Enjoy.

Tx

Loving... "opaque glitter" by Leonardo Rosado

I consider Leonardo Rosado to be a master in the realm of ambient music... I enjoy the soundscapes he creates on a really deep level. It is with this in mind that I approached his latest release... after being kindly given a preview copy to listen to.

"opaque glitter" has a wonderful together-ness about it... the tracks are superbly sequenced to make a wonderful consistent "whole". However, unlike his previous release "for r"... the tracks are shorter. I believe this helps... because no idea is overplayed... leonardo expertly presents his idea, gives it time to live, breathe and be; then moves on to his next idea. I like that.

The album opens with "leaving and staying" which commences with a wonderful "found-sound" percussive motif before delicious post-classical string-like drones bring substance to the track. Over these drones are further found-sounds... sounds like waves crash and chains rattle are brought in such a way as to create a dense and immersive wall-of-sound. It is the combination of the drones and the sounds that make this track so appealing.

Next up is "scratching the surface" that kicks of with a high pitched but wonderfully intriguing drone before further layers of post-classical string-like drones appear... until there is a sense of cacophony. Onto this cacophonous wall-of-sound is the sound of a stringed instrument (or found equivalent) plucking out some notes... and a percussive sound rattling it's idea before being looped into the track. All the time there is the feeling of anticipation as the music builds in size and volume towards a slightly ominous crescendo... before disappearing into the ether.

"amidst the crowd a love story" opens with the sounds of a market... with people coming and going. To this Leonardo adds drones and looped found-sound percussive elements to create a beautifully light and upbeat atmosphere. The market sounds remind me of openair markets in Italia or the small streets of Venezia... busy but it a beautiful way... the beauty of human interaction. This is one track where the genius of Leonardo comes to the front... as he delicately balances all the sounds with a strummed guitar to create such beautiful and meaningful ambience.

"for a moment there" builds a similar picture to the track before with found-sounds like the closing of a door, the crackle of what sounds like Rice Crispies snapping, and the rattle of keys; and field recordings of people talking... playing over dense drones. The melody then kicks in... with a guitar underpinned by what sounds like tabla drums loosely played in the background.

"dancing and falling" begins with layers of dark synth drones... that subtly build in a form of ominous intensity before a slight glitchy pop provides some sense of rhythm. The drones twist and turn through the piece... coming and going in waves... unrelenting in their delightfully dark and almost malicious nature.

"it ends here" starts with what sounds like a howling gale before wonderfully light post-classical drones appear to provide melody and substance to the track. These drones give an ethereal air to the track... a haunting sense of the other-worldly... that is always underpinned by the noise, confusion and chaos that the sound of the wind conveys. It is in this layering of two opposites that the genius of the track becomes evident... especially when a subtle refrain from a synth is heard like a Siren's song... before, near the end, a heartbeat of banging is heard that clears out the wind and scares away the Siren.

The penultimate track "the wind blowing in my face" starts with a distorted drone that reminds me of the wind... before a further drone joins it to bring substance. Glitchy beats bring a meditative quality to the track... drawing the listener in with their repetitive beauty.

The last track "soft like leaves falling" starts of softer and more subtle than previous tracks... layers of drone build over a hauntingly ethereal melody to create a exquisite soundscape. This is then complimented by a sample of what sounds like someone walking on a stoney beach... with the sea crashing in far in the background. This makes for a interesting sound picture... as a traveller walking on the beach is seen in the mind's eye.

Later on... the steps cease and a repetitive burst of sound or banging is heard. This is where Leonardo Rosado displays his genius... by using found-sounds in such a way as to make new and completely unrecognisable sounds from them. These sounds have an intrigue about them that makes them wonderfully desirable... so that when the track, and the album, fades into the ether... the listener is compelled to start from the beginning once more.

"opaque glitter" is a fantastic album. It is both a collection of tracks, each excellent in their own ways, and a cohesive whole, one that demands to be played in its entirety.

I can't fault this recording. The combination of post-classical drones, found-sounds and field recordings is expertly mixed... so that no one element takes over... into a beautiful series of soundscapes... some subtle and some cacophonous and yet all inviting and inclusive.

Recommended.

Tx

"opaque gliter" on bandcamp

"Cassini Mission" and "God of Small Things" by Chris Abbas

Cassini Mission
The footage for this film was captured by NASA with the Cassini Imaging Science System and features "2 Ghosts I" by Nine Inch Nails. For more info... go to Chris' vimeo page.



God of Small Things
In this film, Chris and his friend Sumit shot several thousand still photographs with a Canon 30D, intervalometer, and microscope borrowed from a teacher-friend. They then sequenced the stills and added some Múm as the soundtrack.

