Yam, Who, Who?, Jon, Freer

“You can get a groove going at any BPM”.

Now that they’ve been commissioned for a deluge of legitimate revisions, will they still be rubbing artists up the right way without their permission? Will there be future offerings from their notorious ‘Yam Who’ imprint? Why haven’t they been sued yet? I decided it was time to find out the answers to these burning questions and discover a little more, by chatting with Yam (not Who), over a plate of oriental cuisine…

An unassuming and quiet guy, Yam is clearly driven by music. Any thoughts of trepidation regarding interviewing such an enigmatic figure vanished, once I started the conversation with him. The mysteriousness and the relative anonymity born out of illegitimacy of their initial re-rubs seems to suit Yam well.

The Yam Who approach to remixing has shown that there is still an art to the reinterpretation of records. Yam agrees that many people commissioned for remixes seem to be motivated by the money waved at them. However, as the ‘Yam Who Reworks’ on their own imprint were not commissioned, Yam feels they were able to do what they wanted with the tracks. The fact that producers and DJs alike have been blown away by these mixes, means they may come to question how they themselves approach remixes. There is no doubt that this is a good thing, and it could help improve remixes in general. The reason they titled their revisions as reworks as apposed to remixes, was to make people sit up and take notice of what they were doing. This conscious change in terminology was part of the self-generated intrigue they created, which bred the hype that has surrounded the mysterious duo. Yam says the difference between the words is “4 letters”. The artists that they’ve revisited cover broad musical angles, and the reason behind this was to give them more flexibility. It is a testament to their production skills that they’ve manage to re-touch them all with stunning results. It is the complementary flavours of soul-drenched vocals and exquisite understanding instrumentation, which is why their versions of the tracks have succeeded. Spirituality and soulfulness have always been happy bedfellows, so it’s not really a surprise that their revisions work.

Asked whether he expected the frenzy that their remixes invoked, Yam said “not really”. He feels the remix of Raphael Saadiq, his favourite of the material released so far, was “the one that made people start to notice”. However, a shrewd salesman and someone who prefers to live in the present, Yam counters that their “new stuff is much better”, and is a truer reflection of their musical identity. He believes the diversity of the material that they’ve put out has led to a situation where “people don’t know what to expect” from them. Regarding the potential audience for their bootlegs, I asked Yam if he agrees that people are more receptive to rejigs of tracks by artists they are familiar with, as opposed to those of unknowns. Yam says yes, likening their musical approach to that of Hip Hop producers “looping up fragments from different sources” and the fact that bootlegs often succeed because they work with tracks that people already know.

Yam believes the success they achieved last year was “all about the timing”. As well as making records for a long time, the reason he got into the process of making music was down to DJing, since 1988. The Balearic approach to selecting music has certainly influenced Yam’s own mixing style, and his production ethos, bringing different musical vibes together. With the success of open-minded club nights like Manchester’s Electric Chair and Sheffield’s Lights Down Low amongst others, we thankfully seem to be returning a less musically intolerant period of time. This could also be reaction against superclubs championing one trendy bastardised sub-genre and cold-hearted DJs who see spinning records merely as a money making venture. This ruthless and cynical approach is opposite to the philosophy of Yam Who and countless other true musical soldiers who “live music”. Unsurprisingly, Yam’s favourite DJs are those with a similar outlook to him, who “know their music and don’t just play large records”. The ‘Who’s production (or should that be rework) style sets them apart from the majority of other artists. Yam stated that his favourite are mostly people from West London. He feels that as producers, people like the Bugz and IG Culture are “as good as you can get”. From Yam’s DJing, it is apparent that he admires many other producers, too!

Yam finds it difficult to pin point steps in their creative process. He feels that because they spend so long in the studio, sometimes they “don’t know what was there when they started” when they arrive at the penultimate stage of remixing tracks. He also feels it can be “hard to detach yourself from what you are doing”. Most of the Yam Who remixes operate within relatively narrow tempo boundaries. Whilst Yam believes “you can get a groove going at any BPM”, there was a decision to speed up the tracks “to at least dancing tempo”. The fact that they like to keep their audience guessing and broaden their appeal means that their recent Joe Claussell-esque epically fluted version of a Lizz Fields track was not a change in direction. It was merely the duo expressing their respect for the more spiritually aware side of the music.

It was inevitable that the issue of legality would come up in conversation. It seems that the labels that have had their music misappropriated have taken a sensible approach with regards to Yam Who. Their ‘bootlegs’ are creative works of art, which would have been unlikely to have seen the light of day, was it not for the pair’s cottage industry approach to releasing music. They are not recordings of tracks yet to see the light of day that sounds like it was recorded in a studio with the acoustics of a toilet or unreleased material, which record companies would surely object to. Yam says he feels that label bosses “understand about what we are doing”, and can therefore appreciate the benefits of a non-commissioned and therefore free re-rub from the ‘Who.

Reaching places that conventional PR tools could never penetrate, Yam Who are promoting the label’s artists to musical ears who may not have otherwise come across them or heard them in those musical surroundings previously. When picking tracks to revisit from the copious remix offers they are now receiving, Yam admits it’s “usually the vocal” that makes them pick one from the glut of tracks “people are throwing at us”. If the right track pricks their ears, you can be sure they’ll give it the Yam Who treatment, whether invited to, or not! Excitingly, Yam Who do not want to just be known for their astounding remixes.

Their plan for this year is to put out an album of their own compositions and “build the concept”. However, they are conscious not to “aim to far”. Asked about potential vocalists for this LP and future projects, Yam admits he “wants to get his own singer”, as this is the “right way to do things”! This may be a surprising admission from someone who’s worked with a variety of top-class vocals, often without the singer’s knowledge, but Yam feels this approach is vital for them to establish their own identity as a production duo. If they choose to work with established artists, names like Raphael Saadiq and Amp Fiddler crop up as definite possibilities. It is likely that other vocalists who they aspire to working with will go the way of Pharrell, Little Brother, N’Dambi et al. I asked Yam if there were any special tracks from the past that he’d like to revisit. His answer was that “all your favourite tunes are perfect”, and so would find it difficult to meddle with them. When pushed to identify an artist from history who he would like to give the Yam Who medicine to, Grace Jones was named.

I decided the final question to be asked, was ‘how did you decide on the name ‘Yam Who?’’. Yam says it was in part down to the name of Chinese Dentist in the Jerky Boys cartoons, whose name was Nam Who. This was combined with the fact that ‘Yam’ was his nickname, due to his surname. They decided Yam Who would also fit in with the mysterious vibe they were creating, and so the moniker was born.

Yam Who? Myspace

Future, World, Funk, Cliffy, Russ, Jones, Soundsystem

BY JOHN C. TRIPP

Six years ago music industry veterans Russell Jones and DJ Cliffy formed Future World Funk, channeling their enthusian for global rhythms into their own DJ soundsystem: an amalgamation of Asian beats, Brazilian d’n’ b, Gypsy bangers, latin licks, socca, bashment, reggaeton, afrofunk and beyond. It’s been a long and winding journey for the two, a journey of continued musical diversity and discovery on all five continents, and of one big global party.

Racing around the planet to locations as far-flung as New York, Taipei, Moscow and Sydney Future World Funk have encountered all manner of cross-pollination that was completely unimaginable a decade ago. From the Desi beats of the UK, represented by G. Samra’s current and ultra-hot track Sharabbia, to Brazilian folk-electronica as defined by award-winning producer DJ Dolores, to merengue house, Balkan hot-step, Japanese dub and, for good measure, Romanian calypso-waltz Future World Funk leave no genre unheard.

“On The Run”, the seventh installation of their popular Future World Funk CD series on London’s Ether Music, is a reflection of that musical voyage showing just how much the FWF sound has blossomed and its audience has matured. This double album features 22 insatiable world-beat tracks that traverse the globe on a quest for the most danceable grooves. Tracks like Jah Screechie’s classic ‘Walk & Skank, ‘Dia del Sol’ by Marky & XRS and Shantel’s ‘Bucovina’ all find common ground within the Future World Funk sound. It’s like a fruit salad of global funkyness.

Of course, the best part of Future World Funk is to dance to it. Their Future World Funk club nights are what gave birth to their compilations and have been putting “la mezcla” in dance-floors at places like London’s Notting Hill Arts Club where they host the “Future World Funk” event, Cafe Lazeez, New York’s S.O.B.s and events like WOMAD, Montreux Jazz Festival and Carnival in Recife, Brazil. Their wide-open, ecletic mix appeals to like-minded individuals, who show their appreciation and dedication by sweating up dancefloors worldwide.Aside from their roles in Future World Funk both Cliffy and Russ are actively involved in club promotion, writing about music, remixing and producing their own tracks. Russ is behind some of London’s most successful club nights like “London Calling” at the Blue Note where he became artistic director and “No Room For Squares” which has featured guest deejays like Gilles Peterson and James Lavelle. Cliffy is a regular contributor to “Straight No Chaser” and “Songlines” and took his love for Brazilian music to heart by living in Brazil for several years. Upon returning to London in 1997 he started “Batmacumba” at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Both are actively involved in programming and promoting world music, both in clubs and on the radio.

Mundovibes caught up with Future World Funk, fresh back from Las Palmas where they rocked a crowd of 20,000 and as they prepared for the holiday party seaon…

Mundovibes: Firstly, congratulations on your latest compilation, “On the Run”. The title is apt since it seems you have been doing some globe-trotting.

Future World Funk: Well thanks for the congrats, we really enjoyed putting this compilation together and we definitely think it is our best yet, we had too work hard to squeeze so much good music onto two cds. When we sat down and counted all the countries we had palyed since the first volume we realised it was totalling over thirty. We were kind of blown away by this but have now set a target of 50 countries.What started out as a humble club night in Notting Hill over six years ago has led to CD sales in access of 100, 000 copies and a globe-trotting musical deejay worldwide party experience. Highlights have included China, Brazil, Russia, El Salvador, Taiwan and Singapore. Earlier in the year we played the Sydney Opera House, one of those things you dream about doing once in your life and most recently the Womad festival in Gran Canary to 20, 000 crazy Spanish people – I don’t think we have ever seen a crowd so up for it. This album is a collection of the music we have discovered along the way and also a reflection of London which is still our home and we love. The wealth of muticultural diversity in this city is a constant inspiration.

