Festa de Encerramento Porto Femme - BONE ZENO - Bone Zeno apresentou no Barracuda - Clube de Roque,
no sábado passado, o seu mais recente álbum, de nome Black Milk
(Impression Recordings, 2017). Fazer esta review de forma isenta é-me
impossível de todo, pois amo verdadeiramente a música deste homem,
já vai para muitos longos anos, quando ainda era [D-66] e
atuava pontualmente no bar Porto-Rio= Barco Gandufe, no seu anterior projeto. Por isso esta vai ser
necessariamente uma review de exercício de memórias, de amor e
paixão pelo rock’n’roll underground, personificado neste senhor.
Para que se entenda
rapidamente, Bone Zeno é um projeto one man band, dentro do blues e do
trash/punk. É também, por essa via, a forma como este alemão, a
viver presentemente em Coimbra, extravasa todo os seus fantasmas e
ideais de vida viciosos e caóticos, de uma forma completamente única
e singular. No universo imenso das one man bands, que pululam um
pouco por todo o lado na atualidade, Bone Zeno, é para mim o melhor
e o maior de todos. É simplesmente muito grande, enorme. E penso
isto desde há muitos anos, até porque considero ter um relativo bom
conhecimento de outros artistas dentro deste tipo de formato, tanto
ao vivo como discograficamente. E então é diferente dos outros em
quê? Direi que é quase impossível haver alguém mais louco e
excitante em palco, a tocar dentro do seu estilo musical, nos dias de
hoje, sem utilização a recursos de distração iconográfica. E
reforço também que dentro do seu estilo musical, ou seja, da música
que faz, é para o meu gosto pessoal, completamente fascinante. Para
mim Bone Zeno é a mais perfeita personificação do bluesman do post
punk, das latitudes do noise guitar de um Rowland S. Howard,
entrecruzado com o delicioso deboche caótico de uns The Birthday
Party ou The Cramps, algures entre um Tom Waits, um Nick Cave, um Lux
Interior… ou até de um Jerry Lee Lewis, quando jovem, todos juntos
numa só pessoa e a destilar a mais das puras selvajarias em palco.
A energia e a
sensação imediata de que estamos a assistir a algo de grande dentro
do rock, é-nos logo transmitida aos primeiros acordes de abertura do
concerto; qualquer verdadeiro amante de rock percebe imediatamente que a
partir daí o mais natural é deixar-se ser levado pelo turbilhão de
insanidade que se avizinha, qual tsunami. Já vejo Bone Zeno há mais
de 11-13 anos (por aí), desde que se apresenta sempre no Porto, e
até agora não faltei à pregação caótica uma única vez. Estive
na primeira, quando este era baterista dos The Parkinsons e atuou no Porto-Rio, num concerto incrível,
daqueles inesquecíveis e habituais da banda, e depois de todas as
outras vezes que sempre lá se apresentou a solo como D-66 ao longo
do tempo (num deles, quase que consegui destruír parte da sua
performance (pois fiquei completamente possuído pela sua música),
mas também do qual resultou o bom contato que ambos mantemos até
aos dias de hoje. A última vez que o vi, foi no extinto CAVE 45, e foi igualmente excelente, dentro do que sempre espero da
sua atuação ao vivo. Nunca me desiludiu até hoje. Por isso, só
faltarei a um concerto de Bone Zeno por questões de força maior,
como facilmente se percebe.
O concerto deste
sábado passado foi mais um dentro do mesmo registo habitual de Bone
Zeno; entre a loucura e o caos, mas também entre a profundidade e a
excelência que todos os seus temas oferecem, sem exceção. Aliás,
Black Milk, que estava a ser, em muitos dos seus temas, dissecado em
palco, é um excelente álbum; daqueles que ouvi, de forma viciante,
em 2017 durante semanas seguidas e em modo de repeat diário. Foi,
por essas semanas, a minha banda sonora de vida. Todas as vezes que um concerto dele finaliza, questiono-me da razão de Bone Zeno não ter uma carreira maior, e acho que a resposta resvala sempre para o óbvio: é demasiado selvagem e insano para ser “domado”, para que se permita, por si mesmo, concretizar os objetivos de um hipotético agente ou até de management, com a seriedade e a credibilidade com que muitos deles gerem as carreiras de outros artistas. É, também por isso, que adoro este homem e a sua música.
Lydia Lunch é uma das mais importantes personalidades do meio
musical da no-wave e do post-punk de Nova York dos anos 80. É uma
pioneira e uma sobrevivente de um género apaixonante, literário,
sem barreiras estéticas e ideológicas, do melhor que a música
underground nos deu ao longo destas últimas décadas. Faz parte de
uma geração de génios e de personalidades influentes, tanto a
nível musical, de escrita e de performance, e por isso mesmo é
história viva, ou lenda-viva, da música popular de pendor
underground, conforme se a quiser catalogar.
A artista
apresentou-se ao público, no passado sábado, na Galeria Municipal
do Porto, com o seu apaixonante trabalho de tipologia spoken word de
nome Dust and Shadows, no seguimento da exposição “O ontem morreu
hoje, o hoje morre amanhã” (uma mostra de artistas locais
emergentes com trabalhos orientados dentro da temática das suas
experiências de vida noturna – através de cartazes e imagens para
eventos de música eletrónica, DJ sets e outros), e onde o nome
maior - e eventualmente o catalisador desta exposição - é o enorme
artista norte-americano RaymondPettibon, o autor de toda a estética gráfica dos grandiosos
Black Flag, uma das mais importantes e seminais bandas do
punk-hardcore global. De forma muito resumida, a estética do preto e
branco de proporções grotescas e cruas, em muitos casos minimal e
“mal desenhada” de forma naíf, é o que une todos estes
artistas. Uma exposição que recomendo vivamente para ser visitada.
