I actually got back from tour on Sunday. It was great. I don't even know where to begin.
Monday we had to play another show. This was opening up for Phill Niblock at Edinburgh University. Because it was just a show in Edinburgh we had more room in the car so we were able to take the Tascam 32 and use that instead of the slow, crappy Tele-funkens that we used for the entire tour. We sound basically 100 times better through the Tascam, and I wish we coulda used it for the whole tour - we woulda blown away Britain then.
Niblock didn't do much differently than the last time I saw him, but I still really enjoyed it. He had two huge video screens projecting his films, which if you haven't seen them are incredible 16mm films of people (mostly from third world countries) at work - planting rice, fishing, manufacturing things, etc. Besides whatever statements they were making, they were just aesthetically fascinating. Phill was a cool guy. Really friendly, inquisitive, and a pleasure to share the stage with. We rushed back to Glasgow after the show, a bit homesick after the tour, and didn't go out for drinks with everyone. A few days later I got an email from the promoter thanking us for playing, and saying that Mayo Thompson was at the show, loved us, bought the last copy of our LP and went out with them afterwards. MAYO THOMPSON! The man who made "Corky's Debt to His Father" and "Hazel" and "God Bless the Red Krayola" and "Corrected Slogans" and many other brilliant records that I love. And I missed a chance to hang out with him because I was tired. I'm not generally one for hobknobbing/networking but this woulda been great!
So, that was our last show. We left with a weird sense of closure, a finality that sort of sat over everything. L is moving overseas for a year in the next few weeks, and I am really busy with University stuff and other things, so we had a toast to the end of LM Era 2 (viewing summer 2004 as Era 1). Without a doubt this was the most rewarding musical experience of my life. Maybe it peaked in Brighton when we did a collaborative set with the Vitamin B-12. Or maybe it never reached its peak. I think it was definitely worth getting behind on my essay writing and all of the bickering, tension and fighting.
I can go on and on about the tour, but it will probably best reveal itself over the course of several entries. We did well financially, met lots of great people, and amazingly everyone we played with was good. The B-12 collab may have been the highlight for me but it was all good. The company was great too - Ben was great to tour with, especially when he went temporarily insane somewhere in the midlands. Brian's trumpet was a really good addition to our sound for the shows that he played with us, and maybe someday we'll get to do some recording with him. Maybe in Era 3?
I feel fully ambidextrous with driving in the UK now too. I guess it's the American in my blood, but I do like driving. I miss it. I even found myself looking at secondhand cars online when I got back.
One of the big topics of discussion L and I had on the somber drive home was "What comes next for us musically?" Not as LM but as individuals. In Germany I think L plans to work a lot on field recordings, and he is intentionally not taking any instruments to force himself to build new ones. I don't know what comes next for me. I thought I was going to do a duo tour with someone else in June but that's fallen through now. For the immediate moment, I'm not doing anything until my birthday because I have so much schoolwork to catch up on. I think I'm more in the musical mode than I've ever been though. But I feel the need for a change. Maybe I will work on solo stuff? I will probably take the ideas of tape manipulations that I've learned from L/LM and possibly apply them to solo recording. I'd like to get a lot better at violin and cello. I don't particularly see myself as a solo performer. Maybe I can work on something simple just for myself, like finishing the Handshake Garden recordings I started a year ago. I really don't know. The sky's the limit, I guess.
I think one way to explain any creative collaboration is to look at conflicts. In my case, there's a distinct conflict in lied between me and LF - actually there are quite a few conflicts.
One crucial one concerns equipment. I believe that one can make great music with little/no equipment - I love the sounds of junk - of cheap instruments, bad electronics, scratchy toys etc. I am extremely reluctant and hesitant to buy anything new, not just because I am cheap but because I believe in keeping things simple. He, on the other hand, is very much concerned with reliability, fidelity, and clean sounding gear. He is constantly suggesting some sort of improvement that can be made - "maybe we should get a new mixer", "why don't you get a more reliable instrument cable", etc. - and usually, I am opposed. One reason is that I like to be difficult. But mostly it's because I don't want to deal with the hassle - it's not lazyness, but an economy of design. I like cheap stuff, and I like the stuff I have, and I think there's a distinct aesthetic of cheap equipment that I've always liked. I don't think I'm usually opposed to "upgrading" a piece of equipment - but introducing new things into the chain makes me very uncomfortable.
