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MUSIQUE MACHINE m[m]: Since your last interview with Musique Machine in 2006, you have released over 13 solo albums and possibly even more in the way of collaborative releases not to mention working on all of Nurse With Wound?s and most of Current 93?s albums and live shows since then. How do you find the time to accommodate all these activities? AL: Is it that many? I didn?t
realise. I have an obsessive compulsive nature and probably am a workaholic
of sorts, but I don?t consider it work in any shape or form as I love
what I do. Some records can take months if not years to complete, others
sometimes are a lot quicker to do. Basically I work between 10 and 14
hours practically every day. I have breakfast and start creating. m[m] ?Monster? is your new theme that spans your latest release (Monster Munch EP) and will continue onto two further albums and one mini LP, along with a book and an unusual amount of merchandise (obscene T-Shirts, wristbands, badges). What?s the background to this new multi-media project? AL It?s in my nature to prefer
collections rather than singular pieces. For instance I?ve always liked
the idea of Volumes 1, 2, 3 etc which again appeals to my obsessive
compulsive nature, but with the Monster idea I have been listening to
a lot of The Cramps, I love horror movies and I wanted to make something
extreme, gaudy and schlock horror. I thought this could be expanded
to different types of media so eventually when I have completed the
ideas, if I complete the ideas as it may run forever, it will be a huge
body of work that interrelates and cross references both musically and
visually to each release. m[m]When will the next instalments become available? AL ?The Miraculous Mechanical Monster? will be released in early July followed by a 12? mini LP in August /September, then another LP in December or early 2011. Miraculous Mechanical Monster is the first LP in the Monster series. It is very very fucked up, it?s a story that I have written about a guy who falls in love with a 'sex android', and it all goes wrong. There is a lot of narrative in it and a lot of swearing. All of the text is written on the back of the LP so you can follow the story. I really don't know what people are going to make of it. It is kind of sci-fi meets hard core pornography with a dollop of mental illness and a tiny bit of Phillip Glass. m[m] Your previous series, the Vortex Vault, comprised twelve albums released once a month between 2006 and 2007. How much of the music on these releases was conceived for the series and how much was unreleased tracks needing a home? AL Probably 70% was made for it, the other 30% was reworked to fit in both musically and aesthetically to the series so in reality the whole of the Vortex Vault was in many respects entirely new material. m[m] I was fascinated to hear that you start a new piece by ?conceptualising? and ?storyboarding? a new piece of work, literally writing down a plan of attack before creating and combining any sounds. Is this still always the case? Have you ever started a track without a blueprint? And would you ever consider publishing these storyboards (either to accompany the corresponding release or as a tome in itself)? AL I?d say 80% of my music is
pre-planned, some extensively, some with just a word that I?ve read
or a phrase or a story that I?ve read, whether that be pop science or
in the newspaper or a joke. More complex material is written down, sometimes
with a chart or just a series of words. To say the song is entirely
structured from a storyboard is not strictly true because the ideas
expand and elaborate and different instrumentation is used, so 50% of
a song is adapted around the initial ideas and bears no semblance to
the original concept. m[m] You?ve politely declined invitations to reveal where specific ideas behind some of your solo work come from and suggested that any attempts to unravel their meanings would prove futile mainly due to an abundance of personal references within - do you think this deliberately unsolvable conundrum is part of the appeal, or just a by-product of your working methods? Do you enjoy a degree of the arcane in other?s work? AL I like the idea of people
investigating what some of the words and phrases mean in my work, and
with the internet it?s not that difficult to find out anymore. For instance
my recent 7? ?Monster Munch? has a series of numbers for track titles
on side B, all these numbers, if you look them up on the internet, may
reveal that they are the dates of the deaths of several rock stars.
It strikes me most people don?t really investigate my song titles although
they have specific personal or wider meanings. But I guess this is a
problem with primarily instrumental music, that it does not give up
a distinct and obvious narrative. m[m] Is the ?numerologically accurate? aspect to ?New York Doll? something to do with the track lengths mirroring the local time when the field recordings from the various locations were originally captured? AL Not in the least. I think it was more to do with???? numbers that related to me. Dates of birth etc?.but the exact reason is lost to me now. But I know it was important to me at the time and it was imperative that the album came out when it did. Nonsensical to me now though.??? m[m] Research into the psychological processes involved when listening to music has, sadly but predictably, tended to focus on the effects of western classical music and more recently pop, but nothing as far as I?m aware that focuses on what happens when exposed to the more experimental side of sound. As much of your work disregards tonal music in favour of a more musique concr?te approach (or contrasts the two) what do you think (or hope) happens in the mind of your listeners when experiencing this? And what, then, do you feel is the ideal listening environment for your work? AL I?d like people to be entertained
by my music, as regards its metaphysical and psychological effect on
people, I?d be interested to hear what people would say. It is, of course,
entirely open to personal interpretation, there are no right or wrong
answers. There is no deliberate attempt to tap into the psyche of people,
only in as far as to entertain them and enhance their day to day lives.
I would be a liar to both myself and my listeners if I were to claim
that my music has a profound physiological and psychological dimension.
It is fundamentally entertainment, which of course in itself has a psychological
effect. m[m] As you?ve been recording music for over two decades, are there any particular developments in computer technology over this time that have significantly modified the way you work? AL Computers have revolutionised making music, but I have used the same programme for editing for 12 years! I am pretty low-fi when it comes to recording technology. Half the things I can do now would have been impossible when I first started recording. It works for me to use both old methods of recording as well as digital technology. There are many things that I can do in the studio that I wouldn?t know how to do or wouldn?t be any way near as good if I didn?t have the knowledge that I learnt many years ago on analog equipment. m[m] How do you approach remix work? Is it largely computer-based or are other tools involved? Particularly, you?ve remixed an extensive amount of early Current 93 that?s just been consolidated into the huge box set, Like Swallowing Eclipses ? did you work from the original multi track tapes or are they remixes of the finished work? AL Remixes, It depends what I
am remixing. Sometimes it is a subtle enhancement, sometimes it is re-recording
huge tracts to the way I think they should sound or be played, other
times it is stripping back everything. It really depends on what I am
remixing. m[m] You?ve hinted on your website that you?ve been doing loads of new remixes ? can you tell us a little more about any of these? AL Well the first one to come out, and the one I am most excited about should be by Voice of the Seven Thunders. I heard their album and begged to remix it. I think the album is so great. Really the kind of thing I listen to - kinda psych rock, fantastic. So I have had great fun messing with this one. It?s all very exciting because it is a bit out of my usual field, which is exactly what I wanted to do, something very different, something that people won?t expect. The remix is something that I am very proud to have done, I am very very pleased with the final result. Rick Tomlinson (of VOTST) also recently joined NWW on stage playing trumpet at our London show, so it was great to have him join our world and me join his, a great cross fertilisation. I would like to get involved with more diverse acts and make unpredictable remixes for unlikely artists who exist outside of the world that I am often pigeonholed into. m[m] Like who? AL Lady GaGa would be fun, but maybe a little improbable?. m[m] All of your work is characterised by extremely vivid sounds that can come into an exceptionally sharp focus, be it melodious, discordant or ambient. Is this partly a symptom of the mastering skills that you?ve acquired over the years that others (including Bill Fay and Pantaleimon) are now employing? AL The production and the mastering that I?ve done are skills that I?ve learnt since I began making music and are basically a result of, in my opinion, listening skills rather than technical skills. I assume there is a certain amount of technical knowledge required but my methodology is very simple - listen, EQ and be careful with the compression. I?ve learnt a lot of skills from Colin Potter and Steven Stapleton when it comes to studio technique and technology. m[m] You do all your own artwork for your releases ? what media and methods do you use and would you like to develop this side of things independently of your music releases? AL I don?t do all of my artwork, I have done about 90% of it. I use Photoshop and my vast collection of images that I find here there and everywhere. I wouldn?t call myself an artist, more of a ?sampler? of images. I would like to develop this further and am doing in a book that I currently have in production which again will be part of the Monster series. I would like to develop this in conjunction with my music and other ideas and productions that may or may not happen. m[m] You?ve been playing as part of Nurse With Wound now for over five years and have co-written the last four or so albums. Why do you think Steven Stapleton chose your good self (as well as Matt Waldron and Colin Potter) to help sail his ship? AL Myself and Steve are very good friends, we have similar world views and come from similar backgrounds. We also have the same sense of humour. Steve, similar to David Tibet, invites people to work with him more on a personal and friendship level rather than musical capability. Myself, Steve, Colin and Matt have a very good sense of space and intuitively work together really well live. We have a similar musical aesthetic within Nurse With Wound and understand the music that we want to make. I have been a lifelong fan of NWW and understand the parameters and overall sound of Nurse, so in many respects it makes good sense for me to work with Steve. m[m] You?ve also become increasingly involved with Current 93, appearing on every release over the past three years or so. How different is the experience compared to your role with Nurse With Wound? AL Working with Current 93 is
surprisingly similar to working with NWW as myself and David are very
good friends. David has a very specific idea of how he wants a record
to sound and when we set about making a record we usually reference
something visual or something that relates to a film or just a feeling.
