No Small Talk this week as i'll be too busy with preparing for a trip to Europe-so while this two-week mark will be missed i'll have the next interview up as soon as possible! I apologize for the delay, but this time it's truly something I don't even have a say in and I feel that this is a pretty good reason for not being able to update.
Super sorry, I promise it'll be worth it!
Friday 28 February 2014
Sunday 23 February 2014
Schedule Change
When I started this project, I told myself I would separate my personal life from this as much as I could, so the focus could be on those I interviewed and not on me. With this in mind, I apologize profusely to all readers-the initial schedule of one interview a week has proven incredibly difficult to maintain as a student with a fairly large workload, and so I'll be scaling back the rate of interviews released to every other week. While this project is really important to me, I also can't afford to prioritize it over my education, and don't want to make a promise I can't keep by trying to stay with the once-a-week posting schedule. If things clear up for a long period of time I might be able to go back to every Saturday but this is more than likely a permanent change to the site.
Thank you for reading, and I'm really sorry for the slowdown.
Thank you for reading, and I'm really sorry for the slowdown.
Saturday 15 February 2014
Ronnie Filyaw of Whomp!
Small Talk was lucky enough this week to interview Ronnie Filyaw, artist of the not-quite-slice-of-life webcomic Whomp! and a testament to the enjoyment of Hawaiian shirts, highly nuanced self deprecatory humour, and simple but vivid art. Whomp! is also known for constantly subverting whatever the reader would expect next in a totally natural way, ending somewhere completely different from how a strip began and being all the better for it.
(Editors note: son of a gunhe found me out)
Who are you, what do you do and where are you from?
I am Ronnie Filyaw. I draw 'Whomp!,' a comic strip. I'm from the Carolinas, and I've moved around a lot.
Whomp! has changed style pretty significantly since the first few strips, from a black and white more traditional strip comic to what we have now. Why the shift? Was there anything that directly influenced the change, or did it just happen gradually?
I would dare say it happened relatively quickly. I've drawn my whole life, but I'd never really drawn cartoony-style characters before. While my skill has improved a lot since then, the drastic change at the very beginning was me figuring out how to present the style when I was still used to drawing Goku and Sailor Moon.
One thing about your comic is that even from the beginning, jokes are usually more layered than the traditional setup-punchline strip. Do you think a lot about how you can add more funny details to a comic, or does it usually come out that way naturally?
I don't always go out of my way to think "Okay, what would make this background funnier," but if I think of something funny, I try my best to work it in. Having a lot of hidden and unhidden extras can add a great deal of value to any joke.
Ronnie's a pretty clear stand-in for yourself, but how much of the rest of the comic is based around your life?
I base it on real life situations as much as possible, though it's certainly not always autobiographical. Things are usually embellished for the sake of a comic, but all of his motivations and fears are almost identical to mine.
Usually, what's the process of creating a comic strip? How long does it take?
3 times a week at 4PM, I begin writing the comic. I come up with as many ideas as I can and VERY roughly sketch them out (a whole panel might just be one sloppy circle that represents Ronnie). I allow myself no more than 2 hours of writing time, because if I haven't come up with anything by then, it's not a good writing day for me. Ideally I've come up with 5 ideas, but sometimes it's a big fat zero.
Then I draw the comic. I do a tight 'pencil' sketch, add the words, then ink, color, and add the flowers to Ronnie's shirt. Then I have to think of a "clever" pun for the title, and the alt text (secret words, as I call them.) The alt text is a treat to myself to be silly, so I turn off my filter and get verbose. The drawing process is about 4 hours, but can take longer if I'm being especially lazy or drawing something very challenging.
As much as the strip draws on your life, it brings in some pretty surreal elements too-even just M-Dude is pretty out there for a slice of life comic.
NOT A QUESTION
(Editors note: son of a gun
Speaking of surreal, who in god's name is Runnie's Replace? Will the world ever truly understand?
Who is that? I don't know what you're asking. I'm shaking a little right now, and I don't know why.
Whomp! is noticeably strict to schedule-I don't think in the nearly two years I've followed Whomp! you've missed a day. How are you so punctual?
I've missed a few! Like holidays or when I took longer to recover from gall bladder/hernia surgery than expected, but I always put up some kind of drawing in hopes fans will forgive me. I'm bad about working the night before, so if anything happens, I have nothing to show for it.
However, I will admit that I have a high percentage of consistency. I chalk that up to just being really devoted to Whomp!. If you're not consistent and you have the time, you don't care enough about your work to be consistent. I don't mean to say that in a negative way. It's just that it's hard to push forward on something you don't love. And I love Whomp!.
Are there any comics or writers that particularly influenced your own style?
Horribleville and Gunshow by KC Green. It is shameful how much I was cribbing from him early on. However, I'm glad I did, because he helped me find my own voice and style, and it was huge. You can't just tell someone to 'be original.' They have to first find out what that means.
Do you follow any other webcomics?
I'm always embarrassed to answer this question. I love and respect all of my fellow cartoonists. They're brilliant writers and artists, but I personally don't really read webcomics! I like manga, anime, video games and 80's music. There was a time I was really into webcomics, and that inspired me to start. It's just not been a huge focus for me.
That said, I never pass up Hark! A Vagrant. I think that's one of the few comics that I simply can't ignore.
Are there any other starting webcomics or comics in general you think should get more attention? Anything aside from comics you like a lot right now?
One of the most impressive artists I know is Simon "Berk" Dickie who does Malky Dungeon (malkydungeon.com). At first glance his comic seems crude and amateur, but he has a surprisingly strong grasp on a lot of fundamentals, and he knows what he's doing. He reminds me of my all-time favorite comedy genius Brad Neely (Creased Comics), in that respect.
Do you actually own the green Hawaiian shirt with flowers? Please tell me you do.
I don't think I specifically own a green one with flowers. I've tried to find the perfect one, but they can be tough to come by. I do have many Hawaiian shirts, however. I very much enjoy wearing them all!
How did you start drawing comics, and drawing in general? Like as far back as you can remember.
I originally drew Ninja Turtles and things from video game manuals. I didn't trace exactly, but I used my eyes to copy the drawings. I would even sell these drawings to kids on the block so I could go rent more video games.
