Category: Interviews (Page 15 of 112)

PATRICIA WOLF Interview

20 April 2023 /

Based in Portland Oregon, Patricia Wolf is a musician, sound designer and producer who first came to the attention of electronic music audiences as a member of SOFT METALS.

Since the acclaimed duo disbanded, she has been rediscovering her muse using electronics, voice and field recordings to conjure vivid textures and environmental atmospheres.

Taking her time before releasing her solo compositions to the world, in early 2022, she issued her debut album ‘I’ll Look For You In Others’, a bittersweet ambient work documenting a period of bereavement, heartbreak and disconnect. It was swiftly followed by the brilliant ‘See-Through’, a more hopeful and joyous suite of radiant soundscapes that saw Wolf finding her way to a place of lightness that embraces life and the curiosities that it has to offer.

In a break during preparations for an upcoming North American tour, Patricia Wolf kindly took time out to chat with ELECTRICITITYCLUB.CO.UK about her creative rebirth and love of nature.

Some people who know you from SOFT METALS might be surprised at the ambient and field recordings direction you have taken, how did this come about?

In 2017 I got an invitation from my friend Gina Altamura to create a live reimagined score for a screening of Jean Cocteau’s ‘La Belle et la Bête’ as part of her series ‘Fin De Cinema’ which invites musicians to reinterpret the soundtracks of classic art films. This project inspired me to approach music differently. This is when I first started using field recordings in my work. For example, I used the sounds of a rooster crowing, an arrow being shot, the guttural chanting of a monk, wine being poured into a glass, and other sounds to add interesting audio elements alongside the music. All of the sound from the original film was cut for this performance so I wanted to try to add as much as I could within a live context to make the film more sonically interesting for the audience. I loved working with these sounds – manipulating them, using them to reinforce the drama unfolding on the screen.

While I was composing for the scenes of the film, I noticed that the music I was making was more atmospheric than my previous work, but I was happy with how it was coming out. I thought that writing music in this style would be a brief affair, but it was actually a turning point in my way of expressing myself. I had already been a listener of ambient music, but I had never tried to make music like that before. After that experience I found myself composing more and more music in an ambient/experimental style.

These are not the exact versions of what I performed live, but here are some examples of the songs that I created for the new soundtrack for ‘La Belle et la Bête’ which ended up on ‘Sotto Le Stelle’.

https://patriciawolf.bandcamp.com/track/pas-de-deux

https://patriciawolf.bandcamp.com/track/la-belle-et-la-b-te

Had you considered a song oriented solo career because some would say that you had a strong visual presence with SOFT METALS which might have been suited to the social media environment of today? Or had you already tired of that side of the music business already?

To be honest, I was never comfortable with being in the role of ‘frontperson’, but with synthpop music I think people expect that sort of presentation especially when you are singing. I did have some fun with that persona, but it’s not something that I am interested in doing now.

My desire has always been to let people get lost in the music. I don’t want my image to be the focus. In the work that I do today I like to use nature or nature inspired imagery as much as possible. I want to draw attention to the beauty and complexity of the natural world so that people will feel inspired to appreciate and protect it. Understating my image may help others find a personal connection to the music. I do like seeing images of the artists that I admire so I am going to try to share a little bit of myself from time to time. I like to express ideas that are bigger than myself and then point to that.

How do you look back on SOFT METALS, was it all a valuable learning experience?

SOFT METALS was my first band and I have many fond memories associated with it. I did indeed learn a lot from that experience. We toured throughout North America and Europe and through those travels I learned so much more about the world. I am grateful for that and I’m so happy that I can continue to build upon those experiences with my solo project.

Is there a thread running through your current work from your past because beautiful textures and sound design were very much part of SOFT METALS’ sound.

Like you mentioned, textures and sound design are important elements of my current work. My most recent music as a solo artist better suits introspection where SOFT METALS made music better suited for social situations. You could dance and sing along if you wanted to and it was loud and active enough that people could drink and talk to their friends at a venue or party and it did not ruin the experience at all. My music now needs a much more intentional environment to be understood and appreciated, especially in the live context. It requires you to sit and listen more intentionally. I think that at some point I might make more ‘social’ music again now that the world feels more open and social, but I’ve been slow to get back to that.

There was a period of time between SOFT METALS ending and my albums coming out that I made techno for live performances supporting artists such as SILENT SERVANT and HEADLESS HORSEMAN, but I didn’t release those works. I made a lot of music that I had only performed live before the solo albums came out. I think at that time I was exploring what it meant to work alone. I suddenly had this freedom to do whatever I wanted and I also had to get used to performing alone, which was very scary at first!

One of the concerns that I had at first was that people would not be open to me working in another style of music. I decided to not let that stop me. My favourite musician is the late Ryuichi Sakamoto and one of the many things that I love about him was is open-minded approach to music and sound. He wasn’t afraid to jump from classical to pop, to sound art, to playful silly styles. If he found something interesting and inspiring he pounced on it and made something beautiful, fresh and exciting. I want to have that same freedom.

It was 2020 when you released your first ambient work in the live ‘Sotto Le Stelle’ EP that was originally part of ‘Close Up Non-Stop’ streamed performances at the Ferrara Sotto Le Stelle Festival in Italy. How was it to prepare material and perform in this remote way within the strange world that had emerged from the pandemic?

I was grateful for the opportunity to share my work and to connect with others around the world, especially during that isolating time. Previous to the lockdown I was going out to many shows each week and seeing my friends frequently.

I didn’t want to fall out of touch with people and this gave me a chance to stay connected to the music community that I love. Preparing the music was not a challenge as it was work that I had been performing live before the declaration of the pandemic. The biggest challenge was recording the video of the performance. I have little experience with video production, but I’d love to learn more about it.

Photo by Gina Roberti

You mixed synthesized sounds with field recordings on ‘Sotto Le Stelle’, what has fascinated you about capturing the aural environment?

The experience of hearing an environment with field recording equipment (mic, recorder, headphones) for the first time is unforgettable and exciting. Each subsequent experience contains that same magic. You suddenly have superhuman hearing.