The parameters of working with Current 93 are a lot more controlled
than working with NWW but as with NWW there are no hard and fast rules,
anything is possible. m[m] Since you?ve been involved with Current 93 there?s been a distinct hint of heavy metal on some recent works (particularly on Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain). Was this in any way your influence, being a young metal fan yourself in the eighties? AL David specifically wanted to create a heavy rock record with Aleph. It wasn?t my idea to create a heavy record but I was more than happy to be involved. Both David and I have a huge love and affection for heavy rock, especially Judas Priest. As a footnote to the rock question I would like to add that I personally do not view heavy rock or metal in a post modern ironic way. I think it is so often marginalised as pathetic or discredited as juvenile. I view metal and rock as a powerful and emotive working class form of escapism, a lot more culturally significant than it is given credit. It irritates me that so many people immediately associate rock with hair metal and ac/dc t-shirts. It is head and shoulders above the clich?s and tongue in cheek derision given to it by writers at The Guardian. m[m] Indeed, you named a track from the ?Black Panther? volume of the Vortex Vault ?Bon Jovi Systematically Destroyed The Values of Heavy Rock?, and it?s easy to see why. But do you hold anyone else responsible, maybe Spinal Tap (or at least the incredibly widespread popularity of the film that extended far further than those with an interest in heavy rock)? Or maybe the likes of papped celebrities such as David Beckham or Miley Cyrus wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts more recently? AL I guess there has always been
bands that have chipped away at the monolith of real rock. Def Leppard,
Europe, Stryper, Van Halen, Guns and Roses?. they should all be held
accountable?. and none more so than Aerosmith, a fucking despicable
stomach churning sack of shit, I hate them almost as much as I do Bon
Jovi. As soon as highlights and perms came in to rock it was the beginning
of the end. Look what happened to Whitesnake who started out as a really
great blues rock band, what the fuck went wrong?. AOR and MOR, a watered
down radio friendly approach to worship at the altar of the Yankee dollar.
Also the likes of Stevie Vai and Yngwie Malestrom had a hand in the
decimation of rock, virtuosity over good song writing. m[m] You seem to be picking up the guitar more often these days, particularly in Nurse With Wound?s recent live sets and rocking out on parts of your collaboration with Diana Rogerson (No Birds Do Sing) ? is this something you?d like to develop further? Are your heavy metal influences coming further to the fore? AL I try to play the guitar every other day and am beginning to learn it properly after decades of just messing around. I really enjoy playing the guitar but don?t feel the necessity to incorporate it into my recordings, but saying that, I am working on a heavy metal record in my Monster series. m[m] You?ve also been working recently with Maniac of Skitliv (and formerly of black metallers, Mayhem) on a couple of projects (Sehnsucht and Maniac/Liles/Czral) are there further plans in this vein? AL Nothing at the moment although Attila and Maniac appear on the forthcoming Monster album mentioned above. m[m] You have recently released a track on wax cylinder and have previously released a business card CD and a ringtone, as well as never neglecting vinyl releases. Do you enjoy experimenting with formats? Are there any other formats you?d like to explore? AL I think I?ve done pretty much every format. I would never ever ever do a cassette release but would consider a symphonium star wheel! m[m] Cassettes seem to be rising in popularity of late (maybe because they?re not so easy to rip to a computer), what don?t you like about them? AL Yeah I have seen a rise in
popularity, I have even been asked to release one. My problem is they
sound like utter shit, look terrible and there is no real space for
art. Ugly stupid things?that you have to rewind. I have always hated
them. They were the free MP3 download culture of yesteryear: ?O? the
album isn?t that good but I will tape it for you?? m[m] Jnana Records has set up a download site for some of your releases. How do you feel about digital formats? AL I have just got my first I-pod
and had great fun filling it up. I think digital formats are great in
their portability but know that the vast majority of my listeners have
never bought a record by me and have illegally downloaded all of my
material. I?d rather two people bought a disc from me than 20,000 download
it for free. Without sounding too Lars Ulrich I think to share files
and give away free music is a real lack of appreciation of the music
people create. To get something for free is often to take it for granted,
it shows no devotion or investment in ideas or art. MP3s usually are
a collection of meaningless, formless and uncontextualised data rather
than any kind of appreciation or belief in music or art.