We took the weekend off after 3 or 4 straight days of practice (to be resumed tomorrow). Playing every day is good - it produces a real consistency of ideas. I can only imagine what we'll be like by the end of the tour. We incorporated the third machine (that I mentioned in the last post), between the first two. Tentative name: Triple Bypass Tandem Black Cat. It works exactly as imagined - keeping it going the whole time so we don't have to be so concerned with breaking the flow when we're both recording on our respective machines. I must be conscious of space in the music though, and not let things get too busy. I have definitely simplified my equipment to violin and israj. The amplified bread box that I built was accidentally destroyed when it fell off L's bike; it's not needed, for he is using almost entirely home-built instruments, including the Kechington-Harper, a strange metallic object built out of an old space heater, a medium-sized version of the steel cello built from a large sawblade, and various circuit-bent keyboards. I can stick with the basics, the "traditional" instruments - it generates a more "hi-fi" sound.
(Funny, I guess, that above I say how he is the traditionalist with equipment, yet I seem to be the traditionalist with actual instruments...)
Fidelity is one of the problems - these slower-moving Tele-Funken tape machines just don't sound as good as the big Tascam/Revox ones. One problem is that because they are 4-track machines but they only use half of the tape, each stereo track is actually only getting 1/4 of the tape -- and it's only 1/4" tape - so that's not really great fidelity. The contact-mics on his skiffle instruments convey an unremovable amount of distortion and murkyness, especially when recorded to 1/16 of an inch of tape that has already gone around the rollers 300 times.
But the whole idea of the tour is to take what we do in Fowl Acres and make it mobile - so there must be compromises for practical reasons, namely, space in the Audi. I am willing to accept a difference in the live version of something. I think it will still be interesting to audience members, and LF seems to be coming around as well. (The other day he emailed and said the recordings from this week's practice "showed some promise"- how great to finally show some promise after playing together for a year and a half (well, okay, we did live in different countries for a year of that time).)
And thus another conflict - our attitudes towards the general analysis of what we do. I think we've both dragged each other closer to the center. I am cautious, more critical, and very concerned with what we produce - moreso than I was a year ago. I think he has become a bit more open to the idea of releasing things, playing in front of audiences, being confident in what we do, etc. Despite the reputation I may have among my friends (and the statistics show that I have next to nothing to show, release-wise, for 7 years of playing music), compared to LF I am distinctly more eager to get things out there, release music, play the game, etc. than him; but that has always been undercut by me never releasing anything, and being fairly content with not releasing anything. I have detected a subtext of criticism in the past in regards to LM - that I am not so concerned with quality control, that I seem more concerned with having products than the actual creation of the music. That has never been true, nor has it been overtly stated. But anyway, my point is that now, I think we're both getting to be a lot closer together on that page.
I decided it's time to start doing a blog for lied; perhaps it will one day move to a separate page but right now I'm dumping it all down here, not telling LF and maybe see how organizing my thoughts about what I'm doing musically might help me out.
The basic situation now is that we are doing a tour in a month but we've never played live. Figuring out how to do it has been the goal for the past two months basically - how to convert what we've been doing in the comfort of Fowl Acres (the name of L's studio/room) to a live performance. Additionally the amount of space in the Audi will be limited so we've been looking for smaller equipment and a portable setup.
