To mark this Mondays landmark "100 club" gig (A night of acts that have appeared more than 100 times at The Adelphi) I am releasing a "lost interview" by Michelle Dee where I talk about my work and the many wonderful shows I have had at Hulls best musicians night
below is the interview in it's entirety:
MD: Phill has just launched his debut album Adapter which is released on Adult Teeth Recordings after signing to the fledgling Hull label in 2013. I caught up with him and asked about the new album and his musical journey so far.
The new album is actually a double album and both discs can be played simultaneously, explain this:
MOMB: Well if you look at the main body of my live work, everything that I do is imagined and performed in that exact moment of time, there is never any repetition of "songs" in the traditional sense or going back over favorite pieces. With the double CD I was trying to think of a way in which a listener could have a similar experience through mixing a set of sounds on dual CD's that will probably never be lined up in exactly the same way again.
MD: Improvisation is at the heart of your music but doesn't that just pile on the pressure?
MOMB: There is certainly a lot to concentrate on during each performance, in effect I have to "be" the whole band plus the composer and studio jockey, but I have been doing it so long this way that I really can't imagine it any other way. I think I would feel more pressurized to go on stage night after night and have to try my best to perform my material as close to some perceived "perfect" recorded version as possible.
MD: I imagine you won't be able to tour this album in a normal way because as you pointed out on your launch publicity, no song will be played from the album. Aren't you just adding even more pressure...?
MOMB: I guess commercially the whole concept of what I do is a little niche, but the more I work this way, the more I find myself aligned with other time-based artists such as dancers, poets and performance artists rather than perhaps the more traditional gigging acts or DJ's. To me it is all about finding spaces where the expectations of the audience will match what my work is capable of delivering, there may be much fewer "hands in the air" moments than a regular electronic music act, but there is value to as many different types of performance as there are ways to listen.
MD: Where did the improv idea come? (bringing out the bedroom process to the stage something else?)
MOMB: The idea of the "bedroom electro act" is a funny one for me because, genuinely, I rarely have time to set this stuff up at home...maybe that was part of the reason why I leant to use improvisation, it was a way to get around the tedium of practicing.
On the whole, my favorite moments in the creation of music have always been the moment that a song idea is conceived and the moment that it is first performed in public, for me, after that, everything is just repetition as you drift further and further into the distance from whatever it was that made you want to write that particular melody or lyrics in the first place. To me improvisation cuts through all that and lets me have the best fix of the parts of music that hooked me in in the first place every time I perform.
MD: Do you panic before a set? I ask because you really don't know what it is that will be created in the next half hour...
MOMB: Only on the occasion that I know I am not mentally ready or that some piece of equipment is giving me grief, those are the real bad ones, so much of what I do is about acting on mindset, if the framing of the night isn't quite right then everything can be thrown off. I still get the buzz of knowing I am about to go on stage and knowing so far I've got NOTHING planned, that's the real stuff right there. It's funny cos I imagine people think that I MUST have some idea what will happen, or the drum beats mapped or some loops pre cut, but I really don't, I let myself select particular sounds that I fancy using that night and a musical key and scale to begin in, but beyond that it is all freestyle
MD: How do you equate your following? You definitely have one, but they are not following because they like the songs, have favourites, because no two sets are the same. Can you explain that?
MOMB: Well, thank you for saying so, this is a lovely time in my life where I can get to go out socially and meet people who's own work and ideas often inspire me and then play to them and receive their attention and support. Maybe it is, again similar to other post modern art practices, an appreciation of the "intent" or of the "concept" over and above any one particular piece, I wouldn't like to analyze it to much because I value creating whatever piece comes to mind.
MD: For technophiles your list of kit and katunda will be something of a lip-smacking feast, but recently you've added an electric mbira to your array, how did that come about?
MOMB: Simply, I have always been a fan of that Four Tet / Lemon Jelly sound, the one that is very brave in adopting non traditional and non electronic instruments into dance records, so when my parents asked me what I fancied for Christmas ( instruments have become kind of a staple since I stopped playing with toys) , I mentioned that I really fancied a Kalimba and I guess I was a good boy that year because that's what Santa brought me !!
MD: What about other instruments and also objects? I recall a strange thin guitar at your launch the other night at Union Mash Up...