AL Erotic shops fascinate me. I always go in them when I am on tour, they seem a lot more prevalent in Europe. They really make me laugh. Some of the contraptions are shockingly amusing and sometimes disturbed, sometimes elegant. Regardless of their purpose some of the vibrators are amazing in their design and construction. I am especially fascinated by some of the licensed and officially sanctioned synthetic porn star rubber vaginas you can buy, they are a cross between cheap and nasty and very sophisticated. The length that people go to just to have sex with themselves is hilarious. It is a never ending source of amusement that appeals to my inner teenager. m[m] What?s made you laugh recently? AL The ?Travel Pussy? that Steven Stapleton bought for me from a vending machine in Germany. Really very funny indeed. Many thanks go to Andrew for all the time and effort he put into answering our many questions and supplying all the images. ADVERSE EFFECT AL: The Wardrobe album was a vehicle for myself and Tony to do something that is neither Andrew Liles nor Sol Invictus. We have got a band name as we want it to be a rolling project and not just a one-off, as so many collaborations are. The Wardrobe came about through Karl Blake, who said Tony was looking for a new member for Sol Invictus. I met up with Tony and discussed a few ideas and projects. The conversation evolved into a talk about the Selfish Shellfish album Tony made with Steven Stapleton. So we decided to make a recording in that fashion. I’m really not competent enough on any instrument to play ‘proper’ songs in a band. I was in bands when I was a teenager and was never entirely comfortable with that set-up, so decided to work alone, and do to this day even when I collaborate. As for Sol Invictus not fitting in with what I do? Well, what do I do? I think I am pretty diverse and appreciate pretty much all musical genres. Trees in Winter is a great album and parts of Against the Modern World appeal to my world outlook, so it seemed a reasonable avenue for me to take a walk down. Æ: I was thinking more along the lines of their often-deemed-dubious political connotations actually, but I guess that's either irrelevant or not a consideration? I don't know how true they are, anyway... AL: I think its irrespective. I know my political angle. If i thought for one moment that Tony was active in ANY political movement I wouldn’t be part of it. Æ: More generally, you've been becoming increasing prolific during the past year or so. You must be constantly sweating it out in the studio in order to both avoid stagnating and keep moving forward. Where do the ideas keep coming from? AL: Well, this isn’t necessarily true. The way record labels work, or so it appears, is they are slow, very slow, and they can take time to release everything. I have a lot of older recordings that are just appearing. The last year or so has seen my popularity (if you can call it that) gain a little ground, so a lot of labels are approaching me to do stuff – I find it hard to turn down a lot of the time as I spent so many years in the wilderness. Also, it takes anything from a year to 2 years to make one of my albums, and I tend to work on 3 or 4 albums at once. I am always in the studio and have for the last 3 months spent 12-14 hours a day, every day, working on material, ideas and artwork. It is the headspace I am happiest with - maybe I am running away from the ‘real’ world and I’m creating my own little universe in my dingy little studio? Who wants to engage with it all ‘out there’? I certainly don’t want a part of it. More and more, I find people that I have known and met are drifting into a world that I really don’t have any interest in. They seem to have careers, embrace the modern work ethic, populist culture and ideals that are increasingly at loggerheads with my own. I think they see me as the little man with the music ‘hobby’ and give me a metaphorical pat on the head and a sarcastic grin. They tend to only measure things by finance and ‘success’. I guess if I made a fortune and hung out with Justin Timberlake they would consider me to be a real ‘artist’ a real success... Æ: I know what you mean. I can't believe Lydon's using that imbecile to play him in a forthcoming biopic... AL: Really? That’s just...well insane. As for ideas, fortunately they never ever stop. I am thinking constantly about the next thing, the next big idea. Invariably, all my recordings are conceptual and all but a few have significant numerological equations in there. I get my ideas from books and art, everyday events and the arseholes I meet. I seldom read fiction and have little interest in other people’s imaginary tales so I find a lot of my source material in popular science books, the occult, ancient history, British comedy, biographies and I have a great interest in wildlife, exotic animals and marine life. That’s where I source all my ideas and song titles. There is a lot more research and investigation into each track than people realise. Unfortunately, it would take a learned ear to hear all the animals in the recordings and a genius to unravel all the numerological and linguistic equations of any given recording. Æ: Have you known anybody to try, though? AL: No one has really tried, to my knowledge - I think they treat the music as sonic entertainment rather than a conceptual puzzle. I think as the vast majority of my music is instrumental people don’t really consider there to be a theme or message in there...but there is - but mainly just for me to relocate and remember or laugh. They have many hidden references only I could unravel. Æ: Given the nature of your music, when do you know that any one piece is actually ready? I mean, you weave in a lot of ideas, so I presume it can become difficult to determine a point at which to stop...? AL: My wife is the executive producer (although I overrule her quite often). I play her some stuff and she says what works and when to stop. She has no real interest in ‘experimental’ music, which is perfect because she has no preconceived ideas about the technique or how things should sound. She will come into the studio and I will play her stuff and she will say, “That’s too long”, “That sound is great”, “That is embarrassing”, “Keep that” and “Stop it there”. I can create something technically and musically elaborate and intricate, but she might come in and say it’s boring, and a lot of the time she has a point. So what if a song is well put together or masterful in a technical way? If a song doesn’t ‘entertain’ or engage the listener, it doesn’t work. More and more, I am trying to create something that sounds deliberately nothing like anyone else. I want to bring in musical elements and structures but in a really odd way. I'm drifting away from the long monolithic drone tracks and want to write 3 minute ‘pop’ songs. I think a lot of people both as consumers and artists stay in a safe zone and don’t want to add anything new or different. Maybe that’s part of my downfall; if I stayed within the parameters of what people expect and know I would be commercially a lot more successful. Talking about shorter tracks, though, I have just finished The Dying Submariner, which is 4 tracks in 72 minutes and is a piano concerto. I guess I'm schizophrenic and want do everything all at once. Knowing when to stop comes with what I want to hear and what entertains me. Being inventive, original and continually doing totally different projects and styles is what is important to me. I want people to say, ‘I really haven’t heard anything like that before,” and that is the toughest thing to do. Æ: In this same sense, would you consider yourself a perfectionist? AL: Without doubt. I listen to every sound in microscopic detail. If one tiny sound ruins the track for me I will do it all again. There is no point in the ‘make do and mend’ approach. Everything has to be spot on. I paid hundreds of pounds for Mother Goose to be mastered in a professional and expensive studio. I didn’t like the results so I personally mastered it all again. Although the professional mastering cost me about half of what I will make out of the recording it taught me a valuable lesson – never release anything you aren’t 100% happy with and do everything yourself. Æ: You have been known for all manner of other collaborative work and, indeed, have a number of other such recordings pending. Is it an area you will continue to explore? What's the biggest attraction with it for you? AL: All the people I have worked with have been people I admire or who have influenced me some way or who are friends. The biggest attraction is to have these wonderful people, people that I listened to and admired artistically for years and years to be part of something I create. It can be quite a disconcerting position to be in, to find yourself making a cup of tea in the kitchen for one of your teenage heroes. I love having other people on my records and when I am creating a track I listen back to it and go, “That would be good if so-and-so could sing on this or so-and-so adds his mark to it.” Then I write to them and I am in a fortunate position to have the majority of people say yes. But now I think it’s time for me to do solo work – and I have with The Dying Submariner, so I think the collaborative stuff will fade a little. Contradicting that statement, though, there is talk of working on a Nurse With Wound album, work with David (Late) Tibet and possibly more work with Danielle Dax and Karl Blake. Æ: Are there any other artists you'd like to collaborate with that you've yet to approach? AL: I want to work with Marilyn Manson (honestly!) - anybody who can contact him for me, I would much appreciate it. I also have an idea for an album; the working title of which is Corrosive Alkaloids. It will be another ‘concept’ album. The concept is based on my theory that the bands Europe and Bon Jovi systematically