Jimi, it seems
a while since your last album. What have you been up
to?
I’ve become a father and that’s kept me
quite busy. In fact the album was almost finished when
I became a dad so this dad thing is a bit of an excuse.
This album was more complicated to make, musically more
challenging than my previous ones. I also did quite
a lot of gigs with different set-ups and I always had
to re-arrange the music again for these gigs, which
takes a lot of time.
Higher Planes sees you returning to
a more ambitious sound after the almost DIY spirit of
Utopian Dreams. What was it like to work with
an orchestra again?
It was fun and much easier than on Out Of Nowhere
because I have more experience now. On this album there
aren’t any real strings or any orchestra instruments
like harp or timpani. I used mostly horns and Latin
percussion. I also started doing more composing using
a piano instead of a computer to write.
You recorded a special 10” single on
which you talked about Higher Planes, saying
that you don’t like doing interviews. Don’t
you like talking about your music?
It’s not something I like that much... I prefer
to talk about music than what I like though. I’m
a busy man nowadays and I need time on my own to do
more music. It’s hard if people call every day
to do interviews.
Let’s go back a few years. For six years,
you were performing with your band, The Shamans. How
did the project start?
We started as a regular guitar band with sax, but quite
quickly went for this industrial kinda sound. We played
barrels and found objects. After a while we started
creating our own instruments like electro-mechanical
drum machines and stuff. I wished we were a more strictly
noise band, but we always mixed some pop material in
our mix, which I now think was a mistake. But it’s
easy to say what went wrong afterwards...
Had you been involved in other bands before?
Oh, yes. I’ve played with loads of bands but mostly
really underground stuff.
Can you tell us more about The Shamans?
Like I said I wish it was more experimental.... I have
always been into futuristic noise music. This futurist
guy, Russolo, is one of my heroes. H3 made these noise
machines in the early 20th century.
What is your best souvenir of that area?
Experience. How things can and cannot be done. We made
very highly ambitious recordings, using a lot of strange
techniques to record, but now I’ve understood
it might be better to keep things really simple. On
the other hand, sometimes a ridiculous amount of effort
is the only way to get results that might be seen as
‘new’.
Towards the end of the band, you went to live
in Berlin. Did you want to finish the band at that time?
Yeah, we’d had enough. Always broke, all that.
But Berlin wasn’t for me really and I left to
New York, which I found a really nice place. I found
myself there, musically.
What did bring you back to playing music?
I got a job at the Empire State Building, and with the
money I was able to buy a drum machine and a sequencer.
I started work at 4.00pm and I made music from about
10am to 3. I was able to do more or less a track a day
in those days. Because of the nature of my equipment,
it was impossible to store anything so each song had
to be finished at the end of the day. You know, when
you took the power off you lost everything... I remember
desperately trying to make a good vocal take and mix,
and the time would be getting nearer to 4pm mercilessly.
Sähkömies, your first solo
album, was released on Sähkö Records. How
did you get to work with them?
They sent me their first few 12"s and I thought
they were amazing. I really wanted to be involved in
what these guys were doing. I almost couldn’t
believe Finnish people put them out. Normally Finnish
music was stupid rock stuff. I sent them demos on cassettes
(my masters were on cassettes) and they released them
as Sähkömies.
And then, there was Warp for a while. How did
you start working with them, and why did you leave?
Steve Beckett, who set up Warp, called me in Finland,
where I moved for a while after New York. I lived in
this old communist party dance hall. It was strange
to get that call in the middle of the woods. I really
felt outside of everything at that point. Anyway he
asked me to come over to Sheffield, where we had some
barbecued liver and a deal was done. I was supposed
to do one more album with them but they let me go early.
I was spending too much money and wasn’t making
enough. I want to do big projects and a lot of the times
that means someone will lose money, unfortunately...
Were you surprised by the success of Intervision?
Yes and no. I worked really hard on that record. Also
my record sales had been going up. It was also obvious
that Warp was a serious label able to do some promotion.
