Joyful Sounds
Matinee orchestra
m[m] How did you first become interested in making music?
Andrew I started playing the drums when I was 9 or 10, partly As I was quite Badly Dyslexic, I wasn’t really good at anything and so my parents wanted to encourage me to do anything I’d be interested in. Because I thought I’d be good at it, My parents brought me a second hand drum kit, I stated playing the drums, and it went on from there, I think really liked that, as I made lost of friends, I played in pretty much bands every night or every day, I played in jazz bands to Wind bands, brass bands etc.
Andrew In secondary School I started playing Guitar, We started quite a few different guitar bands, I moved away from jazz and school Classical music. I moved in to punk rock and stuff like that, so I was into Sonic Youth, and Nirvana was happing at that time. That just carried on, I started playing music everyday from such an early age, and it feels odd now if I don’t make music or sound art every day.
m[m] You call your album a “laptop” album, but it has Such a organic feel to it, how did you managed to get this sounding so un laptop like?
Andrew I suppose I did describe it as a laptop album. But maybe I should have called it a minidisk album, as the first few three songs were started on a mini disk. The idea was I couldn’t afford to go into the studio, I’d been in a band before called Jumbo, where we’d bankrupted are self by trying to record an album in a posh studio.
Andrew I got a mini disk, and realized it had reasonable good sound quality to it, much better than the four tracks I’d used in the past. So what I did instead using four track is use two mini disk players, I’d go to a friends house and recorded something with them, then I listening to the other mini disk and play over it, recording it with the other mini disk. Basically that’s how we started to make the music; we’d all be listening to a recording with one ear to the headphones. Then we’d try and play along to it. Next I’d put the entire mini disk on to a really old computer; edit it using an old programme called Acid. As time went on I got a laptop, it took four years to make the album, which is a long time. When I got a laptop it became a lot easier, because I got a soundcard were you could listen to yourself, then play along side it. So I called it a laptop album as the last few songs where recorded on a laptop.
Andrew The reason I called It a laptop album is basically not because I constructed it in a manipulative way, although I do manipulative a lot using the computer, mainly because I’d go to different peoples house with the laptop and a small sound card and a c1000 microphone, and basically It would just record the muilt track round other peoples houses. I’m really into collaboration, I don’t partially like working on my own so much. I called it a laptop album because it wasn’t recorded in a studio it was on a laptop around peoples house, the records that I make I’m interesting in recording outside, the sound of the places I recorder are interesting to me, Studio recorded albums just sound of the boring studio. As I’ve done a lot of sound art/field recordings of trains etc, I became quite quick at recording, at grabbing my laptop and get performances from people, and as there in their own surrounds, the performances are more natural, relaxed- that’s really what I meant by A laptop album.
m[m] Are any of the instruments played in real time?
Andrew I think I answered that in the last question, Most of the instrument where played in real time, but due to other technical issues I had to cut and splice, chop and change, because the mini disk way of recording. The tuning problems we had with the first album, were because it was on mini disk it’s difficult if a musician is playing along to mini disk to get the right intonation and tuning, so as a result you get the sound like a school orchestra at times, but I really like that sound when it’s done well.
m[m] How was the album recorded, I believe you recorded it all over the world? Was this by choice or necessity?
Andrew As you know I’m very much into collaboration and the nature of the recordings been quite portable, so it was by necessity really- first a lot of the recordings are co written, I create everything on the computer, and I have the last say. When I started the record I wanted to set up a record label, I had a list of people and one of the people on the list was Grace or Tin -yin as she credited on the record, but she wasn’t interested in releasing records, she wanted to be write and have me finishing it off. Also I looked into the cost of setting up a record label and it was going to be too expensive, I’d love to release field recordings of records of people sing Spanish folk song, but I just can’t afford it.
So I thought I’d start a band and release them as this synthetic band, with me as the main player, I’ll move around with the record and record people. Tin – yin is from Taiwan, but half through are recording, her visa run out so you had to return to Taiwan, she did recordings of stuff on mini disk and field recordings from over there, so that’s how the Taiwanese connection came in. As for the Spanish connection, my girlfriend is Spanish- so we go over there quite a lot for family events. So I take my laptop and recorded stuff over there. My girlfriends part of the band so she introduced me to people out there, were I was able to record a pianist and other musicians, along with field recordings. I also have recorded stuff in Scotland in a similar way, I take my laptop with me when ever I travel , and I have a friend who lives in Scotland who plays flute, so I’d recorded him.
m[m] The album has such an English feel to much of it, was this active decision on your part?