It immediately draws you into the present moment.  Whatever else is going on in your mind fades out and the real-time, present moment floods in and you notice the amazing world around you. What was once mundane is now spectacular! The world becomes hyperreal and it makes you question why you’re not listening to the world around you with so much attention at every conscious moment.

Field recording makes me sensitive to my environment and makes me question every sound around me, especially the anthropogenic ones that dominate the natural world. It makes me more conscious of the words that I speak and the tone and amplitude for each speaking situation. Since starting my practice of field recording I am now fascinated with the local birds. I am learning more about them and am better able to identify them by their songs and calls. It’s inspired me to take more action on environmental causes and to create a more welcoming habitat for them around my home. If I can entice listeners to draw a similar conclusion then I think there is hope that I can help people connect more deeply with the world around them.

Fast forward to 2022 and you released two albums, ‘I’ll Look For You In Others’ and ‘See-Through’ within 4 months of each other, had that been intentional?

Despite the two albums coming out closely together, they were completed about a year apart from one another. Each release was subject to the schedules of the pressing plants and that influenced when the albums were released. I can understand how it might seem that the two were made back to back, but there was about a year between them which explains why the feeling of them is so different. In retrospect I am glad that the two came out closely together because I do think it makes it easier for someone following those works to see the healing process, but at an accelerated rate.

I was in a really rough place emotionally when I wrote the first album. I was feeling lost and in unbearable emotional pain. I was trying so hard to find my way out of it. Fast forward about a year later and I was working on the material that went on to become ‘See-Through’. As you can hear, I did heal. It resulted in an album that’s much lighter and playful. At the time when I was writing ‘I’ll Look For You In Others’, I didn’t know if I’d ever feel that way again.

What did you encounter to inspire ‘Woodland Encounter’?

Nature itself. This song has a very tender feeling of love and awe which is how I feel about the natural world. The music represents the feeling I have when I’m walking in a natural environment and observe wildlife or a beautiful landscape.

Is ‘Springtime In Croatia’ autobiographical or inspired by your imagination?

It’s a bit of both. SOFT METALS played in Zagreb, Croatia in 2014 and we had a very nice experience there. Many people who came to the show met up with us the next day and took us on a tour of their city. They generously taught us about the history of their country. There was so much kindness and enthusiasm in the people that I met there. I was moved by this beautiful experience.

The field recording that is used in the song ‘Springtime In Croatia’ is by a Croatian field recordist named Ivo Vicic who indeed made that recording in the Croatian countryside during springtime. When I heard it I fell in love with the sound of the birds and water and immediately started playing along with it on my Novation Summit. The song has a romantic feeling to it which I associate with the springtime. The music has a feeling of tender love and longing. In one sense it’s representative of how it feels to me to be in love and on the other hand I wanted to say thank you to the people of Croatia for showing me such a nice time in their country by giving that song that title.

Acoustic guitar appears on ‘The Grotto’ while your voice acts as another instrument?

Yes! My brother left an acoustic guitar at my house after a visit and I decided to try to play it. I played a bit of guitar as a teenager so I knew how to tune it and how to play some chords. For years and years I have only worked with synthesizers and drum machines. I found it to be refreshing and inspiring to play so I just started layering these improvised strummings and chords. Processed through a lot of reverb and delay they had such a dreamy and romantic feel and I felt compelled to sing.

Your voice is very prominent on ‘A Conversation With My Innocence’ in an abstract manner, but do you miss singing and lyric writing?

I enjoyed the challenge of writing lyrics for songs, but I also feel like my lyrics often fall short of what I want to express. I like instrumental music for its ability to allow the meaning to be open to interpretation. Adding lyrics can restrict a song’s meaning, but if the lyrics are cleverly poetic and the song is beautifully sung it can be deeply affecting. Sometimes though, you either don’t feel comfortable saying explicitly how you feel or you can’t find the right words so music and abstract vocalisations fit better.

Photo by Max Wolf

‘The Mechanical Age’ has this wonderful sense of space about it, yet it is very melodic?

I’m glad that you like that one. It was inspired by my research into the late 1800s Paris while I was working as a sound designer for a VR game called ‘Walking A Turtle’ by Jeremy Rotsztain. It was the era of Exposition Universelle, the introduction of the phonograph, the telephone, the mechanised world, and industrialization. With my song ‘The Mechanical Age’ I wanted to capture the sense of wonder and curiosity people must have been feeling at that time.

‘Pacific Coast Highway’ is unusual in the context of ‘See-Through’ in that it features electronic beats?

That one is an outlier on the album, isn’t it! I remember at the time I made it I was looking at my Elektron Analog RYTM thinking, “Hey old friend! I haven’t forgotten about you!”. I was thinking back on a track that I had made years before but had never recorded. I wanted to try to recreate it just for fun and ended up making this song. I liked how it turned out and it reminded me of driving on the Pacific Coast Highway.

In terms of tools, what do you prefer to use now in composition and production?

I am very dedicated to my Novation Peak and Summit which I was an official sound designer for. It’s easy for me to express myself through those instruments and I still find so much inspiration with them.

Having worked with analog equipment a lot in the past, how do VSTs work for you?

I find them to be a nice complement to working with hardware/ analog synths. I mostly use VSTs that process sounds for example GRM Tools and Sound Magic Spectral. If you’re interested in sound design I think you should be open to all the available tools. I love working with a mixture of hardware and software. I make the broad strokes with my hardware synths and then refine things further using software.

How do you find the divide between streaming and physical product as an artist today, what are the pros and cons for you? Do you think they are actually different audiences for each?

I like the convenience of being able to stream music, but as someone who wants to have a deeper understanding of the music, get to know the artist and the team that was part of the work coming into being, I prefer physical releases or digital Bandcamp releases because they often come with so much more information. I wonder how many people who listen to music mainly on streaming sites get to know the artists that they are listening to. Do they know the artists’ names, the intent behind the albums, or is it now these days for some people just about finding the right ‘vibe’ to be in the background of their lives?