MOMB: That is a Strum Stick, it is based on a Mountain Dulcimer in that it kind of has all the "wrong notes" taken out, I love stuff like that as, obviously, it is a Godsend for live improvised performance.
MD: You have lived and worked abroad how has that affected the music you create?
MOMB: Well, in Antwerp last year I did more living than working, so having the album to create was a total stroke of luck as it gave me this huge thing to focus on whilst I actually had the time to do it. That is very rare as more often than not you either have the ideas but no time or loads of time to fill and nothing creative to work towards.
At home do you listen to masses of electronica and synth sounds or does the music you listen to for fun differ from that which you play?
MOMB: Hmm, it's a mish-mash to be honest, I have always been super-easily influenced so, whatever I am listening to , that is what I want to sound like or play like haha.
Sure there is a lot of glitchy IDM and stuff in there but also ace stuff like The Czars, The Monks, Daniel Johnston, This Is The Kit and God knows what else.
MD: How does it feel when you look at an expectant audience and then look down at your banks of dials, switches, buttons and boxes, what is going through your head at the point?
MOMB: "Lock and Load!!!! " ...No, really it is often a moment where I try to take in the mood of the room, are people noisy or calm are they ready to give me the time to create something delicate or do they need waking up with a big beat, that kind of thing.
MD: I see your music as being all about layers, and the way one sound interacts with another, then how that relationship develops as new phrases are brought in. How would you describe your performance process? Unpack it for us a bit.
MOMB: Here is a typical MOMB plotline...
The first chapter is "Discovery" this is normally a bit chaotic as I try out a few things and try to figure out what the performance is going to be based around, trying to find a pulse.
The second stage is "Motive" this is where I stabilize the song into it's central groove, often the rest of the song can be me trying out other fragments in relation to this.
The third stage is often "Suspense" This normally involves unpacking a few things, lightening the load of the sound canvas and letting a few elements breath.
Finally we have the fourth stage "Release" this is the bit where everything storms back in and the whole underpinning of the song can lurch to a new direction before disappearing into view.
That is just one of many possible plots, I could do a whole series of these in a show or sometimes within one song.
MD: You're a regular at Musician's night on a Monday at Adelphi, why do you keep returning to that venue and that night?
MOMB: Adelphi Muso's Night feels like my unofficial residency, it's like the warm slippers when you get home from work, its a place where I can try out almost anything and always feel supported. The other big plus is that there is a good varied crowd with a decent turn over of new people so it is a great way to get in touch with new listeners and spark new ideas.
MD: Where else have you performed and can you pick a particular show that really stands out for whatever reason.
MOMB: I did my first ever improvised set at The Boathouse in Hull and I have often wondered if, had the set gone badly, I would have given up on freestyle music as a form of expression and gone back to my twelve or so traditional singer-songwriter songs. You can see me shitting myself on the video here, but once I got into the middle of each song you can see how I am totally alive in the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXF8CNw8DWk
MD: We've established it's all about improv so I have to ask does it ever go wrong and what do you do when it does?
MOMB: Oh yes, I don't think the ratio of cock ups has changed all that much right from the early days until now, I just think you learn better how to cope with them, the only things that really still throw me are "argh where is that really loud sound coming from" moments and the times where something gets out of time. This can happen for many reasons but it can be really distracting...I've done it so often though that instinct usually kicks in and I start slowly stripping out layers to make a simpler sound until things are back under control.
MD: Okay now the kit list Phill Wilson MyOneManBand - just what is all that tech that you use?
MOMB: Well the kit list is getting a little silly to the point where I sound like a self indulgent douche listing it all so instead let me just say that I get the most use out of a few great hardware sequencers such as the EMU Command Station and the Elektron Octatrack, along with the awesome hands on Electribe series of grooveboxes, which are really powerful for their ebay value.
Then you have the Kaoss Pads and Line 6 M9 effects which add their own seasoning and my new swiss army knife of real-time boxes, my twin iPads and finally you have the dedicated instruments like Kalimba, Handsonic, Strum Stick and Guitar which each have a part in shaping my overall palette of sounds,
Links:
Performance Archive : www.youtube.com/phillwilson
Buy The Album : www.adultteeth.com
Official Site : www.myonemanband.co.uk
Audio : www.soundcloud.com/myonemanband
MyOneManBand Facebook Page : www.facebook.com/myonemanbanduk
below is the interview in it's entirety:
MD: Phill has just launched his debut album Adapter which is released on Adult Teeth Recordings after signing to the fledgling Hull label in 2013. I caught up with him and asked about the new album and his musical journey so far.