Mundovibes: You recently toured in the States. What was this experience like? Are audiences receptive here to your sound?

FWF: One thing you can always guarantee in the States is that someone will come up to you for a good chat, with a genuine interest in what you are doing. Ameicans like to talk and are friendly with it. They also seem pretty open to the music, we played Ron Trent’s night as apart of the Chicago World Music which was wicked, top venue, great soundsystem and a very mixed crowd. Although he is known for house music the people were up for anything we had to throw at them. We also played Thievery Corporation’s spot, Eighteenth Street Lounge, in Washington, this place has a really similar vibe to the Notting Hill Arts Club so we immediatley felt at home. The down side of it is that touring the States in very hard work, lots of connecting flights across such a large territory and the government doesn’t make it easy with expensive visas.

Mundovibes: For those uninitiated what is “Future World Funk”?

FWF: Two deejays, 4 turntables (CD, record players), a box of global grooves, think Brazilian drum & bass, Asian beats, Gypsy bangers, Japanese dub, retro highlife, Latin and Jamaican dancehall and a hot and sweaty party crowd.

Mundovibes: “On the Run” contains music from all corners of the world, including Colombia, Cuba, England, Brazil and India amongst others. What is it that ties all of this music together?

FWF: Recently we have been starting to add new gypsy beats into our set (check DJ Shantel on the album), this music has been going down a treat but what you realise is that this music is a real hybrid with references to Indian wedding music, Argentinean waltz and tango, ska and of course the brass sounds of countries like Germany and Turkey. I think this really reflects what FWF is all about finding the common ground which exists between so many musical forms and the programming this music in such a way that it all makes sense.

Mundovibes: How do you go about finding and selecting your music? Do you frequent dark alleys and musty warehouses in search of vaults of forgotten vinyl?

FWF: My (Russ) favourite trick is to gate crash weddings of our different ethnic brothers and sisters in London, check out the DJ, his hot biscuits and then threaten to high-jack the bride unless the he hands over all his best tracks. I (Cliffy) have raided my mother-in-laws collection (she’s from Rio de Janeiro), nicked my brothers old records (an odd mix of dub and the Pogues) and am always tapping anyone I know for a free hit. Otherwise we have to resort to scouring the net, camping out in record shops, listening to the radio day & night and begging record companies to supply two of the hottest deejays on the global circuit with their latest pre-releases.

Mundovibes: What was the initial inspirtion for starting ‘Future World Funk” and how has it evolved over the years?

FWF: We both met whilst working for a record label specializing in Brazilian music – Far Out Recordings. At that time the label was remixing some of their more established artist including Marcos Valle, Azymuth and Joyce. Producers like Roni Size and Kenny Dope turned their hand to these projects and there were some interesting results – Prior to that I (Cliffy) had been living in Recife, Brazil and had been right at the epicentre of the Mangue Beat movement pioneered by Chico Science, one of the aims of Mangue Beat was to reinteprete tradition rhythms in a contemporary context, that opened my mind to a world of possibilities. These diverse infuences from what was happening on the streets of Brazil to the clubs of London turned us on to the whole global remix phenomenon and led us off in new directions.

Three of the seven “Future World Funk” compilations released thus far Mundovibes: Did you both grow up in favelas in Rio de Janeiro or was that in another life?

FWF: Sometimes I (Cliffy) think I might have been born in Brazil in another life, my friends in back in Recife say that I deserve honourary citizenship because I act much more Brazilian than British, in fact my girlfriend is from Rio de Janeiro and sometimes she is far more British than me. In reality we both grew up in the urban ghettos of South London not very exciting at that time but evntually the peace and quiet of surburbia was rocked by the culture-shock of the Pogues, the Specials, Acid house and then Acid Jazz.

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Mundovibes: What influenced you to do what you are doing?

FWF: Once I finished my Masters in Philosophy I knew there was no going back to the regular routine of life, I had to find my own path through life and music would be the guide.

Mundovibes: Apart from “Future World Funk” you are both heavily involved in music as writers, promoters and producing. How do you do all this and have time to shower, sleep and eat (amongst other activities)?

It’s a tough life but somebody has to do it. We can actually go days without sleep, get chased by dogs, abuse our ears with loud music, our stomachs with too much alcohol but still we ride bicycles around London rushing between meetings with record labels, magazines, hitting the studio and of course deejaying in the smokey clubs each and every week. Luckily we are in a position to dedicate ourselves full time to the pursuit of global funkiness, that makes things much easier not having to divide ur time with other preocupations just to pay the bills.

Mundovibes: With the global-digital-culture we live in now there are seemingly endless possibilities for cross-pollinization of music. Is there a limit to how far this can go?

FWF: In some sense it does seem like the only limitations are the ones which we each harbor inside oursleves but it is easy to miss that fact that there are real limits out there, the more we live in a digitized world the more we crerate barriers for those who do not have access to the technology. It is so easy and trite to say that we live in a ‘global village’ but when you stop to think about it a working-class British person and a working-class African person our probably much further apart economically today than they were fifty or one hundred years ago. Although we might both be drinking Coca-cola it is fairly obvious one of us will be able to afford an Ipod. If the technology becomes to one-sided it will be counter-productive for cross-pollinization

Mundovibes: Do you find that more people are receptive to your musical selections today? Are people more open-eared or is it just a small “globally-attuned” audience?

FWF: In the UK things have moved on a great deal in the last ten years, we have moved from the small island mentality to a country with a broader world vision, even more so in London where nowadays 1 in 4 people were not born in the country. Nowadays the Capital is a truly cosmopolitan city where you are as likely to hear someone drive by playing reggaeton or bhangra than rap or pop music. Club culture has also changed a lot in the last decade, the super-clubs have faded and the more niche venues have thrived creating more opportunities for diverse club music. Of course there is still a lot of hard work to do spreading the word but you feel like real progress can now be made.

Future World Funk night at London’s Notting Hill Arts Club

Mundovibes: Some genres of music, like Brazilian, have a way of almost miraculously absorbing other music into theirs. What is it about these cultures that make this possible?

FWF: I was saving the answer to this question for when I study my Phd. Ultimately the answer is pretty simple: people, opportunities and sometimes necessity to adapt to a shifting environment make cultures absorb other influences . Centuries ago as Gpysies moved up through Indian and Persia into Europe it probably made ideal sense to soak up local influences on the way, both artistically and economically. When the Portuguese brought African slaves to Brazil they tried to stamp out the music & culture but the resilience of these people allowed them to forge a new afro-Brazilian identity. The Brazilian samba is a fantastic example of how cultures absorb. At the turn of the 20th Century poor black musicians earnt a living playing in French-style salons in Rio, waltzs and polkas were the height of fashion for rich Rio residents. At night the black musicians would go back to their bohemian suburbs to play the music of their forefathers and participate in candomble rituals (the African religion they had imported into Brazil). Slowly with exposure to such diverse sounds led the black musicians, who only a couple of decades earlier were slaves, to create a new fusion which came to be known as samba.

Mundovibes: You are both involved in remixing annd producing tracks. Tell us about your currrent projects?

FWF: We have just finished working on a remix for Amadou and Mariam, can you imagine our excitement to work with really fantastic material like this it was a superb opportunity? We could see that the track we were working on was mixed like a pop song so we felt very comfortable about producing a club mix for deejays, we could add something without detracting from the original which is always a worry when you are remixing a great track. Once we found a good groove and a tough bassline it was quite simple. The label are very happy with the mix and we had some excellent feedback from other people close to us. We are currently looking at a couple of other remix projects, possibly working with Ska Cubano and a Brazilian singer. We are also working on a couple of our own tracks a twisted acid samba and a drum & bass tune. I (Cliffy) also have a project going with London-based Spiritual South where we work under the nom de plume of Sugar Loaf Gangsters, we have just finished are latest track which is a funky percussion mash-up. More news of these projects in the New Year.

DJ Cliffy Myspace

Russ Jones Myspace

James, Koehnline, surrealism, collage, Axiom, Laswell, Calendar, Jubilee, Saints

James Koehnline (pronounced KEN-line) is a collage artist whose work has graced many anarchist periodicals & books as well as music CDs; has co-edited a number of books and had his work collected in Magpie Reveries. Designs and edits the yearly Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints which is also is the thematic core for the Daily Bleed Calendar (now online for some 7+ years); currently resides in Seattle, Washington, worked for some years at Recollection Used Books.

Koehnline has been creating works of art, in various media all his life, largely influenced by his father’s passion for surrealism. He pursued a formal education at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design before attending Columbia College in Chicago. Decades later, he studied digital media at the Art Institute of Seattle. Meeting at Columbia College, Koehnline gained further direction under the mentoring of collagist, sculpter and host of the weekly radio broadcast “Art and Artists” (WFMT), Harry Bouras. Koehnline has also been involved in a number of grass roots political groups and in 1985, joined several other artists in establishing the collective gallery/studio, Axe Street Arena. Housed in an abandoned Golblatt’s department store in Logan Square (Chicago), Axe Street members strove, according to Koehnline, to “explore the place where art and politics meet”. Koehnline utilized the seemingly unlimited space at Axe Street for delving into a long run of monotype print making (the press being a gift from Bouras) and crafting his “Chaos Papers.” The later being marbled paper he created with brilliant printing inks in a fashion similar to the Japanese Suminagashi, the volitile inks allowed to drift reactively across vats of water, stirred into swirls and patterns by chemical tensions and earthly vibrations and the subway below. While living and working at Axe Street Arena, Koehnline met Ron Sakolsky, music critic, anarchist and professor at Sangamon University (Illinois) at the Conference of the Alliance for Cultural Democracy. Years later, in Seattle, the pair edited the book, ”Gone to Croatan: the Origins of North America Drop Out Culture, ” published by Autonomedia (New York) in 1993, the same year the two set anarchists politics aside, in order that Koehnline could marry, with Sakolsky presiding over, or rather, pronouncing the vows complete. When questioned about why an anarchist would embrace legal matrimony, Koehnline, paraphrasing Wendell Barry, claimed,”I decided to be happy, though I had considered all the facts.” Back at Axe Street Arena, Koehnline currated two mail art shows. The first show, “The Haymarket Centennial International Mail Art Exhibition,” explored the Haymarket Massacre, labor issues and the history of May Day, with entries from nearly 50 countries. The result was a catalog called, “Panic,” which evolved into several issues. Through this event Koehnline became acquainted with Hakim Bey for whom he has created several book covers and came to befriend members of the New York based publishing collective, Autonomedia. Having become involved with mail art projects initiated outside of the collective and falling into zine culture.

