You were born in
Durban, South Africa, and moved to the UK in 1991. Did
you already know that you wanted to become an artist
then?
Well I studied photography in South Africa
and I moved here to pursue that. I’ve always had
the need to create things, but I definitely had no plans
to make music at that time, although obviously I did
have an interest and passion in music, I wasn’t
making any at the time.
What is your background? Did you study music
or art while in South Africa?
I studied art at school and then photography
after. I’ve had no formal training in music.
Wasn’t it a bit daunting to suddenly become
the focus of people’s attention after working
from Ambient Soho and Warp, promoting the work of others?
I don’t know if daunting is the right word, but
it was definitely a little odd.
Did you get some encouragement from the artists
on Warp at the time?
I got a lot of encouragement from my friends, and also
some great cheap deals on second hand gear, for which
I’m grateful.
There have been quite a few women who have
released electronic albums in the last couple of years,
such as Colleen or Mileece, and women are quite active
on the scene in general, although the genre is still
dominated by male musicians. Does it annoy you that
women seem largely ignored?
I don’t know that we are ignored. It may just
be a matter of numbers.
Did you find it hard to get accepted as an
artist in the beginning?
I was never really looking for acceptance, so if it
was difficult I didn’t notice. I think it’s
more difficult to get heard. In the UK in particular,
there’s not a lot of radio time open to a broad
selection of music. John Peel excepted.
You released a few EPs before your first album.
Was it for you a way to try out things before starting
working on the album?
Well, it was more practical than thought about. I was
working full time when I released those EPs. So I didn’t
have a lot of time to write. I guess later on in 97
I gave up working a day job, so it was easier to be
more prolific – hence the album.
Your sound seemed to have matured a lot between
One On One and Skimskitta. Did the
way you work change a lot in between both records?
I think my approach to writing was more or less the
same, I was just trying to be true to myself, but I
learnt a lot during the process of writing One On
One, and the time after, so I guess, I went into
writing Skimskitta with a lot more experience.
I’d done a lot more listening to myself.
Skimskitta was a very consistent record,
and seemed to have some kind of narrative running through
it, as if you were telling a story. Was it the case,
or is it something you were conscious of when recording
the album?
There were particular feelings and images that I had
in mind while writing, you could say the mood I was
in. Even though that album was written over a long period
of time, and there were many tracks that I didn’t
include on the album, I think when I put Skimskitta
together, I pulled out the tracks that fitted well together
and I spent a lot of time making it one piece. But the
‘story’ was something I found in hindsight,
not at the time of writing individual tracks, rather
when I was compiling the album. When you put all the
pages of your diary together – you get a journal.
Until now, you have pretty much worked on your
own. Would you consider collaborating with other musicians
or artists?
Yes, I am currently working on a few projects with other
musicians and artists. My latest release – 3
Commissions, does include my collaboration with
the London Sinfonietta. I really enjoy the contrast
of working with others, and I find it makes me even
more keen to work on my own. When I enjoy people’s
company, when we get on, then making music together
is a lot of fun.
There has been, so far, some unity of tone
with the artwork on your releases, although 3 Commissions
is radically different. Do you get involved in the visual
aspect of your record?
Yes, very much so. The 3 Commissions artwork
has been done with another designer, usually I work
with David Vallade, but for this album, the artwork
is by another friend of mine – Nigel Truswell.
Because, the music was all commissioned and for specific
venues and projects, I wanted it to look distinctly
different to the work I write for myself. It was also
an opportunity to work on a very different aesthetic,
which I like, and to use photographic images, which
I don’t normally do. Something to convey the spaces
in which those pieces where performed to the listener.
How did you get involved with Geneva’s
Museum d’Histoire Naturelle for the project that
led to NuNu?
They simply got in touch and asked if I’d do it.
They already had the concept for the project in mind.
In the press release for 3 Commissions,
you are quoted saying that you received about 150 sounds
of insects. I read somewhere else that you enjoyed collecting
sounds that you might use in your work later on. Wasn’t
receiving all these sounds taking part of the creative
process away from you?
No not really, because this was the essence of the project
– that they would provide the sounds. Also they
gave me a lot of sounds of each insect on it’s
own. Isolated, which is something that on a practical
level is a lot more time consuming and tricky to do.
The creative part was turning this menagerie into a
new piece of music without using anything other than
those sounds.
NuNu was revisited
to accommodate the London Sinfonietta with whom you
performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and
on tour. How was it to work with a totally unpredictable
environment together with an orchestra every night?
It was really great. To work with such skilled musicians,
who are open to something, slightly unconventional and
where prepared to give of themselves, was really rewarding,
I enjoyed it very much.
3 Commissions features edited versions
of both the original Nunu and that with the
Sinfonietta. Do you think you will ever release these
in their full versions?
Nunu was originally 30 minutes long and I have
no plans to release it in its entirety. The Sinfonietta
version wasn’t an edit, it is the full piece performed
at the Royal Festival Hall, we have done it again in
Rome, and Bruges and will do it once more in Berlin
in March next year. The thing about the Sinfonietta
version is that it is different every time we perform
it, as there is an element of improvisation about it,
and the piece has evolved. I have also made quite a
few changes, so perhaps I may release a recording of
the piece in the future. I’m not sure.
You use a lot of sounds sourced from your environment
as a basis for your music. Was it always something you
wanted to experiment with?
I think it was purely instinctive. I didn’t give
it much thought, it’s just the way I started making
music, and it’s something I’ve continued
to explore because I like it. I like finding great sounds
outside and then bringing them home to my studio to
play with.
You are currently working on your third album,
which is apparently due for release in Spring 2005.
What can we expect?
Uhm, music? ;-)
You have played live quite a lot over the last
year or so, touring first with Chris Clark, then with
the London Sinfonietta. Do you enjoy playing live as
much as working in the studio?
I enjoy playing live, and I enjoy traveling, which is
fortunate, as playing live or deejaying which I do a
lot of too, seems to require a lot of traveling, but
ultimately, being in the studio and making new work
is more fulfilling.
The three pieces on the mini album were commissions.
Have you been asked to work on more projects since?
Yes, I have a few things. I’ve just finished working
on a soundtrack for a documentary, and I have some performance/installation
pieces planned for next year with the concert pianist
Sarah Nicholls and some of the Sinfonietta team. Also
a visual and sonic installation work for a gallery in
London next year.
How does working on a commission compares to
working on your own projects?
It’s different, because there are usually things
you have to take into consideration, be it a theme or
architectural space. When I work on my own, I have a
blank canvas, I don’t have to consider anything
or anyone but myself. That’s the difference really,
slight but definitely a difference in approach.
Do you find time to listen to music?
A little.
How do you see electronic music evolve?
Wow, that’s a difficult one. I know it has, but
how, well other than from an obvious technological difference
over the years, the rest has really been down to individuals,
and that’s hard to generalize and speculate over.
What is next in your diary?
TIDY MY ROOM
Email interview September 2004
Thank you to Chantal and Ken |