Bandcamp is the main place where I discover new music and it’s much easier to learn more about an artist and their work there. I love it when you can buy the physical release of an album and there’s so much information to absorb alongside the music.

Photo by Edward Pack Davee

Are there any other artistic directions which you would like to pursue? Does film soundtrack work interest you?

Yes, I would love to work on film soundtracks! I have done sound design work for video games and really enjoyed it. I think that the type of music that I make would work well in films.

What’s next for you?

This May, I will be supporting the great Bonnie Prince Billy on a tour of the Pacific Northwest. I am currently in the process of setting up a different tour in the fall with some European dates. Hopefully I can make it to the UK this time around. I’ve been working on new music and hopefully I will have a new album to share with the world this fall.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Patricia Wolf

The albums ‘I’ll Look For You In Others’ and ‘See-Through’ along with a selection of field recordings are available digitally direct from https://patriciawolf.bandcamp.com/

Patricia Wolf opens for Bonnie Prince Billy on the following 2023 live dates:

Victoria Capital Ballroom (10th May), Vancouver St. James Community Square (11th May), Bellingham Wild Buffalo (12th May), Portland Aladdin Theater (14th May)

https://www.facebook.com/patriciawolfmusic

https://twitter.com/patwolfmusic

https://www.instagram.com/patriciawolf_music/

https://soundcloud.com/patriciawolf_music

https://linktr.ee/patriciawolfmusic

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5U2PKpLxoEwfOnPAwzPt5T

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
20th April 2023

LANDSCAPE Interview

17 April 2023 /

Photo by Paul Cox

Comprising of Richard James Burgess, Chris Heaton, Andy Pask, Peter Thoms and John L Walters, LANDSCAPE began as a jazz rock band, issuing two instrumental EPs ‘U2XME1X2MUCH’ and ‘Workers Playtime’ on their own label Event Horizon.

Keen to subvert their sound using electronic processing, synthesizers and synthetic drums, the quintet would find themselves at the centre of the synthpop revolution. Released in 1979 on RCA, LANDSCAPE’s instrumental self-titled debut album featured a catchy YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA homage titled ‘Japan’; the band were also profiled on the popular BBC science and technology magazine show ‘Tomorrow’s World’.

Their second album ‘From The Tea-Rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-Holes Of Uranus’ released in 1981 brought in vocals with eccentric but clever lyrical gists and computer control thanks to the Roland MC8 MicroComposer. It also contained the quirky Top5 hit ‘Einstein A Go-Go’ which looked into the mind of a crazed religious fundamentalist out to terrorise the world with a nuclear weapon.

Set to an incessant electronic drumbeat and infectious whistling hook, those innovative new sounds respectively came a prototype Simmons SDSV which Burgess co-designed with Dave Simmons and Walters’ Lyricon, one of the first electronic wind instruments of which the controller schematic later formed the basis of Yamaha’s WX-series.

In another set of firsts, the first single from the album ‘European Man’ used the term “EDM” in its catalogue number and artwork while thanks to his frequenting of The Blitz Club where he met the likes of SPANDAU BALLET, VISAGE and SHOCK who he subsequently worked with, Burgess is credited with coining the term “New Romantic”.

After a third album ‘Manhattan Boogie-Woogie’ in 1982 and a streamlined rebrand as LANDSCAPE III, all five members continued to have success in various fields. Richard James Burgess developed his career as a producer, working notably on ‘Trapped’ by Colonel Abrams and wrote the best-selling book ‘The Art Of Record Production’. Meanwhile bassist Andy Pask played the fretless on CHINA CRISIS’ ‘Christian’ and co-composed the theme to the popular British police TV series ‘The Bill’.

One of the UK’s top session musicians, Peter Thoms contributed the trombone line on Thomas Dolby’s ‘Hyperactive!’ before becoming a Session Official at the Musicians’ Union. Keyboardist Chris Heaton toured with Womack & Womack and produced a version of the Steve Reich work ‘New York Counterpoint’ for the Ballet Rambert with his brother Roger.

 

John L Walters produced SWANS WAY’s 1984 Top20 hit ‘Soul Train’ before reinventing himself as a journalist and then becoming the editor of ‘Eye’ and ‘Pulp’. With ‘From The Tea-Rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-Holes Of Uranus’ about to be reissued for Record Store Day 2023 and the summer release of a 5CD boxed set, he kindly chatted with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about his time in LANDSCAPE…

LANDSCAPE began as a jazz fusion combo, so how did the interest in using electronics come about?

We were always a band (not a combo), so it was great to get the .band suffix for our landscape.band website. LANDSCAPE was always about what we were interested in – which included jazz, funk, rock, systems and improvised music – and we were interested in electronics from the start.

The band began as a vehicle for my jazz compositions; my great hero Gil Evans had released an album ‘Svengali’, full of swirling live electronics alongside a big band. As we evolved from a nine-piece to eight (on Thursday the 12th), to six and finally to the five of us, electronics helped us make a big sound out of a small ensemble. Using pick-ups on the horns meant that we could use processing (fuzz, wah-wah, etc.) on the sax, flutes and trombone and avoid problems with in-house sound systems.

Chris added ring modulator and other effects to his electric piano: you can hear that in his delirious solo on ‘U2XME1X2MUCH’ and in the crashes at the end of the ‘Einstein’ bridge. Andy was always fixated on getting a superb sound from his basses. Richard and Chris had also experimented with electronics in Chris’ improv trio ACCORD. After we won a pair of big Vitavox speakers, we basically had a hi-fi PA, hand-soldered by Andy, with really good sound.

‘European Man’ was the first single off ‘From The Tea-Rooms Of Mars.… To The Hell-Holes Of Uranus’ and co-produced by Colin Thurston. What prompted the decision to self-produce the album after that?

LANDSCAPE has always had a very DIY approach to everything – Richard and I wrote an essay about this for the forthcoming ‘Landscape A Go-Go’ box set. After ‘European Man’, we did a few tracks at Southern Studios (including the unreleased ‘When The Chips Are Down’) to prove to Bill Kimber, our A&R manager, that we could be trusted to finish the whole album and keep within budget.