Still living and working at Axe Street, emeshed in zine culture, Koehnline took a position as a librarian. The bounty of visual material at his fingertips and the zine world ready for output, Koehnline became a prolific cut and paste collagist.

MUNDOVIBES: You site surrealism as a principle influence. Can you elaborate on how it impacted your work?

JAMES KOEHNLINE: The primary influence on my early life was my father, William Koehnline. An educator (from English Lit professor to college president, now retired), his twin passions are modern literature and art, especially surrealism. I grew up surrounded by the work of Max Ernst, Magritte, Matta, Escher, Breton, Artaud, Borges, Ionesco, etc. The house was filled with art and books. Whenever he told me I was too young to read something, I took it as a challenge. Early on, my love of surrealism just seemed natural extension of love of fantasy and nonsense literature. By the time I reached adolescence in the mid-to-late sixties, I was trying my hand at creating my own far-out drawings, writings and sound collage. The sound collages were inspired by hearing a few John Cage compositions, and by The Beatles’ “Revolution #9”. I also recorded my “poetry”, much of which was created by the Tristan Tzara method of cutting up miscellaneous articles, throwing them in a box and pulling them out at random. While I had always enjoyed Max Ernst’s collages, I didn’t really get turned-on by collage until I discovered the posters and art books of San Francisco artist, Satty, around 1970. I’d have to say he was the main inspiration for my own collage-making, which began about ten years later. In the interim I did a lot of painting, drawing and printmaking, as well as experimental animated films and elaborate low-fidelity sound collages. At the most extreme I was running three trashed cassette recorders and two reel-to-reel machines with one long loop of tape running through both of them, one recording and one playing back. In 1976 I made the acquaintance of members of the Chicago Surrealist Group, just in time to hang out with them for the duration of their fabulous World Surrealist Exhibition. By that time I was also a huge fan of those masters of comedy, sound collage and pop surrealism, the Firesign Theater. So these are themes that have been running through my life from the beginning.

MV: Your work reflects the fragmentation of culture and ageneral breaking down of “reality”. Is this a proper interpretation?

JK: I think that’s on target. While many elements of traditional religion and culture continue to exert great influence on large segments of humanity, I think it is fair to say that the developed world has strayed a long way from the context in which these traditions were rooted. We force an uneasy fit by constantly rewriting the definitions of the relevant terms we use to explain ourselves to ourselves. The narratives of our lives tend to be awkward assemblages of poorly understood cliches that fall apart under close scrutiny. And so we have America’s love of polls to help us know who we are. We are told that we believe, without a shred of evidence, that Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks, that UFOs are extraterrestrial visitors and that the Rapture is just around the corner. As Orwell said in 1984, our historical consciousness barely extends beyond last week’s lottery numbers. Collage is a way of taking these shards and fragments, the throwaways of our culture of consumption, and attempting to build new realities and to resanctify our devalued world. I try to build marvelous and mysterious shrines out of trash and worn-out treasures, a kind of do-it-yourself religion.

MV: Did you have any magical or psychedelic visions or experiences as a youth or later that influenced your work?

JK: From childhood I was fascinated with dreams and fantasy (which is not necessarily escapist, as it can be a means for confronting the things that are too painful to face in reality ), and loved playing with thought experiments (like imagining I had just been planted in this body, with all of its memories, so who am I really?). As a teenager and young adult I did more than my share of psychedelics. Now that I’m older I find that I can access other worlds and perspectives through the exercise of active imagination, and that life throws me into plenty of altered states — high, low and otherwise — without need for regular recourse to chemical means.

MV: Collage seems to be your most resonant medium. What is it about collage that you find appealing?

JK: After years of drawing, painting, printmaking, etc., I turned to collage in the mid-eighties, partly because I found it very satisfying for reasons I’ve mentioned, and partly because I got involved in zine culture. I found that with only a scalpel and access to a copy machine, I could get my work published in countless periodicals all over the world.

Suddenly I had an audience for my work. I figured I’d move on to other things when I was ready. I did black and white collages for five or six years, then tried to go pro and did color work for book covers, CD covers and magazines for about five years. Then I got a computer and a scanner and explored digital collage for a few years. In the last three years I’ve been moving my work into Time (animation & motion graphics) and space (3D, XYZ space).

MV: Collage is very similar to the musical production technique of sampling, in that it repeats found pieces to create something anew. Is this something you have ever thought of?

JK: Absolutely! As I already described, I was doing sound collage long before I started attacking images with a scalpel. As a kid I spent countless hours with an old reel-to-reel recorder and tape loops of all lengths, some stretching all the way across my room.

Any kind of found sound was fair game – TV, radio, a microphone hanging out my window. My collection of loops was a kind of vocabulary. The number of things I could say with that vocabulary was infinite. It’s code, language and a kind of alchemy. In the late 70s and early 80s I did some radio work (WZRD, Chicago) and was in a band (The Burden of Friendship). While we sometimes attempted to make music, in the conventional sense, sound collage was really our thing. We also held a series of recording sessions in an old steel pipe factory that was in the process of being shut down. We’d invite all of our friends to meet us there in the middle of the night and we’d turn the whole place into a “musical” instrument, creating tons of source material for later collages.

In the beginning I didn’t give much thought as to why I found collage so satisfying, but after I’d been at it a couple of years, I read The Third Mind, by William Burroughs and Brian Gysin. In that book they document their cut-up experiments in literature and the visual arts. The third mind is a kind of mysterious intelligence that emerges when you cut-up others people’s works (the first mind) and rearrange them by some combination of accident and intuition (the second mind). It seemed a perfect explanation to me. Ever since then I have felt that part of what I’m doing is seeking access to that sort of alien intelligence. Sounds a little crazy, but it is fun to look at it that way.

MV: Your use of symbolism in your work is very dense. What is the significance of these symbols?

JK: That’s a big question, so I’ll just answer it in a general way. Every image is capable of arousing diverse and often conflicting associations in the mind of the beholder. Even when the artist attempts to create realistic, representational art, the result is rife with signs and symbols and associations. There is no escape from it. Image is symbol. The density of my imagery, which some would say I take too far, is a representation of my quest to make meaning and beauty, order and harmony, out of the infinite chaos within. The process is a combination of the conscious, intentional and rational, and the unconscious, intuitive and accidental. The overall significance of the result is up to the viewer.

MV: Does your work question our idea of “reality” or reveal another one which lies beneath the surface?

JK: Yes. We all inhabit multiple realities, however hard we try to believe that there is a single narrative to tell the story of ourselves. “Consensus Reality” is merely the lowest common denominator, and as such is dumber and more banal than any one of us.

MV: You studied and apprenticed with the artist Harry Bouras. Tell us about your relationship with him.

JK: Harry was a star of the Chicago art scene in the 50s, He was at the center of a group of rising stars (known as the “Harry Who”), one of founders of Chicago’s Columbia College, a major art and culture critic, and a teacher. Every few years he’d gather a new crop of promising young artists around him and try to help them on their way. I met Harry at Columbia in the late 70s and continued to benefit from his expansive mind, off and on, until he died in 1990. He had an amazing talent for coaxing a world of meaning out of even the simplest thing he turned his attention to. He did his best to set us all on our way to success in the art world.

MV: Would you say your vision is apocalyptic or prophetic?

JK: I wouldn’t say my vision is apocalyptic, in spite of the horror of the Bush years. As for prophetic, that’s not for me to say. In spite of all the hellish developments of our time, I remain hopeful. In spite of the chaos and confusion that abounds in my work, I see it as spiritual, at times even worshipful (in the make-your-own religion sense).

MV: Is your work a reflection of an inner state and if so what is it?

JK: Infinite Chaos, sublime bliss, fear and loathing and all the rest. A reflection of our “interesting” times and my own middle age, marriage, thoughts of having a child before it is too late, etc. I used to think poverty and marginality were romantic, but there are too many things I want to do in this life to let that thought become a cage.

MV: Do you have any particular philosophy that you express with your work?

JK: Ontological Anarchism and do-it-yourself religion.

MV: Can you tell us about your fanzine work and why this culture is so important?

JK: I confess I’ve pretty much lost touch with the zine Scene in recent years, but it was extremely important to me, especially in the 80s, as an entry into non-local communities based on common interests. I especially enjoyed being a part of zines like Beyond the Fringe, Dharma Combat and The Moorish Science Monitor, where the readers were all contributors. These days I get the same sort of community from emailing lists and homegrown Web sites, but zines still serve the same purpose. Everyone can be a publisher. Anyone can get published. Both are vitally important in this age of hyper-consolidation and monopolistic control of the mainstream media.

MV: Apart from fanzine culture, you’ve also been involved in the marijuana liberation front.

What are your feelings about it now?

While I’ve always felt that prohibition is a cruel absurdity that supports organized crime and government corruption, and ruins hundreds of lives for every one it saves, I didn’t really get involved in the activist end of things until I got to know Vivian McPeak a few years ago. Vivian is the powerhouse behind Seattle Hempfest, the largest and one of the oldest events of its kind in the country. He is also one of the most tireless and effective activists around here in any number of very worthy causes, and an all-around inspiring person. When I saw the kind of energy he puts into his projects, I couldn’t help but lend a hand. Somebody should give the guy a lifetime achievement award (though he’s younger than I am). When I started doing promo material for Hempfest, I did a tremendous amount of research on the subject of prohibition, and everything I learned just further convinced me that the whole thing is an evil sham.