Lydia Lunch conduziu-nos de forma hipnótica para uma alucinante
performance da palavra, transformada em qual artefacto psicadélico
de divagação dos pensamentos urgentes e depressivos que assolam a
mente da artista e que é simplesmente assombrosa, e não deixa
ninguém indiferente. Porque o que esta nos confronta ao longo de 45
minutos é simplesmente a Vida em todas as vertentes possíveis e
imagináveis do indivíduo.
Inicialmente
focando-se sobre a liberdade no seu entendimento mais politizado, de
como o Estado e as corporações nos controlam a todos, desde o mero
uso de um cartão Visa até à tv e internet, de imediato passa para
um ataque cerrado aos EUA nas suas mais variadas idiossincrasias que
são, de forma fulminante, postas a cru, recorrendo para o seu
conceito pessoal de caos e do seu poder libertador, levando-nos ao
seu mundo obscuro dos fantasmas-emoções que nos atormentam as
memórias, avisando-nos de antemão, de que um dia mais tarde,
seremos também um deles. Há um extasiante humor negro, em violenta
convulsão, em tudo o que a artista aborda, como se não houvesse
salvação. Ela afirma-se uma sobrevivente, de todos os tipos de
vidas e de drogas, reais e imaginárias. Mas é precisamente nesta
aparente negatividade que reside todo o amor pela Vida, pela
Mãe-Natureza, e pelo Indivíduo por parte de Lydia Lunch. Quando nos
revela, de forma agressiva e desafiadora, que a verdadeira e única
rebelião é o prazer, é mais do que óbvio que estamos perante
alguém com imensa substância; uma mente rara com coisas importantes
para ser escutada. No final do seu espetáculo, disserta, em forma
pungente de elogio fúnebre, arrepiante e angustiante, sobre o que se
pode dizer a alguém que só tem 30 dias de vida e que passa só a
ter 30 horas de vida e que passa rapidamente a ter 3 horas e só mais
3 minutos, envenenado com medicação, a tentar lutar pela vida, a
tentar a todo o custo salvar a esperança para uma vida que se apaga…
e só restam mais 3 segundos de vida e a única coisa que se pode
fazer é dar as mãos a quem morre e dizer que rapidamente passarás
a ser um rei e num vórtex de luz entras numa outra dimensão, feito
em partículas subatómicas no éter, em cinzas… este é um momento
que jamais se esquece, porque é algo muito forte, de visualização
intensamente evidente da forma como a artista se expôe publicamente
nesta temática do fim da Vida. Este momento do espetáculo é muito
impactante, feito num sentimento que jamais centenas de bandas
barulhentas de rock e afins alguma vez conseguirão fazer passar para
uma audiência. A palavra, quando bem usada, é muito poderosa…
avassaladora.
O que retive
essencialmente desta mais recente performance da artista (que já nos
visitou por diversas vezes no passado), é que de forma ostensiva,
Lydia Lunch é uma espécie de upgrade atualizado e muito peculiar
das grandes cantoras de blues e do jazz do passado, uma diva da
devassidão e do caos, do prazer e da luxúria; senhora de uma voz
poderosa e de grande alcance tímbrico, que apregoa a liberdade de
uma forma que não é óbvia nem do senso-comum. É nisso que é uma
fora de série; uma entre biliões. Para além disso, é também
alguém com consciência política ativa; encontra sempre uma forma
de relacionar temas iminentemente literários e emotivos com uma
realidade social dura e crua, atacando de forma ácida o que tiver de
ser destruído na sua conceção do real. Por isso, estou em
crer, que assistir a uma sua performance, é sempre uma experiência
de vida inesquecível, daquelas que perdurarão eternamente nas
nossas memórias. Pelo menos foi isso que aconteceu comigo.
Não é todos os dias que se dá de caras com uma verdadeira rock
star, daquelas mundialmente famosas - e enormes - dentro do lado mais
glam e decadente do género… uma rock star à moda antiga, das da
TV, dos jornais, das revistas e dos posters afixados nos quartos dos
adolescentes; das que sempre fizeram parte de algum do meu imaginário
rock’n’roll.
Andy McCoy, o lendário guitarrista e compositor dos Hanoi Rocks - deambulava durante o fim de semana passado pelos lados do bar Barracuda - Clube de Roque, no Porto. Após nos conhecermos e depois de conversas várias sobre rock’n’roll e afins, comecei a gizar forma de o entrevistar, por imediatamente ter percebido que o homem é um manancial vivo e precioso de histórias de vivência rock que podiam ser interessantes para serem partilhadas com mais gente. E foi isso que fiz. Seguem-se nove posts no meu mural aqui do Facebook, com vídeos breves em que pedi a Andy McCoy que comentasse vários nomes e assuntos e que exercitasse as suas memórias sobre as mesmas (para este blogue juntei todos os vídeos num único). É óbvio que no essencial queria que satisfizesse a minha curiosidade sobre personagens ou assuntos que, dentro do meu gosto e formação de rock, me são mais queridos.
Andy McCoy encontrava-se no
Porto no seguimento de um livro autobiográfico que está a ser
ultimado por um escritor/jornalista finlandês de nome Lamppu
Laamanen, que já conta com várias publicações sobre temáticas
rock'n'roll - e a quem também estou agradecido por ter convencido
Andy para a entrevista que propus - e que decidiram ambos vir passar
uns dias à Invicta, para encontrarem nesta, um ambiente diferente e
mais relaxado em relação a outras cidades europeias, onde Andy é
extremamente reconhecido na rua. É óbvio que aqui também o foi; já
muita gente sabe a esta hora da sua presença por estas paragens.
Afinal é uma rock star global.
