LEYLAND KIRBY

Leyland James Kirby is a true hero of modern music.  A genuine innovator and persistent thorn in the side of mediocre composition, his output is vast and ranges from corrupting and distorting electronica through to pop music destruction and his current ambient beguiling.  Having operated under the guises of V/Vm, The Caretaker, The Stranger, his own name and countless other monikers he has performed all over the globe and released a larger catalogue of work than Littlewoods and Argos combined, much of which these days requires its own Da Vinci Code to uncover and acquire.  This interview is conducted specifically relating to his contribution for the Long Division With Remainders project itself a similar undertaking to his participation on Thurston Moore’s Root project almost a decade ago.  Ladies love a legend.

“I wanted to be a bumblebee when I was a child.”

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

LK: Mr James Leyland Kirby, located in Berlin Germany and surrounded by beautiful women.  My music is like Alan Whicker on the Orient Express with a magnum of Champagne.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

LK: I was the disc jockey at Justin and Helen’s wedding day bonanza.

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

LK: I did it inbetween bedding many beautiful women of different nationalities in various countries.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

LK: Trevor Horn always did very well.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

LK: The afterglow of sexual conquests.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

LK: During a warm sensual massage with some warm aromatic oils.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

LK: We cannot put time on such sensual pleasures everything lasted as long as it needed to last and was never disappointing.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

LK: The sexiest organ I have.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

LK: The original 16 minute sex mix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood “Relax – Don’t Do It.”

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

LK: The Stranger, The Caretaker, V/Vm and a million other pseudonyms including recording music for other lazier musicians.

NP: Where are things heading?

LK: To the bedroom for debauchery with a beautiful girl or if we are very lucky beautiful girls room 808 style.

LEYLAND KIRBY

LEYLAND KIRBY live

V/VM

V/VM live

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SONE INSTITUTE

Sone Institute is the weird and wonderful world of electronic artist Roman Bezdyk spinning together found sounds, classroom percussion and a host of stringed instruments to conjure up a surreal and fantastical world of pure sonic imagination.  To date he has released one album in the form of the fine of Curious Memories on Front And Follow Records who are also curating and releasing the Long Division With Remainders project that finds me speaking to Roman today.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

SI: Hello I am Sone Institute (Roman Bezdyk).  A psychedelic excursion through chance encounters and an escape from the mundane.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

SI: I was asked by Helen Watson and jumped at the chance.

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

SI: I really looked upon the tracks as raw material and to try and make each version different from each other and from the original material.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

SI: I think it can be as long as it’s approached with a sense of adventure, to find a less obvious element and to try and bring that to life.  The original material was pretty abstract so that made it easier for me.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

SI: I hope a sense of adventure!  As I mentioned I tried to make the feel of each one very different.  From manic to mellow!

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

SI: I think my tracks work well on headphones.  I was a bit obsessed with panning effects at the time!  I like the idea of isolation that headphones allow.  Real big headphones not the little iPod ones.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

SI: I worked on and off on them for a couple of months.  I thought they deserved the time and respect to let them develop as much as possible.  I didn’t want to just bang something out for the sake of it that would be pointless.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

SI: I used a turntable and vinyl for non scratching effects.  The odd string sample from a boot fair record.  I also added electric guitar to one track and mainly my Prophet One snyth.  Plus a circuit bent Speak n’ Spell.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

SI: One that comes to mind is “Love Parasite” by Fad Gadget but I haven’t heard it in years!

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

SI: I have an album out on Front And Follow called “Curious Memories”.  And will have a 7 track EP out later in the year which is a collaboration with Dollboy called “The Sum And The Difference” also out on Front And Follow.

NP: Where are things heading?

SI: Onwards and upwards!

SONE INSTITUTE

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THE TRUTH ABOUT FRANK

Truth About Frank are two dudes called Ian and Alan.  They are from Leeds but do not hold that against them.  They have been active in electronic and experimental sound and music since late 2006.  Theirs is a cannibal work ethic.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

TAF: My name is Ian and I’m one half of The Truth About Frank, a duo based in Leeds, UK active since 2006.  We would prefer to leave the description of our music to others (neither of us being particularly eloquent in this regard), but the standard flag of convenience that we tend to employ would be “electronic/experimental”.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

TAF: We approached LDWR and asked them.