MV: You’ve worked extensively with the publishing collective Autonomedia, creating cover art for Hakim Bey’s “Temporary Autonomous Zone” and developing their Caldendar of Jubilee Saints. Why this particular group and how does your work fit in with their vision?

JK: In 1985 some friends and I opened a collectively-run gallery and performance space (The Axe Street Arena, with studios and living space for nine people) in an old department store building in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. The first exhibition I curated there (along with my friend, Ron Sakolsky) was an international mail art show to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Haymarket Affair. Of all the entries we received from around the world, my personal favorite was from Hakim Bey. I wrote him to tell him so, and thus began our collaboration. We found that his writings and my collages were a good match and worked on a lot of projects together, such as the Astral Convention in Antarctica and the 5A Project (Autarchic Asteroids of Aten, Apollo and Amor – Homeland for Marginals in Outer Space). He introduced me to the Moorish Orthodox Church (one of the great DIY religions), and I’ve been a member ever since. In those days I was working as a librarian and I did a lot of serious historical research for Hakim (some of which ended up as Ron’s and my book, Gone to Croatan: Origins of North American Drop-Out Culture, which may have a sequel soon).

We’d been collaborating for several years when Hakim collected his shorter writings in the book, T.A.Z., so I was the obvious choice for the cover art. That was my first work for Autonomedia. Jim Fleming and Hakim next proposed that I put together a book of some of my best black and white collages – Magpie Reveries. Soon after my wife, Andi, and I moved to Seattle in 1991, I came up with the idea for the Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints (Radical Heroes for the New Millennium! Every day a Holiday! No popes, no heads of state), a wall calendar with a book’s worth of text, that serves as a kind of spiritual family tree for iconoclasts and radicals. The collective loved the idea and the first one came out in 1992. Originally envisioned as a ten year project, it now doubles as the Autonomedia catalog and continues to be published each year. Autonomedia is simply the most interesting small publisher in the country, and it has been my great pleasure to play a part in their brave and decidedly non-commercial pursuit of Truth, Justice and Un-American activities.

MV: You’ve awork extensively with Bill Laswell’s Axiom records. How did your association with Axiom Records begin?

JK: Shortly after I moved to Seattle, Bill tracked me down. I wasn’t familiar with his work at the time, but he was very excited by Hakim Bey’s writings, and loved the work I was doing for Autonomedia. Once I started listening to what he was doing, I never stopped, although I did stop trying to keep up with all of it a long time ago. The man is just too prolific He commissioned me to do a cover for Bahia Black: Ritual Beating System, and so began another long and rewarding relationship. I have done 18 CD covers for him at last count.

MV: Did you collaborate with Bill Laswell on the concept?

JK: Generally, I would get working tapes of projects in their early stages, and create covers based on the music and suggestions from musicians and crew. I was quite gratified when told that in a few cases my art had shaped the final form of the music. Along the way, a few track titles were mine as well.

MV: What is the role of art in representing music? Should it be considered an interpretation of the music or a separate element?

JK: I tend to think of the two elements as part of a unified whole, but quite a few of my covers were created before the project existed, and chosen by Bill as a good match. Of course, with CD covers, the main thing is to get people to listen to the music, so you want to evoke the feel of the best elements of the music in the artwork.

MV: How has your work evolved and what has influenced it more recently?

JK: I feel a little reluctant to admit it, but the biggest influence on my work in the last three years has been my evolving digital toolbox and my abilities in using the tools. In 2000 I went back to school to study the new multimedia tools now available. I stayed for two years and I’ve been out for half a year, still trying to master all of these tools. I studied film, animation and optical printing twenty-some years ago, and nearly everything I learned then is obsolete. When I was a little kid I had a recurring dream about a magical black box with infinite possibilities for creative fun, combining all of the tools of all of the arts in one compact little toolbox. Now it is sitting on my desk, chock-full of so many tools that I’ll never know what some of them are. It can be a little intimidating, but I’m having fun.

MV: Your work has become much more seamless and computer-generated. Would you describe this transition?

JK: I avoided computers like the plague for years, but I always had friends who kept me up to date on the state of the digital arts. In 1995, I decided that the technology had reached the point where the new possibilities outweighed my objections, and I took the plunge. Thus began a torturous two years of transition, during which time I often felt that the machine was sucking the life out of me. I had spent ten years using basically one tool, a scalpel, to create my art. Suddenly I had way more tools than I knew what to do with, and the ridiculous notion that I wouldn’t be able to really make my own art with them until I had learned them all. Luckily I got over that, and although I sometimes feel like smashing the machine and going back to canvas and brushes, for the most part I find that the machine serves me, now, instead of the other way around.

MV: What are your current projects?

JK: Creatively my main focus is animation and motion graphics. I’ve made hundreds of short experimental movies, still growing into these new dimensions of time and space. Strangely the main thing lacking in these explorations is audio. I learned a lot about new audio tools in school, and I have done some sound collage and voice work, but I find I’m much more interested in the visuals, so I’m anxious to find new collaborators, maybe do some music videos and animated shorts.

Autonomedia

James Koehnline website

James Koehnline Facebook

Clara, Hill, Sonar Kollektiv, Jazzanova

By John C. Tripp

Clara Hill has been a seminal figure in the urban-electronic-soul scene since her teens. A the tender age of 17 the musically inclined artist founded the acid jazz combo Superjuice with her friend Funès. The duo gained a following in Berlin’s many dance clubs, laying the foundation for Hill’s forward-leaning sound. During these years, Clara made her first steps in live music and at one of her shows, had a fortuitous meeting with DJ Alex Barck of Jazzanova. This would be one of the most important of Hill’s career. The two became friends and in 1998 he introduced her to the producers of Extended Spirit (2/6 of Jazzanova): Stefan Leisering and Axel Reinemer, who were taken aback by Hill’s soothing vocals. Leisering produced one of her first professional songs, “No Use,” which would end up on Jazzanova’s landmark “In Between” album. Good fortune seemed to match Hill’s talents and her musical output took off with a number of new projects including her group Stereoton, a band that was rooted in hip hop but played with jazz elements. Hill also collaborated on several tracks with Berlin based singer Georg Levin including his hit “(I Got) Somebody New”, that was remixed by Masters Of Work.

All the while, Hill’s voice was strenghtening and maturing as were her song writing abilities, leading to the realization of her goal to record a full length solo album. In 2004 Hill released “Restless Times, a collection of reflective songs featured over the dreamy, deep house productions of Leisering and Reinemer (known together as Extended Spirit) as well as her old friend Funès. With “Restless Times” Hill’s great soul voice caught the attention of some of the genre’s most reputable artists, including Vikter Duplaix, Atjazz, and King Britt. Hill took advantage of this internation recognition by collaborating with these artists resulting in some velvety deep soul tracks like ‘Nowhere I Can Go, with Atjazz, ‘Paper Chase’ with Vikter Duplaix and ‘Did I Do Wrong’ with King Britt.

On her second album “All I Can Provide”, released in 2006 Hill took her collaborations a step further, working with the créme of clubland´s soul and jazz knob twisters. The result is a personal and very mature album, full of great songs, sensuous moods and complex emotions. All I Can Provide furthered Hill’s vocal journeys while mirroring various musical styles like deep house and boogie, jazz ballads as well as folk oriented songs.

Fast forward to 2007 and Hill has a number of additional collaborations on her growing resume, is busy touring the world and is releasing her third full length album “Sideways” as CLARA HILL’S FOLKWAVES. For this project she crafted 10 delicious acoustic-based and folk-oriented songs highlighting perfectly her passionate and rapturous voice.
The result is a recollection of neo-folk tunes in a very calm and slightly jazzy orchestration. She also left some space for very pure guitar and strings melodies in a sensuous atmosphere and invited her friends of JAZZANOVA and EXTENDED SPIRIT, as well as singer/song writer THIEF and NATHAN AMUNDSON from RIVULETS as male singers on the album. “Sideways” is a magnificent album full of enough emotional peaks and valleys to satisfy even the most temperamental music lover. This new phase in her artistic life will please her most faithful fans and will pave the way for the Sonar Kollektiv crew in its new adventures in folk music. which will be a departure from her past collaborations and will be Hill at her most intimate and personal (thanks to Soul Seduction for this last paragraph –ed.)

Mundovibes was fortunate to catch up with her in this exclusive e-mail interview just prio to the relase of “Sideways”.

MUNDOVIBES: You have been singing and creating music since you were in your teens and at the age of 17 you founded the band Superjuice. What inspired you to create music at such a young age?

CLARA HILL: Me and a good friend of mine we were writing a lot of songs. At this time we realized this kind of music/sound was not around in Berlin. We were listening to many Berlin- live-bands but we both were not satisfied with that matter of fact that the sound we loved to listen to were hard to find in berlin. (except the sound of early jazzanova music)

Short: at this time we thought our songs where nice and brilliant and we had to play on stages…in front of a real audience.

MV: Fate seems to have been on your side, since you became friends with Jazzanova’s Alex Barck while touring. How has that first meeting with Barck and your relationship with Jazzanova directed and impacted your career?

CH: I just can say that i´m still thankful. Jazzanova was and still is a big inspiration for me. making music together with Jazzanova was a dream of mine since I´m 17 years old. And it came true when I was 21 producing NO USE with Stefan Leisering from jazzanova. I´ve learned a lot about music and making music while working with Stefan and Alex. And a positive side-effect for me was that they had many useful connections around the world.

MV: You have also had a long standing relationship with Berlin’s Sonar Kollektiv, which is one of the leading dance and soul labels. How is it to be part of this “family”

CH: It´s still a special feeling working inside of this “family”. Sonar Kollektiv is still a label which never stands still. It constantly changing and breathing. And that´s very important for me – very important and helpful for my music that grows everytime.

MV: Jazzanova have played a big role in shaping a new urban sound, much like producers of previous eras. What impact do you feel that they have had on the music you create?

CH: As I already said before, they influenced and inspired me. I also wanted to make music which is modern, fresh and at the same time timeless. Sometimes they were like teachers for me…cause in my opinion they already did so many experiences.