Mas para além disso, Andy McCoy
é um excelente contador de histórias de rock’n’roll e um
sujeito “soooo sweet” e extremamente acessível com toda a gente
que o interpelava... definitivamente um verdadeiro cavalheiro. Diria
que praticamente conheceu e conviveu com todas as grandes - e também
não tão grandes - estrelas do meio. E essa vivência continua a ser
feita todos os dias, pois é a sua vida. O tempo da entrevista foi o
suficiente para ter material interessante… e não fosse o tempo
medido, ainda ia saber alguma história curiosa com a Tina Turner ou
com os Motley Crue, que ficaram por contar. Fica para a próxima.
For some years
now, I have been following the brilliant work of J.P. Shilo, in all
his facets as a multi-instrumentalist. My initial contact with him
was through the great Rowland S. Howard. J.P. was the bassist who,
along with Mick Harvey, accompanied him live. Wanting to know more
about him, I discovered his band, Hungry Ghosts. It was unconditional
love at first audition ... from then on, I have been carefully
following his musical career. He's a musical genius. Period! After
having already interviewed him, in a different context, for Mondo
Bizarre Magazine, here is a new one, solely focused on his musical
gear. From musicians to musicians and to everyone who might be
interested in knowing more about technical issues related to J.P.'s
music.
*It also includes a couple of questions about
Jubjoté, J.P. Shilo's upcoming album, out June 25, on Heavy
Machinery Records, along with a film by L.J. Spruyt Photography.
Can you talk about
your Fender Jazzmaster guitar? Is it all original, or does it have
any hardware changes made by you?
I bought the
Jazzmaster in 1997 – brand new, in Melbourne. I guess that makes it
23 now. It is finally “finding its voice”. It is all original.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUTnWShOsSk)
On
the first Hungry Ghosts record, I was loaned a nice old one from the
60s by Birdland Studio’s Lindsay Gravina. That’s where I got my
first taste and never looked back. By the time we got to NYC we
got to play Sonic Youth’s guitars! A Fender smorgasbord.
I had
a strat copy as a youngster, but soon outgrew it/refined my taste by
the time I started writing seriously. I never really felt comfortable
with it…
In Pop Crimes: The Songs of Rowland S. Howard,
you also play with a Fender Jaguar. What are your impressions of that
guitar compared to the sound of your Jazzmaster?
I have been
fortunate enough over the recent years to have been loaned a lovely
selection of vintage Jags to aid me in my mission of honouring RSH in
the Pop Crimes shows.
The first one (the
one I have used mostly used on this project, and also on various
recordings) was kindly loaned by Rob Snarski of The Blackeyed Susans.
His is the red L Series one from 1963(?) I believe the neck was
replaced in the seventies.
(Playing through a vintage Jag is
“crucial” in trying to emulate or even give a vague “impression”
of RSH’s signature tone. )
My Jazzmaster’s
“voice” is far too young & mellow… and would require much
more reliance on pedals and amp to even come close to achieving the
tone.
It’s one
thing to play the same notes, but the pick-ups and the age of them
are what really reveal the true tone. If you can start with that
signal from the actual guitar, you’re in the right ballpark.
Most recently I used
a 1965 shoreline gold, loaned to me by Lewis Boyes, (who plays w/
Adalita, and runs a fantastic boutique store in Melbourne called
Found Sound) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUkvk7qW05A)
As far as the design
of a Jag vs Jazzmaster, I’m sure I’m not alone in saying the
positioning of the pick-up selector on the Jag is often fraught with
the looming dread of the “cut-off” position/combination. I always
wondered why I often saw photos of peoples Jags with tape on the
switches. Now I know, one has to be conscious not to accidentally
kill the signal in ones enthusiasm. That is its only drawback.
I
love the floating tremolo system, all that behind the bridge option
for making noises. Lots of other guitars have behind the bridge
strings exposed, but not really enough length to get a quality
resonance from.
I was intrigued to
see Lee Ranaldo & Thurston Moore’s modifications on a couple,
(when Hungry Ghosts used their studio.) They had pick-ups built in
behind the bridge, to fully harness it as a working option.
I am
most comfortable on Jags and Jazzmasters. Everything else feels weird
now.
My electric parts for Hungry Ghosts are best executed on a
Jazzmaster.
I also love playing nylon string guitars
though, and love to modify and manipulate them beyond their intended
classical purpose. I currently use a sweet “parlour” size model
called “Motif” made by “La Patrie” from Quebec. I’ve been
writing a lot of new pieces for Hungry Ghosts on it.
Which guitar
amplifier do you use the most? What is your favorite? - Which pedal
set do you usually use live? Are there any changes to that set,
depending on the band, or artists, with whom you are playing?
Again I am a Fender
man, and have used a Pro Reverb for many years – (I believe that
was Poison Ivy’s preference too.)
Of late I have been plugging
into (and preferring) Music Man amps. They are essentially a Fender
just with a different badge.
I recently purchased
an old 4x10 Music Man, which is great to get that pure amp
tone.
Interestingly, it was Mick who pointed out to me in our
recent rehearsals that the Music Man was RSH’s preferred make, that
it was a 210 used on The Friend Catcher! and that it made sense that
I was naturally gravitating toward it. (My ears must be becoming
refined)
Rowland’s use of
the Twin Reverb was more out of convenience. They were/are easier to
access/hire around the world.
I’ve said before, in the
Hungry Ghosts days, I didn’t use pedals, (not even a tuner!) Apart
from the fact I couldn’t afford to buy any, it somehow seemed like
it was “cheating” or compromising the pure tone of the guitar.