I then started drawing things off paused VHS tapes. You had to record on EP (Extended Play) or the freeze frames would stutter. I drew a lot of Samurai Pizza Cats and Sailor Moon like this. Continuing to be inspired by Sailor Moon, I went on to start learning the actual fundamentals of drawing. I 'graduated' to drawing DBZ characters all the time, and it just kinda went from there.
I always wanted to make comics and characters and stories, but I was never satisfied with just drawing on paper for myself. It wasn't until Whomp! I really understood what it meant to make comics.
Lastly, what are your plans for the future? Anything really cool on the horizon for your fans?
It depends. Whomp! will probably be around until I die out of sheer necessity to get my life experiences directly translated into comic form, but I want to create other things, mostly comics, since it's something I already know I can do. I don't want to say a whole lot now, but I would never allow myself to be stuck to one comic for life.
You can read Whomp! at www.whompcomic.com, and you can follow Whomp! on Facebook at www.facebook.com/whompcomic.
You can read Whomp! at www.whompcomic.com, and you can follow Whomp! on Facebook at www.facebook.com/whompcomic.
Saturday 8 February 2014
Nick Johnston
Back after a two-week hiatus, Small Talk had the chance to interview Nick Johnston, a Toronto-based guitarist whose work is entirely instrumental, and whose albums show amazing diversity in both genre and playing style. He's also partnered with artist Mark Rehkopf to both bring his musical ideas to life as art and to create the comic Nick Johnston And The Tale Of The Cosmic Strings, a retro sci-fi influenced journey through the cosmos and time itself.
Starting us off: who are you, what do you do and where are you from?
Hi! My name is Nick Johnston and I'm a musician based out of southern Ontario. I love writing music, I love teaching guitar and I currently have 2 independently released instrumental records out!
You and Mark Rehkopf are basically partners, collaborating and drawing inspiration from each others work-you even go to conventions and showings together, presenting your work as a group effort. How'd that partnership happen?
Mark and I have been working together for about 3 years now and It's been really amazing to work with such a talented, experienced artist. I discovered his work at a small art show just outside of Toronto and was instantly blown away. I was in the process of releasing my first instrumental record and I was at the point where my project needed a visual direction. I got in contact with Mark and we talked a few times about the project. I really like the vibe he gave off and after I sent him the music, he was totally into it. I just basically gave him the title, 'Public Display Of Infection' , and he came up with some of the coolest album artwork I had ever seen. From there, we became really good friends and we're constantly working together on projects.
How did you get involved in the comics scene? The first time I met you was at Fan Expo in Toronto, and it was definitely unique to meet a guitarist playing in the middle of the artists booths.
I've always been interested in comic books. I grew up reading them and have collected them for years. After Mark did all of the art for my first album, we spoke about doing a bit of a story to help support all of the characters that appeared on the front cover. That idea turned into something a little more ambitious, and eventually we figured it would be cool to turn it into something we both had a passion for: Comic Books. It was a very natural approach. It just seemed like the right way to present the stories. We weren't out to make any money at it, so we didn't really worry about trying to appeal to a certain audience. We just had a really great time coming up with a fun story that made us both laugh! We then decided to make it into a limited physical book that would be available for anyone who was interested in what I was doing with my music. Once the book was out, we did some conventions where I would play music from the albums the comic was based on. It seemed to be a hit with a lot of people as you don't often see a performing guitar player at a comic convention! It's a blast!
Would you say you base your music more off of his artwork, or the other way around-or do you just work together at the same time?
I would say the artwork is more based off of the music, as I present Mark with new material all the time. The song titles or the style of music will help him decide which direction the art will take. I rarely ever say anything about the direction of the art. He always knows what the best approach should be and he always knocks it out of the park. Mark is extremely talented.
Actually, you collaborate a lot with other musicians and artists, like Paul Gilbert and Guthrie Govan. You're even featured on Periphery's new album. Is it just your style to collaborate with as many people as you can?
I've been lucky to have had a chance to work with some pretty unbelievable musicians, yes! I think working with other musicians who approach and play music completely different from you own is very important. I'm not sure It's part of my style, but I do enjoy it when I'm presented with the opportunity! When Spencer (Sotelo) asked me to record a guest solo for his track on the new Periphery project ('Clear'), I was very excited, as I'm not a metal musician. I think it's really cool when musicians from different worlds work together because it often yields some amazing results! I love how Spencer approaches music, too. I really like talking about composition, melody and arrangement with him - I feel like we have a lot of similarities in that respect.
A lot of critics and fans alike have noted that even without vocals, your albums feel very full-bodied in sound, and yet a lot of people have questioned the decision. Is that something you're going to keep doing or have you ever considered a vocal addition?
I feel like I'm still developing as a musician and I have absolutely no idea what direction my music is headed - which is great! There are so many things I'd like to do and there are so many people I'd like to work with. Hopefully I can do all of those things - including something with vocals. For now, I just do what I feel is natural, and the instrumental approach seems to be where my head is at. Who knows what the future has in store!
Your albums criss-cross quite a few genres and styles of playing on each album, drawing influence from a lot of places, mostly tied together by your guitar playing and the style of the other musicians you feature. Why do you think you play such a variety of styles?
I just love music. My attraction to it is certainly not bound to any one style. There is so much out there to experience, learn from, be in awe of and absorb into your own playing and writing. I think that's the reason my music is so varied - you are what you eat!
A lot of your music and the concepts behind your work seem to be drawn from a lot of sci-fi, especially retro stuff; what is it about sci-fi that it inspires you so much?
I think you can draw a parallel between Science Fiction and instrumental music. With Sci-Fi, you can create any reality you can dream up, and with instrumental music, you aren't held by one genre of music. They're both very free! I feel like those two worlds go together very well because there is room for as much as you can imagine. It's all about being creative! Not only that, but there is always such strong imagery tied to any science fiction, and that imagery makes me want to write a theme or a melody to support it!
How true to life would you say your comic is? It seems like a pretty accurate portrayal of day-to-day living.
Haha, It's quite possibly the exact opposite of 'true to life'. It's based around a time traveling musician-turned-astronaut and is set 1000 years in the future. Awesome!