destroyed Heavy Metal. English heavy metal and particularly NWOBHM is a very close thing to my heart. I think metal has a very poignant and powerful cultural and social significance. Metal gives the alienated teenage boy meaning, dreams, freedom and a voice, and I think the fluffy pop rockers took away some of the magic/mystery of it all . A teenage boy needs a place to conjure dragons and go “hot rockin’” in an insular, lonely way - not the cotton candy pop-rock of Van Halen or Skid Row. Anyway, maybe I am out of time or sync with the modern world of metal but I want to invite some old classic metal singers onto the recording to do some narration. I have some people on the case, trying to set up contacts for me. Æ: That could be interesting. Can you name who you've got in mind, or is it too early to say? What's the appeal of Marilyn Manson for you, too...? AL: Too early to say, as it might just all fall through. Marilyn Manson? I like his music, the glam, the showmanship, the iconic status - it would be funny to dabble in the rock world. Æ: Can you explain the preoccupation with dolls and suchlike that frequently adorn your albums' artwork? AL: It’s not really a conscious thing. Maybe in a subconscious way it’s something to do with things being lifelike but not quite real? A fascination with security in the facsimile as opposed to the real? Safety with automatons rather than the real human form? After all, most humans are terribly disappointing. Besides, dolls and mannequins are pretty fascinating things. I have a collection of them about the house. I think it’s more to do with aesthetics than any deep-seated concept. Æ: Recently, you seem to have become somewhat embraced by the world that's spawned NWW, C93 and The Hafler Trio, etc. Is this something you are comfortable with? Surely, whether by default or design, being so associated with these groups now must be both good and bad...? AL: It’s good in the sense these are artists that I admire. I don’t think I sound particularly like any of them. I assume it’s because I have worked with a lot of people in this field. I think people want to have an instant pigeonhole to put you in and I guess that’s where they put me. It’s bad in the fact that I would like to be recognised as a valid and worthy artist independently of my connections to other groups. It’s also a promotional thing by record labels and suchlike to say, “Andrew Liles has worked with blah blah blah,” so they can get more people to buy records. It’s nothing to do with me and completely out of my control. I don’t really want to stay in a ‘post-industrial’ genre, or be bracketed into any genre at all…I just want to be me. Æ: It's inevitable that such pigeonholes arise, but at least this one doesn't conjure any particular music. As pigeonholes go, it's a healthily diverse one, don't you think? AL: It’s okay. I don’t know. It doesn’t really trouble me especially. Æ: Which of your releases are you most proud of? AL: The one that I am currently working on is always the best. I think My Long Accumulating Discontent is probably the most musically accomplished. But all of them have parts or elements that make me think, “That bit is good.” It’s probably easiest to tell you the worst – but I wont do that. Æ: Oh, go on! Or, at least, tell us which album you're least happy with. It's usually an artist's early work that leaves such an aftertaste, I find... AL: Nope! Æ: You've played live on a number of occasions. How do you feel about that when compared to the greater control you must have in the studio? AL: Um…live - I am not entirely comfortable with playing live. But sometimes it can be fun. The reason playing live is good is because there are a lot of chance elements that I use. I use a sawn down guitar and some fridge trays that I bow and CD players on random play. I can pick and choose what is going to happen and every show is different as there is so much improvisation. It can be a lot more fun than the studio because you can go over-the-top and can be really loud and do stupid, unnecessary things. I never use a computer live and always use visuals, so it’s (I hope) entertaining for the listener and me. It has to be a lot different from the studio, and has to have a distinct entertainment value. I see little point in recreating what I have done on CD live, so it has to be different. Æ: Did you enjoy the dates in Poland? Any stories...? AL: In Warsaw I thought they were going to kill me. Some drunken undesirable types turned up and threatened me before and after the show. Krakow was a great and intimate little show. All in all, I think it made me think about what I am doing live and now I have specific notion of what, where and how I want to do things in the future. Æ: So, you'll play live again, then...? AL: Yeah, if the location and time and other factors meet my new criteria. Æ: Prior to recording in your own name, were you involved with any other music or groups? AL: A number of years back, myself and a gentleman called Will Foster had a little jazz combo called The Width/The Girth. I sung. It was [based around] humourous jazz numbers and blues songs with disturbing lyrics; I have the album we recorded somewhere [and] it might be nice to get it out one day. We had some label interest at one point but it fizzled out. Will went on to travel the world as a session musician and now is a fully paid up member of The Tears with Bernard Butler and Brett Anderson. Last I saw of him, he was on the Jonathan Ross show hanging out with Pamela Anderson. He went into the world of the glitter and went back to the inspiring world of the gutter. I did dabble with a pop artiste not so long ago, but never again – another lesson learnt. I think I will stick to my subterranean environs. Æ: Your own background is in more rock-orientated music, isn't it? How does this correlate to the music you now make...? Was there a particular point where you discovered you enjoyed other forms of music apparently far removed from rock...? AL: I like rock music as recreational music. It bears no semblance to what I do in any aspect. I was never an accomplished enough a guitarist to be in a stadium rock band. There was no sudden realisation that I enjoyed other music other than metal; it just evolved as I grew up – a natural progression, if you will. The interests that metal provoked in me, demons and the occult, led me down different paths and onto different music. Æ: Whose music are you enjoying at the moment? AL: AC/DC, Judas Priest, Andrew Chalk, Johnny Cash and Goldfrapp. Æ: Quite a mixture! I trust that a few of these are longtime favourites anyway...? AL: Yeah, Judas Priest are [and I have] got really into them again of late. Also, I have been listening to Aranos and a lot of French pop (ye ye) music, Bridgette Bardot and UFO - it swings wildly, my taste! Æ: Going back to your music, some of your releases have been issued as very limited editions. What are you views on such items, though? A good strategy to gain attention...?! AL: Limited Editions? Um…I am in two schools, really. On the one hand, I am a collector and know the importance of owning a unique and interesting release; it has a magic of its own and is an integral part of being a record collector. Market forces drive limited editions in some respects; you can sell out of a limited item and have albums sitting on the shelves for years. I have never released a limited edition to gain attention. It has been guided by supply and demand. I have a limited audience and think I know what they want. In some respects, they are made out of necessity rather than a quick cash-in, and I try to make mine as special as financially possible. On the other hand, I feel that I can release something in a tiny edition and have it sell out in minutes, but my more personal, important and more engaging works, i.e. the albums, are far slower to go. I would love to see my CDs mass marketed and in every shop, but along with that you lose the intimacy and personal touch. It’s a tough call. On the one hand a CD is completely disposable and a pretty uninspired product, yet is the most sonically accurate and unfortunately the easiest to bootleg, whereas vinyl is fetishist, fragile and needs taking care of. It is the devotees’ format so, in some respects, I would prefer an audience of people who cherish and care than those who throw the CD box in the back of the car and let it get covered in dirt. I really think there are two kinds of people: those who collect and lovingly look after artefacts and treat them as more ‘art’ than data storage, and those who don’t really care and want to hear the music regardless of the box it comes in. The strategy is to cater for both parties. I also think it’s a dying art; a lot people now seem to be just into downloading music and don’t seem to be bothered about the artwork. By a quick search on Soulseek I can see far more people are stealing my music than buying it. In fact, if they actually bought my music I would be able to earn a reasonable income from my art. I think people don’t actually realise how poor most artists are. So, maybe this is part of the reason for the limited edition phenomenon. Æ: Graphic or visual art appears equally as important to you as the music. I mean, your releases generally feel as though a lot of consideration has gone into every aspect. Would you agree? AL: Everything relates – the art, the music, and ideas. The art and imagery are an integral part of what it’s all about. Without the art the piece seems half done. Æ: You also collect art as well, right? Which pieces do you cherish the most? AL: Yeah, I have quite a large collection of art. In many respects, I prefer the visuals arts and comedy to music. I have some art by Hans Bellmer; I think that is probably the most cherished. I also have some letters from Eric Stanton (the fetish artist) that he sent me just before he died which I hold dear. I have a