Phasers and flangers, etc. kind of gross me out… they seem tacky,
and often end up sounding a bit “Disneyland” in the wrong hands…
haha (I’ve loosened up on that idea though over the years -
depending on the project I am working on, but quite often they feel
like a disguise, or like cosmetics. I can’t hear the guitarist,
just their favourite flavour of ice cream! Haha).
I like to
experiment with sounds etc. obviously, but I like to hear a pedal, if
I click it on, I want it to actually do something. Quite often I see
players with a fully loaded display of pedals at their disposal, but
nothing that can’t necessarily be achieved by just cranking up the
amp and letting the valves sing! I’m not particularly impressed by
“bling”.
When I was
playing in a short-lived side project called The Saddests
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi01sd0OmtI),
I had a beautiful old vintage Colorsound Overdriver with the
creamiest fuzz, and hugest boost… that I only clicked on for one
solo in the whole set. It was always a “surprise”! I often scared
the daylights out of the unsuspecting mixer, who would spill their
drinks and frantically spread their fingers out over all the faders,
wondering where the hell that sound just exploded from! They would
spent the whole set, finding their ideal balance of the mix, etc.
then Bam! By the time they located the source, the solo was over!
Haha… It is an effect, and should do that.
As far as other
pedals go, I am actually quite sparse and always try to actually
modify the guitar physically.
That said, the RSH
pedal by Reuss Musical Instruments was a Godsend in being able to
articulate the sounds of the MXR blue box & distortion + in the
one unit for the Pop Crimes shows
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxWndzKDPEs).
I still use the RSH 2 model, even though my suggestion of adding an
extra knob to vary how much blue box effect could be dialled in led
to updated models. I’ve just managed to find the sweet spot on it
for the sets that we’ve played.
I’ve used the RSH
3 on a piano accordion but not guitar (yet) Hopefully I get around to
it.
My pet peeve/bug-bear on tour is the Fender Twin without a
Master Volume. The fact that one can barely push them on stage past 1
without deafening everyone else is a right pain, and the valves
rarely get a chance to find that really rich crackling sweet spot
tone, that the ones with master volumes can. Also so many times I
turn up for soundcheck, have stipulated that I need a Fender Valve
amp with working spring reverb, and then the footswitch is missing,
or the reverb doesn’t work. Aaargh.
A neat little tool, I’ll
have to invest in, is one of those “Glow-Baby” volume controls
(that plugs in through the effects loop – between the pre-amp and
power amp stages to be able to get that warm tube sound) that would
have gotten me out of a pickle on the road.
I did have my Pro
Reverb tweaked to achieve something similar. Giving me enough head
room to push the gain up to “hot”.
In
comments on your Facebook pages you have mentioned some idiosyncratic
guitar styles of yours. Expressions like "chalk guitar"
"ping guitar" "swirl guitar" and others, reveal a
very specific stylistic code. I would like you to explain to us these
styles.
Quite often in
sleevenotes I’ve had to give my techniques “pet” names to
differentiate them from just “guitar” (when there are multiple
guitars on a recording.)
Not only that, but sometimes to draw
attention to a particular sound that may not even be recognisable as
a guitar.
On my most recent LP “Invisible You” – the
opening track “Kid King Kong” has a sound/technique I have
referred to as “Guitarre
Obscura”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b31Jg3q_d60
I
have developed and been modifying this technique since the mid 90s -
It involves twisting and weaving a bamboo skewer through the strings,
and then tuning accordingly, and moving the skewer to a particular
fret. I have got it to a point now where the “secret tuning”
creates a reliable set of clanging percussive tones that I can pick
out notes and chords consistently.
I used the same
technique on the title track of As Happy as Sad is
Blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzBU5j15iLM
It
sounds like there are drums/percussion on the track, but it is just
the prepared “guitarre obscura”
My initial experiment
was on an improvised piece with Hungry Ghosts –
“Africa” https://jpshilo.bandcamp.com/track/africa
It
was with picks though, (which you can hear come loose during the
song! I eventually incorporate re-weaving the picks into the song.
Hehe)
I’ve always enjoyed the sound of gamelans, and
tried to get a guitar to sound something like it over the years, the
sombre, slightly atonal percussive feel. Beautiful yet slightly
disturbing.
I have since made some new modifications of
this technique which allows me to also play clean melody lines with
some of the strings. This piece will be on the next Hungry Ghosts
LP.
In the early days I messed around with cutlery, and palette
knives, but the most effective (due to its size consistency &
cost!) has been the bamboo skewer.
Featuring his 'Guitarre Obscura' technique, this sequence of shots captures the moment he removes the skewer at the dramatic climax of the song. The swift action causes the strings to ring out with a distinctive koto-like sound ∼
creating a segue into the next piece,
where he then uses the skewer as a pick.
Another technique I
have used on a few recordings is the “chalk guitar”. I initially
used billiard chalk (which I would pocket from pool halls around the
world, sorry folks ) The consistency of the chalk was best/finest,
and created the smoothest friction. But the size of the blocks was
not conducive to long strokes, hence the more frenetic “bowing”
style on the initial recordings.
I guess it could be
considered a sort of “acoustic e-bow” in that it gives the
impression of feedback or even violins, but is completely acoustic! I
use it when I want string sections to sound a bit warped.
The
most recent example is on Tropical Fuck Storm’s LP – Braindrops,
on a track called “Maria
62” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atUj74KPAys
(I
also added some violins into the mix, just to confuse things.)
I
have since started using sticks of street chalk, which allow for
longer smoother strokes.
I’ve performed it a few times
live, but it can get quite messy and the guitar strings do
tend to get “clogged” and unplayable after, so it remains a
studio technique mainly.