How did you start playing guitar, and where in the world did you learn to play like you do?
I started playing when I was around 14. My neighbour, who was a year older than me, played the guitar and I could always hear him playing through his basement window. I thought he was the coolest guy on the planet, so one day I went over and asked to come in and watch him play. I was mesmerized. Instantly hooked, I asked for a guitar for my 14th birthday. As for my approach to playing, I just did my best to emulate the players I liked and that eventually morphed into what you hear me play today!
What instruments do you play aside from guitar? Anything especially cool?
I play bass and piano a little. I know enough to get my basic ideas recorded, but that's about it. I'd like to learn how to play the violin some day!
Who would you collaborate with if you got the chance, aside from the people you work with now?
If I really liked the music, I'd be interested in collaborating with anyone. Obviously, there are dream collaborations like working with Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, or Chris Cornell , but I'm up for anything as long as I think it's fresh!
Lastly, what are you going to do next? Any plans for the future?
I've got lots of things planned for 2014. I don't want to reveal too much at this point. But I will say this - This will be my biggest year, by far! Thank you very much for the interview. I had a great time answering these questions :)
You can listen to Nick's work at http://nickjohnstonmusic.com/ , or you can find him on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NickJohnstonOfficial .
Starting us off: who are you, what do you do and where are you from?
Hi! My name is Nick Johnston and I'm a musician based out of southern Ontario. I love writing music, I love teaching guitar and I currently have 2 independently released instrumental records out!
You and Mark Rehkopf are basically partners, collaborating and drawing inspiration from each others work-you even go to conventions and showings together, presenting your work as a group effort. How'd that partnership happen?
Mark and I have been working together for about 3 years now and It's been really amazing to work with such a talented, experienced artist. I discovered his work at a small art show just outside of Toronto and was instantly blown away. I was in the process of releasing my first instrumental record and I was at the point where my project needed a visual direction. I got in contact with Mark and we talked a few times about the project. I really like the vibe he gave off and after I sent him the music, he was totally into it. I just basically gave him the title, 'Public Display Of Infection' , and he came up with some of the coolest album artwork I had ever seen. From there, we became really good friends and we're constantly working together on projects.
How did you get involved in the comics scene? The first time I met you was at Fan Expo in Toronto, and it was definitely unique to meet a guitarist playing in the middle of the artists booths.
I've always been interested in comic books. I grew up reading them and have collected them for years. After Mark did all of the art for my first album, we spoke about doing a bit of a story to help support all of the characters that appeared on the front cover. That idea turned into something a little more ambitious, and eventually we figured it would be cool to turn it into something we both had a passion for: Comic Books. It was a very natural approach. It just seemed like the right way to present the stories. We weren't out to make any money at it, so we didn't really worry about trying to appeal to a certain audience. We just had a really great time coming up with a fun story that made us both laugh! We then decided to make it into a limited physical book that would be available for anyone who was interested in what I was doing with my music. Once the book was out, we did some conventions where I would play music from the albums the comic was based on. It seemed to be a hit with a lot of people as you don't often see a performing guitar player at a comic convention! It's a blast!
Would you say you base your music more off of his artwork, or the other way around-or do you just work together at the same time?
I would say the artwork is more based off of the music, as I present Mark with new material all the time. The song titles or the style of music will help him decide which direction the art will take. I rarely ever say anything about the direction of the art. He always knows what the best approach should be and he always knocks it out of the park. Mark is extremely talented.
Actually, you collaborate a lot with other musicians and artists, like Paul Gilbert and Guthrie Govan. You're even featured on Periphery's new album. Is it just your style to collaborate with as many people as you can?
I've been lucky to have had a chance to work with some pretty unbelievable musicians, yes! I think working with other musicians who approach and play music completely different from you own is very important. I'm not sure It's part of my style, but I do enjoy it when I'm presented with the opportunity! When Spencer (Sotelo) asked me to record a guest solo for his track on the new Periphery project ('Clear'), I was very excited, as I'm not a metal musician. I think it's really cool when musicians from different worlds work together because it often yields some amazing results! I love how Spencer approaches music, too. I really like talking about composition, melody and arrangement with him - I feel like we have a lot of similarities in that respect.
A lot of critics and fans alike have noted that even without vocals, your albums feel very full-bodied in sound, and yet a lot of people have questioned the decision. Is that something you're going to keep doing or have you ever considered a vocal addition?
I feel like I'm still developing as a musician and I have absolutely no idea what direction my music is headed - which is great! There are so many things I'd like to do and there are so many people I'd like to work with. Hopefully I can do all of those things - including something with vocals. For now, I just do what I feel is natural, and the instrumental approach seems to be where my head is at. Who knows what the future has in store!
Your albums criss-cross quite a few genres and styles of playing on each album, drawing influence from a lot of places, mostly tied together by your guitar playing and the style of the other musicians you feature. Why do you think you play such a variety of styles?
I just love music. My attraction to it is certainly not bound to any one style. There is so much out there to experience, learn from, be in awe of and absorb into your own playing and writing. I think that's the reason my music is so varied - you are what you eat!
A lot of your music and the concepts behind your work seem to be drawn from a lot of sci-fi, especially retro stuff; what is it about sci-fi that it inspires you so much?
I think you can draw a parallel between Science Fiction and instrumental music. With Sci-Fi, you can create any reality you can dream up, and with instrumental music, you aren't held by one genre of music. They're both very free! I feel like those two worlds go together very well because there is room for as much as you can imagine. It's all about being creative! Not only that, but there is always such strong imagery tied to any science fiction, and that imagery makes me want to write a theme or a melody to support it!
How true to life would you say your comic is? It seems like a pretty accurate portrayal of day-to-day living.
Haha, It's quite possibly the exact opposite of 'true to life'. It's based around a time traveling musician-turned-astronaut and is set 1000 years in the future. Awesome!
How did you start playing guitar, and where in the world did you learn to play like you do?
I started playing when I was around 14. My neighbour, who was a year older than me, played the guitar and I could always hear him playing through his basement window. I thought he was the coolest guy on the planet, so one day I went over and asked to come in and watch him play. I was mesmerized. Instantly hooked, I asked for a guitar for my 14th birthday. As for my approach to playing, I just did my best to emulate the players I liked and that eventually morphed into what you hear me play today!