One facet of the live show will be Double Tandem Black Cat, taking the Black-Cat System from the LP (which is not really as complex as we make it sound) and using two simultaneous tape machines. I eBayed 4 Tele-funken magnetophon 300 series machines for £41 including shipping. They are the magnetophon 300, 301, 302 and 302TS. Each has it's quirks and features, but sadly the only one that is fully functional is the 302. And it has a motor that I swear is on its last leg - I fear taking it on tour. The other machine we're using is the larger Tele-Funken magnetphon 212 which L got for free from some guy in Scotston.
(L took me to my first jumble sale back in October. I was worried sick about finding a TV so I could watch the Steelers play the Chargers on Monday Night Football a few days later, and there wasn't a TV where I was living at the time. The jumble sale was in Jordanhill... we rode our bikes along the Forth-Clyde Canal behind Maryhill road until we got stopped by a police officer because they found a woman dead in the canal that morning. We were interrogated, as was everyone passing through there; he took down our names and information and I thought it was funny because I had just moved into the Crescent, living with two women who I didn't know, and suddenly I am part of a homicide investigation. I half-hoped that the police would call that night to increase the allure/enigma of this weirdbeard American guy they let move in, but I actually suppose it's better that they didn't. We looked obviously innocent I guess.
The jumble sale was nuts - the line was around the block, with people waiting for hours just to be up front when the gates open. The dream was to find a reel to reel, of course, but I just wanted a TV. The electronics tent was like a mosh pit. I didn't see any tape machines but L found one amazingly. We bumped into so many people there. I actually think that jumble sale was one of the most social experiences I've ever had - I certainly saw more people there than at shows or whatever. I got my TV and was able to watch the Steelers win a few days later. [I stayed up til 6 and got a pizza from the local takeaway, which was terrible]
The reel to reel didn't work at all - a belt was broken. Now I wish he woulda saved it because I'm sure we could have repaired that easily. Anyway, while he was buying it some other jumble sale customer saw him getting excited and said "Oh, I have an old reel to reel I don't want, if you can pick it up it's yours." They exchanged phone numbers and a few days later we went to Scotston to get it.
The problem with old reel to reels is that they are rarely maintained. I've purchased seven now, and none are fully functional. This magnetophone 212 was perfect - mint condition, works great, and it even came with an old microphone with a DYN connector. It's been great.)
The ideal Double Tandem setup is the magnetophon 212 on the left and the great workhorse, the Tascam 32 on the right. The Tascam is big and expensive and we don't want to take it on tour. The problem is, nothing else compares to this setup. The tape speed is so much greater that we can get a lot of momentum with speed variations. The fidelity on the tape is fucking magical, and most importantly, you can punch in and out of whether or not you're recording on the fly.
The Tele-Funkens are aesthetically beautiful but you can't punch in. You have to hit stop in-between record and play, and thus there's a slight lag in the tape. They also run a bit slower and sound pretty crap. Mid-fi is the term I'd use - they are scratchy, coarse, and while I enjoy the sound of tape very much, there's a distinct difference between "live" sounds we're playing and the sounds coming back through the system.
Today we worked with the 302 and 212; each at a station with our respective gear (I think I've decided to bring violin, israj and sampler and nothing else on this tour). The whole point of sharing the same loop is pointless unless we coordinate which of the 4 tracks we're recording onto - and while we can fuck with each other's stuff it's not really that effective when everything is so slow and murky. Also, when we're recording, it doesn't monitor through the input, so if we're both recording at the same time, we get silence. Or it gets sparse when only one person is recording. Overall the Tele-funken 2xtandem was significantly sparser, slower and more minimal than the Tascam/Tele-funken hybrid.
The next idea is to put a THIRD machine between the two we work on, always playing, so there is constantly something coming out of the speakers. We're going to try it tomorrow. We will probably also just do double non-tandem Black Cat where we each have a machine with individual loops. And the newest plan is to get mixers so we can run the machines through the effects send, thus having monitors and being able to play along with the machines when not recording. So I am basically looking for the smallest mixer possible, 2 channel, maybe 4 - I don't need XLR inputs, I don't need phantom power, I don't want built-in effects- just the smallest simplest possible thing that has a send loop.