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

TAF: I for one didn’t particularly view this as a remix project; the terms of reference from the label were quite liberal, so we didn’t feel the need to forge a “representation” of the source material.  Rather, our aim was to produce something that we felt could stand alone, albeit restricting ourselves to solely employing only the LDWR sounds (we understand some participants worked the source material alongside their own sounds).  We divided the labour, confident that we are sufficiently of a mind to produce a series of pieces with an internal coherence throughout, and we believe we achieved this.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

TAF: Presumably it’s as creative as the artists engaging in the remix, to some extent governed by the tools at their disposal.  The term has obviously developed over the years from what the word actually suggests, to now encompass wholesale reconstruction appropriating as much or as little of the source material as the artist sees fit.  I’m not sure if there’s a line where something crosses from “remix” into “new unrelated item that happen to use sounds drawn from a certain source.”  Perhaps there’s some sort of artistic (and maybe legal) consensus out there that I’m unaware of.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

TAF: Again that might be best left for others to assess.  But in all honesty I don’t think either of us in TTAF is overly familiar with the original pieces.  If this sounds like a sleight against the project curators that’s not intended – it was a choice made at the outset of our participation which I for one will remedy with the CD issue.  There’s been some really excellent stuff produced by the contributors, such that putting them out together as a beautiful artefact is one we’re proud to be involved in, but it’s very difficult for us to say what The Truth About Frank brought specifically.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

TAF: In a state of indeterminate anxiety after prolonged sleep deprivation, horizontal and with headphones.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

TAF: Very difficult to quantify as we were working on this project alongside others.  Some of the work happens very fast.  Some of it develops over a period of weeks.  The two of us work on aspects of most projects separately, in different ways and at different paces.  The imposition of a deadline is always a bonus for me though.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

TAF: Ableton, Acid-Pro, Sound Forge and Audacity.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

TAF: That’s a difficult one.  “All time favourite” would be a bit strong but I particularly like “Roaring Hat Seeds” by Hartley & Huhta.  This is a reworking of “Sea Horse Trading” from the album “Catch Supposes” by He Said Omala.  HSO is a project involving  Graham Lewis from Wire.  A subsequent album of what I suppose you’d call remixes, entitled “Matching Crosses” came out and this was the standout track for me.

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

TAF: We’ve just released our 4^th EP “Murder Sleep” and have contributed tracks to several compilation and remix projects (such as “Sous Les Pieds La Terre” and “Faust Re:Cycled” (both on the French Headphonica net label) and are forming ideas for a full length release for later in the year.  There’s a possible collaboration with a Mongolian performance artist currently resident in the UK and a session (which would be our second of the year) for Dandelion Radio.

NP: Where are things heading?

TAF: No idea.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FRANK MYSPACE

THE TRUTH ABOUT FRANK BANDCAMP

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BLK w/BEAR

BLK w/BEAR is a harsh beast from Washington D.C.  Originally the vehicle for J.S. Adams, his reputation is a legacy of crushing aural organisms and organisations via manipulation and destruction.  BLK w/BEAR has since grown and extended into a three piece experiment with the additions of Doug Poplin and PD Sexton to the ranks.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

BLK w/BEAR (read: black with bear)_Washington DC USA.

Ambient_drone_experimental_modern classical.

BLK w/BEAR is a full-band effort of JS Adams (loops + prepared vinyl), Doug Poplin (cello + effects) and PD Sexton (bass + effects)…since recording the LDWR tracks the band now includes Renee Shaw as full creative partner and who has often augmented performances with live video mix as VJ Poppins.

BLK w/BEAR advocates a communications aesthetic wherein audio/visuals are distilled to key base components through image pixilation and sound/time manipulation.  We celebrate the physical manifestation of misfired communications, broken language and broadcast interference.  We champion delay and decay.  We champion audio bleed, field recordings and the deconstructed surface noise of altered vinyl recordings.  We herald cyclical repetitions and misappropriated realignments, intentional over-processing, signal saturation and digital malfeasance, audio pranksterism.  Through aggressive enlargement and recontextualization of the mundane and every-day we hope to usher listeners and viewers into a deeper introspective relationship with previously familiar – now unstable – environs.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

BLK w/BEAR: Prior associations with Justin Watson via Bad Hand Films (http://www.myspace.com/badhandfilm).