What instruments do you play aside from guitar? Anything especially cool?
I play bass and piano a little. I know enough to get my basic ideas recorded, but that's about it. I'd like to learn how to play the violin some day!
Who would you collaborate with if you got the chance, aside from the people you work with now?
If I really liked the music, I'd be interested in collaborating with anyone. Obviously, there are dream collaborations like working with Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, or Chris Cornell , but I'm up for anything as long as I think it's fresh!
Lastly, what are you going to do next? Any plans for the future?
I've got lots of things planned for 2014. I don't want to reveal too much at this point. But I will say this - This will be my biggest year, by far! Thank you very much for the interview. I had a great time answering these questions :)
You can listen to Nick's work at http://nickjohnstonmusic.com/ , or you can find him on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NickJohnstonOfficial .
Saturday 18 January 2014
Perturbator (James Kent)
This week, Small Talk chats with James Kent, AKA Perturbator, a Parisian musician who blends retro eighties synthesizer style, modern EDM percussion and a dark futuristic mood to make some of the most varied and layered electronic on the scene.
Alright, first things first: who are you, where are you from, and what do you do?
Well I was James Kent, a little teenager from Paris who had a simple life and spent nights watching science fiction and horror movies from the 80s, Until the night my laserdisc player fell on my head and put me in a coma. A bunch of mad scientist decided to re-animate me and replaced all that was dead in me with synthesizer circuitry. I am now Perturbator, from Nocturne City. And I am programmed to tell my story through synth music.
You've been making music as Perturbator for a couple of years now, not for a very long time. What other music projects have you been a part of, either before or after the synth-surgery?
Before that I was the guitar player in a progressive / death metal band called "I The Omniscient". We only made one EP and splitted. I also have another project that just started called "L'enfant De La Forêt" which is more ambient / trip-hop.
Yeah, and what's really cool is that as different as L'enfant De La Forêt is from your work as Perturbator, it's still recognizably your beats even with such wildly different influences.
Thanks man, I appreciate that alot. I still consider it a side project but maybe i'll take it further someday. Right now i'm focusing more on doing new stuff with Perturbator which is my main thing.
Would you say you're surprised by how far you've come in the short time you've been releasing material as Perturbator? You've been getting a pretty good amount of exposure recently, through things like the release of Hotline Miami and Gamespot's "Year In Gaming 2013"-it must be making the scientists proud.
Definitely! I wasn't expecting that much exposure when i first joined the soundtrack of Hotline Miami, that was amazing. Thanks to them, it also helped me a lot and was a great motivation to improve my sound. I think of it as an exchange, when people like my music i want to go further with it and make even better music for them, systems upgraded.
Something you do that has been a little out of vogue lately in the electronic scene is you tell stories through your albums, with releases like I Am The Night and Sexualizer. A lot of electronic artists release concept albums, but why tell a cohesive narrative?
Well I do this because i really think you have to be in a specific mindset to enjoy what /i do. I agree that music has to speak for itself but a wider audience can be lost sometimes in the amount of vintage synths and modern EDM mixed in a Perturbator track. So the stories are a way for me to say to the listener "this is what I had in mind when I made that album". I try to make something different out of each releases so it also helps me focusing on what the releases should sound like. But i'd rather talk about a "plot" than a "story" really. Mostly because I don't want to force people to think about it when they listen to the music and I try to leave the text open to interpretation. They are here just to set the mood basically.
There's a very specific mood to your music, for sure-you've self described it as "dark and retrofuturistic", and whenever I see your music online it's inevitably tagged as 80's. Why the match of that specific time period and that kind of tone for your music? Especially considering how high-energy a lot of it is.
Probably because i only use vintage synths from the 80s in my music and most of my sounds are definitely influenced by movies like Blade Runner, Alien or Total Recall for examples. I'm talking about those "gritty" looking science fiction movies from the 80s that showed us very dark cityscapes and had a more pessimistic vision of our future (while nowadays future is showed to us in a more "all white and minimalistic" way). Still, i like to mix it all with more modern sounds, so basically i see my music as a modern revision of that "dark retrofuturistic" mood.
I can see that, especially with how you mix EDM beats and retro sounds. Actually, it sounds a lot like a Cyberpunk style; speaking of which, any response from the team at CD Projekt Red about any collaboration for the Cyberpunk 2077 game?
Yup! It was pretty vague actually, they've seen the edit I made of their trailer with my music and told me that they haven't decided about who they'll feature on the soundtrack yet but they'll keep me in mind. So it's neither a "yes" or a "no". Only time will tell me!
Speaking of video games, I have to ask: what came first, the Hotline Miami game project or the Sexualizer EP? A lot of people have noticed the cover art has quite a few parallels to Hotline Miami's content.
The "Sexualizer" EP definitely came after Hotline Miami, it was a little tribute to it actually. My own way to say "thank you" to the devs and to my new fans that discovered me with the game. It was also a way for me to finally release the track "Miami Disco" officially!
How do live shows with you usually go? Things like audience interaction, stage set up, and general atmosphere.
I don't do live shows yet. I've only did gigs with my Death Metal band a couple of years ago. But it's only now that i'm working on doing my live sets as Perturbator. It's quite hard for me cause i'm a bit of a perfectionist and i know that i won't be satisfied with it at all. I'd like to have wicked anime visuals playing behind me, arcade machines exploding everywhere and cyberpunk girls doing aerobic onstage while i'm playing but i know that's pretty impossible right now. Well I just have to roll with it.
That sounds like a really hype show, so I hope it happens sometime. What about general fan interaction? Any crazy or ridiculous fans, any really cool experiences?
I try to keep as close as possible with my fans, they're all really cool and I know I wouldn't be what i am now without them (sorry that's so cheesy, haha!). Some of them creates stuff around my music, like glitched versions of my artworks or music videos, for example, which I always find really touching. What amazes me with them is that they all come from different backgrounds, like some of them are really into extreme metal, others are gamers, electronic music listeners, indie developers, writers, graphic designers etc... I don't really know what that means about my music but i'm very happy with this and the support they give me is outstanding. I'd like to thanks each one of them if i could. Also i've never stumbled upon "THAT" crazy fan that has my face tattooed on his torso yet. So nothing too "crazy" already haha.