We enjoyed working with Colin Thurston, but LANDSCAPE was not easy to produce; our tech set-up and approach to music-making was radically different and at that time in 1980, not many engineers or studios knew what to make of the new paradigm.

The single artwork and catalogue number for ‘European Man’ had possibly the first known use of the term “EDM”?

Yes – that was suggested by Bill. We wrote a little line of jokey ad copy for the back cover: “computer programmed to perfection for your listening pleasure”. 

John Warwicker’s ‘Vitruvian Man’ cover for the 7-inch bag was a stroke of genius. John has also just done all the artwork for the box set and the forthcoming LANDSCAPE singles.

From the off, the album title pointed to humour being very much part of the creative ethos, which perhaps was the antithesis of say SPANDAU BALLET, VISAGE and ULTRAVOX?

There’s a lot of humour in many of the artists I admire: KRAFTWERK, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA and THE BEATLES as well as Thelonious Monk, Sly Stone, Carla Bley, Kate Bush etc.

We used to listen to radio comedy when we were on the road. Our roadie JJ (later in THE ART OF NOISE) had cassettes of ‘The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. When LANDSCAPE were purely instrumental, we would improvise introductory anecdotes to explain what the songs were about: titles like ‘Wandsworth Plain’, ‘Goldilox & The Jelly Bean Shuffle’, ‘Bagel Street Blues’ etc.

To answer the second part of your question, we liked musicians like Rusty, Midge, Warren and the Spandaus – we never felt in opposition to them.

‘From The Tea-Rooms Of Mars….’ had several innovative new instruments on it, the Simmons Drums and the Lyricon; Richard co-designed the Simmons but how did you come across the Lyricon?

I first got my hands on a Lyricon and an MC-8 on the same day (demonstrated at a trade fair in Russell Square), in the summer of 1978. Both instruments blew my mind. I couldn’t stop talking about them to friends and family.

Soon after, I borrowed a Lyricon (and subsequently bought it in instalments). It was manufactured by Bill Bernadi’s Computone company and imported by Ray Kitchen’s Musicaid, which also distributed the Simmons SDS III. I started to play Lyricon on gigs and it featured on our first album ‘Landscape’: ‘The Mechanical Bride’ is a good example. That was the beginning of a more ‘programmed’ approach to composition, even though it’s all played “by hand”.

I wrote an article about wind synthesis for Sound International and got to interview a few people who played the Lyricon, including Jack Lancaster and Bennie Maupin. I had already listened closely to several musicians who had used it, like Tom Scott (who played on STEELY DAN’s ‘Aja’ and with Quincy Jones) and the late Wayne Shorter, whose Lyricon playing on WEATHER REPORT’s ‘Black Market’ is sublime.

What were the other synths and tools you had at your disposal and how did you find them to use at the time?

Between us, we got our hands on a lot of stuff, and we had to teach ourselves how to use them on our music. Programming took a long time. Richard and I hooked up the MC-8 to play the Roland System 100M modular synths, a Roland ProMars and Richard’s prototype SDSV drum synth. Chris played the gorgeous-sounding Yamaha CS80 polyphonic keyboard synth, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Minimoog and Casio Digital Keyboard, plus a Roland Chorus Echo and a home-made instrument he sang down on ‘The Doll’s House’ which he called the Vocalophone.

We used a synced up CR-78, a Vocoder, lots of studio outboard effects (Eventide Harmonizer) and Peter used the Roland SPV355 (a pitch-to-voltage synthesiser) on his trombone. The big change from ‘Landscape’ to ‘Tea-Rooms….’ was using the MC-8 on every track: on ‘Sisters’ it powered the click track, but on ‘Computer Person’, every part was programmed except the little Casio on which Chris plays the tune. Sometimes we used the MC-8 to trigger a System 100M to rhythmically ‘gate’ sounds from instruments that wouldn’t otherwise speak to the computer.

The narrative of ‘Einstein a Go-Go’ is still sadly relevant after all these years?

Yes and no. I’d be interested in your take on the theme.

State terrorism is possibly a bigger threat than a lone actor (the protagonist of ‘Einstein’) with extreme convictions and a suitcase bomb. By the way the opening phone calls (which I made at Redwood, the Monty Python studio) are genuine.

I always imagined a madman with a nuclear arsenal so that immediately points me to Putin…

Well, we were imagining the protagonist as a complex loser, so Putin fits…

But sadly we’ve seen people like our guy, religious extremists with an inferiority complex and a wrongheaded interpretation of religious texts, who have done a great deal of damage without nuclear bombs. This was all written thirteen years before the World Wide Web made it easier for people like that to spout their poisonous nonsense to a credulous audience.

Does it still surprise you that ‘Einstein a Go-Go’ became a Top5 hit?

No. People don’t always listen too closely to lyrics. Does it surprise you?

‘Einstein a Go-Go’ was very catchy and with the almost nursery rhyme refrain “better watch out, better beware, Albert says that E=MC2”, the song could be appreciated by a big age range plus your middle eight shout would have had a gothy punky appeal! Why do you think ‘Einstein a Go-Go’ appealed to a mainstream audience?

Hmm … what do you think? My answer would be that it’s full of hooks.

The three part title track of ‘Tea-Rooms….’ pre-dates the modern day trend for electro-lounge music by several decades?

Yes, good observation! I reviewed Señor Coconut for The Guardian and loved them.

The three subtitles, ‘Beguine’, ‘Mambo’, ‘Tango’ were taken from the presets on the Roland Compurhythm CR-78 (the woody precursor to the 808, 606 and 909). People often used them for low-cost entertainment in clubs and cruises; we imagined a band playing in the lounge of a Space Station, or in the bar of an interplanetary ferry transporting passengers through the solar system.

Photo by Paul Cox

Was ‘Face Of The 80s’ about anyone in particular?

No. Did you have someone in mind?

‘Face Of The 80s’… hmmm! My first thought was it was about Steve Strange but it occurred to me, it might have been Pamela Stephenson who appeared in the Janet Leigh role for your ‘Norman Bates’ video, it looked like you had fun making that with her?