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

BLK w/BEAR: As one of the first versions, we mixed the original LDWR source materials to backing tracks and structures for supplementing by our recording sessions.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

BLK w/BEAR: The remix should exhibit and champion a truly new and collaborative product between the original constructs up and above simple audio window dressing and embellishments; either taking a totally new direction not unlike wherein Richard D. James reportedly submitted wholly original material for a NIN remix request; or – the route we took for our LDWR versions – the recontextualization found in “9 Beet Stretch” and pure sound manipulation of source materials as wonderfully expressed in Ekkehard Ehlers’ “Plays” series.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

BLK w/BEAR: I believe that we brought our personal “stamp” and flavour to our version – more so a reconstruction and recontextualization version rather than a remix – that reflects a distinct BLK w/BEAR recourse.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

BLK w/BEAR: I would hope that listeners shed preconceived notions and audio logistics, freely and openly accepting audio bleed and signal processing glitches as compositional tools and structures.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

BLK w/BEAR: Approximately 3 months between first remixes and final studio versions.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

JS Adams – loops and prepared vinyl.

Doug Poplin – cello and effects

PD Sexton – bass and effects

Long Division With Remainders – source materials

Pink Noise Studios, Takoma Park Maryland USA

Richard Morel – sound engineer

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

BLK w/BEAR: Coil “The Anal Staircase (A Dionysian Remix)

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

JS Adams collaborates with Jeff Surak (Violet) in VLT_BLK, a deconstructive turntablism duo.  Previous collaboration (“Wish For A World Without Hurt” album) with Mark L. Beazley (Rothko, Rome Pays Off).  BLK w/BEAR was originally Adam’s solo project.

Doug Poplin is a member of Bach Sinfonia.

PD Sexton regularly deejays in Atlanta and also performs as a solo artist.

NP: Where are things heading?

BLK w/BEAR: Forward with equally pleasant and challenging variant diversions and retrograde missteps.

BLK W/BEAR

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CATS AGAINST THE BOMB

Hailing from Ipswich, Cats Against The Bomb is a long standing sonic outfit that has tearing up stages for over ten years now.  A real one man audio bomber Adam Flood is the man behind the wheel.  To date he has released one album in the form of “Attack Of The Bunny Boilers From The Nth Lagoon” on his own Advanced Lawnmower Simulator label.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

CATB: Plutonium noise rock.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

CATB: We have known Justin Front & Follow since his previous record label (Bad Hand Records).

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

CATB: I was deprived of an internet connection for a week and got very annoyed.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

CATB: How creative is the art of songwriting when most songs use the same progression?

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

CATB: Noise.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

CATB: After a 24 hour long haul flight at the bottom of a bunker in Berlin.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

CATB: The duration of the flight.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

CATB: Ajutar and SYB-3.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

CATB: “Children Suffer” by Mixomatosis.

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

CATB: I’d like to do more Advance Lawnmower Simulator stuff, which is my label – any submissions accepted.  I’m also thinking of doing something much more primitive than Cats Against The Bomb.  Hasil Adkins is a reference point at the moment but there is some fancy wiring I also need to do.

NP: Where are things heading?

CATB: Towards entropy.

CATS AGAINST THE BOMB

ADVANCED LAWNMOWER SIMULATOR

THE ABOMINABLE MR TINKLER

The Abominable Mr Tinkler is a long-standing fixture of the Colchester music scene.  Tinkler is an act of caffeine-induced multiple sound degradation and sonic obliteration coupled with frantically spasmodic beats.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

T: The Abominable Mr Tinkler, also known as Peter Ravan but you can call me Pete.  Currently residing in Colchester, Essex.  If I had to describe this project I would say that it came out of necessity to avoid the need to start up a new band/project for every type of music I wanted to create.  I suppose I have quite a broad taste and with this, although it tends to be primarily electronic, I feel there aren’t any genre restrictions in place so it offers me a certain musical freedom that I find very attractive.  Musically, it’s very chaotic, but mostly organised chaos.  I have a cartoon-like visual image of a large cupboard piled high with objects and if you open that door it’s all just going to come spilling out…followed by a bowling ball.  And possibly a Yorkshire Terrier.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

T: Enthusiastically.