I also used the “chalk guitar”
technique on the last officially released track by Rowland S. Howard
- “Lost in Space” (The b-side of the “Golden Age of Bloodshed”
single. Again combined with violins, it gives a slightly
whirring/nauseous/sea-sick feeling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clfoqef1vGM
“…He
was very weak by that stage. We had no idea really what we were to be
doing. We'd recorded the 8 songs that are on the Pop Crimes LP. By
this stage we were twiddling thumbs, and waiting on instructions from
RSH. He said he'd like to do a song called Lost in Space. There was a
strange loop that his pedal was making that was an off-cut from
another song. He played harmonics over the top of it, then sat on the
couch in the control room, and asked me to decorate. I sat in the
control room with him and layered some violins and chalked guitar. He
was fading, but didn't stop me so I guess we were writing a song.
Mick tried playing drums to it, but aborted that mission quickly. -
it was shelved, and dusted off for the b-side of Golden Age of
Bloodshed." No idea if that was where we were headed. The piece
surely didn't fit the rest of the record... it was like a space
walk~~”
The “Ping-Swirl”
technique is probably used most notably on
the 3rd Movement of S
L E E P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BWSmmrMqmk
(This
was recorded LIVE in the early morning of October 8th, 2015 – The
morning my friend and colleague James Cruickshank passed away. I had
played the piece to him on one of his earlier stays when he was
already quite unwell, and he fell asleep smiling, so I took it as a
compliment).
As the title
hopefully suggests/conjures, it is a combo of picking out harmonics,
and adjusting the volume knob of the guitar with the ring&little
finger of right hand, so the attack/pluck is inaudible, but the bell
like harmonics are “swirled” into the mix. (Obviously I deviate
from standard tuning – (often) so that is also a factor in why it
may sound “different” for those playing along at home.)
I
rarely use standard tuning anymore.
A few years ago in The
Blackeyed Susans, I made the conscious decision to completely change
my tuning, it felt like a way of personalising my role/sound in the
band, and also kept it interesting, in that I had to re-learn all the
songs with new chord structures!
It was a way of keeping things
fresh. The tuning I settled on, was the same as my “Alone, Alone”
tuning for Hungry Ghosts, and due to the lowered notes I could also
create more interplay with the bass, or even an affect where the
guitar itself sounded like a bass being played; take it’s place
(kind of free up the bass).
This particular tuning is also
used in two other different techniques not yet mentioned.
A
“calliope” type sound that I used on this track – Fireflies
(from As Happy as Sad is Blue)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxkgewaE0ho
It
involves playing with the tremolo effect. The intensity is set to 10,
the pulse is on 1.
I tap out chords with my left hand, and also
tap higher chords with my right hand. It is timed to the pulse of the
tremolo, so that the strings are touched only when the volume is
briefly muted, giving that distinctly fairground organ feel.
A
combination of a very similar tuning + the tapping technique, is on
“Voodoo Talking” (from Invisible You)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEy_Nx0J14w
I am
playing the bass line with my left hand, and tapping the “stabbing”
chords higher up the fretboard.
This recording is basically LIVE
- just me doing this technique & Steve Shelley on drums. (I later
overdubbed a slide guitar that sounds like violins, and mixed in some
of Mick Harvey’s organ parts but it is an incredibly simple
arrangement.)
Some techniques are discovered purely though
messing around, others are from challenges, like somebody giving me
an object in the studio and saying “I bet you can’t make a sound
using this… thing.” Hehe!
Ie. This thing(?) I managed to
attach to a guitar and mic up, during recording the song “Contact”
from Mick Harvey’s “Intoxicated Women”
LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v8EB2uIJAM I
have a few other techniques, which Rowland credited on Pop Crimes as
“General Strangeness” but these didn’t always involve guitars.
Do you prefer to
play the electric guitar with a higher bridge position, for greater
tone definition and decrease of buzz fret, or, on the contrary, for a
lower bridge position, to play with less string tension?
Hmmm, I prefer
higher. Often with the de-tuned strings there is more chance for
string buzz. That said, I am adaptable, and modify my playing
depending on what tools are at hand. Some guitars demand to be played
certain ways, and regardless of what you try to inflict upon them,
you get bucked.
Adaptability is the key! (It’s probably a good
motto for Life too).
That, and a sense of humour.
Some
shows, I’ve been given almost unplayable guitars, and decided then
and there, I’ll just play slide guitar, or something else- hmmm
maybe piano? ...anything can happen on tour; “what does this button
do?!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmJwkimMVoM What
type of pick and string gauge do you choose to play the electric
guitar?
I prefer a 0.73m pick. And favour 10 or 11 gauge
strings (Though in Hungry Ghosts, I did replace the low E & A
strings with D & G bass strings for a while, as I was tuning down
to C & G).
That said, I have also been known to string
a guitar with “Bonsai wire” for some projects.
Now, let's move on
to the bass. Again, here, you seem to
be a Fender man, playing a Fender Jazz Bass. In some videos of your
live performances, I identify you playing on Brian Hooper's bass,
and, most of the time, on Mick Harvey's bass. An Ampeg SVT-410 HE
speaker seems to be the one you use mostly, with an amp head that I
couldn't identify, maybe an Ampeg too. I would like to know more
about the sound, and the tone, which defines your style of playing
bass.
You have a keen eye!
Again, I do prefer a Fender.
Through the Pop Crimes shows
with Rowland I used Mick’s Jazz Bass (mostly.)
When Brian was
re-introduced into the LIVE line-up, I would play on “Ave Maria”
– he found the part I had written too “delicate/not to his style
of playing” and would take a break.
(I also ended up singing
it recently for the “tribute” shows -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYf4zx2qeXY
it is one of my favourite RSH songs)
We
usually did “Autoluminescent” as an encore and I often ended up
playing Brian’s bass on that one as well.