MV: Your first full length record “Restless Times” was produced by Extended Spirit and Funes. How did this recording come together? What concepts and experiences influenced its songs?

CH: To record a solo album, was my first goal. This special morning in 2001 I felt that “now” is the right time to make an album. To make my dream come true i chose those producers with whom i had already worked earlier. Jazzanova /Extended Spirit and friends of mine. The concept was to make fresh, contemporary but timeless songs…with many choirs within. Sounds simple but we wanted to create deep music, deep electronic — sometimes “rough” sounds — in combination with a “soft” and sweet-soulvoice.

Jazzanova’s Alexander Barck. Photo by Fabien Vouillon.

Five tracks from “Restless Times” I produced and arranged with three friends (i.e. Funès, with whom I already worked and with Stereoton´s drummer and DJ). The remaining seven tunes of the album were written, recorded and produced with Stefan Leisering and Axel Reinemer from Jazzanova, 2002-2004.

MV: “Restless Times” introduced your talents to an international audience. Were you surprised by the reaction to it?

CH: Yes, I was surprised! I never expected such a kind of good feedback. That was the reason why i was inspired to make a second album. the feedback was a kind of new impulse.

MV: The follow-up to “Restless Times”, “All I Can Provide” features collaborations with a number of leading producers. Why did you choose to do it this way, as opposed to working with just one team?

CH: First i had the idea to make a kind of compilation-album inviting different producers to work with me. (Like Ursula Rucker does before) Cause I wanted to make new musical experiences. I was curious how it would be to work with other producers from the scene.

It was a great challenge getting all these very good musicians together and bring them all on one album. Had no idea how it would be to work with so many different people. But it worked! Because all the producers I have invited and worked with speak the same “musical language”!

MV: With two full length records behind you, you are firmly established as an artist. How do you feel about your career at this point?

CH: I feel accepted but I´m not satisfied…I can´t stop making music. cant stop expressing myself that way. I believe I have to make more experiences to gain more range of my musical languages. That is why I had to make a new album…my third album…coming out in September. After working two years on “all I can provide” I had to make something fresh. it was the right time for a change.

MV: Love and relationships are major themes in your music. What is it about these subjects that inspires you?

CH: Past and present main influence is the feeling of the “unfulfilled yearning” of love. Love or relationships or friendships are themes within the most intense feelings. Intensive feelings: in positive or negative ways. Love includes hate and happiness, mourning and pain. Love includes everything. Open topic. And I like to write about that.

MV: How do your songs form and take shape?

CH: Mostly I got the instrumental-sketches at first. If the sketch is good it inspires me to write a melody or voice-harmonies…and with the melody the words are coming. Then I write a story around the words. Later I do the vocal arrangements by myself…most of the time. i have to be in a special calm atmosphere/mood. “the write moment” has to be particular which challenge me to catch the special feeling inside.

MV: Your voice adds a lot of warmth and feeling to the music, which is mainly electronic. It is kind of like the soul in the machine. How do you feel about the juxtaposition of a human voice and electronic music?

CH: I like the combination of warmness and coldness. I prefer to work with contrasts. I like the warm sound of soul (not only a soul-voice. It also can be a typical soul instrument, for instance a Rhodes-piano) in combination with the cold and strange sound of electronic sounds. Sometimes it can be very interesting if you combine a clean warm voice with dirty cold sounds. That is what makes a song so colorful and fresh.

MV: How have you grown as an artist over the years? how has your vocal style evolved?

CH: I think now I can be more relaxed because i´ve learned so many things. And I can imagine that you can hear that in my voice. Now I can trust myself more and more ´cause I know what is good for me and my music.

MV: Would you ever want to work in a more traditional “band” setting with live instrumentation?

CH: That´s what I already do! Since I have my new “all I can provide band” I´m working with live instruments. And for my forthcoming album I also chose live instrumentations to translate my musical concept behind that album. We have a drummer, a lot of guitars, bass, keys and sampler/ laptop beside some electronic sounds.

MV: How does your “live” performance differ from producing music in the studio?

CH: As I said before, I tried to mirror the width of the full productions. that’s the reason I founded this band with a drummer, bass,synthesizer +rhodes, laptop and for the new band plus a guitar. if you do a performance with a band you have more energy. that´s what I found out again…(it´s like in the past when I had my own band.) Beside of that I´m also performing my live-pa set with a DJ.

MV: Collaboration plays a big part in your music. What makes collaborating interesting for you?

CH: When I was 17years old I always worked with one person. That was OK but I had to make steps into the future. In my opinion it is good to work with many musicians to make many experiences and get new inspirations.(sure, it depends on with whom you work!) It can be a special phase in your life. And making experiences means you can develop yourself and get more structure and character. But for the last album I just worked with a small team to keep the intimate and creative athmosphere of the music.

MV: What is it like to live in Berlin right now? How does the city influence and inspire you?

CH: I just can say that berlin is a very creative town. In the part of Berlin where I live you can find many artist, musicians and students. That´s a very inspiring atmosphere. It makes me feel free. But when i´m writing my songs I have to be alone and it has to be very quite.

MV: There is a great intimacy in your vocal style which ranges from soothing to vulnerable. Do you sense this as you are writing and performing?

CH: No, not really. Cause sometimes I don’t want to sing in a smooth and intimate way. But it seems to be a kind of “trademark”…but i never influence it.

MV: Trends in music all constantly changes and there is always a “new” sound. How do you keep up with this ever evolving state of music?

CH: As I said, I try to keep up with that…but try to keep my own style…no matter if it fits to what is hip or not. But I think it is important tobe well informed. It is good to know what most of the people are listen to…it´s a kind of orientation.

MV: There is a cosmic side to your music, with the spacey sounds such as those heard in “For Your Love”. Is there a connection with jazz from the 60s and 70s here?

CH: Sure there is. My music comes from listening to soul-jazz music from the 70s, jazz folk pop from the 60s and boogie and house tunes from the 80s/90s. These directions you can find in my music.

MV: What do you think of some of the new folk sounds that are coming out now? Is this inspiring to you?

CH: Yes it was…but before the sound came out. When i was 16years old i was listening to grunge music and a lot of guitar music. Today i go back to these roots. I rediscovered the guitar music for me. That´s the reason I wrote the last album: clara hill´s folkways: sideways which is a musical sideproject.

MV: How do you want your listeners to react to your music? How do you see them connecting with it?

CH: For me it´s always important to see: how music is moving people. I would like people to be open for my music. I would like to see people are listening to my music when they are outside, travelling, sitting in the car (because of the special mood) or dancing and also when they are at home, when they are quite, deep and relaxed.

…and then the hidden tracks will wake them up.

MV: What are the challenges of creating your music, both with your vocals and working with music that is very complex?

CH: My biggest challenge is to break new musical grounds. The thing is, not to stop that process and keep the passion. And i always want to touch souls with my sound of music. which is the combination of my voice, words and production.

MV: What are the challenges in fitting your voice and lyrics to a producer’s music? How do you improvise in this context?

CH: I´m mostly co-produce my songs. which means i always say what sounds i would like to have and which directions i want to go. So there is no need to improvise in this context.

MV: The majority of your songs would are slow to mid-tempo. Is this where you feel your music works best?

CH: I don’t know. On “restless times” the focus was on mid-tempo songs. On “All I can provide” I wanted to sing on more clubby and boogie tunes. I just can say that I prefer to work on different musical styles. Otherwise it would get boring for me, probably. I don’t want to define my style…when i´m writing music I just want to reflect the current phase of my life.

MV: Who are some of your inspirations today?

CH: Musical inspirations: these days i´m listening to Nick Drake, Linda Perhacs, Beck, Beatles and Rolling Stones again

MV: Are you frustrated by the lack of exposure to bigger audiences for your music?

CH: I´m not frustrated. I already played for 30 and 1000 people. And “Rome wasn´t built in a day”…

MV: What are your feelings on the U.S. audience, which is huge but exactly in tune with what is going on in Europe?

CH: This march was the first time when i played for U.S audience. I really enjoyed it. In Miami the people were singing “NO USE” together with me…nice! I´m looking forward to play more concerts in the states. I hope there will be a small U.S tour with the forthcoming album.

MV: There will be a new full length soon. What can we expect? Are you collaborating with any one you can tell us about?

CH: As I said before…for the new album i didn´t make big collaborations. Cause this time I wanted to keep this personal and intimate feeling. For this album i wrote 8 songs. You will listen to 10 folk-songs including electronic sounds and natural guitar songs…songs which are direct and pure. I knew exactly how to create the sound for this album. I worked with marc mac and extended spirit and sung with rivulets and sascha Gottschalk from Thief. A small team and friends I know for a long time.

Clara Hill website

Clara Hill Myspace

Sonar Kollektiv

The Dining Rooms

By J.C. Tripp

Milan, Italy’s The Dining Rooms defy categorization, challenging you to listen beyond labels like “lounge” and “downtempo”. Unlike much of today’s new music, it’s not just a groove thing — there’s meaning to their music. In the 9 year s the duo of Stefano Ghittoni and Cesare Malfatti have existed, they have produced five full-length recordings that bare the markings of rigorous experimentation and growth. The Dining Rooms adroitly combine sampling and live instrumentation, creating a wide body of music that absorbs a multitude of influences including cinema, jazz, funk and blues. With equal time given to instrumentals and vocals, The Dining Rooms music is an ear-rousing melange of moody chords, complex rhythms, deep basslines, acoustic instrumentation and thoughtful lyrics. Their fifth full length recording, ‘Ink’ is a merging of styles for the group, utilizing the live instrumentation, Fender Rhodes chords, and vocals of recent releases with the cinematic, ethereal atmospheres characterized by their earlier work. ‘Ink’ is a remarkable recording, further deepening their sound and reaching a wide range of tones and colors, with thoughtful lyrics and a melancholy mood. Half of ”Ink” features vocals by guests who include several international artists such as Dodo N’kishi (Mouse on Mars) from Africa via Germany; Georgeanne Kalweit, from U.S.A. via Milan, and Tomaz Di Cunto, from Brazil. “Ink” is by far The Dining Rooms most impressive and developed recording and promises to introduce new audiences to their sound. If only they just listen.