few Trevor Brown pieces and an assortment of Jan Svankmajer’s. I cherish pretty much all of it; it’s a collection that makes up a whole rather than one unique work that stands alone. Æ: Who else's work do you admire in this field? AL: Oh, far to many to mention...Todd Schorr, Paul McCarthy, who has a great exhibition on in London at the moment...oh, too many to say... Æ: You also mentioned an interest in comedy, and I'm completely with you on it. Anything that can make us look at the human condition differently or that can laugh at the absurdity of everything tends to win my support. However, what do you personally enjoy watching? AL: Right now, I have just picked up the boxed set of Curb your Enthusiasm, which is the funniest thing I’ve seen in years; a true work of genius. I also really need to pick up The League of Gentleman box and am a a big fan of Ronnie Barker. Barker released a lot of books of saucy postcards in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, with great titles such as Ohh La La - the Ladies of Paris and Gentleman’s Relish. I think he was a lot more controversial than people realise. I collect all kinds of stuff about uniquely British comedy. I love Bob Monkhouse, Ealing Comedies, Dick Emery and Tommy Cooper. Æ: To bring things to a close, can you just go through some of the current or imminent releases, please. Looking at your website, it forever appears that there any number of new releases due at any given time. It's hard to keep up with what's going on...! AL: Coming up there is the latest album, Mother Goose's Melody: Or Sonnets For The Cradle, which should be out by the time this article appears. I recorded Lord Bath at his penthouse in Longleat in October 2003 [and] the Mother Goose sessions grew out of these spoken word pieces and evolved into what I consider a very idiosyncratic and innately ‘English’ album. Also, there is In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions. This is basically a lot of people remixing my material, people such as Nurse With Wound, H30, Aranos, Colin Potter and many many others. Then, Auto Manipulator, a 15 track concept album of short songs about an imaginary sex machine; much like an orgasmatron.Then there’s Ouarda (The Subtle Art of Phyllorhodomancy), which has contributions from Karl Blake and Danielle Dax. And, finally, The Dying Submariner: (A Concerto for Piano and Reverberation in Four Movements), appeared in late 2006. Since this interview
was conducted, many other releases have either been released or at least
been announced via Andrew Liles’ website. In my earnest opinion,
he’s creating some of the most fascinating and personal music
around at the moment, which never fails to either surprise or stir the
senses. TOKAFI
What’s
on your schedule right now? What or
who was your biggest influence as an artist? Do you see yourself as
part of a certain tradition or as part of a movement? What’s
your view on the music scene at present? Is there a crisis? What does
the term „new“ mean to you in connection with music? How do you
see the relationship between sound and composition? What constitutes
a good live performance in your opinion? What’s your approach
to performing on stage? A lot of
people feel that some of the radical experiments of modern compositions
can no longer be qualified as “music”. Would you draw a
border – and if so, where? Are “serious”
and “popular” really two different types of music or just
empty words without a meaning? Do you feel
an artist has a certain duty towards anyone but himself? Or to put it
differently: Should art have a political/social or any other aspect
apart from a personal sensation? True or
false: People need to be educated about music, before they can really
appreciate it. Imagine
a situation in which there’d be no such thing as copyright and
everybody were free to use musical material as a basis for their own
compositions – would that be an improvement to the current situation? You are
given the position of artistic director of a festival. What would be
on your program? Many artists
dream of a “magnum opus”. Do you have a vision of what yours
would sound like? BRAINWASHED Lucas Schleicher: You've told me that the first thing you ever made a recording on was a tape recorder your dad owned. How much did your early experience with music affect the way you record now and in what ways were you affected? Andrew Liles: My father always played music every day and all the time, either the radio or records: he had and still does have quite eclectic tastes. I remember many, many years ago he got out a pair of headphones and sat me down to listen to a programme on BBC radio that was solely based on the utilisation of stereo. Basically the radio show was a programme dedicated to what, at the time, was the relatively new world of FM stereo radio. The radio programme featured a recording of man running through fields and across various terrains whilst being pursued by some other people with dogs, the details are sketchy: after all it was over 30 years ago, but this has stayed with [me] since. I was fascinated from then on with how things could spin around your head or how you felt like you were right there. I assume a lot of my music to this day is based on this single experience, on how you can manipulate sound to create tension and space and alter the senses. [LS] There are distinctly turn-of-the-century American, English, and maybe even Victorian themes in some of your music. I'm thinking principally of the My Long Accumulating Discontent and Aural Anagram/Anal Aura Gram albums. Do you have a particular preoccupation or interest with these periods and why? [AL] I love the Victorian and Edwardian eras. I love the fussiness of everything. I assume it appeals to the anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive in me. I also like the notion of Dickensian London, old clocks, over complicated clothing etc. It's an idea more than anything, I am sure the reality was horrible. I also like the idea of a society on the edge of new horizons, a time that saw great changes in politics and industry, the threshold of scientific discovery. I also love those films like the The Time Machine that represent this world of intellectual gentlemen debating in cigar drenched drawing rooms. Other romantic notions of laudanum and Byronic debauchery appeal to certain facets in my nature as well. The title My Long Accumulating Discontent is the name of a chapter in a book about the life of Victoria Woodhull who was a devotee and practitioner of 'other powers', table turning and spiritualism. She was also a campaigner for women's rights and a 'heretical high priestess for free love'. So yes I do have a preoccupation with the era on a romantic basis and a fondness for bleached out photographs, intriguing scientific instruments and suchlike. [LS] Other recordings I've heard from you remind me of H.P. Lovecraft and the patient, slowly spreading madness he often constructed in his writing. What is your interest in horror authors, horror fiction, and the terrifying in general, if any? And in what way has that informed the way you record or the things you choose to record? [AL] I don't really have any interests in fiction or horror writers: I think the day-to-day world is horrific enough. Much of my music is based on my experiences in the real world and a longing for a time when things fascinated me, when I was scared, when things were terrifying, when things that went bump in the night had a distinct reality. Now I feel I have lost touch with who I really am and how I should really feel. The bills come and the daily chores need attending to, real life has got in the way of what we all should be seeking, wonderment and enchanting experiences. In the 21st century we seem confident that we have all the answers for everything that was once inexplicable—it's sad we live in such a conservative time. So in short my music is about a longing for the ethereal and a reportage of the hideousness in real life. [LS] Tell me a little bit about the part of the UK you are from. How much has the place you are from affected your music? [AL] I was bought up in the south of England, lived in London for many years and now I live on the south coast in the UK—Brighton to be exact. I resent being billed so often as a 'Brighton based artist' I feel no great affinity to the place and see no relevance in what I do being in any way linked to the what town I live in, I could do this from anywhere. In some respects billing me as 'Brighton based' suggests I personally endorse the town and its inhabitants; that in itself couldn't be further from the truth. I despise any form of patriotism whether it is on a national or local level, it's repellent nonsense. Of course the UK has influenced a great deal of what I do. A lot of the titles and undercurrent themes are about my life here, its politics, its faded empire, its surly misery, its eccentric characters, its great history of comedy, the 'talk about the weather' culture - they are all repetitive themes in my work. I really do think that the UK has turned into a place based solely on the principles of capitalism, cable television, celebrity, shopping malls, the facile and accessible. I guess the UK is like any Western country, maybe even the whole world, now; we are all living in a world based on Hollywood ideals. More and more I find it unacceptable—people's selfish behaviour, people's ill founded self importance, the imposing of their belief systems on me by their antisocial behaviour and other demons like spam or junk mail. It's the ME generation at the expense of everything and everyone. Without trying to sound like Billy Bragg (heaven forbid) or a Marxist zealot I think everyone is becoming an automaton, a robot for the corporate machine, a machine that will own, govern and dictate their every move, a monster that will devour the very fabric of their lives, their homes, their