Also i'd like to add that I eat babies, just to balance out all that cheesyness.
Where'd you get your name from? More than once, i've told people about "Perturbator" and i've gotten some pretty uncomfortable looks-was it meant to evoke this kind of response, especially considering what perturbed means and your style in general?
Haha! Well it's a throwback to the 80s. When every action flicks was named like "something-ator". (Terminator, Exterminator, Interceptor, Predator, Vindicator) And i like the term "perturbed" so that's just it. I don't know, I kinda wanted it sound badass. It definitely sounds out of this world and it goes well with the music anyway so that's cool. As to how it is supposed to be pronounced i can't help you. Say it like you want to say it really.
Oh and I stumbled across a cool band the other day, they're called "██████". For real, this is not a joke. How am I supposed to tell that to my friends ?
It definitely sounds badass. If you had to sum up your entire style in one word-a word nobody else has used to describe it yet-what would you say?
Mhhhh...that's one hard question... "Odd" ?
"Odd" is a bit less fitting than "badass dark and retrofuturistic", but it's a pretty good word regardless.
Haha yeah well, it's hard to find the one word no one used you know!
Going back to what you said about cool new bands, is there anything interesting happening in the electronic scene that you think should get more exposure? A movement, a specific person, anything.
Yeah, "GosT" ! check out this guy. He's really cool.
Are there any up and coming artists in a field aside from music you think deserve some spotlight?
Definitely, check out Ariel Zucker Brull, he makes amazing illustrations. Also filmmakers Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and David Sandberg.
What was the first time you can remember that you made music?
Oh man, that goes back to when i was like 6 years old playing synths with my dad I think. It sounded like shit but it's still considered as music right? Also i've made a lot of music at an early age with my two best friends Leo and Dylan.
Leo and Dylan?
Haha yeah, respectively Bass player and Drummer from our ex-band "I the Omniscient". They're like my best friends since forever.
Coming to a close here, what sort of plans do you have for the future? Anything new in the works, or anything waiting on the back burner?
Oh man, I have written down a huge list of musical concepts I want to try. I don't want to spoil anything but lots of cool collaborations, new ideas, movies and games soundtracks, and of course live shows. But right now my next album "Dangerous Days" will hit sometime this year and I hope people will enjoy it as much as they enjoyed the others.
You can find James's work as Perturbator at http://perturbator.bandcamp.coam/ and https://soundcloud.com/perturbator, his project L'Enfant De La Forêt at https://soundcloud.com/lenfant-de-la-foret, and his facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Perturbator.
Alright, first things first: who are you, where are you from, and what do you do?
Well I was James Kent, a little teenager from Paris who had a simple life and spent nights watching science fiction and horror movies from the 80s, Until the night my laserdisc player fell on my head and put me in a coma. A bunch of mad scientist decided to re-animate me and replaced all that was dead in me with synthesizer circuitry. I am now Perturbator, from Nocturne City. And I am programmed to tell my story through synth music.
You've been making music as Perturbator for a couple of years now, not for a very long time. What other music projects have you been a part of, either before or after the synth-surgery?
Before that I was the guitar player in a progressive / death metal band called "I The Omniscient". We only made one EP and splitted. I also have another project that just started called "L'enfant De La Forêt" which is more ambient / trip-hop.
Yeah, and what's really cool is that as different as L'enfant De La Forêt is from your work as Perturbator, it's still recognizably your beats even with such wildly different influences.
Thanks man, I appreciate that alot. I still consider it a side project but maybe i'll take it further someday. Right now i'm focusing more on doing new stuff with Perturbator which is my main thing.
Would you say you're surprised by how far you've come in the short time you've been releasing material as Perturbator? You've been getting a pretty good amount of exposure recently, through things like the release of Hotline Miami and Gamespot's "Year In Gaming 2013"-it must be making the scientists proud.
Definitely! I wasn't expecting that much exposure when i first joined the soundtrack of Hotline Miami, that was amazing. Thanks to them, it also helped me a lot and was a great motivation to improve my sound. I think of it as an exchange, when people like my music i want to go further with it and make even better music for them, systems upgraded.
Something you do that has been a little out of vogue lately in the electronic scene is you tell stories through your albums, with releases like I Am The Night and Sexualizer. A lot of electronic artists release concept albums, but why tell a cohesive narrative?
Well I do this because i really think you have to be in a specific mindset to enjoy what /i do. I agree that music has to speak for itself but a wider audience can be lost sometimes in the amount of vintage synths and modern EDM mixed in a Perturbator track. So the stories are a way for me to say to the listener "this is what I had in mind when I made that album". I try to make something different out of each releases so it also helps me focusing on what the releases should sound like. But i'd rather talk about a "plot" than a "story" really. Mostly because I don't want to force people to think about it when they listen to the music and I try to leave the text open to interpretation. They are here just to set the mood basically.
There's a very specific mood to your music, for sure-you've self described it as "dark and retrofuturistic", and whenever I see your music online it's inevitably tagged as 80's. Why the match of that specific time period and that kind of tone for your music? Especially considering how high-energy a lot of it is.
Probably because i only use vintage synths from the 80s in my music and most of my sounds are definitely influenced by movies like Blade Runner, Alien or Total Recall for examples. I'm talking about those "gritty" looking science fiction movies from the 80s that showed us very dark cityscapes and had a more pessimistic vision of our future (while nowadays future is showed to us in a more "all white and minimalistic" way). Still, i like to mix it all with more modern sounds, so basically i see my music as a modern revision of that "dark retrofuturistic" mood.
I can see that, especially with how you mix EDM beats and retro sounds. Actually, it sounds a lot like a Cyberpunk style; speaking of which, any response from the team at CD Projekt Red about any collaboration for the Cyberpunk 2077 game?
Yup! It was pretty vague actually, they've seen the edit I made of their trailer with my music and told me that they haven't decided about who they'll feature on the soundtrack yet but they'll keep me in mind. So it's neither a "yes" or a "no". Only time will tell me!
