song: beast masterin'
mr projectile
by goat
411>
name: mr projectile aka matt arnold
sex: boy-male
location: minneapolis, usa
occupation: "full time luvuh"
most embarrassing moment: it involves nudity and a stepdad... you can form your own scenario using these two variables...
if you worked up the nerve, what would you do first:
i'd party with the backstreet boys, I bet those dudes are actually really cool and it's all just a big lie that they're stupid.
intro>
contributing for enooze has allowed me to flex my puny journalistic muscle(s) and persue/stalk the artists i've personaly felt to be kicking it all the way live. this "piece" ranks high in my personal top seven or so favourite "interviews" and it's with a guy called matt arnold aka mr projectile... his electronic techno idm tracks have faired consistintly wellwith heads over the past year or so with releases on a slew of newish labels (surgery, toytronic, topscore) that you know this coz you are also sexycrazycool ...and as long as i've unsheathed my long, veiny bias to hang and swing freely in the autumn breeze, i might as well add matt projectile's good posture and personal hygiene are beyond reproach. i asked him some questions, a long time ago, actually, but since niether wisdom nor simply answering basic questions goes out of fashion, they are as relevant as the when they first appeared in the 2k1. alright, here we go!
what are your earliest musical memories?
The opening scene in "Saturday Night Fever" ... When the "Stayin Alive" bassline comes in while John Travolta walks down the street. It gave me a feeling my 4 yr old mind couldn't quite put a finger on... but now that I'm old I realize that it was a feeling of "badassiness"... ever since then I've wanted to hear songs that make me feel like a badass walking down the street in a butterfly collar. I think nowadays that everything I do is directly or indirectly influenced by John Travolta...
did heavy metal ever play a role in yer life?
Not really... All my friends loved Gn'R even my mom ... but I renounced that shit as a young boy ... But now I love Gn'R, so what the fuck! Butt, when I used to do hallucinogens and was having a bad time... I would take time out to think about bands like Poison, White Snake, Dokken, Britney Foxx, Bon Jovi and Night Ranger.. For some magical reason I always felt better about myself... hallucinogens are weird that way huh?
where is electronic music in the year 2001?
It's either hiding inside little 0's and 1's or in my pants... I can't remember.
who are yer electronic/non-electronic influences?
Electronic:
At the moment Dettinger gives me a boner... There are a lot of artists on mp3.com currently that are arousing me also... I am poor though so buying music these days makes me more poor than I was to begin with... and I don't like being poor. So I don't buy music with the fervor I once had... But if I had to list a few who have inspired me over the years... they would be as follows:
orbital, AFX, thomas brinkman,speedy j, funkstorung, FSOL, global communication, spacetime continuum, lfo, bjork, gez varley, mark bell, the orb, PWOG, plastikman, system 7, mikron 64, tim koch, casino vs. japan, autechre, depeche mode, plaid, gescom, BOC, eric skogen, cisko, henrik b, biosphere, basic channel, stewart walker, air liquide, multiplex, altern - 8, juan atkins, derrick may, kevin saunderson, stacey pullen, bandulu, eat static, nobukazu takemura, black dog, brian eno, b12, kraftwerk, carl craig, cylob, dave clarke, sun electric, seefeel, 808 state, beaumont hannat, higher intelligence agency, APL, mixmaster morris, aspen, jet jaguar, mitchell akiyama, ken ishii, hardfloor, mike ink, mouse on mars, mu-ziq, william orbit, scanner, sven vath, UR, sabres of paradise, ray lynch, I think there are some others too...
non- electronic: uhhh... hmmm... I think I don't like non-electronic music... maybe tortoise and trans am...
projectile factoid #1>
mr projectile gives us his thoughts on gambling with other peoples money: gambling is for bitter grandmas trying to earn their grocery money... one time I got knocked over by a crazed-gambling-grandma at a casino... but yeah I'll gamble with other grandmas money anytime...
what gear do you use?
Cigarettes and coffee mostly... but I also use the following:
mac g4
powerbook g3
nord modular
electribe r
a3000 sampler
digitech studio quad
mackie 1404 mixer
how will composing via laptop change music?
You'll be able to make music at a coffee shop and look cool doing it... It is also changing the way music is made... instead of pressing keys, making music on a laptop consists more of the setting and creating parameters. Looking at it from a performance angle It will bore the shit out of those expecting a show... unless you get some dancing bears or midgets or half naked girls with masks...
when will rock music die?
The age old question... I think when groupies start flocking to the greasy haired, buck toothed, sweaty, nervous, skinny socially inept laptop performers... we might be on the road to the death of rock...
wot'r yer other musical aliases?
I do techno shit under the name Challenge Response ... But I would love to release a track under the name "Throbbin Hood".
wot labels have you released on?
top score usa, toytronic, surgery records
your label, affect, along with the label night called "hello music", has become pretty hep in minneapolis, what will the proverbial future hold for affect?