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

T: My approach varied depending on the tracks.  For the first two I played around with filters and effects, mostly reverbs.  I guess half-inspired by work from artists such as Tribes Of Neurot and Albert Ayler albeit in a more synthetic way.  Differently filtered versions of the pieces were layered over themselves or repeatedly processed, both forward and reversed, and in places the original dry sound completely removed leaving just the accumulated effect and reducing the track to mostly ambience and deep reverberations.  The second two tracks, I took a different approach.  Again running the original sounds through various processes but this time manipulating them into (mainly) percussive notes and noises, then combining them with new sounds to construct beats and rhythms which I used to create entirely new pieces.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

T: As creative as the individuals who make them.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

T: Well hopefully the idea that a remix can be more than just a slight re-working of source material.  That it can be a complete re-imagining from the ground up.  Of mood, rhythm, dynamics, melody, texture, etc.  And I think it helped in a way that the source material were not “songs” as such to explore that.  It’s by no means a new concept but I think it’s an important one.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

T: Ha ha.  I find this one quite hard to answer because things can get quite schizophrenic.  The LDWR EP in particular leads you into a state of serenity, before wrenching you in completely the other direction, so it ends up being neither purely aggressive nor peaceful, rather a combination of both.  I guess I’d have to say a receptive mindset.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

T: I find it varies track by track; sometimes pieces come together relatively quickly, sometimes not.  What really takes the time for me though, is when there are a lot of separate little sounds going on, due to the way I tend to work it can be a long process getting it all to sit in any kind of cohesive manner.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

T: Primarily a computer.  And turntables, sampler, fx pedals etc.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

T: That’s difficult, there are too many.  To mention just one would be an injustice to all the other fantastic ones I’ve heard.

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

T: Currently, as well as Tinkler, I have a more down-tempo/ambient project F-Lithium; Mother Sky, an improvisation/jam/post-rock type band in which I drum; and The Coriolis Effect, a project featuring a series of recorded soundscape pieces that build and evolve over long periods of time.  But there are others.

NP: Where are things heading?

T: With The Abominable Mr Tinkler it’s hard to say, I try to keep things diverse.  I’ve been playing live dates, not just gigs and dance events, but parties, noise nights, gallery spaces and multimedia events.  I’ve really been into the idea of spending more time working with mixed-media and collaborating with other artists since I did 1^st cut (an alternative soundtrack piece to accompany the 1929 Luis Bunuel film “Un Chien Andalou”).  I also plan to release more EPs and possibly an album in the near future as well as continuing to remix for other artists.  Musically, things have been becoming progressively harder and faster of late, but that’s not really pre-meditated.  Realistically you can only go so hard and fast, so it could go anywhere next.  I guess we’ll find out when it gets there.

THE ABOMINABLE MR TINKLER

KEN PEEL

Ken Peel is a modern composer based in Somerset.  He creates a blend of lounge electronica that can drift into experimental and often lyrical areas.  In addition to this he is also an occasional media composer with two critically acclaimed albums (“Salary Man” and “Marginal”) and two EPs under his belt.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

KP: Hello!  I am Ken Peel from Somerset, England.  I would describe my music as “lounge electronica.”

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

KP: I met Justin through The Arctic Circle collective/night club.

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

KP: I sat at the piano and improvised whilst listening to the tracks until I came up with something that felt right.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

KP: It’s as creative as a jazz soloist improvising a melody around a standard tune.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

KP: Perhaps some accessibility – I am not as experimentally “out there” as most of the contributors, so perhaps my versions are a way in for people unfamiliar with the genre.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

KP: Not whilst driving or operating heavy machinery.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

KP: Weeks.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

KP: Keyboards and a computer.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

KP: Renegade Master 98 – Fatboy Slim remix of “Wildchild”.

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

KP: The Arctic Circle, Chiller Cabinet, Flo-Motion, solo works, many years ago I played in a Blues Brothers covers band each year we talk about reforming but have yet to make it past curry stage.

NP: Where are things heading?

KP: Up!

