It's always nice to know the background of what your seeing or hearing to get an understanding or appreciation of what is going on, and where someone is coming from. An eighty piece orchestra produces the same result, as three bull frogs or a buzzing stoplight - music. Melody (or the lack of) and rhythm (or the lack of).
So what exactly are we going for, what is going to be our process? What we will be doing isn't anything avant-guard, it's been going on for some time, but I believe out approach to it is what makes it truly unique. Well, first let me explain our process.
Everything music wise is done on the spot, live, each song different from the last and unable to be reproduced. The process is almost entirely done unconsciously, in a surreal matter. There is one building point from which the entire song will be made of. Shane may start by recording the sound of a key being pressed on a keyboard, or a few notes on a piano being played, or a dog barking, or a child crying. This bare essential part is then looped and played over itself over and over creating a gamut of sounds that can be taken out or added at a later time in the progression. He may also add live music, recorded and looped on the spot such as a a guitar, keyboard, bass, etc and add voice sampling, which can be broken up into each individual note and layered over the rest. The entire process and progression of each song develops into life and will eventually end the same way it was created.
During the music, one or more videos will be projected. The videos will have no story, but will be developed the same way as the music - starting with a single image, or a small amount of footage which will be layered, and looped. Found footage, appropriation of clips from famous experimental films, still images, etc will also be added within the video. The video may then be projected over top of each other, side by side, or each on a separate wall. We are hoping that the music and videos will at some point (or the entire length) will sync, putting the audience in a trance, opening up their unconsciousness as well as an entirely new way of experiencing and perceiving something they could in no other time or way.
What about our influences in this project? As far as music goes (I will discuss video later in this blog) - the main components are post-rock, noise, and performance art. I have put links to what post-rock and noise are for anyone interested in learning more about them.
A brief description of these -
Post-rock: no vocals, layered instruments (mostly very simply played, playing mostly the same notes but at different times), having a slow ambient quality that builds as the song does, lengths of 6-20 minutes, and a very poetic and emotional quality to them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-rock
Noise: no main melody, no repetition of parts, very slow or very heavy, no vocals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_%28music%29
I have put a few videos below to help you get a better idea of what these genres sound like. The first is a video of the Japanese band the Boredoms performing in Philadelphia. I was lucky enough to be at this show, and it is quite possible that you can see me standing in the front row in the middle of the stage. The Boredoms did not always sound like this, they have evolved and changed their sound severely. They now consist of 3 drummers and one from man who plays a 7 neck guitar that strapped to a post by hitting it with a long stick, two electric balls which react through noise and feedback when put next to each other, and a keyboard. Their songs are long, and develop and end similar to the way we will be performing.
This next video is of the post-rock band, Explosions in the Sky - this video is a fine example of what post-rock sounds like.
This last video is of the band the Boredoms again, and shows them in a younger time than above. This style is a mix of noise, performance art, and dadaism (I will talk about this more in other entries of this blog).
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