possessions and their children, ultimately a system that will destroy as all. People now seem to be living vicariously through TV magazines, Hello magazine, and the world of soap star actors and the latest imbecile in Big Brother. It's what I call 'The Diana Syndrome' where people feel a closer affinity to a princess that they never met, who had a totally alien life to them and yet they don't address their own lives and own problems or care for the immediate well being of themselves or people around them. It's insane how people emulate and worship the likes of David Beckham and J-Lo, essentially intellectually challenged super rich gods of consumerism. It marvels me how the majority of people don't feel any impetus to discover more about themselves or the fascinating world both natural and scientific around them. I'm not pining for an idyllic, imaginary England of yesteryear. I just want people to take a look at what is important and this is an integral part of the conceptually based element in my music. [LS] You've told me before that you like to stay away from computers, but sometimes it's difficult for me to imagine how your music comes together live before you edit, arrange, or change it in any way. Why do you dislike working with computers and how do you feel it affects your writing and recording process? [AL] I write down all my ideas down then collate them. I always have a fixed idea about what I am going to do and an axis on which the whole project will turn. I write all the music in my head and on paper, then record the sounds and mix it on a computer. I am not opposed to using computers at all, I multi-track and record on the computer. I detest computer 'instruments' and never use them. Most of the music is 85% done outside the computer; I only use the computer as an editing and mastering tool, really. I think to make music purely on the computer is just number crunching, it has its place but it's not for me. [LS] Much of your music seems very organic to me, each piece on a record informing the next and naturally implying the next movement. The Dying Submariner perhaps more so than any other record. To what extent is this organic sound intentional? Is this a result of how you see the music in your head, before it is recorded, or is it somehow a result of how you compose music? [AL] It is both, that and a keen ear and sense of direction. I can't say it is purely intentional of course! There are a lot of flukes and random elements flowing that seem to find the right niche at the right time. I have made a lot of records now and know (well, at least I think I know) how to mould a piece and help it find its natural progression. [LS] What is the strangest instrument you've ever used in recording your albums? Are there any strange accidents or incidents you'd like to talk about that ended in a happy way (finding sounds, melodies, ideas accidentally, etc.)? [AL] I haven't really used anything that I consider extremely interesting on any of my recordings, they are all pretty generic instruments plus quite a few homemade instruments. There is a guy who lives down the road from me who has invented an instrument called the X –Piano, which is essentially two upright pianos made into dulcimers that I would love to make a recording on. Generally the most interesting sound sources I use are the field recordings I have made over the years. There is stuff in there including a girl screaming who had just tried to stab some friends of mine, lots of stuff friends have stolen for me from their jobs in call centres and sales calling. There is also a recording I have of myself being fired from a job I had, my wife's stomach rumbling, and unbeknown to them the rhythms of my next door neighbours having sex. They were really quite loud so it was no problem to record them by holding a microphone to the wall. Probably the most dangerous was recording the Call to Prayer in Egypt where I was almost arrested by an undercover policeman—you may or may not know it is illegal to record 'the call to prayer:' they are unique to each mosque, and each mosque is fiercely protective over their particular version. [LS] Your website features a number of links to other websites, some of them including sleep related websites, some of them other musicians, and there are a number of links to artists like Edward Gorey, Joel Peter Witkin, pop artist Coop, and the infamous Trevor Brown; Aural Anagram was based on the erotic works of Hans Bellmer. Is your music related to these artists and how is it related? Also, is there anyone you are particularly fond of that you feel most connected to artistically? Who is it and in what way do you engage their works in your own? [AL] The list on the site is really quite simply a list of artists I like, I don't think any of them have influenced me directly; I think it would be very hard to make an aural representation of many of the artists. Saying that I dread to think what Bellmer would have made of my album based on his works. The only artist out of the list I would say that I feel connected to would be Bellmer, when I first saw his art I thought I have had these images in my head for years, it was in some respects a visual representation of some of the images in my mind. [LS] I noticed that the news section of your site features a scrolling message that repeats "Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep." Do you have problems sleeping? Or is there an interest beyond personal that is responsible for the presence of this topic on your website? [AL] I have had problems sleeping, but my interests are around ideas of hibernation. I am into a lot of popular science so it's just another interest of my mine. I must say that sleeping for the duration of the winter does appeal to me. [LS] Dolls and other gadgets have been featured prominently in your artwork (New York Doll and All Closed Doors) and Mother Goose's Melody: or Sonnets from the Cradle is an obvious reference to childhood. In what ways do you see these figures and references to adolescence as part of your music? Is there a reason behind the somewhat tenebrous approach you take to this topic in your work and what is that reason if it exists? [AL] It's not really a conscious decision at all. I like dolls, something almost human but not quite. There is no schematic or grand message: it is as simple as liking dolls, robots, toys, and automatons. I'm sure you could psycho-analyze me and get to the root of it all but as I say, on a conscious level [there is] no real reason other than personal aesthetics. [LS] Both New York Doll and Aural Anagram exhibited a focus on anagrams themselves. In what way do you see your own music as being anagrammatical? If you have an interest in anagrams, where does it come from? Also, the second disc's title on New York Doll appears to be one enormous anagram. I've tried in vain to find a number of sentences or phrases in it, but can never come up with a complete translation. Is there something specific to be found in that long anagram and if so care to give us some clues as to how to find it? [AL] I love anagrams. Aural Anagram was based on Bellmer's notion of the body as an anagram. I see everything as an anagram, time, places, and events: they are all interrelated. The track you are referring to is the longest place name in the UK and the longest place name in the world put together. There is no real anagram as such to unravel, the voice on the recording is a Polynesian poem translated into Welsh, which I consider not necessarily an anagram but a little quiz. Basically my recordings are references for myself, documents of times, places, people, events and littered with jokes and things that amuse me. To unravel their elaborate meanings would be impossible: mainly they are for me and would mean little if anything to anyone else. Sometimes people do e-mail [me] and have the conundrums solved which astounds me, only one person ever has latched on that all the titles of New York Doll are names of M.O.R. and rock bands as well, which I thought was obvious. That was another concept of the album; a thing that really interests me is why on earth you would call your band after a city? It seems unique to America: maybe it's a patriotic thing. Needless to say it's a very curious pride in the town they come from, it just wouldn't happen here in the UK . If you transposed it to the UK it really wouldn't wash: 'Good evening we are Barnsley let me hear yer say yeah!' I don't know, though, some might work: Blackpool could be the name of a death metal band. [LS] Tell me about how you view New York Doll as an album and as a series of "transcontinental audio anagrams." Where did the idea for this album come from and how did you conceptualize it before you began recording? [AL] Almost all the recordings I make are conceptualised before I even play a note. I write down everything and draw a chart of how everything should be. I keep a book that looks like a book of lyrics more than anything; it's an array of words and ideas that appeal to me. The whole of New York Doll was story-boarded before a single note was recorded. The idea came to me on tour in the USA in 2003; basically it was based on place names. After all, America has many city names that are the same as the UK. So field recordings were made in New York, USA and York, Yorkshire in the UK, Boston, MA and Boston, Lincolnshire in the UK. It stretched further by recording the likes of traffic lights changing in Gothenburg mixed with the sounds of the pedestrian crossing sounds in Prague, mixed with the street sounds of Paris: basically working on the notion that in many respects we are all the same country. So sounds became anagrams, city soundscapes merging into different cities. Every place name becomes a sound and those different sounds are edited together to make an anagram of time and space. Every town and city, every airport and subway