That was a great experience. Director Brian Grant (still going strong) assembled an amazing team and shot it on 35mm film. Pamela was (and still is) a complete pro. We are in awe of her. But that was a year or so after RJB and I wrote ‘Face of the 80s’.

‘Norman Bates’ was quite bizarre track to get into the Top 40, what came first, the music or the idea to base a track around the ‘Psycho’ character?

Music. It started as a moody instrumental, based loosely on the great track ‘Lowdown’ by Boz Scaggs. I was looking for a really slow funk groove with a flute-like hook. The subject matter (a bit like you implied with ‘Face’) is that I was encountering all these skinny, nervy young men, musicians in other bands, salesmen at music stores, journalists, who reminded me of the Norman Bates character as played by Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. And Stephen Paine, sadly no longer with us, called his company Syco Sound. He was the tall, slightly nervy (but very nice) guy (a cousin of Peter Gabriel) who imported the Fairlight CMI into the UK from Australia.

Going back to what I said about back stories to instrumentals, I turned it into a song by making the hook line a vocal chant and adding a narration at the end. I was also influenced by Ian Dury, who was the master when it came to integrating spoken-word, literary elements into pop-funk. However it was a bizarre choice for a single release. We should have released ‘Shake The West Awake’.

Was ‘Shake The West Awake’ a commentary about the political climate of the Far East or was it much more innocent, like the emerging affordable technology from Japan and Hong Kong?

The title is a rearranged line from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake that Marshall McLuhan was fond of quoting: “The west shall shake the east awake … while ye have the night for morn”

Richard and I read McLuhan (and debated what his pronouncements might mean for us) while we were on the road with LANDSCAPE. The title of my tune ‘The Mechanical Bride’ came from McLuhan’s first book, which was about advertising. McLuhan adapted his title from Marcel Duchamp’s ‘The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even’ aka ‘The Large Glass’.

Is there a LANDSCAPE track that is your favourite?

I’ve already mentioned ‘Shake’, and I have particular affection for ‘The Mechanical Bride’ (which was a starting point for the ‘Tea-Rooms’ sound); it looks both backwards and forwards at LANDSCAPE’s musical development. It was inspired by both KRAFTWERK and WEATHER REPORT, with its jerky jigsaw drum and bass parts, jazz chords and Peter’s outrageous electric trombone solo.

‘The Long Way Home’ also seems increasingly relevant. In that scenario, a failed leader attempts to proclaim that not only they were right after all, they weren’t going to apologise, and that everybody secretly admired their terrible actions. Which seems completely relevant in the age of Johnson, Bannon, Truss and Trump. Andy Pask has mixed an instrumental version of that for the box set ‘Landscape A Go-Go’, and it’s as funky as hell (much funkier without my lead vocal!). It’s a great instrumental showcase for the band at that time, with Andy’s fabulous bass, Richard’s drum fills, Chris’ wild CS80 interjections. The hooky brass section with Lyricon and electric trombone is one of our best.

How do you think ‘From The Tea-Rooms Of Mars…. To The Hell-Holes Of Uranus’ stands up after over 40 years?

Surprisingly well. Everybody is making music that way now. Then it was revolutionary, challenging and time-consuming … but fun.

And it’s still fun now. When we listen to the multi-tracks on our DAWs, the individual tracks sound fresh: expect lots more remixes.

There’s the vinyl LP reissue of ‘Tea-Rooms’ for RSD2023 but you’ve also mentioned a boxed set, what is included in that?

The three albums, EPs, singles (including LANDSCAPE III), unreleased tracks, lots of live tracks, remixes, instrumental versions – 84 tracks in all. Hope you enjoy it. It’s called ‘Landscape A Go-Go. The Story of LANDSCAPE 1977-1983’. We’ve just started a series of social posts that tell the story of LANDSCAPE, with some archive visuals. And there are lots of unreleased live tracks, instrumental tracks and several unreleased studio tracks that we’re excited about getting out into the world.

Genius designer John Warwicker, who we first worked in 1978 when he was a student, has created some terrific graphics for the box set; also some new covers for the digital singles that are coming out over the next few months (first the “Einstein on the Floor” remix, followed in May by the remastered ‘European Man’ 7-inch, never before available digitally).

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to John L Walters

‘From The Tea-Rooms Of Mars.… To The Hell-Holes Of Uranus’ is reissued by Cooking Vinyl as a limited edition natural clear coloured vinyl LP with a full lyric insert on 22nd April 2023 for Record Store Day

‘Landscape A Go-Go: The Story Of LANDSCAPE 1977-83’ is released as a 5CD box set on 21 July 2023 by Cooking Vinyl featuring 84 remastered tracks, 52 available on CD for the first time and 22 previously unreleased in any format, pre-order from https://landscape.lnk.to/landscapeagogo

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
17 April 2023

NEU-ROMANCER Interview

14 April 2023 /

Hailing from Fremantle in Western Australia, NEU-ROMANCER is the latest in a lineage of electronic producers who have made Berlin their creative base and home.

The vehicle of Laura Bailey, the debut NEU-ROMANCER release ‘Neue Romantika’ is a largely Italo flavoured techno EP that pays tribute to the New Romantics while aurally illustrating a not-so-far-off digital dystopia.

As well as NEU-ROMANCER, Bailey is also plays bass in goth band VV & THE VOID, punk band CIERN and augments Alison Lewis in the live set-up of ZANIAS, the solo project of the charismatic LINEA ASPERA frontwoman. ‘Neue Romantika’ has been released on Lewis’ label Fleisch and also includes an ethereal remix of the title track by her.

As well as being a musician, Bailey is an artist with a talent for drawing and also a teacher. She kindly chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about NEU-ROMANCER and how her relocation to Berlin has reinvigorated her creativity and outlook.

What prompted your relocation to Berlin?