This post started off as a celebration of the "Cassini Mission" video... but then I explored Chris' vimeo uploads and "God of Small Things" and thought... wow, this needs to be included. Hence the updated post. I really loved these vids... and hope you do too.

Tx

"Cassini Mission" via Marsha Haverty with thanks

Seven questions... with Jules Straw aka @Pinklogik

I've said it before and I'll say it again... the talent of the people in my twitter timeline amazes me. Case in point is Jules Straw aka Pinklogik. She is a tremendous electronica producer and remixer who I recently connected with... due to a shared love of the ambient soundscapes of Earlyguard and Ambienteer.

Her music reminds me of how I love electronic music... and I greatly appreciate that. I particularly love her remix of Ambienteer's "Cesious" and her cover of Vector Lovers' "Hush Now":

AMBIENTEER - "Cesious" (Pinklogik Remix) by Pinklogik

Hush Now (Cover Version - Original by Vector Lovers) by Pinklogik

I mean... what's not to love about giving an Ambienteer track beats?

Her latest EP :: Inverse :: is available for free from her website... and is well recommended and refreshing release.

I recently caught up with Jules over email... and asked her my wee mini interview. Enjoy her response.

Tx

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1) Who are you and what do you do?
Hi! I'm Jules, and I produce electronic music, which some people have described as IDM, even ambient or electro. I'm not sure which category or genre it fits into really (and it probably doesn't matter), but my music changes alot, I think. I've been writing electronic music since I was around 16 years old, I am now much older (35) and would like to think I've improved since then!


2) What are you working on at the moment?
Currently, I'm kind of working on two projects. One is a possible new LP comprising of my usual 'Pinklogik' sound, which may be released late next year. The other is an experimental drone/ambient LP. I'm hoping to put together at least one hours worth of two minute drone pieces. Eventually. It may take some time! Infact, I seem to be a lot slower in getting a track finished these days, than say 5 years ago. Perhaps I'm getting more fussy about my work...


3) Who inspires you?
- Name an artist who has inspired you.
So many to choose from, but if I had to choose one specific artist it would be Richard D James (Aphex Twin). I can remember listening to 'Selected Ambient Works 85-92', when I was about 15 and thinking "I'd love to be able to produce music a bit like that."


- Name a place that has inspired you.
Not a specific place as such, but I often get inspired equally by both the sounds of nature and the sounds of modern life: Birdsong in a forest, the flow of water in a stream, people talking, the sounds of my local supermarket, or a construction site even. I often carry my digital sound recorder with me just incase I feel the urge to capture an interesting sound or surrounding ambience. I enjoy altering and blending these organic recorded sounds with my music.


- Name some "thing" that has inspired you.
The music I was introduced to as a child - 1980s synthpop made a big impression on me. Then the early 1990s rave and electronica scene, as a teenager. I remember instantly preferring electronic music over any other sort of music, to be honest. That's not to say I don't like other types of music, but most of my record collection consists of electronic stuff or bands that use synthesisers a lot. I also really love technology, computers, gadgets. I suppose I may have been preconditioned from a very early age to be attracted towards the synthesiser as an instrument.


4) What drives you to do what you do?
I have an innate need to create I guess. I'm a rather restless individual oftentimes and writing helps me to focus, and I can get lost for hours sat infront of my PC with just Cubase and a few cups of tea for company. I'm a very emotional person too and I love expressing myself through music, and the thought of others enjoying what I write and produce also makes me feel very happy. Music is a very visual and colourful medium for me, I have sound/colour synaesthesia so I get a lot of pleasure from music that way too. I also really love symmetric patterns and anything geometric, and I think this kind of overlaps into my music production, as I really love sequencing notes and creating patterns with sound.


5) What values do you wish your creativity to express?
Not really a value per se, but I'd like to think that my music expresses that which I can't put into words, or taps into a part of me that I don't always consciously acknowledge. I just hope that people out there are listening to my work and enjoying what they hear, and that it perhaps moves them (emotionally or physically!) in some way.


6) What role does community play in what you do?
Online community, as in social networking, plays a very big part. I've made many online connections and friendships with fellow electronic music producers, and have met some great people (often in person) because of that. This has inspired me to continue doing what I do, and to keep on putting my music out there.


7) What is next for what you do?
I'm hoping to release a remix LP for my 2009 single release "Playing With Sticks" sometime early next year. On this LP, I plan to include a remastered version of the original, a remixed version (by me) and several remixes by other artists and producers.

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Thank you Jules!

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