Speaking of video games, I have to ask: what came first, the Hotline Miami game project or the Sexualizer EP? A lot of people have noticed the cover art has quite a few parallels to Hotline Miami's content.
The "Sexualizer" EP definitely came after Hotline Miami, it was a little tribute to it actually. My own way to say "thank you" to the devs and to my new fans that discovered me with the game. It was also a way for me to finally release the track "Miami Disco" officially!
How do live shows with you usually go? Things like audience interaction, stage set up, and general atmosphere.
I don't do live shows yet. I've only did gigs with my Death Metal band a couple of years ago. But it's only now that i'm working on doing my live sets as Perturbator. It's quite hard for me cause i'm a bit of a perfectionist and i know that i won't be satisfied with it at all. I'd like to have wicked anime visuals playing behind me, arcade machines exploding everywhere and cyberpunk girls doing aerobic onstage while i'm playing but i know that's pretty impossible right now. Well I just have to roll with it.
That sounds like a really hype show, so I hope it happens sometime. What about general fan interaction? Any crazy or ridiculous fans, any really cool experiences?
I try to keep as close as possible with my fans, they're all really cool and I know I wouldn't be what i am now without them (sorry that's so cheesy, haha!). Some of them creates stuff around my music, like glitched versions of my artworks or music videos, for example, which I always find really touching. What amazes me with them is that they all come from different backgrounds, like some of them are really into extreme metal, others are gamers, electronic music listeners, indie developers, writers, graphic designers etc... I don't really know what that means about my music but i'm very happy with this and the support they give me is outstanding. I'd like to thanks each one of them if i could. Also i've never stumbled upon "THAT" crazy fan that has my face tattooed on his torso yet. So nothing too "crazy" already haha.
Also i'd like to add that I eat babies, just to balance out all that cheesyness.
Where'd you get your name from? More than once, i've told people about "Perturbator" and i've gotten some pretty uncomfortable looks-was it meant to evoke this kind of response, especially considering what perturbed means and your style in general?
Haha! Well it's a throwback to the 80s. When every action flicks was named like "something-ator". (Terminator, Exterminator, Interceptor, Predator, Vindicator) And i like the term "perturbed" so that's just it. I don't know, I kinda wanted it sound badass. It definitely sounds out of this world and it goes well with the music anyway so that's cool. As to how it is supposed to be pronounced i can't help you. Say it like you want to say it really.
Oh and I stumbled across a cool band the other day, they're called "██████". For real, this is not a joke. How am I supposed to tell that to my friends ?
It definitely sounds badass. If you had to sum up your entire style in one word-a word nobody else has used to describe it yet-what would you say?
Mhhhh...that's one hard question... "Odd" ?
"Odd" is a bit less fitting than "badass dark and retrofuturistic", but it's a pretty good word regardless.
Haha yeah well, it's hard to find the one word no one used you know!
Going back to what you said about cool new bands, is there anything interesting happening in the electronic scene that you think should get more exposure? A movement, a specific person, anything.
Yeah, "GosT" ! check out this guy. He's really cool.
Are there any up and coming artists in a field aside from music you think deserve some spotlight?
Definitely, check out Ariel Zucker Brull, he makes amazing illustrations. Also filmmakers Jason Eisener, Adam Wingard and David Sandberg.
What was the first time you can remember that you made music?
Oh man, that goes back to when i was like 6 years old playing synths with my dad I think. It sounded like shit but it's still considered as music right? Also i've made a lot of music at an early age with my two best friends Leo and Dylan.
Leo and Dylan?
Haha yeah, respectively Bass player and Drummer from our ex-band "I the Omniscient". They're like my best friends since forever.
Coming to a close here, what sort of plans do you have for the future? Anything new in the works, or anything waiting on the back burner?
Oh man, I have written down a huge list of musical concepts I want to try. I don't want to spoil anything but lots of cool collaborations, new ideas, movies and games soundtracks, and of course live shows. But right now my next album "Dangerous Days" will hit sometime this year and I hope people will enjoy it as much as they enjoyed the others.
You can find James's work as Perturbator at http://perturbator.bandcamp.coam/ and https://soundcloud.com/perturbator, his project L'Enfant De La Forêt at https://soundcloud.com/lenfant-de-la-foret, and his facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Perturbator.
Saturday 11 January 2014
Todd Goldstein of ARMS
In our first interview, Small Talk sits down with Todd Goldstein of ARMS, an NYC-based musician whose work is both entirely personal and something we can all sympathize with. Often recorded in his own home and using a fairly traditional band set-up, his work as ARMS makes great use of soundscapes and effects to deliver its message to listeners.
So first, before we start things off, introductions are in order here: Who are you, where are you from, and what do you do?
My name is Todd Goldstein, I'm from Brookline, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston), and I have been writing and recording pop songs under the name ARMS since 2004.
I know that after your first album as ARMS, Kids Aflame (made during your time with the Harlem Shakes), you expanded ARMS from a solo project to a full-on band; this might be old news, but why the change? I mean, even without the Harlem Shakes, you could've kept on by yourself; what prompted the formation of a new group?
When Harlem Shakes broke up in 2009, I had been writing songs by myself for most of my life previously. While Harlem Shakes was never 'my' band (it was resolutely 'our' band, and I was the guitarist), I'd always had designs on leading my own group—and so once the Shakes dissolved, that seemed like the perfect time to pull the trigger. I was looking forward to the opportunity to have more minds at work in ARMS than my own. Luckily, I found some amazing guys, and the results far exceeded my expectations.
How did you all meet and start making music together?
It's important to note that the ARMS I'm talking about now—the band as it existed from 2009 to 2012 or so—is different from the band as it exists now. (Today it's just me and my drummer Tlacael, with a revolving cast of buddies filling in the spaces.) At the time though, Matty Fasano emailed me out of the blue asking if I was looking for any new bandmates after the Shakes had broken up; I snagged Tlacael Esparza as his old band, the dearly departed chamber-pop group Frances, was breaking up; and Dave Harrington (who's currently one-half of DARKSIDE with Nicolas Jaar) was an extended member of our music family who I'd always wanted to make noise with. And so poof! We were a band. Sometimes it's actually that easy.