Mundovibes had the pleasure of corresponding with the Dining Room’s Stefano Ghittoni and contributing members of the Dining Rooms in an e-mail interview. As expected, his thoughts are serious and insightful.

MUNDOVIBES: Stefano, congratulations on the release of the Dining Rooms fifth studio recording, “Ink”. It’s a fantastic recording with a variety of vibes and moods. What concepts and ideas shaped “Ink”?

STEFANO GHITTONI: “Ink” takes some things from our old feeling, going back to the origins of tdr sound, more atmospheric and cinematic than “experiments in ambient soul” and concentrated more on downtempo. It has dark elements too and we hope (but we think) to have been able to release something mysterious and spiritual. We feel “INK” as a concept album and it could be considered as something close to numero “deux” and “tre” but with the quality production of “eias”.

MV: What is the overall concept of “Ink”?

SG: The album cover of “Ink” is inspired by Jean Michel Basquiat, whose art is really close to the philosophy of writing and therefore of “ink”. So “Ink” becomes a sort of manifesto of things to say, as well as of the energy to try to say them.

MV: There is a seriousness to “Ink”, both in its lyrics and arrangements with songs like “Hear Us Now”, “Fatale”, “Ceremony”, and the title track. Is this a reflection of the times we are in or yours and your contributors states of mind?

SG: We are not living in wonderful times, obviously, but TDR have always been a little bit serious because it’s how we are in our life, we like our life, however, and we are really satisfied of how it is.

Anyway we like the idea to go deeper in life and music things…..

MV: “Ink” is a very intimate recording, many the vocal songs are personal testimonies including the title track. Please comment.

SG: “Ink” is very intimate as almost all our records have been, only “Experiments in ambient soul” was a bit too pop oriented. Anyway we are very happy of this album intensity, either vocal or instrumental tracks.

Georgeanne Kalweit speaks about the song “Ink”:

I live on a river just south east of Milan and in the summer the nocturnal nature sounds are quite intense, beautiful and evocative though. I wrote INK in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep in part due to the incessant, mantra like drone outside, to too many painful thoughts of things gone bad in the past and in part due to a deep yearning for the physical presence of a person I was falling in love with who was away on the road. Putting ink to paper in this technological period seems almost rebellious yet familiar and raw, a primordial need to either confirm, dispel or clarify emotions which can’t always be expressed with spoken words, ultimately clearing the way to the now. The idea of ink mixing with blood internally really strikes a chord regarding the toxicity of how unexpressed emotions can implode and somehow take over the human organism. In INK there is resolve in the awareness that love, reappearing and reawakening can heal in layers.

MV: There is an even balance of intstrumentals and vocal songs on “Ink”. How do you develop these songs?

SG: It’s our style. Our albums are a mix of ballads, vocal and instrumental, and cinematic funks.

MV: As is your tradition you have collaborated with several guest vocalists on “Ink”. Please tell us how they became involved in this recording and what their contributions were.

SG: The vocalists are involved in a natural way in the sense that are friends or persons we feel very close to our philosophy, so there’s a a first contact in which we explain what we need and everybody feels if the thing is its cup of tea. If collaboration is born the singer is free on his songwriting and at the end me and Cesare produce or rearrange the voice inside the track.

MV: You have a mix of languages on “Ink”, which is typical of your recordings. Is it just a reflection of a diverse world view?

SG: We have a very free approach to music and it reflects the possible mix of languages in our albums, we feel anyway to be able to get homogeneous production on them, we wanna mix different point of views, we wanna feel what we live and put it on our records…..

MV: The song “Thank You” is very political and could be addressed to any “leader” who sells out his soul. Tell us about this song.

SG: “Thank you?” is built on a strings sample taken from patchanka French band Orange Blossom……it fuses poetry, Marvin Gaye echoes, post rock guitar solo and blues and ethnic elements. Slowly goes the funk…….

Sean Martin speaks about the song “Thank you?”:

I think that…many people are consciously prostituting themselves. They know what is going on throughout the world…about the death and cruelties they’ve been contributing to, but I presume they think they’re actions will be justified if they can keep this so-called “human progress” flowing. As they say: “the end justifies the means”.

People dying in Africa because of the tons of nuclear waste dumped there don’t seem to be a problem. If killing millions of people can lead the western countries to have cheap oil, then…it seems like God will forgive them. Some of the world leaders of the past even thought that God hated strangers as much as they did, and that they would be doing Him a big favor if they tried to exterminate them by any and all means possible.The western culture’s always had a pathological superiority complex, history speaks for itself. We’re being fooled by the “great institutions” and people have been led to condone bloodshed and exploitation in the service of their

lifestyles. That’s what thank you? is all about.

Oh! By the way…I’ve recently read that you can increase the purity of your soul by

purchasing one simple product…mmm…

MV: The Dining Rooms formed nearly 10 years ago. How did you come together?

We first met in a recording studio many years ago, mid eighties probably. Then Cesare opened one of the first midi studio in Milano and I went there to do some productions. We had a good time and started to work to some productions together that then morphed in The Dining Rooms.

MV: What music tradition or scene was formative in shaping the Dining Rooms sound?

SG: We both come from new wawe and punk and they are very important for us, mostly for the concept that anyone is owner of his ideas and therefore of his music. Then we have a very wide approach to music from Nick Drake to Talk Talk, from The Sound to Velvet Underground, from Art Blakey to Herbie Hancock, Sabu Martinez, Wire and Joy Division, including early Massive Attack and Portished to name a few.

MV: It seems like there are a lot of literary and cinematic influences to the Dining Rooms? What are some of them?

SG: Wim Wenders, Jean Luc Godard, Elio Petri, Pierpaolo Pasolini, Giorgio Scerbanenco, Jean Claude Izzo, Aki Kaurismaki, Jack Kerouac and the beat generation.

MV: The Dining Rooms music always has a cinematic, moody vibe to it. What do you attribute this to?

SG: Cinematic vibe is very important for us. One of the motto of our beginning was: “background music for your personal movies”, we did some tee shirts too. It’s probably the main aim of our music, produce music who could generate emotions and images.

MV: What are you trying to communicate with your music in terms of mood, vibe and lyrical themes?

Depth, Spirituality, Peace.

MV: Your music has gotten progressively more complex with each recording. Is this just a natural progression of your ideas and abilities?

SG: It’s for sure a natural progression, it’s important for music producers try to go deep, to be more complex. We did it and it probably depends too from the fact we are using musicians in the two last albums.

MV: The Dining Rooms sound is a mixture between electronics, samples and live instruments. How does this process work?

SG: I do the initial step choosing the sample that gives the atmosphere or primary melody of the track, then Cesare works with programming and first instruments, then we both work with other samples and edit, then the musicians arrive and play the samples adding some chords. The dining rooms do the final production and mix. Sometimes we keep the initial sample, sometimes we miss it.

MV: Why did you choose this way of creating your music?

SG: I’m mostly a dj and not a musician, so I don’t play instruments but records.

I do the initial step of the atmosphere of the song and it’s obviously always a sample….

MV: It seems that samples are playing less and less of a role in your music. How has the use of samples changed over the history of the Dining Rooms?

SG: We were born as a sample based project in the sense that in first two album we used only samples (and some keys)to write-build our song. Then we felt we wanted to add something else that could allow us to surpass the sample philosophy that’s great but basically very repetitive. So we started to mix samples and live musicians to create music that could have a wider development…In this sense the use of musicians changed a little bit our music even if our attitude is the same and the origin of the song is always a sample.

CONTRIBUTING VOCALS AND SONGWRITING (l to r): Georgeanne Kalweit, Toco, Sean Martin

MV: If you had to classify the Dining Rooms music, what would it be?

SG: Easy listening ambient blues.

MV: What have been some of the critical junctures or “moments of inspiration” for the Dining Rooms?

SG: We have been and we are inspired from everything, the whole world becomes our primary source of inspiration…

MV: You’ve created a considerable body of work since forming. Please reflect on the past 10 years and how you invision the Dining Rooms going forward into the future.

SG: The future is now!

MV: Vocalist Georgeanne Kalweit plays a considerablle role on “Ink” with co-writing credits for “Hear us Now” and “Ink” both stunningly beautiful annd personal tracks. Tell us how these songs came about.

Georgeanne Kalweit speaks about “Hear us now”:

I don’t think television rules everybody’s lives but when I see certain shit on T.V., and look at society at large I am daunted and disgusted by the abuse of this media tool and the negative implications it has on the psychology of humans. It takes a lot of discipline to remain a creative, self thinking individual and weed through the superficiality and loaded messages that get projected through the news, advertising and programs (with a few exceptional exceptions on an educational and satirical level), let alone decipher what’s REALLY happening. HEAR US NOW is a sort of protest chant for anyone who sees through the mechanism and refuses to be sucked into the dynamic of envy, fear and inadequacy that can only be placated by having and acquiring more things, being overly patriotic or nationalistic and feeling superior as a result. I’d rather use my eyes to look beyond the box-T.V. screen of stereotypes that foster ignorance and intolerance to appreciate better the oddity and sacredness in differences among all humans on a global level.

MV: Why not just have the same vocalists?

SG: We were born as instrumental project and when we start to think to some singers we felt we’d have like to have different vocal point of view on our instrumentals, I think it’s not so original as anwer but it’s the truth.

MV: What is the music scene like in Italy? Is it very supportive of your work?

SG: The Italian scene is quite fresh even we consider ourselves part of a global and world movement. We have a good reputation in italy but for sure we r more appreciated in other countries.

We are satisfied of our status even the period is not so good for music business.

MV: Is it more or less responsive today to what you are doing with your music?

SG: It’s difficult to say because the market is really strange today, it is becoming smaller day by day. Anyway as I told u before we r satisfied of our status even if the fact to have lost the American domestic releases after the Guidance bankrupt has been a problem for our visibility in U.S.A., that’s a very important market. We feel anyway to be on the right side and our audience seems to be close to what we are producing.