The new album is actually a double album and both discs can be played simultaneously, explain this:
MOMB: Well if you look at the main body of my live work, everything that I do is imagined and performed in that exact moment of time, there is never any repetition of "songs" in the traditional sense or going back over favorite pieces. With the double CD I was trying to think of a way in which a listener could have a similar experience through mixing a set of sounds on dual CD's that will probably never be lined up in exactly the same way again.
MD: Improvisation is at the heart of your music but doesn't that just pile on the pressure?
MOMB: There is certainly a lot to concentrate on during each performance, in effect I have to "be" the whole band plus the composer and studio jockey, but I have been doing it so long this way that I really can't imagine it any other way. I think I would feel more pressurized to go on stage night after night and have to try my best to perform my material as close to some perceived "perfect" recorded version as possible.
MD: I imagine you won't be able to tour this album in a normal way because as you pointed out on your launch publicity, no song will be played from the album. Aren't you just adding even more pressure...?
MOMB: I guess commercially the whole concept of what I do is a little niche, but the more I work this way, the more I find myself aligned with other time-based artists such as dancers, poets and performance artists rather than perhaps the more traditional gigging acts or DJ's. To me it is all about finding spaces where the expectations of the audience will match what my work is capable of delivering, there may be much fewer "hands in the air" moments than a regular electronic music act, but there is value to as many different types of performance as there are ways to listen.
MD: Where did the improv idea come? (bringing out the bedroom process to the stage something else?)
MOMB: The idea of the "bedroom electro act" is a funny one for me because, genuinely, I rarely have time to set this stuff up at home...maybe that was part of the reason why I leant to use improvisation, it was a way to get around the tedium of practicing.
On the whole, my favorite moments in the creation of music have always been the moment that a song idea is conceived and the moment that it is first performed in public, for me, after that, everything is just repetition as you drift further and further into the distance from whatever it was that made you want to write that particular melody or lyrics in the first place. To me improvisation cuts through all that and lets me have the best fix of the parts of music that hooked me in in the first place every time I perform.
MD: Do you panic before a set? I ask because you really don't know what it is that will be created in the next half hour...
MOMB: Only on the occasion that I know I am not mentally ready or that some piece of equipment is giving me grief, those are the real bad ones, so much of what I do is about acting on mindset, if the framing of the night isn't quite right then everything can be thrown off. I still get the buzz of knowing I am about to go on stage and knowing so far I've got NOTHING planned, that's the real stuff right there. It's funny cos I imagine people think that I MUST have some idea what will happen, or the drum beats mapped or some loops pre cut, but I really don't, I let myself select particular sounds that I fancy using that night and a musical key and scale to begin in, but beyond that it is all freestyle
MD: How do you equate your following? You definitely have one, but they are not following because they like the songs, have favourites, because no two sets are the same. Can you explain that?
MOMB: Well, thank you for saying so, this is a lovely time in my life where I can get to go out socially and meet people who's own work and ideas often inspire me and then play to them and receive their attention and support. Maybe it is, again similar to other post modern art practices, an appreciation of the "intent" or of the "concept" over and above any one particular piece, I wouldn't like to analyze it to much because I value creating whatever piece comes to mind.
MD: For technophiles your list of kit and katunda will be something of a lip-smacking feast, but recently you've added an electric mbira to your array, how did that come about?
MOMB: Simply, I have always been a fan of that Four Tet / Lemon Jelly sound, the one that is very brave in adopting non traditional and non electronic instruments into dance records, so when my parents asked me what I fancied for Christmas ( instruments have become kind of a staple since I stopped playing with toys) , I mentioned that I really fancied a Kalimba and I guess I was a good boy that year because that's what Santa brought me !!
MD: What about other instruments and also objects? I recall a strange thin guitar at your launch the other night at Union Mash Up...
MOMB: That is a Strum Stick, it is based on a Mountain Dulcimer in that it kind of has all the "wrong notes" taken out, I love stuff like that as, obviously, it is a Godsend for live improvised performance.