Was there a definitive moment where you said "Yeah, we're officially a band", or did it just happen over time?
We knew it instantly. I was in awe of everyone's musicianship, I was lucky enough that they liked my songs, and we came together around that common purpose and started writing and arranging Summer Skills right away.
The first album by ARMS was very personal and highly involved in your time in New York, while from there the band focused a little more on creating worlds and telling stories: what inspired that change in subject?
I think I just started widening my scope. My 20s were overall a pretty depressive, anxiety-filled time for me, and I'd initially started writing ARMS songs as a way of exploring that floating sense of dread by being brutally, painfully honest both in my delivery and in my lyrical subject matter—but by the time I got to album 2, that approach started to feel old. The abstracted fictional storytelling thing may have come out of a growing familiarity with that anxiety… instead of talking about what it feels like (the 'what'), I started finding supernatural ways of explaining its presence in my life (the 'why'), and that expanded to become the world of Summer Skills.
Speaking of that dreaded beast inspiration, what inspired the supernatural elements of Summer Skills? There's a fair amount of imagery on that album of monsters and creatures, and it's even described as a "fractured tale of love under supernatural circumstances" on your bandcamp page.
I wanted to create a world that felt like the inside of my head in those days, without actually addressing the circumstances of my life—which at the time involved a lot of breakups and new beginnings and complicated emotions. Something about the inhuman darkness that was constantly at my shoulder felt like the horror and sci-fi movies I'd loved as a teenager, so I set the album's dissolving romance in a similar universe.
Changing tack, what's the average live show by you like? How's the fan interaction?
The live show is always different. I've got great bandmates these days—we're usually a quartet with guitar / bass / drums / keys and samples—and the show itself is always tight, focused, and loose in the right ways. Audience-wise, the folks who go to shows in NYC these days are pretty sedate and fan interaction tends to be fairly minimal, unfortunately. Strange to say, but we're much "bigger" on the Internet than we are in real life. Our hometown crowds tend to be sparse, but every once in a while I'll meet someone after a show who'd been into my songs since the early days and it totally makes my evening.
How's your fanbase interaction in general? I know from experience you're good at getting back to replies and such, but what are the interactions like? Any crazy fan stories?
We've had super-fans over the years, and that's always pretty heart-warming, although no one's stalked me or anything. The best fan mail I've ever gotten, though, was from Gary Lightbody, the lead singer in the humongous UK band Snow Patrol. He wrote a review of "Heat & Hot Water" in Q Magazine one day—I still have no idea how he got ahold of the song—and we struck up an email correspondence. He's a fantastic guy, incredibly supportive, and a totally inspirational songwriter. He's my rock 'n roll uncle.
How far have you gone on tour, and what's your favourite place you've been?
We haven't toured as much as I'd like over the years—it's pretty damn expensive, with very little chance of breaking even—but we've gotten out there a bit. Harlem Shakes used to tour a hell of a lot more, back when such things were possible. My favorite place is probably Charleston, SC. It's the charming-est Southern town in the nation. Spanish moss all over everything. Great grits. Raucous shows.
Going back to the Harlem Shakes, I know I've heard fans still talking, and I've even seen new fans discover them; have you all kept in touch, and are there any chances for any collaborative efforts between you all again?
Yeah it's amazing that our records are still finding their way out there! I love it. Jose (bass) and Brent (drums) and I are all still very close. They've both sidelined music since the band broke up, but Jose's become a pretty unbelievable techno DJ and Brent writes novels and very occasionally puts out music under the name Thunder & Lightning. I'm mixing Brent's new record right now, actually. It's extraordinary. We'll get it out there eventually.
On that note, if you could work with any person in music today (aside from the fine folks you currently associate with), who would it be and why?
I've always wanted to sing standards in a jazz band. Lounge-style, in a suit.
Are there any new music movements going on in New York you wish had more exposure or recognition, or that you just plain think are cool? Art in general?
I've become a bit of a musical hermit over the years, so I'm not sure I can speak to 'movements' going on in NYC, but one of my favorite locals bands is my friend Martin, who goes by Brazos—he's on Dead Oceans, his stuff is killer—and I just found out about this cartoonist/artist and I think his stuff is magic: http://www.guybillout.com/
How did you start making music-the very beginning, as far back as you can remember?
My parents forced me to take piano lessons when I was 8! How else does anyone get started in music??
What plans do you have for the future, for both yourself and ARMS?
Well our last EP—which was called EP2—came out on a small label and did pretty well, and I'm in the midst of writing a new record. It'll be a good bit poppier than anything I've done before, which should be interesting. Putting the finishing touches on a special Valentine's Day surprise, too. I'm also in grad school for graphic design, so that takes up most of my energy. Always gotta be moving forward.
You can find Todd and ARMS online at http://www.armsarms.com/ , or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/armsongs .
So first, before we start things off, introductions are in order here: Who are you, where are you from, and what do you do?
My name is Todd Goldstein, I'm from Brookline, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston), and I have been writing and recording pop songs under the name ARMS since 2004.
I know that after your first album as ARMS, Kids Aflame (made during your time with the Harlem Shakes), you expanded ARMS from a solo project to a full-on band; this might be old news, but why the change? I mean, even without the Harlem Shakes, you could've kept on by yourself; what prompted the formation of a new group?
When Harlem Shakes broke up in 2009, I had been writing songs by myself for most of my life previously. While Harlem Shakes was never 'my' band (it was resolutely 'our' band, and I was the guitarist), I'd always had designs on leading my own group—and so once the Shakes dissolved, that seemed like the perfect time to pull the trigger. I was looking forward to the opportunity to have more minds at work in ARMS than my own. Luckily, I found some amazing guys, and the results far exceeded my expectations.
How did you all meet and start making music together?
It's important to note that the ARMS I'm talking about now—the band as it existed from 2009 to 2012 or so—is different from the band as it exists now. (Today it's just me and my drummer Tlacael, with a revolving cast of buddies filling in the spaces.) At the time though, Matty Fasano emailed me out of the blue asking if I was looking for any new bandmates after the Shakes had broken up; I snagged Tlacael Esparza as his old band, the dearly departed chamber-pop group Frances, was breaking up; and Dave Harrington (who's currently one-half of DARKSIDE with Nicolas Jaar) was an extended member of our music family who I'd always wanted to make noise with. And so poof! We were a band. Sometimes it's actually that easy.