We tried to keep things PG-13 but that wasn't always the case... Future events will have more beer, more transvestites (cause that's how you gauge a good party, by the amount of transvestites there), more video mixing, more red bulls, more dancing and less pot smoking in public. But, the music will probably suck... because it will be really repetative and all of it will sound the same...
describe the minneapolis underground scene
haha that's funny... I heard of an "underground" party with trance/house music and everyone could paint on a big canvas... It would have been a cooler party if you could have taken a poop on the DJ and called it art...The underground scene here consists of a $50.00 cover charge to enter a warehouse and party with dudes who wear fuzzy hats that say "flirt" on them... either that or listen to noise music in a coffee shop... I usually stay home where it's safe.
is prince an influence on yer music?
Nah. He's too short to be an influence... I swear that fucker is one inch above being a midget... His new music is complete ass... But he did have some "bomb ass" drum sounds on some of his releases in the 80's... Wait, now that I think about it he probably did influence me cause he was the first concert I ever saw when I was in 4th grade. Maybe that's why every choice I make these days seems to be driven by my libido.
projectile factoid #2>
when first asked to describe himeself, mr projectile simply said "jerky" and "jerky" , but after a little coaxing, he opened up and replied :SWM, 25, 6ft, 160lbs, brown hair, green eyes, glasses, I enjoy long walks on the beach, curling up with a good book, I love to have fun, and hang out with friends.... oh, and I'm sensitive too.
comment on yer toytronic release "pug times".
White vinyl baby!
It's a collection of new and old songs... It was really their decision as to what went on the vinyl... I probably would have chose different songs but as the saying goes... "beggars can't be choosers" or something...
how did you hook up with toytronic?
Once upon a time they emailed me to say they liked my music... I agreed to sell my soul to them for 5 copies of my music on white vinyl baby...
what projects are you currently working on?
I make music with a vocalist named Amy Turany [goat note:q-t!] under the name "a:m"... And I work with a male vocalist who is the ex-lead singer of a band called Lifter Puller under the name the Broker Dealer I am also working on releasing a small "live in my bedroom" CD with a free lil' blue guy stuffed animal velcroed (is that a real verb?) to the front of the CD... these will be pretty limited though... I am also working on the rubix cube in my spare time...
do you take yer soup with salted or unsalted crackers?
I'd prefer not to answer that...
what artist[s] excite you, or keep yer interest?
As generic as it is to say these days... I still love Autechre and Aphex...Mark Bell is another artist who has stood the test of time... I could list others, but what excites me these days are the artists who can conistently output quality music over a long period of time...
projectile factoid #3>
when asked if he works hard for his money, mr projectile had this to say: I am required to take naps at my job, other people cook me food at my job, I rent movies at my job, I have access to a company car that I can take anytime, and I check off other peoples cleaning duties. oh, and my job is two blocks away from where I live... to sum up...no.
for electronic music to move forward, what must occur?
See question #7 [when will rock music die? ]
... Government funding would be nice too.
what stinks about electronic music?
I thought long and hard about this question and have decided to remain silent on this topic... If I wanted to comment on what stinks about the genre of electronic music that my music fits into I would be hard pressed to think of anything negative... I could write a novel on what I think sucks about the rest of electronic music... but why! We already know why moby sucks and aphex doesn't.
idm stands for?
I'd do mr. projectile... duh!
is trance really that bad....?
I think there is a mathematical equation for what I am about to say... If you figure that most of the world is pretty stupid... and it's a fact that most of the world loves the shit out of trance.... then yeah trance sucks.It's music used to provide a soundtrack to wet t-shirt contests while on spring break. Trance could also be considered the musical equivalent to a soap opera.
who needs more attention, who gets too much?
The artist "Sting" gets way too much attention... I think if we all stopped for 1 minute to think about the fact that this man's name is "Sting" we wouldn't give him the time of day... Try it out. Tell everyone you know you're changing your name to Sting and watch their reactions...
I think the BackStreetBoys are a couple of people short of having a small continents' worth of fans... So let's pay more attention to them... maybe we could start a TV show called "BackStreet Island" and put all their fans on an island together and every once in a while a BackStreetBoy will parachute onto the island and he will try and survive... while fans try and hunt him down... but maybe not because someone might get hurt...
do ufo's and other planets exsist?
I don't know... but right now I have 7 computers working on finding them if they do...
have you ever seen a ghost? explain
Not yet... I saw Michael Jackson once though.
compare and contrast: britney and christina
I think they're the same person... invented by corporations to sell things and promote horniness among young teens... which in turn sells things...
projectile factoid #4>
when asked what his hobbies outside of music included, mr projectile had this to say: sometimes I sweat to the oldies... but not all the time because that would be weird.
would you concider yer music more melodic then rythmic?
I think in general I'm more interested in emotions rather than gettin' jiggy...
what elements of yer own music do you enjoy most?
While making music, it's probably those moments when a mistake spawns a whole song or group of songs.
what is yer dream gig?
playing anywhere on a beach, early morning, with naked people running around everywhere... not too much to ask for really...
afx or squarepusher:who rules?
afx... the squarepusher can throw down the jams, don't get me wrong. but afx has a far more distinguished body of work.
projectile factoid #5>
when asked if he'd ever discharged a firearm from a moving vehicule before, mr projecile replied: I discharged from a moving vehicle once... does that count?
what would you most likely tell the audience at a backstreet boys concert if you were given an open mic?
"guys... I know this is gonna hurt... but... even the backstreets poop."
who should buy yer records?
people who are thinking of settling down and starting a family... or young girls...
mr projectile website