Andrew Well that’s quite strange- since I was talking about the collaborations with Taiwanese, Spanish and Scotish. When I was making it I thought it was a real mix of cultures, but when I was giving out the music, a lot of friends comment on how English it sounded. I guess it does, when we were linking Taiwanese folk songs and music boxes, this is more eastern ideas, I guess it wasn’t it just, landed up sounding English. So it wasn’t an active decision, the active decision was trying to make a culture diverse album. On the track “I’ll never be afraid again” we use just mainly burzoky which is an eastern European internment . Apparently other people think it’s got a very English tea drinking sound, which I’m happy about; I always think it’s nice that people see it in a different light.
m[m]what are you working on at Present?
Andrew I’m doing three things at the moment: the new matinee orchestra record, after the first record got some released and it had some interest, I thought I’d look I’d go through my six hard drives of music, to find stuff that could be matinee orchestra, I turned up 26- recordings that could be of interest. Some of them where songs some of them were things I’d done with Tin- Yin, and people. So I mixed it down and put it on my mp3 player. Walked around a listen to them, I’m Still listening to them now, I’ve already got the new album, but it very rough some of the tracks are just guitar and a bits of vocals. That’s the way grace works -with twenty seconds ideas, that are just little hooks that need to make into to song, so there’s a lot of work to be done there, I hope to get the new album done for next year.
Andrew I’m also working on a sixty screen video installation called Timepiece, which is basically a sixty screen that stream this footage of old clocks for one hour that I built this program that turns on and off all these screen in real time, it’s a bit like Steve Reich’s Clapping music, so you get this kind of percussive music, but it's also avisual thing with all the screens turning on a off, so you almost like been in a musically clock shop.
Andrew The last thing I’m doing is setting up a charity- Which is work I’ve been doing for a long time with people with mental health problems, it’s basically a community recording studio in Manchester, I do a lot a lot of recording of community groups, but mainly focusing on people who are social inclusion of people with mental health problems, that’s been going since the being of the year, we’ve done loads and loads of recording work.
m[m] What are your top 10 favourite albums?
Andrew That’s an almost impossible to do, as I’m huge fan of music and sound art. I’ve scribbled down some ideas here, I’m just going to blurt them out, if I don’t I’ll just change them, as I’ve gone over ten already.
The first album is wizard of a true star by Todd Rundgren, which I think is a brilliant record I don’t really like his new stuff or early stuff, but I think at this period was very interesting sound composer/ music composer. The way he structured the album is amazing, the first eight songs just link together so well, I heard it for the first time when I was eighteen, I’ve not heard it for a while, but it still stands as one of my favourites.
Number two is fasutr bunnys another diamond day, It was the classic lost album- which I got before is re released, I got a really scratched tape I think from a friend, but I loved that record ever since.
Next is Steve Reich – electronic counterpart- really I could pick any of his work from 1970’s to 1980’s, but I think electronic counterparts is an amazing piece of music, even though it’s a fifteen minute piece, and of course the orb sampled it- I think it’s just an amazing piece of music.
Forth is Delia Derbyshire compilation- it’s not an official one, but I’ve gone through the radiophonoic workshop and made my own compilation, I think all the stuff she did like the Dr who theme is amazing, to think she was working on her own with such a passion for sound.
Next is Miles Davis, I think I’ll have to say on the Connor but all of his all the electronic period, when he became electronic, I’m really into his drum sound, I listen to a lot of that at the moment, he released a box set of outtakes from those session, it’s amazing and brilliant music.
Next is the American folk anthology- I’ll pick social music from the boxset, but the whole boxset just blew me away- you put it on to you mp player on random, and learn it slowly, ever time it comes on.
Next is Basil Krichin Quantum- I think it’s a brilliant record he’s into social records, field recordings, and free jazz, I’ve just discovered him, it’s on trunk records, some time it’s scary with the free jazz elements and the drone stuffs just brilliant.
Next is Nina Simone in general- I had a compilation that I put on to mini disk- cant remembering the name of the album, so unknown compilation.
Andrew Next is my last I think is, I couldn’t decide there’s the velvet underground, Asa Chang and Junray, I’ve also got this weird compilation of scared heart music, oh also the books – lemon is pink. Have to say the Asa Chang and Junray and the books were been compared to me, so I tried to change tack, I was a bit bitter since people were working at similar time, but anyway I like both of those records. But I think I’m going to say Jim O’Rourke’s Eureka ,Which I think is amazing ,I think John O’Rourke is pretty brilliant the way he records everything.
Andrew Oh I’ve missed Brian Eno Another Green world, Which is a record I’ve rediscovered after a while, I like music for airports and Apollo music, but I think another green world is were is he managed to mix Avant gard and pop music perfectly.
Thanks to Andrew for the interview, Thanks to Sonia from Baked Goods for arranging the interview, you can check out some samples of matinee orchestra at their myspace site here.