Interview from Audiodrome:
This is your first Italian interview. Please introduce
you project to our readers.
I began F/I/T/H early in 2004 after touring with some friends bands
in Japan earlier that winter. Watching and sometimes joining in
on their performances was inspiration to work on my own project
when I returned home. I didn’t really have a particular sound
I was looking to create. It was all about the act of creating itself,
pure catharsis, a full spectrum of emotion and subject matter explored
through sound.
Previously you have played some shows with Slogun. "Slogun"
is also a famous track by SPK. What do you think of the work of
Graeme Revelle? Does it represent an influence for you? How do you
start listening to industrial music?
SPK, as well as many other early industrial bands such as Throbbing
Gristle, Nocturnal Emissions, NON, etc., were definitely inspirational
in the formation of F/I/T/H. I was first exposed to industrial music
through a couple different routes. At the time I was listening to
lots of new wave/synth music. Marc Almond of Soft Cell had contributed
to Psychic TV and Coil recordings and through the exposure to those
bands I discovered many more as the industrial scene was rather
small and somewhat incestuous/inter-connected at the time. I was
also listening to lots of punk and was intrigued by the more cacophonous
tracks on Crass’ albums as well as their tape cut-ups. I became
interested in other projects members of Crass were involved which
led to finding Steve Ignorant’s work with Current 93.
On Funprox we read that Meditate/Mutilate being released by Eibon
Records
can be seen as a form of acknowledgment for Fire in the. What do
you think
of the artwork and mastering done for this cd by the label?
I think being approached by any label for a release is a form of
recognition. F/I/T/H now has releases on eleven labels with a few
more forthcoming. Mauro (Eibon) had been aware of F/I/T/H from early
through various demos I’d sent him so he’s had a chance
to hear the sound progress. I was quite pleased when Mauro approached
me for a release as all of the releases on Eibon are of a very high
calibre. “Meditate/Mutilate” is one of my favorite and
most diverse recordings and Mauro’s mastering was perfect.
I usually do all the artwork for my releases so I was a little apprehensive
about letting someone else design the packaging but I feel Mauro
captured the essence of the recording perfectly with his artwork
for this release.
Many journalists comment on your eclectic talent: you can be silent
and noisy; you can meditate, but also mutilate. Is this a conscious
decision (in order to avoid the often accusations of monotony your
musical genre) or is simply just how you are?
I don’t think the creative process of any artistic endeavour
I’m working on ever involves fully “conscious”
decisions. Often what happens is what happens. Sometimes I feel
as if I have very little control over what is being created and
I am there only to capture the sounds. Very rarely do I ever begin
a project with a pre-conceived notion of what the end result should
be. Recordings are usually composed of material culled from various
sessions which end up working together to form a completed track.
My interests are wide and varied, swaying from one extreme to another
so the
creative process is also affected by these varying interests. F/I/T/H
was never given a set of boundaries that would confine the sound
to any particular genre which gives me the freedom to explore various
sonic territories. Both Sky Burial (my drone/ambient/minimalist
industrial project) and Irukandji (harsh noise) have slightly more
rigid confines yet also continue to morph and diversify in sound.
In relation to the previous question: From the Warp
Records to the chill out, from Kraftwerk to Ant Zen: As a listener,
are you interested in various kinds of music electronic?
I do listen to various forms of electronic music. Tangerine Dream’s
recordings from 1970-1976 are some of my favorite electronic music
and are a big influence on Sky Burial. I’m a big fan of Peter
Namlook’s Fax label which released quite a few good analogue
ambient cds in the 90s. As mentioned before, I grew up listening
to (and still do) a lot of new wave, synth pop and 80s electronic
music like Soft Cell, early Human league, D.A.F., Fad Gadget, Coil,
etc.
What you can tell to us of your collaboration with Nick Blinko?
You are an electronic musician, but we can say that you are punk
in ethics?
The work with Nick Blinko came about through a connection with
the gallery that represents him. I own a number of Nick’s
original drawings and he has created an original piece of art for
F/I/T/H to be used for a the cover of a forthcoming release. I had
always been a Rudimentary Peni fan and contacted Nick through the
gallery to see if he would be interested in contributing vocals
for a track. I gave loose guidelines regarding the subject matter
and left the lyrical content up to him. I think his vocals lend
themselves perfectly to the dark ambience of that track. Punk had
a strong influence on my youth and the formation of my social and
political views. Punk is mainly what I listen to so that ethos has
definitely impacted F/I/T/H in use of vocals and subject matter
and especially live.
Like Nick Blinko, you are also a visual artist. Please say a few
words
about your paintings and the relation between sound and image.
In its final state the artwork is really the antithesis of F/I/T/H
although my state of mind during the creative process of both is
quite similar. The paintings are minimal in composition relying
on color and texture to express depth and are often representative
of a horizon. They are very serene and have often been referred
to as “zen-like” which is probably an influence spending
time in Asia has had on my visual art. My Sky Burial recordings
could be considered the aural equivalent to these paintings. Sound
has always has a synaesthetic effect for me. Sounds and music create
mental imagery. To be able to experience sound in this way is much
more intense than being physically presented with a visual to accompany
particular sounds/songs. It’s similar to reading a book and
creating the imagery in your mind then seeing a film based on that
book
and having it spoil your vision. Sound is in the ear of the beholder.
"I went out to the hazel wood
Because a fire was in my head... "
Yeats and Michael Page...
“Fire In The Head” is derived from the first line of
“The Song of
Wandering Aengus” by W.B. Yeats, a rather dream-like/shamanic/hallucinatory
poem. For me the “fire in the head” is
the impetus behind actions which occur without conscious intent,
a
perpetual flame which drives the need to both create and destroy.
It is the fire which the fuels humanity’s dual nature, a vicious
circle where absolute silence is a deafening cacophony.
Tell us the meaning the word catharsis has for you, especially
in relation with your music and the creation of your music.
For me the meaning of catharsis is quite literally the traditional
definition: purification, purging or cleansing. The purging is usually
of
whatever “demons” happen to be haunting me at that particular
time
(apocalyptic nightmares from being raised in a near cult-like religion,
the absurd state of world social/religious/political affairs, a
general
loathing of society and humankind, hallucinations, obsession, etc.).
The process of creating is the intended result. It is therapy and
is far more important to me than a completed track or release. The
time spent creating be it sound or visual art, puts my mind in a
state of equilibrium which is otherwise difficult to achieve. An
unquiet mind needs to be occupied, to focus on something so that
it slows down, not unlike meditating. Through the process of composing,
writing lyrics and recording vocals one can temporarily purge what
is internally unwanted. This is why F/I/T/H’s subject matter
is often of a more personal nature.
Please you describe to us to your live performances and the difficulties
in capturing the attention of the audience when you’re not
in a rock band.
F/I/T/H live differs quite a bit from what is done on cd. The live
performance is, again, total catharsis. It is an opportunity to
add a
physical aspect to the “purging”. Sometimes I become
so separated from myself during a set that I can’t remember
anything that happened during the performance when it is over. Whereas
in the studio F/I/T/H is only me, live it is a collaborative effort.
I do not try to recreate actual tracks live but sound manipulation
from F/I/T/H source material is done by another member so that I
can focus on vocals and interact with the audience. A band’s
interaction with the crowd was always one of my favorite things
about punk and hardcore shows and I try to bring that same feeling
to my own performances. |