On the actual
Pop Crimes recordings however, I borrowed a nice old 70s Fender
P-bass from Cut/Copy (a band I spent about 6 months touring
internationally/playing bass in from late 2007 to early 2008).
Funnily when they asked me to join, I had never played bass
before, but they said that didn’t
matter, they were confident in my abilities to pick it up.
Ampeg
is a reliable choice of amp, and always a relief to find an SVT
waiting on stage at soundcheck. With Cut/Copy, we were doing large
festivals to tens of thousands, so the “fridge” was optimal. But
for smaller shows the 4x10 is/was just as effective.
On
the Pop Crimes record, we ran my bass through a Fender Princeton
guitar amp and had that powering a quad box which created a very
unusual tone, so we went with that set-up throughout.
The
bass-line on “Pop Crimes” was based on a riff initially made up
by Brian, though it was taught to me by Rowland, so it suffered from
“Chinese Whispers” by the time I recorded it for the album. Brian
later jokingly remarked that I had “fucked it up, and now I have to
play your stupid bass-line!”
haha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HgjwFtX2Lk
At the start of that song, and also on Rowland’s
“explosion” part, I played a “drill” through the bass
pick-ups. It is listed as a “drill” just to simplify the term,
but it was in fact a small “battery-powered milk-frother”, (for
making cappuccinos!)
I did use a fibre-glass “Italia”
bass for a show when I guested in Blue Ruin once at a charity event
in 2012. It had two separate outputs for each of the passive &
active pick- ups. It had a semi-hollow body, so depending on the song
I could get some really tasty/nasty/gnarly tones (and feed back)
going on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PT0aKrpNNw
The way you play the
violin is extremely cinematic, it immediately takes us to a timeless,
deep and classical space, between sacred and orchestral music, and
there are moments of overwhelming intensity, which I risk to classify
as “vertigo of silence”. This is very obvious in
your theme (already a classic) SLEEP, which you dedicated to Rowland
S. Howard. At what age did you learn to play the violin?
I’m still
learning! My actual violin skills are very rudimentary, and my
technique is “questionable” to say the least. I’m not a trained
violinist.
I do love the sound of violins though (also cello &
double bass) and have always tried my best to get a pleasing tone.
I’m glad you enjoy.
In Hungry Ghosts
though it was evident very early on that Tim Howden was a far
superior player and therefore handled all the string parts. I got a
little better/more confident over the years and so ended up playing a
lot on my solo pieces, and subsequently also for others both LIVE &
on recordings.
Mick Harvey’s
“Sketches From The Book Of The Dead” & “Four (Acts of
Love)” also throughout RSH’s Pop Crimes, other notable albums
include Adalita’s Self-titled Debut LP, Amaya Laucirica’s “Early
Summer” LP, and Brian Hooper’s “Trouble” (to name a few)
I play cello on this
version of Nothin’ (from Pop Crimes)-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbvbN4ZU-P0
And also use the bow on the cymbals. I thought it would be
nice to have something that did the job of the bass guitar, but had a
slightly different tone and texture.
I play Double Bass
and violins – (as well as drums/glockenspiel) on this song with
Adalita https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4YjXsCNjC4
SL E E P was really born out of an experiment, I was
trying to create a relaxing/hypnotic feeling. The violin felt
soothing, and the tempo of the piece is such that one unconsciously
matches ones breathing to the repetitive wave like pulse. It was
intended to lull. I played my recording of this experiment to
Rowland, after our show at ATP Festival, in the van on the drive
home. I looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed RSH had closed his
eyes and drifted off, (which I took as a compliment.) He never
mentioned the piece to me, however apparently once home, he told
Genevieve (McGuckin) that he had just heard my latest recordings and
enjoyed them. It wasn’t until his funeral, that I was asked on
behalf of the Estate to perform it at the service.
The next time I
played it was at the Emmanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in
Oslo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZhvWae-DN8
I rarely perform the piece live anymore, but have
incorporated the technique into a version of Lee Hazlewood’s
“Dirtnap Stories” that I sometimes include in my solo
sets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqwvoXcw-MI
I like your “Vertigo of Silence” appraisal.
I assume you use a
loop pedal when you play your most intimate pieces on the violin. The
result is masterful, with a simple and lightweight solution. I would
like you to talk about the way you compose on violin.
Most people assume
that it is a loop pedal, but it is in fact a 4-second delay (with
about 3 or 4 repeats, so that it decays, and I can continue to build
layers upon it.)
Because it is 4-seconds, I can fit two notes in
there, and then play a different set of notes in the gaps, or
harmonise with the first two.
In some ways it is kind of
like a live version of the Phil Spector “ping-pong” recording
effect, (the original take is played along to and transferred onto
another track, or in this case another cycle, then back in on itself
onto the 1st track on the next take, or cycle. As the track gets
“drenched”, the initial track decays, and so this is how the
“Wall of Sound” is built.
I've
just realized that the two times I saw you in concert
(both with Mick Harvey, in Portugal), maybe a little more
than half of your performance was on keyboards. It is interesting
to notice it since my first impression of you as an
artist is that of a string musician. However, I consider you a very
discreet keyboardist, who correctly fills the spaces of the songs,
with enormous efficiency, and without great ramblings, which is, for
my parameters, something praiseworthy. How important are keyboards in
your music and composition?
For me, efficiency
and proficiency go hand in hand. In that regard, having rudimentary
skills probably works in my favour! I rarely make flourishes or
embellishments because I wouldn’t know how to. In any ensemble/band
setting though, serving the song & being “economical” is key;
just because you CAN play all of the parts, don’t think the rest of
the band is going to thank you!