It feels so long ago. To be completely honest, it was quite the prompt… I broke my toe while I was traveling through Greece. The moment it happened I was overwhelmed with happiness, hopeful it would be a good enough excuse to not go back to Australia. Broken toes can’t really be fixed and it was absolutely fine a few weeks later. I moved to Berlin shortly after.

Was Berlin exactly as you imagined or were there a few shocks? I think seeing someone smoke heroin on the platform of Neukölln U-Bahn station was mine!

Haha! It’s part of the parcel. You do get used to it. It’s definitely a choose-your-own adventure sort of place. Public transport here is a daily challenge to see how well you respond to such situations. In saying that, I still hate the smell of crack on the U-Bahn. It was a shock at first, yes absolutely.

Your first instrument is bass, so how did you become interested in making music by electronic means?

Well, I began on violin, and from there I really wanted to play drums, so my Dad’s compensation was the bass (which is also his instrument, so we now get to enjoy this together).

The interest in making electronic music had a slow start, initially Ableton was more of a songwriting tool. I remember my first dance party in Sydney… I tried to resist the whole thing. At the time I didn’t know anything about EBM or body music, it would have been so enlightening. After my move to Berlin, I really got into artists like CURSES and SKELESYS who are the perfect bridge between the two worlds.

Then, when Alison and I began playing together, our long drives were filled with showing each other our influences. It was after that I really got excited. It’s a special moment, finding your new favourite thing.

‘Neue Romantika’ captures the New Romantics and Berlin, how did the imagery for the title track take shape in your head?

Thank you! ‘Neue Romantika’ initially took many forms… actually, I can share the demo with you if you would like? It’s quite rough, but it gives an idea of how I write my music… often they start off as songs that I then remix. I guess you imagine at the end of the day how you would like to be received. What is the end goal? I hate singing live. I’m way too shy, I want to dance and be present… maybe one day I’ll be able to enjoy both. In terms of the name – ‘Neue Romantika’ translates to ‘New Romantics’ in German… playing with all these cross-references felt like something that encapsulated what I was going for as a first release.

‘Remnants’ moves away from the instrumental uptempo format of the EP and ventures into classic goth; it is a duet featuring Kris Baha and has this strong melodic resonance and romance about it, have any particular artists been an influence?

Absolutely, if you have seen Kris play live, he covers THE CURE’s ‘Burn’ so well. He has such incredible range and emotion. We worked on ‘Remnants’ together with this in mind. The idea also stemmed from listening to Dischi Autunno’s compilation ‘Intermezzo’, which includes a CURSES song he wrote with his beautiful wife Rachel called ‘Gina’ and Kendal’s track ‘Nostalgia’. It reminded me how diverse this release could be, so why not write something more melodic and romantic? Sonically, artists like CHROMATICS and BLACK MARBLE have also contributed to this direction.

Are you planning to sing more yourself in the future?

Yeah, for sure, it is more or less how these songs begin, I am slowly letting vocals trickle back in.

Photo by Larissa Schöfl

‘Superposition’ has echoes of ‘Enjoy The Silence’, now synth hooks seem to play a key role in your music which isn’t always the case in a lot of techno for example… so is this your love of Italo Disco creeping in?

Yes! Of course… and that is incredibly sweet re: the DEPECHE MODE reference – I absolutely love a good synth hook. I am really enjoying what is going on with this Italo revival. I was talking with a friend the other day about how I never thought I would be alive at the right time and place to enjoy a movement that actually resonates. Everything on Ritmo Fatale is just fantastic.

What are your favourite composition and recording tools / synths?

Ableton, for sure. Every track always has a bit of MS20 somewhere… my bass… all the little bits that I’m so comfortable with, self-extensions. I think I might be picking up my dream synth this year. So, fingers crossed.

‘Blindsight’ is speedier but is the title referring to the “not-so-far-off digital dystopia” you have mentioned on Bandcamp? How do you find having to use social media as an artist and the attention that is triggered as a result?

The consistent idea behind all these references is exploring consciousness and identity through technology. In our current “dystopia”, social media has become an extension of oneself. I am trying to look at social media through the lens of what I am creating as opposed to it being personal. It can be exhausting, but at the same time it’s like a canvas. I don’t use it as often as I should and fortunately, the attention I have received so far has been predominately kind.

How did meeting Alison Lewis and becoming part of the ZANIAS live set-up come about?

The first time I met Alison, she was staying at my place in Sydney after a show. I’ll never forget that night, it was a late one and she just cracked me up. Fast forward a few years – everyone was stuck in Berlin not being able to tour due to the pandemic, which was actually quite fortunate because we all got to know each other.

So, Alison and I had a very wholesome time going for walks through Treptower Park and catching up over tea. When summer came, ZANIAS was offered some covid-regulated shows, I was invited. It was incredibly surreal, I think our first show was at the Munich Olympic Stadium… it was after that we discovered how well we work together.

What certainly comes across in the shows is that you and Alison love performing and touring together, are there any plans to collaborate together in the studio?

Yes, we are having a great time, and absolutely… we are drowning in ideas, looking forward to having some time to arrange them all. There will definitely be some collaborations on the way.

Is there a favourite tour memory or a fun incident that you cherish?

Grauzone Festival was definitely a highlight for the year so far, ZANIAS performed on Friday then we both DJ’d Saturday. After I finished, a group of us ran through the streets of Den Haag to get from my set to hers. When we got there the energy was so special. It was pure magic.

With Alison Lewis, Jennifer Touch and Joon, you’ve manage to connect with a cool electronic sisterhood, there’s still a lot to change but how do you see the future for female music artists?

Yes, these humans are all wonderful, I love the connection with all of them, they are all so incredibly talented.

I see a more political future fuelled by activism, I think we can all feel it coming. Our societal changes will certainly influence music and parties. In terms of the future for women in music – I hope we won’t have to question it. After growing up in the pre #metoo music world back home, I know we are already moving towards a better reality… not everywhere (not yet) but the dream is to abolish this dated, patriarchal bullsh*t. Music has a history of powering things along.

What is next for you?

