song: crabfacemandible
sporangia
by mikrosopht
where are you based?
Right now i'm in self-sanctioned isolation in frosty Houlton, Maine. but i really represent pennington, a suburb in New Jeru.
when did u start writing music?
Well, i've been making music for as long as i can remember but i suppose i started using electronic tools about six years ago. Ya know, like every other bored suburban kid i was doing the guitar thing during my adolescent period. I was a band geek too. played trumpet and baritone horn. anyway, when i was like 16 or so i stumbled upon electronic music and it was the first thing i heard that really said something to me. so a couple years later i bought a cheap-o sampler and a roland sh-101 mono-synth, and started making really simple tracks on a shitty cassette four track. It's amazing how much you can do with just a basic sampler, a mic, some effects and a means for multi-tracking.
how long have u been playing live?
damn, i think my first gig was in '95 or '96. Me and my friend Kyle "K$" Burke played a show in Daryl Hell's attic at the jersey shore. Kyle was juggling midi sequences and i was laying down melodic and textural content. I think the moment that caught peoples attention was when k$ took the beat out and i dropped this sick evil shit comprised of many layers of the sound of celery stalks breaking. we scared a lot of tripping people that night.... anyway, i met this DJ Sheldon Drake at the party and he hooked me up with a lot of connections in nyc. Actually, i'm really in debt to him for how much he's helped me out. so, I've done a lot of shows over the past four years as "sporangia", mostly in ny but some in jersey or philly and one rave in harrisburg pa that got written up in that zine, faqt. I guess my best moment was playing at Tonic with Charles Cohen. Charles has been doing electronic music for around 20 years or so and is a brilliant improviser on the buchla music easel. we've had a lot of fun gigging together...
how many gigs have u played?
I'd guess around 50 or so. That doesn't sound like much but it's a lot of work finding places that'll book live electronic music. If anybody reading this know where there's a big scene for that kinda thing, please e-mail me!!!
what was your craziest performance?
I dunno, there was that time that me, Jordan (eeyore23 that superlative rodent) and Charles played in a room full of styrofoam peanuts at a really crappy rave just outside of philly. The time I played with Daniel Carter at a loft party in greenpoint, brooklyn was pretty crazy too. Daniel is a multi-instrumentalist free jazz musician who's known for playing with just about anybody who'll have him. He's pretty great, I was amazed at how easily he blended into my sound.
how old are you?
i'm 23, that's 217 in frog years though.
Do u turn into Prince when the girlies kiss u?
I wish! Right now i can only transform into the guy from "cameo." W-O-R-D up!
what is your favorite food?
Shit, i guess that would be either de lorenzo's tomato pies from trenton nj or indian food. I love to cook too, which is good because you can't find a decent meal up here in northern maine. i gotta move.
is it hard to light fires there?
Naah, not really. You just do the teepee thing and the top part burns eventually melting the snow.
have you ever met a nutty guy with an interesting lawn that claim to have tought many artists their best material?
damn son, don't get me started on lucky's ufo bigfoot dinosaur santa's village and alien records. lucky's a REAL artist, i feel like a piece of navel lint in comparison to his genius. He's not in it for the money either, ya know he could have been in sun ra's arkestra but he was too busy assembling a giant ufo out of logs and teaching jimi hendrix how to play guitar. i'll e-mail you some pictures of his place.
lucky's - banner & ufo
lucky's palace (side)
lucky's - fort
if yer lucky, i might get some pics of mr. freaky daytime tv paranoia guys house too. He's this scary old man who uses a wrench to hammer signs up all over his house. they say shit like, "i love oprah", and "regis puts his penis in canadian negro girls."
mr. freaky's
mr. freaky's messages
believe it or not, that guy lives just down the street from me. Actually, i suppose that's what i'd turn into if i lived here for 50 more years.
what sort've tomfoolery have u been up to recently?
it's kind of embarrassing, but when i'm not locked in the lab i laugh at canadian broadcast tv, read phil k dick, play pool in the local saloon or enjoy the frozen wasteland flavor outside. hmm, why does this sound like the dating service profile of an eccentric overweight redneck? When i am locked in the lab, i'm finishing up an ep that's going to be released on genuine particle, a really tiny nyc label that some friends of mine are starting.
what started up the bubble style performances you do?
well, when i was still living in jersey, my parents had this really amazing barn on their property. So one summer, i had this small party in it and I managed to get the cats from WE to come out and play it. Lloop and Once11 came and turned out to be some of the nicest people i've ever met. anyway, they played a killer set and once11 built the first bubble i ever saw. It was a really cool idea so i kinda borrowed it from them...
are there any effects acoustically involved in the bubblage?
yep, there's about 1/8 second slapback delay. It's not all that noticeable when you're playing over loud speakers, but you can hear it really clearly if you just clap.
isn't it good, norwegian wood?
no need to brood, here's a choco-cat snood. and yeah, the beatles are ok too...
heh so wut r yer fav bands 2 listen 2?
hmmm tough question. There's just so much good music out there. I guess I'll stick to just my absolute favorites.
Kraftwerk - for obvious reasons. I dig all the 80's electro shit too. you know, like jam on it, planet rock, electric kingdom, hip-hop be-bop, pac jam, and all those other tracks that are like that. Hmm, i guess i should mention Drexia while i'm on the topic of electro.
Sun Ra - Charles always claims that Sun Ra was the first person he ever saw play a synth. I love his music, it's just so warped.
Meat Beat Manifesto - 99% changed my life. I like the new stuff too, but i wish Jack would give up on the vocals.
seefeel - best sex music EVER! esp. quique and polyfusia.
Autechre - doesn't everybody love 'em?
Aphex - ditto
Phonecia / soul oddity - good shit.
Jake Mandell - also good shit.
Wu Tang Clan - The first handful of records were fucking brilliant. There's so much stuff now that i haven't been able to keep up.
The Roots - Illadelph Half Life is my fav by them...
the x-ecutioners (x-men) - i think i like total eclipse's style the best.
invisibl scratch pikls - not quite as great as the x-men but they have there moments.
Laurie Anderson - i'd have never started making electronic music if it hadn't been for hearing "big science."
ok, i could go on forever so i better stop, but i also listen to a lot of early electronic music, world music, out jazz, and early american folk music. You get to hear a lot of stuff working at a record store and DJ'ing on college radio.
cool, which store do u work @?
i worked at the princeton record exchange for like 3 years before i moved up to maine.
and wut sort've radio DJ'n tunage u ave goin?
WPRB in princeton. I had a show called leisure muffin's swinging sounds of the apocalypse. It was real late night. basically just me blunted out of my mind playing both turntables and both cd players at the same time.
what is the best way to finish this interview?
tell the people:
look out for the leisure masons (laid back illuminati). we bringin mutant beets to all you seven headed five tentacle havin muthafuckas. ya know, our plasmodium is streaming over the substrate and sporangia are about to spring forth all up in this piece. keep it surreal. blast my shit loud in your habitrail, strictly for my G.E.R.B.I.L.Z.