MV: How do you feel about the categories and labels that the Dining Rooms are given, such as “downtempo”, “nu jazz”, etc.?

SG: We don’t really mind about categories….

MV: Schema records has become one of the premiere labels for emerging jazz. Much like labels like Blue Note, Impulse! and others were part of certain jazz eras, Schema seems to be the definitive label for today’s club-influenced jazz. What are you feelings about this?

SG: We are happy to release records through Schema, we are quite different from a typical Schema act but it’s cool anyway to be part of that catalogue.

MV: At what point did the Dining Rooms become a live event?

SG: We started to play live in the beginning of 2004, between the release of “Tre” and “Experiments in ambient soul”.

MV: What is the live performance like? What do you set out to do?

SG: Our live show, as our records, is a mix between electronics and instruments.

We have on stage a 5 pieces band with drums, double bass, keyboard or guitar plus vocals. I play turntables and a small key with samples. Maria Arena then accompanies our music with visuals….

MV: How does the audience react to your live performance?

SG: The audience has usually a very good reaction…..the live show is balanced between jazz and blues ballads and rolling funky instrumentals….

MV: The videos for your music by Maria Arena are integral to the live show. Tell us about the video aspect of the Dining Rooms.

SG: We work very often with videomaker Maria Arena who’s taking care of our visual aspects and producing our clips. U can see them on our my space page. She takes care of visuals during our live too.

She works with old super 8 movies taking frames and sequences and reelaborate them as we do with music and samples, we have a very close philosophy.

MV: What will you be doing for the summer? A live tour?

SG: We’ll mostly work to some side project and we’ll produce a radio show mixing music and poetry.

MV: Will you ever score a film soundtrack?

SG: We did it for an Italian movie, “Dentro la città”, a police b-movie set in Rome.

Some of our tracks are then been taken for other movie soundtracks and tv series: sex and the city, csi crime, six feet under…

MV: Any one in particular you’d like to work with?

SG: Paolo Sorrentino and Jim Jarmusch.

MV: Where do you see the Dining Rooms going in the future?

SG: What is future?

The Dining Rooms Website

The Dining Rooms myspace

Schema Records

Mark de Clive-Lowe: the Tide is High

Half Japanese half New Zealander musician/producer Mark de Clive-Lowe has been on the music journey since starting piano when he was four. Classical piano lessons, jazz for playing pleasure and hip hop and soul on the stereo gave Mark the diverse foundation that his eclectic style has developed from.

For over the past ten years, MdCL’s musical journeying has taken him to the US, UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Cuba. Performing and recording in different settings collaborating with DJ/producers, turntablists, acoustic jazz artists, Japanese Kagura, and the world of latin rhythms, Mark has become a major figure in the nu-jazz movement, blending jazz, ethnic music and urban grooves into a fresh 21st Century flavour.

West London based from 1998-2008, MdCL is a key collaborator, artist and producer in the scene spear-headed by Bugz in the Attic, 4Hero, Restless Soul and IG Culture [NSM]. His debut LP Six Degrees [Universal Jazz/emarcy] was released worldwide in 2000 – signatured with an amalgamation of jazz sensibilities and urban influences, the album found a niche with DJs, critics and audiences worldwide:

‘Firmly at the front of the nu-skool jazz and beats movement’ – The Times [UK]

‘Call it nu-jazz, call it nu-house, call it future-jazz, in fact call it what you want, I’m sticking with the words awesome and genius’ – Wax Magazine [UK]

Two world tours later MdCL had taken the Six Degrees live show global including featured slots at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival – having been personally invited to perform by techno legend Carl Craig, Amsterdam Drum Rhythm Festival, London Jazz Festival and throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia. Live Events

2001 saw MdCL contributing a stand out remix production of Shirley Horn on the Verve//Remixed LP alongside tracks from MAW, Joe Clausell and Thievery Corporation and in 2002, his carnival soul-beats anthem ‘Relax…Unwind’ featuring Abdul Shyllon became one of the year’s underground hits worldwide for the likes of Gilles Peterson, Jazzy Jeff, MAW and Jazzanova. 2003/4 releases also include collaborations with Kenny Dope [Masters at Work], DJ Spinna [BBE/rapster], Rima [JCR], IG Culture, Bugz in the Attic and Restless Soul. Over the past 6 years, Mark has stamped his sound on over 150 releases collaborating with some of the most cutting edge producers and artists around the world – include tracks for soul legend Leon Ware, productions for Philadelphia’s Lady Alma and remixes for the likes of Jody Watley, Omar, Incognito and Brazilian superstar Ed Motta.

MdCL’s album TIDE’S ARISING was released worldwide March 22, 2005 on ABB Soul/Antipodean featuring a who’s who of guest artists including Bembé Segué, Abdul Shyllon, Pino Palladino [D’Angelo’s Soultronics/The Who], Capitol A [The Roots/Jazzanova] and more. Immediately a new millennium classic, Tide’s Arising was one of the standout albums of 2005 topping critics lists worldwide. Tide’s Arising Live shows have been performed in the UK, Europe, Japan, NZ, Australia and USA. 2007 saw MdCL release the Japan-only album JOURNEY 2 THE LIGHT also launching the Freedom School record label. Featuring Bembé Segué, Sammy Figueroa [Miles Davis], Jason Yarde [Jack DeJohnette] and Richard Spaven [Guru/Jose James] the album brought the 70s Black Jazz and Strata East sound into the 21st Century with MdCL’s most jazz-oriented album yet.

Projects currently on the go include MdCL’s Freesoul Sessions clubnite and releases – a fully improvised show with Mark constructing beats and full productions live on stage with a rotating cast of beat, soul and jazz musicians and vocalists and The Politik – a collaboration with Bembé Segué. He’s also produced the debut single for UK soul singer Rasiyah and the soundtracks for multi-media dance production Legends of the Underground .

MdCL performs all around the planet regularly, every time redefining audiences’ concept of club culture and electronics brought to the live stage.

Mundovibes was fortunate enough to interview Mark de Clive Lowe who graciously answered our questions at length:

Mundovibes: First of all congratulations on Tide’s Arising, a superb recording of future funk and soul. Let’s start by asking what you wanted to accomplish with this recording in terms of style, mood and direction. You have travelled quite a distance from “Six Degrees”, your previous

full-length. You seem to really be looking forward in this recording. How has your music evolved since “Six Degrees”?

Mark de Clive-Lowe: A lot has happened since making “Six Degrees” in early 1999. That album was the result of a whole lot of inspiration and experiences gained traveling around the world in 98 – my first times in Cuba, West London, San Fran and time spent in NYC, Tokyo and Europe. It was also the first time I’d messed around with an MPC so as a producer, that was a really sharp learning curve. Since then I’ve had the good fortune to work with a lot of great artists and producers – either as a session musician, writer, producer or remixer and all of those experiences have helped me grow both as an artist and producer. everyone approaches what they do differently – whether it’s kenny dope, ig culture or lemon d – everyone’s got a different flex going on. working with different people taught me a lot and also helped me to craft the direction i wanted to grow in. doing remixes like the shirley horn one for verve remixed was a great challenge – i knew that MAW, joe clausell and a few other heavy hitters were involved with the project already so i wanted to make sure i did my best. that kind of pressure can be a really positive catalyst when it comes to creativity. stylistically i’ve also returned to my roots a lot – my school years were all about hip hop and beat music, jazz was what i did as a ‘serious musician’, so now i feel comfortable in bringing it all together.

making tide’s, more than anything i wanted to make a soul record. my vision of a 21st century soul record. melding beat culture, the history and the future all in one. i’m confident as a producer to be able to make a track that mixes latin, breaks, jazz and soul all at the same time and knowing it’s going to work out fine and have my stamp on it at the end of the day, so it was really mostly about getting on with it and getting the album made. where six degrees was a definitive nu-jazz record – balancing between dancefloor and jazz, i wanted to bring in the funk, hip hop and soul elements that i love in so much music for the new record. working with the right vocalists was always going to be key and bembe segue in particular is someone who i collaborate really well with. state of the mental was the first track she came in to work on and everything just clicked so she ended up coming in on most of the album. abdul shyllon is one of the most unique male singers on the planet – no one sounds like him and no one can do what he does. i love that kind of uniqueness in people. afterall, we’re all different from each other, so there’s no sense in us all rocking the same beat or the same shoes or the same car!

MV: There is a very “psi-fi”, cosmic-urban vibe to “Tide’s Arising” with its

spacey keys and effects. How did this sound come about?

What inspired you to go in the direction you did on this record?

MdCL: Time and space – the place where the cosmic b-boy resides! i love making music that’s different and can transport someone to somewhere they’ve never been before or even imagined existed. i get bored listening to music, watching movies or checking out art that takes me to the same place as the last place which is not so different from the next place. Change. it’s all about change. change happens with or without us – no amount of systems structures, politicians or big corporations can change that. i think if you dig deep into Tide’s Arising you’ll hear the message.

MV: How place-centric or scene-scentric do you feel “Tide’s Arising” is?

MdCL: stylistically i think the way i made the album and the overall sound of it is heavily influenced by the years i’ve spent in west london and working so much with people like bugz in the attic, phil asher, ig culture, alex attias and others. to me there’s also a big amount of american influence in there- i love the dilla swing, the neptunes production style, the philly scene, so the influences are pretty global. i could have made the album anywhere on the planet, but wherever i would have made it, it would have sounded different than if i had made it some place else.

MV: How much of it is simply straight from you as opposed to where you are?

MdCL: it’s always a balance of both – the honest artist cannot filter out their surroundings when expressing their creativity, nor can they filter out their experiences and being.

MV: How “live” is “Tide’s Arising”?

MdCL: the whole way i like to make music is how i balance man and the machine – programmed beats and live performance. it’s all live, and it’s all programmed! if you check how i do the live show, i’ll program the MPC beats live on stage everytime, it’s always different, so once it’s programmed, it’s not live, but the process of programming it was live from start to finish.

MV: The only track that features your keyboard playing in a more “standard” jazz mode is ‘Pino + Mashi’. How do you feel about this type of playing compared to the more futuristic and cut-up style that is featured on the other tracks?