becomes just one city and it becomes increasingly difficult to define which place is where. It may sound a little pretentious but it was basically an exercise for me and a historical travelogue of music to remind me of the places I have visited and the sounds and sights I saw: it's my holiday album if you like. [LS] Aural Anagram has an erotic focus to it (the remix album was perhaps even more erotically and sexually charged), not only musically but also in the places it takes its inspiration from. You've participated in projects with names like The Sexecutioner and All Pink Inside and the artwork on releases like New York Doll and Love Song (the CD-R) either implies sexuality and eroticism or directly suggests reproduction and clinical sex. On your website the Love Song (1-100) releases are situated next to a recommended reading list that features authors like Marquis de Sade, Charles Bukowski, Laurence O'Toole, and the infamous pseudo-philosopher, erotic author Georges Bataille. It also features more "academic" studies edited by doctors and historians. What is your interest in eroticism? Is there an academic as well as a visceral interest? What do you hope to communicate by using it as a theme or a point of reference in your music? [AL] Doesn't everyone have an interest in eroticism? I do have both an academic and visceral interest. I think with some of the authors you mention and some of the art I love, it's the imagination and detail and lengths of intricacy they explore that really inspires me. It's not necessarily a 'saucy' picture or a taboo subject that I enjoy, it's more to do with the creative minds of people. After all 9/10ths of sex is in the head is it not? In short I can be a dirty old man and a pseudo intellectual on the subject. I have a vast collection of books on the subject at hand (as it were). There is an amazing glossary of words and bizarre ritual practices that have inspired songs in my catalogue. It's a fascinating and huge anthropological area, from infibulation to swinging. It's outstanding what lengths people go to just to have sex with someone, or indeed with themselves. In its rudimentary form it is what we all want: to be desired, loved, wanked off in the bushes or whatever. I think eroticism, sex, and pornography, whatever you want to call it, serves as a huge influence for much of modern recorded music. From James Brown to Justin Timberlake, there is a huge catalogue of music out there that says, "Hey look how many girls love me" or, "Hey baby I'm gonna love you all night long." It's what music was made for, from the primordial beat to Beyonce: it's a chant to sex . I don't really want to communicate anything through creating erotically based music; it's for my own pleasure, like all of my recordings. It's not for a 'market', it is quite self-indulgent. I had a fan write to me about how he can only play Love Song when his girlfriend is out. She thought it was disgusting. It's a fascinating concept to think that I can revolt someone I have never met just through something as simple as a song. It's mind-boggling to think what people might be doing whilst listening to my music but I can't imagine that either Aural Anagram or Love Song would inspire a couple into the 'act.' But it's amusing to think what it might do. [LS] Your remix of Bass Communion's Ghosts on Magnetic Tape album added a weight to an album already thematically loaded with tension and apprehension. How did these remixes come about and what about the original drew you to the task of working with that material? Did you find it difficult to work with and why? Also, what do you think about the subject matter of the original and the existence of these electrical, spectral voices? [AL] Steven Wilson had been buying my music for some time and he sent me the album. I really liked it and said if one day you are going to do a remix I want to be involved. I started work on a track and sent him the results, more as an exercise and for our amusement rather then any intention to release the recording. Steven rang me up and said he really enjoyed what I had done and why don't I reconstruct the whole album… so I did. I found it pretty easy to reconstruct the original as it has many elements of my own music in there, and the album was based on a concept I was very familiar with. I was working on a new way of making music at the time that involved playing the original source at twice the speed backwards and twice as slow forwards at the same time, so it was a bit of an experiment and an aural exercise. I filled the recording with some of the EVP recordings I used on my own EVP inspired release 'Viva Raudive' and a lot of recordings I made in a cemetery near my house here in Brighton. The cemetery is vast: Aleister Crowley was cremated there and Count Stenbock is buried there, so I thought it made sense to go down a 'goth' route and incorporate some kind of 'validity.' Not that I have any concrete beliefs in the occult or supernatural. With regards to EVP, I am extremely sceptical of there being 'voices of the dead', and completely dismiss a two-way conversation with the living and the 'other side'. I do have certain beliefs and ideas when it comes to such phenomenon, electrical foot prints and some inexplicable memories left like dust particles, but I won't elaborate too much for fear of making myself look idiotic. [LS] Ghosts on Magnetic Tape marked the beginning of a series of very productive and interesting collaborations with other artists. In 2005 you released music with Nigel Ayers, Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar, Tony Wakeford (as The Wardrobe), and Darren Tate. So far in 2006 you've worked with Steven Stapleton, released a record with Colin Potter and The Hafler Trio, and continued your work with Wakeford on another The Wardrobe album. What do you enjoy the most about working with other musicians and artists? What sort of difficulties have you encountered when working with someone else that surprised you or perhaps ended up informing the way you view the process of making music? Do you have any humorous stories about your work with these individuals? [AL] It is always great to work with other people: people I meet, friends, people whose work I admire and fellow weary travellers. All the collaborations generally have reasons behind them. Either jokes between us or just working with friends really - people that share a lot of the same interests and worldview. Generally all my solo recordings are conceptually based and have a theme throughout, but when working with other people half the fun is not knowing where the recording will go and where it will wind up. In many respects it is light relief and interesting and inspiring. I can both learn something from it and discover different ways of making music. I always like to make something different and unique. I have never experienced any difficulties working with anyone, thankfully. There have been no hissy fits or artistic differences: mostly everyone are friends of mine or I have known them for a number of years. They are all decent, kind, selfless and generous people in m! any, many respects. There are plenty more in the making, some completed, some half finished, some just started and others in the pipeline. Myself and Colin Potter have been working on an album for years and years, there is also a possible project with David Tibet, two or three secret missions planned with the wonderful Matt Waldron/Irr. App. (Ext.), an excursion into 'sinister whimsy' with Nurse With Wound: this is a recording that myself and Mr. Stapleton have been discussing and working on and off for sometime now. There is an album called Black Paper with narration from Japanese author Kenji Siratori (this is the first instalment of a massive 12 CD collection, www.myspace.com/vortexvault ). The Vortex Vault is a CD a month for a whole year for Beta-lactam Ring Records). There are a lot of people involved with the Vortex Vault. I have amazing and outstanding opera from a gentleman called Ernesto Tomasini who has a stunning range of 4 and a half octaves. I have a lot of translations coming for it as well in Norwegian, Urdu, Persian, Finnish, Italian and Hungarian and a death metal track with Wolfgang Weiss from Cadaverous Condition doing what he does best. Also there is an album with Jonathan Coleclough called Torch Songs that will be out on double vinyl for Die Stadt in early February, and a remix for Paul Bradley. There is talk, yet no real confirmation of a possible recording with Thurston Moore for Blossoming Noise, a very cryptic and absurd recording half made utilising the language skills of Andrew McKenzie (he speaks something ridiculous like 30 languages), an album with Daniel Menche, another with Edward Ka-Spel and an even stranger project that myself and Clodagh Simonds have been discussing for a number of months that I'm really looking forward to: the list will grow… or shrink! Hopefully they will all come to fruition but of course they are all liable to change alteration and cancellation. [LS] More specifically, what was it like working with Lord Bath and Sion Orgon? How did the opportunity to work with Lord Bath come about and what drove you to work with him on Mother Goose's Melody...? Did the album exist before he was involved or did you intend to recruit him from the beginning? [AL] The album came about as a kind of joke between my self and Beequeen. We were going to make a recording based on the theme of the 'Great British Eccentric`, so I approached Lord Bath (neither Frans nor Freek have heard of him although he is pretty much a household name here in the UK). So they weren't sure about getting involved [and] I pursued the project on my own. As with many things it picked up its own momentum and just fell together. The album was made around Alex's voice and built its own character. I did have a specific notion of where I wanted