The follow up, Organism, was quite
a dark record. Was it a reaction to the success of Intervision?
I wanted to find a different way of producing my album
doing more stuff at home and stuff. But I also hired
a lot of musicians and a couple of choirs to get it
to sound a bit more complex. I don’t know how
dark it is...
On Out Of Nowhere, you went to Poland
to record with an orchestra. Was it the first time you
had such an opportunity?
Of course! It was a dream. I thought it was a joke because
I was sure it wouldn’t happen. I was really surprised
that we actually ended up going to Warsaw and do it.
Now it seems like an obvious thing for me but it wasn’t
really.
How did that impact on the way you work?
It changed a lot of things. Now I know what one must
do to get certain results. Musically it has meant a
huge development. All the horn stuff I did for Higher
Planes is based on that experience. I had to learn
about scoring programs and instrument ranges. The working
with a big band was a bit like going back a couple of
steps because I am much more used to work with horns
than say strings. I´m used to writing in Bb and
Eb that are used in big band. But all the different
orchestra keys and stuff drive me crazy. In the scoring
programs one can write all in C and transpose later,
which can be very easy.
In between these two albums, you featured on
a project called Impostor Orchestra. What role did you
play on this album? Was it a proper side project?
I found that my releases on Warp were more mainstreams
that I wanted and I thought it was a good idea to release
Impostor Orchestra to balance it out. I am really into
this kind of arty farty stuff as well and I’m
planning to do another one in say, two -three years.
You have also produced a good few albums for
a variety of people, including your wife, Nicole Willis.
Is it some sort of escape for you?
I like to work. I enjoy making music as a lifestyle.
I did an EP with this Finnish free jazz drummer Edward
Vesala called City of Women 1. It was very
interesting to play with him. No tempos, nothing. We
just said: ‘now’ and played for 5 minutes.
We would agree on the mood earlier, though. Nicole has
a new album ready and I was involved in some of the
tracks. She worked with some other Finnish kids as well.
Would you like to release a collaboration with
Nicole? How would you imagine it to be?
Well, we live together and these things are hard sometimes.
I mean to mix work and marriage. We do stuff all the
time though. Little tracks, videos, photos.
Beside your music projects, you’re also
responsible for a range of clothes under your label,
Tenorwear. How did this come about?
I had some ideas for clothes and we decided to make
them commercially. I was more into it some years ago,
but now it a rest period. I need to concentrate on music.
You said that Higher Planes was partly
inspired by the birth of your daughter. How’s
the addition to the family doing?
She’s great. I’m on a long tour now and
it really hurts to be away from my daughter. We will
have another baby in a couple of months and my life
will be very sleep deprived.
Has her arrival changed your vision on life
and your career?
Of course. I might be more focused now. I think I will
get it together finally!
You also said that Higher Planes refers
to a lot of Finn traditions and legends. Is it the first
time that you use these for your inspiration?
Pretty much. I always wanted to get away from Finland
and the music scene, but I think I can see my Finnish-ness
in a different light now. More positive and stranger.
You’ve lived in many different places.
Do you miss Finland sometimes and do you think you will
eventually go back there?
I miss it but I don’t think it would be fair to
make my family live there for long periods of time.
I miss the nature and I’m sure we will stay there
for the summers next to a lake.
Higher Planes is released on Kitty-Yo.
Why have you left Sähkö again?
Some problems… musical differences. It’s
all practical stuff, very boring.
How did you come to work with Kitty-Yo?
I made a remix for Louie Austen and they asked me if
I have a record available. I said yes.
You are playing a few dates. Are you planning
to take this new album on the road with a proper tour?
I’m on this tour right now, about two months non-stop.
Very trying. We don’t believe in days off.
What’s next for Jimi Tenor?
Studio, gigs, home. No time for bars... sob.
Email interview February 2003
Thank you to Jimi and Jill |