I do marvel at
players who are more dexterous, and I’d like to become more
proficient, but I also like the idea that the piano, (or any
instrument for that matter), is full of potential beyond my
capabilities, that it all remains a mystery somehow. I had some
accordion students a few years back who were at beginner level, and
they kept getting frustrated at their inadequacies and lack of
technique. I remembered feeling like that too when I first started,
but through hindsight, I reassured them and reminded them to relish
that feeling, inside that is the drive to express. Once you learn
something, you can’t unlearn it, and then the risk is once you do
advance, boredom can sneak in, and perfecting techniques takes over
from the initial wish to express something. The formative years of
Hungry Ghosts would be an example of that expression, we played as
minimally as possible to divine as much feeling out of a single note.
I think we came to have an unspoken understanding that that was what
we were aiming to achieve. Hopefully that comes through. All that
said, my allegiance is to expression through Sound generally, not to
any one particular instrument specifically. Instruments and equipment
are the tools. Though I actually really enjoy playing the piano and
have been composing much more on it lately. The piano is possibly the
most perfect instrument; so complete.
There are moments of
yours (on video), where we can see unorthodox instrumental approaches
to the piano. Do you use personal piano techniques as you do with the
electric guitar?
I can’t help it! I
love to explore and play things differently than how they are
expected to be played, the piano being both a percussion and string
instrument allows for much more scope beyond the piano stool and
pressing the keys. I like to have fun with it (though I’d probably
be the nemesis of piano tuners). On this track
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnvpT4MVxkQ the
screeching ghostly sound is me playing the strings on the piano
internally with a metal piece.
You have already
mentioned, in comments on your Facebook, about the use of the Reuss
RSH-03 pedal on your piano accordion. Can you tell a little more
about the results you have obtained in terms of sound, using that
guitar pedal?
Not really, I still
use the RSH-02 during the Pop Crimes shows. I used the RSH-03 on an
accordion in the studio once for a session with a very "heavy"
band who asked me in to play some traditional sounding accordion,
which I did. Then, I said keep the tape rolling on one of their more
sludgy numbers, and I sprayed it with some hellishhly thick chords
running throught that pedal which sounded frightning. Ahaha I'm not
sure if that's what they expected, but it is the Devil's instrument
after all.
You also play the
accordion. Did you start playing this instrument before or after
learning to play the piano/organ?
I “borrowed” my
first accordion off my aunt when I was 19. (She’ll say “stole”,
but it was just a loan) Anyway, she said if you can play a tune on
it, it’s yours. I kept it for the night, when she returned the
following day, I played her the Title Theme from The Elephant Man
soundtrack. She was impressed, and said “Happy Birthday” Within
6 months I had written a handful of pieces on it for Hungry Ghosts
“Three Sisters” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7D8beHGGQs
I think I was
actually trying to learn Billie Holiday’s “You’re My Thrill”
but this tune came out instead. When I first joined The Blackeyed
Susans, I was just filling in on guitar for a couple of shows for Dan
Luscombe, while he was “double-booked”. After he returned, Phil
Kakulas, The Susans’ chief songwriter, said, “Hmmmm, you play
accordion as well don’t you? Maybe you should stick around…”
That was 15 years ago! I’ve since dragged it all around the world,
with The Blackeyed Susans, Hungry Ghosts, Mick (Harvey) and also with
The Triffids. My original squeezebox was put into retirement by
unsympathetic baggage throwers after a few world tours. A couple of
years ago, the same aunt who gave me my 48 bass "Baile"
accordion, brought me a new one - a 48 bass "Busilacchio"
and said that she thought it was time for an update. (I think I have
about 6 now, but my wife insists there are more... oops)
Perhaps this next
question is a bit outside the scope of this interview, but
because I find it relevant, I shall ask it. In
your last interview to Mondo Bizarre Magazine (01/2020) you
mentioned that your next album would be from a live
concert, held in November 2018, commissioned by the City of Melbourne
for The Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ. I know it will be called
Jubjoté. It is an interesting and disturbing piece, in an unusual
musical way. It uses a dream narrative of yours, which leads us to a
possible reflection on Art, with regard to its accommodation to
the status quo by most artists, but also to the salvation of a few
who seek in it a way to elevate their existence beyond common sense,
restlessly and without concessions to vulgarity. How was that
experience, say, in a more institutional and business context?
I was approached by
The Melbourne City Council to create a piece for The Melbourne Town
Hall Grand Organ, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, and
probably the most valuable. It is truly a magnificent Beast!
There are about 10,000 pipes in it, that scale 4 storeys, with wiring
that would span over 700 kilometres, the distance between Melbourne
and Adelaide, (or Faro to Quintanilha), a mind-blowing masterpiece of
sound and engineering! I was given complete creative freedom from The
City of Melbourne to compose whatever I liked with it. It really was
a treat to work in that space and to harness the full scope and
potential of an instrument of that magnitude. The music for Jubjoté
was composed quite quickly in the Town Hall, “After Hours” –
There is obviously very tight security, but once I was inside, the
organ was mine! And I naturally relished every moment, pulling out
all the stops and discovering the intricacies. What does this button
do?! The piece also incorporates a spoken word element. A narrative
which was based on a very profound dream that I had had some time
prior. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the nature and mood
of the storyline, in hindsight feels strangely pertinent to our
current global state – of being in a nightmarish predicament and
looking for the solution, or escape. It will be released on June 25th
through Heavy Machinery Records, accompanied by a sublime film by
L.J. Spruyt Photography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvwXNaV3jSw
By the way ...
I would like to know about your interpretation of Jubjoté, in order
to compare it with my interpretation above. I am curious to know if I
got close, or if I failed splendidly.
It’s a piece that
is open to all interpretations, like any dream analysis that can take
on a personal or societal reference. (From a solipsistic perspective,
perhaps the subconscious is a mirror of society in general.) The term
– Jubjoté – is a modern French term (which may or may not
exist)- meaning ~ To wake up from a dream, not knowing how it ends;
and trying to return, to find out how it does. The piece is all about
that.