MdCL: it’s all music! i do feel less of a need now than before to showcase my skills as a keyboard player. i dig it with someone like Thelonious Monk – if you dont really check him too deep it might sound like he doesnt have great skills, but if you know what’s up then you know that he is in total command of the instrument. back in the jazz day it was all about “wow, i got ten fingers and this piano has 88 keys, let’s go!” but now i understand form and function better, and how space can be as deafening as a drum solo if it’s used effectively.

MV: You have developed a very complex musical vocabulary of your own. What experiences and influenes brought you to your own “sound”?

MdCL: afro cuban rhythms, 70s jazz fusion, native tongues hip hop, d’angelo and the soulquarians, j dilla, ahmad jamal, herbie hancock, miles, weather report, early jungle… lots of stuff!

MV: How do you go about constructing the beats for your music?

MdCL: the best way to understand that is to check a live gig – i’ll have a drum kit on the MPC, hit record and jam the beats. i dont really like to spend too much time building beats academically, i much prefer to do it organically and on the spot. there’s usually subtle tweaks and flips i’ll add later, but generally most of the vibe is captured from the original session programming the beat. all the beats on Tide’s Arising are loops – some are 2 bar loops, some are 4 or 8 bar, but generally they’re all pretty tight loops but i’ll go into them and flip up different parts here and there. for me, loops are about creating illusions. that’s some fun shit right there.

MV: You collborated with a number of people on “Tide’s Arising” including Tell us about some of the people you collaborted with on Tide’s Arising and the way songs came together with them.

MdCL: i’ve already talked about bembe and abdul shyllon. some of the instrumental collaborators though – pino palladino has got to be my favourite bass player on the planet. when i checked out d’angelo’s voodoo live tour, pino was incredible. he and ?uestlove holding down the rhythm section like nobody’s business. dope! i worked with pino for a couple of months in a band IG culture put together and that was a great experience – jamming every day with one of the illest bass players on the planet. when it came to doing the album tracks, pino laced a couple of tracks with his heavy sound and deep groove. at the end of the session, i pulled up a break i’d been messing round with that morning and we just jammed it out – that became ‘Pino + Mashi’. similarly, ‘masina’s world’ was from a 15 minute improvised jam that chris bailey and i had after we’d recorded chris’s drums parts for the album tracks. there was a rhodes in the studio so we just jammed it out on rhodes and drums and ‘masina’s world’ was right in the middle of all that. joel haines and miguel fuentes are a couple of other fantastic musicians. joel is sax player nathan haines’ brother and for my money, one of the best guitarists anywhere. it was great to get him involved on the album. miguel’s a don percussionist – he’s played with miles, george benson, patti labelle, lots of great artists, and we’ve collaborated in nz (where he lives now) over the years but never recorded together until the tide’s sessions./

MV: Tell us about the themes and concepts of the lyrics on “Tide’s Arising”

which are very space- and travel-oriented?

MdCL: i wanted to keep it pretty conceptual on the lyrics side – paint pictures that are universal but encourage you to think about a whole other place that isnt the city you live, the street you walk down or maybe even the planet we inhabit. i think things that get people thinking radically outside the box are really positive, especially in this day and age when so much our senses are bombarded with is designed to keep us operating, thinking and living within a defined structure and system.

MV: The chorus to ‘Traveling’ seems to be about mind travel with its chorus

‘travelling without moving’. What is this song about?

MdCL: the mind’s a powerful tool like that. as is the human spirit. there’s so far we can go, so much we can accomplish if we just put our minds and spirits to good use. captial A spells out the mission statement pretty clearly 🙂

MV: It’s amazing how keys and key sounds can set the mood in music. Is mood an important element to what you are doing?

MdCL: for anyone who’s making music, mood is everything!! i think where it’s kind of obvious how drums and vocals can set a mood, what really hits the human ear and emotions on a deeper and therefore more consequential level is the harmony of music and the harmonics of sound. so yeah, i love all that. using different sounds to hit different frequencies, using different harmonic shapes to paint different colours and stories.

MV: There is so much interaction between the “parts” of each song, where

elements interact. How did you go about constructing such complex songs?

MdCL: it’s how i hear it. i dont build it by theory or formula or intellectually, it’s just how i hear it all coming together. compared to playing with a sick jazz drummer or a heavy percussionist, the music isnt really that complex. if you compare it to say regular house music, yeah it’s more complex, but me for one, i’m tired of hearing the predictability and formula in most music. play me some different shit!

MV: Did you have to “break free” from your traditional schooling or did it just naturally flow into what you are doing now?

MdCL: i did conciously decide that i wanted to deconstruct my knowledge. i studied a lot of stuff growing up playing classical music and jazz, but beat culture really inspired me to deconstruct it. that’s what it’s all about really anyway – you learn everything and then in order to apply it without being stuck in it, you internalise it, you forget it all and then you can be free to express your creativity.

MV: How has living in West London affected your musical sensibilities?

MdCL: i’ve definitely gone back and dug through music i wasnt that familiar with before – some of the more obscure 70s stuff and early 80s music that are big influences for a lot of the crew in west london. growing up on jazz, i’d heard plenty of gene harris and ramsey lewis, but that was always playing swing. hearing them play funk on rhodes instead of straight ahead on piano, hearing the music of the mizell brothers, all that stuff freaked me out when i first heard it. everyone in west london is coming from a different background – IG with his roots and dub, phil asher with house, dego with drum’n’bass, kaidi with funk, we’re all coming from different places but find a liberating common ground with each other where we can break the walls down between the genres and just make music.

MV: Apart from your own music you perform a lot in London and Japan with a host

of other musicians. Please tell us about these performances: who do you work with and how does it function? Is it improvisational?

MdCL: i did my 10th anniversary japan tour a couple of years ago, so i’ve been going there for a while now. i usually perform with the guys who are now part of Sleepwalker and DJs including Kyoto Jazz Massive, Mochizuki from Loop and Yukihiro Fukutomi. it’s the only place in the world i still ocassionally play acoustic jazz sets, but most of the gigs are club gigs. in the smaller clubs it’s usually Freesoul Sessions which is the full improvised set, bigger venues i’ll take the whole band over and do the Tide’s Arising Live show.

MV: How do you feel about the commercial side to what you are doing?

MdCL: it’s a constant struggle and challenge to balance art and creativity with commerce and product. necessity drives me to do certain things that i might not necessarily do if i didnt have to worry about necessity, but at the same time, i’ve developed a rep as a left field progressive artist and producer so people are coming to expect me to do something different from anyone else. i just did a remix for domu’s next single and as he already had a house mix on the 12 he wanted me to do something crazy – whatever i wanted. i ended up doing a 140 bpm breakbeat thing in 14/4, then the bridge keeps changing between 3/4 and 2/4 – to me it was like roy ayers meets george duke through a breakbeat cypher. that was fun. i dont think anyone’s going to come to me expecting me to produce them a sound-a-like pop song so for now, i’m just thankful that i can make a living from doing things the way i like to do them. compromise is never the way.

MV: There are so many tags put on music today with “broken beat” being one of the most common. What do you think of this name and is it really fitting to what you are doing?

MdCL: i dont know. before it was called broken beat, it was just music – music without definition but it all shared the same conceptual ethos. everyone in west london was making music at different tempos, in different styles, but there was a common thread through it all. i think it’s become more stylized since being tagged as ‘broken beat’ but i still look at it as a conceptual thing. i just finished a remix for jaguar wright and tempo wise it’s got more to do with drum’n’bass than anything, but if you listen to it, you wouldnt necessarily think it was drum’n’bass because it has my flavour left right and centre. space funk, future soul, nu jazz, broken beat – to me, it’s all hip hop. Not like 50, but like Hip Hop – a state of mind, a way of life and a creative concept.

MV: Please describe your live performance. Do you try to match the recording or do you let each show take its own direction?

MdCL: every show is completely different – the first thing the audience hears is the click on the MPC and i build the beats from scratch. it’s pretty much live remixing the tunes so nothing is ever the same. i save up the beats after every show, so i must have over 100 beats sitting on MPC disks that i’ve never loaded back up. that reminds me, i’ve gotta get back to them and start digging some out again. i have the MPC, rhodes, bass synth, keyboards and effects, so i’m really creating the bulk of the music myself. the other musicians (usually a guitarist and drummer) augment what i’m doing, but it’s definitely the MPC and synths leading the way. the singers work with me on top of that flipping the songs different ways. the Freesoul Sessions shows are really similar except that everything is improvised – right down to the songs. when i go and see a band and they’ve rehearsed their show up and sometimes their on stage jokes are even the same, that shit is lame. i want to experience an artist’s creativity at a show, see them put their balls on the line and take some risks. d’angelo and bembe segue’s live shows are two of the only gigs i’ve witnessed that at. what i like to do live, once people get their head around it, they’re always into it – they realise it’s fresh every time. no exceptions.

MV: What can we expect from Mark de Clive-Lowe in the future?

MdCL: i’ve been busy in studio doing remixes – domu, jaguar wright, lekkan babalola, phuturistix and a few more on the way; i’ve collaborated two joints on the new leon ware album and produced 5 tracks for lady alma’s debut album. bembe segue and i have kicked off a new project called The Politik. the first 12 ‘Money’ will be out on my label antipodean records soon and we’ve just written cherie mathieson’s debut album – she’s a great singer from NZ who featured on six degrees. there’s always lots going on – i like to keep busy and keep projects in motion. i’ve got a new 12″ coming out on funk of fury records out of sweden soon with remixes by recloose and drum’n’bass crew commix, the tide’s arising remixes 12″ out in summer on abb soul, and the next installment of melodius beats on antipodean records before the end of the year. touring wise, there’s lots going on as well – live shows and DJ dates in NZ, australia, china, uk, poland and a few different spots in the states including san jose jazz festival and montreux festival atlanta. i’ve only really scratched the surface for what’s coming up, so best thing is for people to keep an eye on the website – http://www.markdeclivelowe.net – in short, there’s a lot of music coming and a lot of touring coming.

Mark de Clive Lowe Blog