briefly, i bought my first synth in october of 1985. experimented with sound, mostly industrial,
throughout the 80's, and after college, in 1993, i got my first record deal with instinct records here
in NY. since then there's been many projects, many labels and collaborations and now it's how i
make my living.
How did you come to work with Savvas Ysatis?
savvas was a fellow label-mate on instinct. the bosses wanted me to mix some of his songs, so he
came over to my studio. we didnt' know each other at the time. we tried working with his material,
it wasn't going anywhere, as neither of us thought the stuff needed any work, so we just started
working on our own, original material. we became great friends and working partners and have
done over a half dozen albums since.
Has the work been satisfying, any future plans?
it's been fantastic. savvas is an extremely talented producer and sound designer. it's great to work
with him. he just moved back to greece and will be living there permenantly now. before he left we
wrote 2 albums which are coming out early next year. one is a housey techno thing that's coming
out on plastic city records in america and germany, a label i've just started working with that has
been one of the best labels i've been on. very supportive. the other project we did was for a series
of releases based on and inspired by architecture. we did an avant garde/experimental piece about
a building in japan called The Tower of Winds. it's coming out in january on caipirinha music, here
in new york.
Why did you leave kk to set up your own label?
oh, kk doesn't have anything to do with starting my own label. in fact, savvas and i still have a
project signed on KK: arc. we haven't left. my own label started as a result of dealing with Silent
records in san francisco who made me realize i could do a better job myself. my label, 12k, has
been going since january of this year (97).
Hows the label work going? Any plans to release other artists?
it's going quite well. i'm producing all limited edition CDs (500 copies), and selling them only
through the internet and mailorder. it is a task, as i have to do it all myself, but i have a pretty
strong fan-base, so it makes the job a bit easier. and yes, i am planning to release another artist at
the beginning of 1998. kim rapatti from Dum records in finland. he released a 12" of mine on dum,
and he sent me a bunch of his music, i want to compile a CD from tracks he's done on Dum as
well as new material. his music fits right along with what i'm doing on the label. very minimal,
ultrasynthetic stuff.
How do you define your music, categorise it?
my music is all over the place. i don't like to lock myself down to one style because to me the most
interesting aspect of music creating is the manipulation of sound and synthesis. so whatever kind of
music comes out of that experimentation is what i release. i do have favorite styles, however, such
as ambient and minimal, experimental techno (finnish style). that's what i tend to do the most.
however, i have done some work with trip hop (futique) and slight drum and bass. but i tend to
lean towards the more synthetic, machine sound. i want my machines to sound like machines. to
sound other-worldly.
What do you try to reach or achieve with you music playing. any particular goals?
i am constantly trying to re-invent myself and to find new avenues of sound. it's very frustrating
sometimes but it is the most rewarding in the end. i don't want anyone who listens to my music to
predict my next move. i want to remain hard to pin-down. as far as personal goals go.. it's just a
matter of doing what i love to do and being happy with it. it's also a job, so i have to make money
and make a living.
Influences, music or just in general?
i'm influenced by things around me, places, friends, new york city, tokyo, the ocean, underneath
the ocean. i'm influenced by sound around me, and sounds that i create on my synths. i keep a
wide variety of synths and samplers at my disposal because each has a unique sound and
characteristic. i spend countless hours programming sounds, and the results are very inspiring. as
far as musical influences go, i'm influenced by everything i hear sometimes positively, sometimes
negatively. i listen to a lot of ambient music, brian eno, harold budd, rober rich and your usual
staple of fax records and the like. i also listen to chinese and japanese traditional music. cabaret
voltaire and severed heads were huge influences on me in my early years. i follow a lot of labels as
well, like rather interesting, sahko and things like that.
Hows it going with TOIS, any full length in the near future?
i will probably be doing a full length tiny objects in space release on 12k in 1998. although i'm
trying to narrow down all of my solo recordings to be under my own name, but i doubt i'll hold
myself strictly to that. tiny objects in space is a quirky name, i like it. i'm sure i'll use it again.
Future plans?
right now i'm working on a full length for a very cool label in finland. it's going to be a very
experimental, ultrasynthetic kind of project. mostly what i've been doing lately. early next spring i'll
be going to greece to finish up the techno project with savvas. our 12" is coming out on plastic city
in march and a CD shortly thereafter. the 12" is complete, but we need to have some new tracks
ready for the CD. we might also do a new SETI album while i'm there, but that might wait until the
fall for the next visit, seeing as we're not going to want to lock ourselves into his studio the whole
time, even if he does have 4 balconies... dietrich and i have been hard at work with our Unit Park
project (plastic city) since the breakup of Prototype 909. the unit park cd, "trailer park" is doing
very well and will be released in 2 more countries early next year, germany and mexico. we'll be
doing a tour of mexico and europe next year and have already started planning our next single and
full length, which should come out next fall. that should keep me busy.