I’ve just sent off some tracks to two very lovely compilations I am honoured to be a part of. Also a bunch of remixes, which is super exciting. Alison and I are going B2B at Berghain for the ‘Bite Nite’ on April 21st… still can’t believe it. ZANIAS has a lot of touring planned, we have some very special adventures lined up as well… with writing in between.

My punk band CIERN has a bunch of shows booked too, very much looking forward to the ‘Castle Party’ in Poland. And yeah… it’s been such a wonderful year already.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Laura Bailey

‘Neue Romantika’ is released as a blue marble vinyl and digital EP by Fleisch Records, available direct from https://neu-romancer.bandcamp.com/album/neue-romantika

https://www.facebook.com/neu.romacer.music

https://www.instagram.com/neu_romancer_/

http://fleischrecords.com/

https://open.spotify.com/album/27Elk3sGRjPuTxhODITerM

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
14th April 2023

DELERIUM Interview

11 April 2023 /


DELERIUM are the moody new age offshoot of Canadian industrial duo FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY. Although the line-up has seen a number of changes since DELERIUM’s formation in 1987, there throughout has been Bill Leeb and apart from a short hiatus, Rhys Fulber.

Best known for their worldwide hit ‘Silence’ featuring the voice of Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, DELERIUM have continued to use a variety of female guest vocalists on their albums since.

Their new album ‘Signs’ features Kanga, Mimi Page, Phildel and Inna Walters among its cast to provide the aching beauty and romanticism over DELERIUM’s enveloping dark electronic ambience and compelling rhythmic lattice.

Bill Leeb kindly took time out from rehearsals for an imminent tour with MINISTRY and Gary Numan to chat to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the ‘Signs’ which DELERIUM followed in the making of their most recent opus…

The most recent album ‘Mythologie’ was in 2016, so how did you decide the time was right to return with DELERIUM?

Well, a lot has happened since 2016. A world pandemic which changed everything and affected the whole music world immensely. Everyone’s lives have changed since then, and with Rhys moving back to Canada from Los Angeles, we were able to reconnect, be in the same room and be inspired to create again. Time does fly…

Was DELERIUM originally conceived as an escape from the louder more bombastic nature of FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY?

Yes, DELERIUM has always been an escape for the other side of my brain. I have always had a real love for ambient, world music inspired sounds, from TANGERINE DREAM to THE ORB to MASSIVE ATTACK and so on. It made sense to explore that side of my interest with an 8 track tape recorder in my room, so off I went into the dark blue yonder! When I started out, sampling was still it its infancy so the possibilities seemed endless, but all that has changed now as well. I think it’s important for artists to have different avenues to explore.

How does the creative dynamic between you both alter in DELERIUM away from FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY?

The fact that we bring in singers for DELERIUM who write the lyrics and add musical ideas as well changes the whole dynamic instantly. I do all that with FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY so there is a pattern with DELERIUM working with all those different artists. There is a constant change of flow and ideas between us all and that dynamic is incredible at times because we all learn from each other as the ideas get developed.

‘Silence’ with Sarah McLachlan in all its various guises was an international success in 2000 and took a life of its own, so did you feel you had lost control of how DELERIUM was perceived at that point?

‘Silence’ changed our lives forever. I could write a book about it. It’s also hard to know where to start and end with it, because even as we speak, some brand mixes have just emerged that are also getting a lot of love. It has never stopped. The song was originally being mixed [in 1996] as an instrumental when the phone rang and it was Sarah, who said she had an idea for it.

So, we took a break, she came down, sang it twice and the rest is history. We were asked to be on ‘Top Of The Pops’ when the song hit number 3 on the UK chart, it went to number 1 in Ireland, and was also a huge hit in Belgium, Holland, Australia, a hit in Germany, the US and more. We have no control over it anymore and when you go on YouTube, the song has its own life and that’s it. Thank you, Sarah…


Technology moves fast as we know, so were there any technological developments that shaped the way you realised the music this time round compared with before?

Technology is insane and now with AI and voice recognition, musicians will start to become expandable. When we started there were no computers, everything had to be done manually and you had to be in the same room. There was no MIDI, just analog, so timing and tuning were a constant issue. Nowadays everything can be done on the digital highway worldwide. Adaptability is the key to everything in life and art. You wake up tomorrow and you are out of fashion, so the only thing you can really do and be in charge of is what you create and are happy with.

With the ethereal downtempo nature DELERIUM, the new album ‘Signs’ focusses again on female vocalists and voice samples, are there any particular reasons for this preference?

I have always wanted DELERIUM to be a spiritual-minded escape and adventure. The female voices help to create an ethereal ambience and vocal choir samples really lend themselves to the sound we are trying to create. That said, we have actually recorded the Leoni Men’s Choir in a church in Vancouver for a Gregorian chant sound, plus the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as well.

Phildel and Mimi Page return as vocalists after their featured turns on ‘Mythologie’, the former on ‘Coast to Coast’ while the latter has three tracks ‘Falling Back to You’, ‘Remember Love’ and ‘Absolution’; how you go about choosing a suitable vocalist and how collaborative is the process?

Once we create a track we try and envision the type of singer we would like and what their voice might be like. We have a wish list, of course, but it’s not always that easy. We have built a great rapport with Mimi and Phildel and love what they bring to the table. Mimi actually brings song demos as well, so this is also an amazing way to collaborate. We have worked with a lot of singers over the years and this has always helped keep this experience exciting.

How did you connect up with fellow Canadian Kanga, her track ‘In the Deep’ is both mystical and accessible?

Kanga has history with Rhys as he produced her first album and that counts for a lot in this world. I actually approached him with the idea of working with Kanga. She was very gracious working with us and spending time in the cold water for the video. I think the lyric has a very profound meaning for her as it pertains to a personal experience of hers.

‘Streetcar’ with Inna Walters has some quite immediate pop qualities, how did the song come together and develop?

I think ‘Streetcar’ is a fabulous track and I fell in love with it the very first time I heard it. Inna is from England and when Rhys brought that demo into our camp via his connections, I couldn’t wait to work on it. Yes, it’s a bit different from all our other tracks but I think it’s an important song on the album and is one of my favourites, for sure…

‘Esque’ is a beautiful moody mid-album set piece, what made you decide to keep it instrumental rather than add vocals?