KEN PEEL

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VOLUME = COLOUR

Volume = Colour are a duo consisting of guitarist/artist Arthur Karanikas and musician/visualist Don Rogers.  They originally came together to perform at the closing night of the 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival where in a live setting they use images of Karanikas’ paintings to create visual projections to accompany their playing.  Their performances are “open ended” instrumental pieces that draw on the elements, creating a distinct and expansive ambience in execution.  Subsequently the concept has been performed several times in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

VC: Volume = Colour.  Australia.  Hypnotic.  Rhythmic.  Meditative.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

VC: They had introduced themselves online and they had a call out for submissions going around.

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

VC: Meshing Volume = Colour music with LDWR tracks with assistance of mixing engineers – processes of layering, cut and loop, time stretch – one track is a ten second edit stretched to three minutes.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

VC: Very.  A good remix makes you feel like you’re listening to a new work, there can be just as much “writing” in a mix as there is in creating other “new” works of music, particularly if one is prepared to leave behind a sense of being precious about the original work, though of course some mixes can “enhance” what was “hidden” but present.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

VC: A sense of physicality – some of the Volume = Colour music that has been introduced was recorded live and this has brought an air of immediacy to a couple of the mixes.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

VC: Live with visuals.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

VC: A few weeks to pull together all four but this was listening to each perhaps once in a week or fortnight.  The time in between listens is just as important as listening, in fact it is imperative that there be time from one listen to another so that there is time to forget what was heard before.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

VC: Standard mixing programs, nothing special.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

VC: The remix of Alex And The Ramps’ “Pisces Vs Aquarius” from Faux Pas’ “Changes” EP (FUSE Music Group).

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

VC: Currently performing as founder member of Infinite Decimals.

NP: Where are things heading?

VC: In a good direction.

VOLUME = COLOUR

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BARNABY OLIVER

Barnaby Oliver is a UK born composer and sound artist currently residing in Melbourne.  Amongst his many projects he includes Brenin – a mini-opera for BBC Wales inspired by the mythical Welsh ancestry of Elvis Presley.  His experience and influences are vast as he delves into sonic textures with intricate glee and precision.  His works are “arranged to bring attention to the beauty of a refrain, a note or even a moments silence”.  It is an act of pulling sophisticated sounds via unconventional sources and manners.

NP: Hello.  Who are you, where are you and how would you describe your music?

BO: I’m a British ex-pat living in Melbourne.

NP: How did you get involved in the Long Division With Remainders project?

BO: I sent some stuff to Justin a while back

NP: What approach did you take to remixing the tracks?

BO: It’s kind of a traditional remix in that I didn’t edit, sample or cut up the tracks, nor did I add anything that wasn’t there before.  I’m a big fan of Jamaican Dub and followed the same basic process of cutting bits out, then adding echoes, distortion, feedback and eq.  Having said that, the original tracks are pretty much pummelled into obscurity.

NP: How creative is the art of the remix?

BO: Potentially, very.  Reprocessing existing material has a long and distinguished history going back at least as far as Medieval times.  On the other hands it’s often a cynical attempt to wring as much money as possible from a track.

NP: What do you think you brought to the compositions?

BO: Echoes, distortion, feedback and eq.  And some digital silence.

NP: What is the best time, state and/or mindset for the listener to hear your work?

BO: Probably early to mid morning, like a blast of cold fresh air when you least expect it.

NP: How long did it take you to do your remixes?

BO: About an hour getting each one roughly done.  Then several more hours trying to get them that little bit better.

NP: Which instruments/equipment did you use?

BO: Apple Mac, mixer, Revox reel to reel.

NP: What is your all time favourite remix?

BO: A toss up between Michael Nyman’s music for The Draughtsman’s Contract (reworking pieces by Henry Purcell) or Lee Perry’s Original Blackboard Jungle Dub.

NP: What other music projects (past and present) are you involved in?

BO: Turn of the century alt space rock band Venus Ray.  The 17-piece Wall Of Electric Guitar Ensemble.  Audiovisual improvisers Infinite Decimals.  19 piece girl group juggernaut The Rebelles.

NP: Where are things heading?

BO: Everywhere.  In all directions.  At various speeds.

BARNABY OLIVER – MYSPACE

BARNANY OLIVER - SOUNDCLOUD

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