J.P. Shilo - Jubjoté
Cover art by L.J.Spruyt Photography
When
it comes to the diversity of musical instruments you play, if some
Renaissance artists reincarnated today, you would certainly be
one of them. We finally come to your voice. It's amazing that you
also have an impressive gift here. Your voice timbre is able to reach
different pitchesof
vocalizations very close to other artists you play (from Rowland S.
Howard to David McComb). In addition to this, you have your own
voice, which is very special, reflected in your solo album Invisible
You, or in the live performances of The Saddests. I would like to
know more about the use of your voice in your music career.
The voice is a very
intriguing and possibly the most versatile (and portable) instrument
I know. It is obviously the most intimate. You can play it anywhere
and you don’t even need to take it out of its case! I have been
enjoying exploring how it works lately. The projects I’ve lent my
voice to have required different elements to get inside of the songs,
and performing my own works naturally opens up and broadens that
scope to places I don’t even know yet. For the recent Mick Harvey
record “The Fall and Rise of Edgar Bourchier and the Horrors of
War.” A “concept album”/ collaboration with English writer
Christopher Richard Barker. I was asked to assume certain characters
and perform the songs from that place. Here are two examples, where
the voice inhabits different moods/personas on the same album. “This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events,
locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's
imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.”
“The Darkling Fields of Stowborough”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4pl8a5kOHI “Pounding
For Peace” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkhwj5omrDk
(I
also play the accordion on this one) Earlier in the interviews I’ve
mentioned how I’d chosen to make instrumental music in my early
career because Leonard Cohen had stolen all the best words. I said
this half-jokingly in the context of who I was speaking with at the
time, but at the heart of that, I had very high expectations of what
I would hope to achieve in a literary sense. I am relieved now that I
made a concerted effort to spare people the trite clumsiness of my
journal contents. I feel like I really had nothing to say that hadn’t
already been articulated by poets far superior. Hungry Ghosts maybe
said more by saying nothing. The titles of the pieces felt like
enough to trigger an image, (for me at least). We took a more
“impressionistic” approach. I like poems and lyrics to be like
paintings, I prefer to be showed something, rather than told. Maybe a
good song allows you to converse with it or walk around inside it
somehow. The Saddests was a side project I was working on at the
time, with some fellow Blackeyed Susans members. A vehicle I was able
to explore my voice, and push myself in terms of being a ‘frontman’.
We played a collection of songs we thought were the ‘most’ Sad
(hence the band’s name) It served its purpose at the time, I
quickly integrated what I learned from the few gigs we played
together, which the Invisible You album was born out of. Then, the
Pop Crimes shows kicked in. With regard to the dearly departed
wordsmiths I have chosen to honour. The fact that they were masters
at composing a well-turned phrase, takes a lot of the hard work out
of it (for me). As a “sonic-manipulator” I could focus more of my
attention on deciphering/analysing/replicating tones and implying
their harmonic mannerisms. I’ve always held that my role in these
“tributes” is to “serve the song” – and really try to
embody the attitude that helped create them. That is what I meant
earlier by the statement, “It’s what’s behind the fist that
makes a punch…” The notes are just one element of the song. I
guess my approach is that of a loving cephalopod. If at some point
during one of these shows the audience closes their eyes and gets the
impression or feeling that a wisp of the spirit of any of these
Artists that we love is hanging in the air in the room, then I’m
satisfied with that. Along with Rowland S. Howard
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcLDwYhDIQk
My approach to the
vocal chords is not really that different to other instruments. My
ear is naturally tuned to creating and matching tones, and I am
an experimentalist. The difference is the literary element to vocals.
Having something worthwhile to say, is a whole other dilemma. I
greatly admire those that can use words well.
Are there any other
instruments that you play that have eluded me? If so, which
ones?
The sound of the
vibraphone, that numb honey buzz is something I’ve always loved.
I’ve been very fortunate enough to play the vibes live throughout
Europe with The Triffids. They’ve always been a part of Hungry
Ghosts’ sound. Unfortunately, I don’t own a set, hopefully one
day some will magically appear. I really dig gamelans and gongs as
well. I have an optigan at home that I drag out for its quirky sound
from time to time (and inevitably construct soundscapes on tour, just
using the contents of my hotel room) I’ve never really had much
luck with “wind” instruments. The idea of having to stick a thing
inside my mouth to make music through feels somehow disturbingly
invasive. I enjoy listening to others doing that though, (except
flutes & bag pipes!) All that said though, I am a noise maker at
heart, and like to play & extract sounds from anything really. A
Cristal-Bachet or an Ondes-Martenot would be fun to mess around with.
As much as I love traditional music(s) and techniques, I also get a
huge kick out of watching composers like Harry Partch, Iannis Xenakis
and Toru Takemitsu, even Silver Apples… I like the idea of kinetic
sculptures and reactive music, and spaces that can play themselves. I
once saw a Japanese group called Stringraphy that had strings
fastened throughout the room that were amplified by polystyrene cups,
the strings were played with cotton gloves. I think I might enjoy
playing that.
We are approaching the end of this
interview. I would like to expose a thought and a final request to
you. During this extensive interview, I noticed that several projects
and collaborations with other musicians and bands escaped me. I
thought I knew you quite well when it comes to all of your
projects, but I now realize I only know you reasonably well. I would
like this interview to remain a recorded memory and a
consultation document for the future, for new generations of fans of
your music. Would it be too much to ask you to make a detailed list
of all the bands that you played with, or are part of, as well
as of all collaborations with other musicians/projects,
carried out until this year?