to take it before we met and… well it just evolved - I haven't heard from Lord Bath since and have never been invited back to his mansion! I have never met Sion in person; we had shared a couple of emails and shared a mutual acquaintance. I invited him on board as a couple of tracks needed a little something extra and he was the man for the job at the time. [LS] Your website lists Ouarda: The Subtle Art of Phyllorhodomancy as a forthcoming release featuring the collaborations with Danielle Dax, Karl Blake, Darius Akashic and Miriam Chivers, Edward Ka-Spel, Daniel Padden, Maja Elliot, and Rose McDowall. What can we expect from this release? Perhaps you can tell me a little bit about how these artists worked with you on this album? I suspect this means we'll be hearing some more vocal/singing work on this album? Also, your website says this release will include an edition featuring a DVD disc. Can you tell me a little about this DVD and what might be on it? [AL] Ouarda is about roses, flowers and other stories that the listener will have to work out. Those who know will know, those who don't won't: puzzling I know - but necessary. The recording got out of hand, really. Initially I approached Karl Blake about adding some narration for one track. I told Karl about the theme of the album which is essentially about roses and he suggested I get Rose McDowall involved - I suppose it made sense in an obvious type way. So Rose came down and we spent a day or so recording. Then Karl somehow got Danielle Dax into some of my music so I invited her to do a few tracks, which wound up being a lot more. Maja Elliot was staying with me for a few days so I got her to narrate a piece that I had written. Edward approached me as he was a fan of My Long Accumulating… so I invited him to do a track that incidentally is a really amazing story. Then I approached Daniel Padden as I have always been a fan of his voice. And my friend Darius, being a radio presenter, has a great radio voice, so he was invited into the fold. It all just fell together and has taken over 3 years to make. It has been recorded all over the place: London, Paris and Sicily. I really think it has been worth the effort and consider it my most important and accomplished recording to date. There is a little bit of singing but mainly it is stories and narrative. I think it's my 'commercial' record. The album really would be nothing without the wonderful people involved. It will be out in Spring / Summer of 2007 on Raash Records. The DVD? Well you have to wait and see but it has some great visuals by a gentleman who approached me called Michael Tang: go to www.whatdoyousee.co.uk to get an idea of what it might be like. Some other filmmakers will possibly be involved as well. [LS] Also, what is "phyllorhodomancy?" [AL] It's an ancient method of divination. It involves slapping a rose in the hand; the sound the rose makes denotes what your future holds… apparently. [LS] You've released a massive 13-CD box set featuring a large portion of your previous CD-R releases called Miscellany - Deluxe. How did you choose what material to include in this box set? Where did the extra, unreleased material come from? [AL] The box is all the CD-Rs that sold out years ago collated into one concise document. The extra material is live shows and lost and forgotten tracks: anomalies that didn't fit into to the theme of an album, odd [and] ends. Something borrowed, something new, and etc. It was just a way of collating all the material as one huge document and to make it available to those people who had missed out first time around. It is one of my most popular releases. [LS] The Dying Submariner came in a limited edition that featured a second disc, The Dead Submariner (A Concerto for Bowed Guitar and Reverberation in Three Movements). Any chance we will see the music on that disc elsewhere? Why did you choose to accompany the piano record with a disc of bowed guitar? [AL] The Dead Submariner is unlikely to appear again. I chose to make a record using a bowed guitar to emulate and compliment the piano piece, as it was a 'live' stringed instrument: it made sense to me. I thought it would be more fitting and I didn't want to include a throw away item as many limited editions can be a bit slap-dash. I didn't want to cut corners with a remix of the piano versions or some extra, unrelated piece of music. [LS] Where did The Dying Submariner come from? Many of your records are conceptually focused and I do not think this one is any different. While the artwork is very dark and perhaps meant to relate a sense of fear or even claustrophobia, for me some of the music was quite playful. Was this juxtaposition intentional? [AL] I don't really want to advertise where the idea came from on The Dying Submariner, but again I think it is pretty obvious what it's about. The music is in part meant to be quite playful but never humorous or frivolous. [LS] There was, for a time, some hope that you'd be touring with Colin Potter and The Hafler Trio in the United States. That tour was, sadly, canceled. Can you tell me a little bit about what you had planned of this tour? Also, can you tell us a little bit about why it was canceled? [AL] I'd rather not go into the details, but the financing of the tour was a stumbling block and it was quite an ambitious tour in the timescale and financial constraints we had. [LS] What difficulties have you found in performing your own work live? What kind of equipment do you use? Is it still possible that fans in the US will be able to see you perform? [AL] I use an assortment of tools live - CD players, keyboards, bric-a-brac: anything at hand really. Guitars and anything really that takes my fancy on the night: a vast majority of the set is improvised and is different every time. I would love to tour extensively in the US but again it's about money and time. Maybe this year or the year after. But hopefully I will tour more in the future. [LS] Tell me a little bit about your work with Steven Stapleton both in relation to the material recorded and performed for Soundpooling and as part of his live performances. What sort of influence did you have on these performances and what were your responsibilities? [AL] Responsibilities? That's a novel turn of phrase for Nurse with Wound. Yes, Steve has given us very loose direction when playing live, but it's very loose and very freeform. It is in many respects completely improvised. Thankfully every time so far it has produced really interesting results, but the live experience does involve the talents of maestro Colin Potter and whiz kid Matt Waldron, both are key components in holding it altogether. In short, live it IS very much sound pooling, we all have a good rapport and bounce from one another live: it seems to flow quite on its own. Steve and myself are working on a new Nurse album that is slowly evolving. It has no time scale; I guess it will just come together one day. But so far it is very different from what you might expect. Who knows where it will wind up but it's shaping up. We have a great title for it and we are both really dedicated to the task. [LS] Describe your solo sets to me. How did your performances in Vienna go? In July you announced you might be performing in London during a Hans Bellmer exhibition. Is there any new news on that end? What kind of performance could we expect given the subject matter? [AL] Live sets? Well it's very difficult to 'entertain' without using a visual element so I always try to project interesting images, which are in further development right now. The Bellmer
show has fallen through, according to the gallery it was to do with
the sheer volume of works (of which they are many, almost too many,
which I can vouch for as I saw the show earlier this year in Paris)
and fire exits… so it goes. DUSTED Miles of Liles
- An interview with Andrew Liles TJ Norris:
How are things in “Jolly Old”? AL: I think
a lot of people have the opportunity to create and release their own
music now with the advance of consumer electronics getting cheaper and
easier to use. It’s a good thing and a bad thing as it gives those
a voice who wouldn’t have had one 10 years ago but it has flooded
the market with a lot of mediocre output and cluttered the shelves with
poor music, it’s hard to make a discerning choice on what to buy
these days because there is far too much choice. I think there are too
many people fighting for a really small market – in all honesty
how many people are into ‘experimental’ music worldwide?
– I guess about 10,000 people at the very most and at times it
seems 9,000 of those are also ‘musicans’. I think a lot
of music has become judged on how good the packaging is these days as
well. Releasing your own music is tough, no two ways about it. It’s
expensive and hard work. Distributors seldom want to know you and those
that do seldom pay you. But if you are confident in what you do and
genuinely passionate about what you are trying to say, it can be immensely
rewarding. You meet some of the nicest people in the world who always
stay in touch and look forward to what you are going to release next.
I have only self released one ‘proper’ CD – Aural
Anagram. The other two albums have been through Infraction. I have released
all of the CDRs myself and they, rather surprisingly as most people
seem to distrust or discredit the format, have always sold really well. AL: I think
it would undermine the great leaps and innovation set by the likes of
Xenakis and Cage to say I was any part of that. The likes of Cage, etc.,
are true innovators that made a path I can safely say I have had no
part in carving. In fact, pretty much everything that has evolved from
Stockhausen, Cage, and Ligeti is generic and I think it will take something
unimaginable to supercede what they have done. I wouldn’t consider
myself a pioneer of any kind – then again there is nothing new
under the sun. |