Was there a definitive moment where you said "Yeah, we're officially a band", or did it just happen over time?
We knew it instantly. I was in awe of everyone's musicianship, I was lucky enough that they liked my songs, and we came together around that common purpose and started writing and arranging Summer Skills right away.
The first album by ARMS was very personal and highly involved in your time in New York, while from there the band focused a little more on creating worlds and telling stories: what inspired that change in subject?
I think I just started widening my scope. My 20s were overall a pretty depressive, anxiety-filled time for me, and I'd initially started writing ARMS songs as a way of exploring that floating sense of dread by being brutally, painfully honest both in my delivery and in my lyrical subject matter—but by the time I got to album 2, that approach started to feel old. The abstracted fictional storytelling thing may have come out of a growing familiarity with that anxiety… instead of talking about what it feels like (the 'what'), I started finding supernatural ways of explaining its presence in my life (the 'why'), and that expanded to become the world of Summer Skills.
Speaking of that dreaded beast inspiration, what inspired the supernatural elements of Summer Skills? There's a fair amount of imagery on that album of monsters and creatures, and it's even described as a "fractured tale of love under supernatural circumstances" on your bandcamp page.
I wanted to create a world that felt like the inside of my head in those days, without actually addressing the circumstances of my life—which at the time involved a lot of breakups and new beginnings and complicated emotions. Something about the inhuman darkness that was constantly at my shoulder felt like the horror and sci-fi movies I'd loved as a teenager, so I set the album's dissolving romance in a similar universe.
Changing tack, what's the average live show by you like? How's the fan interaction?
The live show is always different. I've got great bandmates these days—we're usually a quartet with guitar / bass / drums / keys and samples—and the show itself is always tight, focused, and loose in the right ways. Audience-wise, the folks who go to shows in NYC these days are pretty sedate and fan interaction tends to be fairly minimal, unfortunately. Strange to say, but we're much "bigger" on the Internet than we are in real life. Our hometown crowds tend to be sparse, but every once in a while I'll meet someone after a show who'd been into my songs since the early days and it totally makes my evening.
How's your fanbase interaction in general? I know from experience you're good at getting back to replies and such, but what are the interactions like? Any crazy fan stories?
We've had super-fans over the years, and that's always pretty heart-warming, although no one's stalked me or anything. The best fan mail I've ever gotten, though, was from Gary Lightbody, the lead singer in the humongous UK band Snow Patrol. He wrote a review of "Heat & Hot Water" in Q Magazine one day—I still have no idea how he got ahold of the song—and we struck up an email correspondence. He's a fantastic guy, incredibly supportive, and a totally inspirational songwriter. He's my rock 'n roll uncle.
How far have you gone on tour, and what's your favourite place you've been?
We haven't toured as much as I'd like over the years—it's pretty damn expensive, with very little chance of breaking even—but we've gotten out there a bit. Harlem Shakes used to tour a hell of a lot more, back when such things were possible. My favorite place is probably Charleston, SC. It's the charming-est Southern town in the nation. Spanish moss all over everything. Great grits. Raucous shows.
Going back to the Harlem Shakes, I know I've heard fans still talking, and I've even seen new fans discover them; have you all kept in touch, and are there any chances for any collaborative efforts between you all again?
Yeah it's amazing that our records are still finding their way out there! I love it. Jose (bass) and Brent (drums) and I are all still very close. They've both sidelined music since the band broke up, but Jose's become a pretty unbelievable techno DJ and Brent writes novels and very occasionally puts out music under the name Thunder & Lightning. I'm mixing Brent's new record right now, actually. It's extraordinary. We'll get it out there eventually.
On that note, if you could work with any person in music today (aside from the fine folks you currently associate with), who would it be and why?
I've always wanted to sing standards in a jazz band. Lounge-style, in a suit.
Are there any new music movements going on in New York you wish had more exposure or recognition, or that you just plain think are cool? Art in general?
I've become a bit of a musical hermit over the years, so I'm not sure I can speak to 'movements' going on in NYC, but one of my favorite locals bands is my friend Martin, who goes by Brazos—he's on Dead Oceans, his stuff is killer—and I just found out about this cartoonist/artist and I think his stuff is magic: http://www.guybillout.com/
How did you start making music-the very beginning, as far back as you can remember?
My parents forced me to take piano lessons when I was 8! How else does anyone get started in music??
What plans do you have for the future, for both yourself and ARMS?
Well our last EP—which was called EP2—came out on a small label and did pretty well, and I'm in the midst of writing a new record. It'll be a good bit poppier than anything I've done before, which should be interesting. Putting the finishing touches on a special Valentine's Day surprise, too. I'm also in grad school for graphic design, so that takes up most of my energy. Always gotta be moving forward.
You can find Todd and ARMS online at http://www.armsarms.com/ , or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/armsongs .
Welcome to Small Talk!
Welcome to Small Talk, a blog where I'll be interviewing smaller-name, relatively underground artists and general content creators of every kind! Whether a musician, photographer, game designer, filmmaker, painter, ARG-creator, animator, or anything else that deserves a little more attention in the world at large, this is where you can find out more about them and how they create! There's a lot of really great things being made today, and because of how many things are being made it can be kind of hard to find out about some of them. By interviewing the people that make all of the aforementioned cool things, i'll let them show what they do and explain why they do it to fans new and old alike. Keep in mind that when I say "relatively underground" I place a lot of emphasis on the "relatively"; underground doesn't mean unknown and covers a wide range of social prominence, and I'll try and interview as many people as I can. New interviews will be updated on a weekly basis, bar any unforeseen mishaps and circumstances, but I'll do everything I can to stay on schedule.
So, if you enjoy any of the things I mentioned, stick around. You'll see some pretty cool things and meet some pretty cool people, and you might even find something that interests you you wouldn't have found otherwise!
So, if you enjoy any of the things I mentioned, stick around. You'll see some pretty cool things and meet some pretty cool people, and you might even find something that interests you you wouldn't have found otherwise!
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