We had versions of this track with and without vocals. The one without also had some different programming. I thought the album needed a bit of balance, so putting an instrumental track there made sense.

Photo by Eric ‘Rodent’ Chesiak

Another instrumental ‘The Astronomer’ has this haunting classic Gary Numan vibe about it in the synth string part?

Again, I love this track, which Rhys began. We were inspired by the soundtrack for ‘Stranger Things’. We loved that it had that retro Numan vibe, which I don’t think we have ever made anything like in the past. Rhys had also acquired a new drum machine which really lent itself to this sound… and we love new toys as well.

‘Glimmer’ featuring Emily Haines is perhaps the oddity on the album in that it was first issued in 2015 but existed sometime before that?

The original had only previously been on a rarities release. Sometimes you do things on impulse and we wanted to give the song more of a dub vibe. I guess that’s all part of being an artist, in that sometimes you do things because you were in the mood that day. In case you don’t know, Emily Haines is an important Canadian vocalist from the band METRIC.

Which are your own favourite tracks from ‘Mythologie’?

‘Blue Fires’, ‘Ritual’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Ghost Requiem’ are definite highlights for me, plus I adore the artwork.

What is next for you either as DELERIUM, FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY or solo?

As FLA we are about to start a full US tour with Gary Numan and MINISTRY, immediately followed by mainland Europe for ten shows plus the WGT festival. In the fall we will play the Cold Waves Festival in Chicago plus a few other shows around that. As for DELERIUM, there will be a video for the new album song ‘Coast To Coast’ shot this month and we may also have remixes made in the near future. I am also working on a solo album for later in the year.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Bill Leeb

Special thanks to Gary Levermore at Red Sand PR

‘Signs’ is released by Metropolis Records as a double white vinyl LP, CD and download available direct from https://delerium-official.bandcamp.com/album/signs

https://www.metropolis-records.com/artist/delerium

https://www.facebook.com/Delerium/

https://twitter.com/Delerium

https://www.instagram.com/deleriumbandofficial/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFVOWDRn3UnIu00cR9pEx5Q

https://open.spotify.com/album/4meT5hyWhovIZDJYWMbGHr

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
11th April 2023

THEO SAYERS Tough Guys

4 April 2023 /

Ranging in style from hip-hop to electro, from crooner to rap, from grooves to dancey beats, Theo Sayers always applies witty humour and a playful sense of fun to his streetwise take on life.

‘My Nose Is A Little Runny’ from 2020 was his SLEAFORD MODS styled musical response to the worldwide pandemic, but he finally has new material and an album in the can. The first single released from it is ‘Tough Guys’ which also features the voice of former KNIGHT$ live band member Jasmine Brady.

His debut collaboration with Andy Carter who acts as co-producer, ‘Tough Guys’ takes inspiration musically from SOFT CELL and TEARS FOR FEARS while the amusing promo video has been directed by Tyrus.

Taking a break from finishing his upcoming full-length debut album ‘Ramen For Two’ and preparing for his next ‘Old Dreams For A New Age’ radio show on Resonance EXTRA, Theo Sayers kindly spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the lot of a tough guy…

What is ‘Tough Guys’ about, is the narrative autobiographical?

It’s not autobiographical and I wouldn’t really say there’s a strong narrative. With the song I suppose I wanted to poke fun at traditional ideas of masculinity and toughness, exploring the campiness of that imagery. There’s also subtle political undercurrents, “Fight back at the kingdom” has an air of resistance to it.

Your vocal delivery has been compared to Ian Dury, Jona Lewie, Kate Nash, Mike Skinner and Jason Williamson but who has it actually been most influenced by?

Those are all vocalists I admire and in the video you will, in fact, find me in the kitchen at a party… Haha! Some other vocalists that have strongly influenced me over the years are Terry Hall, Robert Smith and Damon Albarn.

Musically and technically, how was ‘Tough Guys’ seeded?

It actually began a long time ago (sometime in 2018) as a collaboration between me and my friend Andy Carter (who performs under the name COIN OP and appears in the video as the disapproving “tough guy”). We’d recently met and were bonding over a shared love of 80s music and cinema, we were also watching ‘Cobra Kai’ together so perhaps that had an influence.

We created the backing track together, I wrote my vocal part and then invited my friend Jasmine Brady (who previously performed with KNIGHT$) to sing on it. She came up with the lovely vocal hook you hear throughout and the song became the first of our many collaborations. Although it’s long been a staple of our live sets, I haven’t released it until now as admittedly I’m a bit of a perfectionist.

The video was filmed with a camera phone strapped to a waistband mount but you must have had some quite interesting and funny moments wearing it, particularly during the house party scene?

We used an actual camera, not a camera phone! There were many funny moments. Perhaps the unsung hero of the shoot is Rhys Votano (who directed my previous videos and also cameoed as the sleazy guy in ‘My Nose Is A Little Runny’), during the handlebar scenes he was actually underneath me, lifting me up. Later on at the party, he made a lot of fuss about being stuck with that role. Poor Rhys hahaha…

Are you sending up Vlogger/Influencer culture? Have people become too self-obsessed and narcissistic in their attempts to set up “a brand”?

You know, I hadn’t actually thought of that. I do think there’s a very toxic side to that culture though, especially the toxic male influencers like Andrew Tate. They deserve all the ridicule they can get!

How is your debut album ‘Ramen For Two’ coming along?

Very well! There’s just a few more tracks that require mastering so an actual release date will be set in stone soon. There will also be more videos!

‘Tough Guys’ b/w ‘Tell Me I’m A Super Lover’ is available via the usual digital platforms including Bandcamp at https://theosayers.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theosayersmusic/

https://twitter.com/theosayers

https://www.instagram.com/theosayers/

https://linktr.ee/theosayers

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0iaqiCh8ozGLtdBjR7BdZJ

Text by Chi Ming Lai
4th April 2023

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