MD: You have lived and worked abroad how has that affected the music you create?
MOMB: Well, in Antwerp last year I did more living than working, so having the album to create was a total stroke of luck as it gave me this huge thing to focus on whilst I actually had the time to do it. That is very rare as more often than not you either have the ideas but no time or loads of time to fill and nothing creative to work towards.
At home do you listen to masses of electronica and synth sounds or does the music you listen to for fun differ from that which you play?
MOMB: Hmm, it's a mish-mash to be honest, I have always been super-easily influenced so, whatever I am listening to , that is what I want to sound like or play like haha.
Sure there is a lot of glitchy IDM and stuff in there but also ace stuff like The Czars, The Monks, Daniel Johnston, This Is The Kit and God knows what else.
MD: How does it feel when you look at an expectant audience and then look down at your banks of dials, switches, buttons and boxes, what is going through your head at the point?
MOMB: "Lock and Load!!!! " ...No, really it is often a moment where I try to take in the mood of the room, are people noisy or calm are they ready to give me the time to create something delicate or do they need waking up with a big beat, that kind of thing.
MD: I see your music as being all about layers, and the way one sound interacts with another, then how that relationship develops as new phrases are brought in. How would you describe your performance process? Unpack it for us a bit.
MOMB: Here is a typical MOMB plotline...
The first chapter is "Discovery" this is normally a bit chaotic as I try out a few things and try to figure out what the performance is going to be based around, trying to find a pulse.
The second stage is "Motive" this is where I stabilize the song into it's central groove, often the rest of the song can be me trying out other fragments in relation to this.
The third stage is often "Suspense" This normally involves unpacking a few things, lightening the load of the sound canvas and letting a few elements breath.
Finally we have the fourth stage "Release" this is the bit where everything storms back in and the whole underpinning of the song can lurch to a new direction before disappearing into view.
That is just one of many possible plots, I could do a whole series of these in a show or sometimes within one song.
MD: You're a regular at Musician's night on a Monday at Adelphi, why do you keep returning to that venue and that night?
MOMB: Adelphi Muso's Night feels like my unofficial residency, it's like the warm slippers when you get home from work, its a place where I can try out almost anything and always feel supported. The other big plus is that there is a good varied crowd with a decent turn over of new people so it is a great way to get in touch with new listeners and spark new ideas.
MD: Where else have you performed and can you pick a particular show that really stands out for whatever reason.
MOMB: I did my first ever improvised set at The Boathouse in Hull and I have often wondered if, had the set gone badly, I would have given up on freestyle music as a form of expression and gone back to my twelve or so traditional singer-songwriter songs. You can see me shitting myself on the video here, but once I got into the middle of each song you can see how I am totally alive in the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXF8CNw8DWk
MD: We've established it's all about improv so I have to ask does it ever go wrong and what do you do when it does?
MOMB: Oh yes, I don't think the ratio of cock ups has changed all that much right from the early days until now, I just think you learn better how to cope with them, the only things that really still throw me are "argh where is that really loud sound coming from" moments and the times where something gets out of time. This can happen for many reasons but it can be really distracting...I've done it so often though that instinct usually kicks in and I start slowly stripping out layers to make a simpler sound until things are back under control.
MD: Okay now the kit list Phill Wilson MyOneManBand - just what is all that tech that you use?
MOMB: Well the kit list is getting a little silly to the point where I sound like a self indulgent douche listing it all so instead let me just say that I get the most use out of a few great hardware sequencers such as the EMU Command Station and the Elektron Octatrack, along with the awesome hands on Electribe series of grooveboxes, which are really powerful for their ebay value.
Then you have the Kaoss Pads and Line 6 M9 effects which add their own seasoning and my new swiss army knife of real-time boxes, my twin iPads and finally you have the dedicated instruments like Kalimba, Handsonic, Strum Stick and Guitar which each have a part in shaping my overall palette of sounds,
Links:
Performance Archive : www.youtube.com/phillwilson
Buy The Album : www.adultteeth.com
Official Site : www.myonemanband.co.uk
Audio : www.soundcloud.com/myonemanband
MyOneManBand Facebook Page : www.facebook.com/myonemanbanduk
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