The unknown inspires me the most
Up to about 1994 I had been making stacks of lo-fi recordings... Anything that makes a noise (without having to read a manual) is OK with me... The most influential artist for me is Holger Czukay from Can...
Oscilator: 1. Your lp is out now. Press comments are very good, did you expect that?
Reverbaphon: I continue to be surprised.
Oscilator: Please tell me something about your previous works?
Reverbaphon: I've had one previous commercial release in 2002. However, I've been making and recording music since about 1989. Up to about 1994 I had been making stacks of lo-fi recordings, mainly using junk instruments, toy instruments, ethnic instruments and an old drum machine. I had no specific approach to making music, just - 'start playing and see what happens'. I recorded to a small 4 track recorder and built up pieces track by track. After much bouncing of tracks end products tended to be pretty hissy. It was around about eight years ago I started making cdr's and expanded my electronic instrumentation, including sampling. I then made about 4 - 5 cdr's worth of finished music really as a processs of learning how to make better quality recordings, none of which has been released other than small batches to local shops in Glasgow. Since 2002 I've come full circle relying less and less on electronic instruments. I still regularly plunder my old tapes for sampling and inspiration.
Oscilator: What inspires you the most, some situations in life, other music?
Reverbaphon: The unknown inspires me the most. Not knowing what is coming next. Not having context. Improvisation. Then giving context, through assembling the improvised parts. In this way the meaning is up for grabs constantly.
Oscilator: You have a big instruments collection that has been used on your cd. What are your favorites?
Reverbaphon: I don't have a favorite but I think I would miss having my nylon acoustic guitar the most. The all time most precious one has to be the accordion. This is my partner Eva's mother's accordion dating back to the 1950's.
Oscilator: Please tell me something about your production methods? What do you think about digital stuff, synths, software synths, sequencers?
Reverbaphon: Production methods are home based. I sit in my spare room recording all acoustic instruments direct to DAT then sample the 'good' bits to be sequenced into computer. It's basically multi track recording using basic sequencing. Every composition starts from improvisation. Anything that makes a noise (without having to read a manual) is OK with me, though I haven't got into virtual synths etc because I still use a very dated computer which couldn't support these things.
Oscilator: How do the public react to your live acts? Are you more at home on the stage or in the studio?
Reverbaphon: Most of the time I play live renditions of my compositions. My favorite reactions are when folk are surprised, and (hopefully) get the humor content, and emotional content in equal measure. I don't 'play along' to sequencers at all when playing live. I don't like playing to backing tracks either. I like working with drum machines in live performance because it's more honest in the sense that all the sounds are generated 'live'. It's also a challenge to make the drum machines not sound mechanical and repetitive. In one way I think I'm much more at home in 'the studio' (my flat) because the music I'm doing at the moment is very layered with acoustic instrumentation, and therefore very difficult to do live when playing solo. On the other hand I find playing live really helps develop some of my compositions. Quite often new tracks come out of playing old ones live.
Oscilator: What are you listening to these days? Is there any new music that you especially like?
Reverbaphon: Right now I'm interested in Tori Cudo (Maher Halal Hash Baz), Haco, Asa-Chang and Junray. The newest music that really made a lasting impression was probably Otomo Yoshihide's work when in Ground Zero (late nineties). He never fails to surprise. Probably still the most influential artist for me is Holger Czukay from Can (Canaxis / Movies).
http://www.benbecula.com/
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