Archive for the 'Interviews' Category

INTERVIEW (2002): LFO Low Frequency Opportunist

themilkman on Oct 13th 2014 09:02 pm

Tonight, Monday 13th October 2014, the news of Mark Bell’s untimely death, apparently from complications following a medical procedure, has been confirmed by Warp Records.

Mark contacted me a good few years ago, completely out of the blue, to tell me he liked themilkfactory and to encourage me to ‘keep up the good work’. I was so taken back that I couldn’t believe it could in any way be THE Mark Bell, but I soon got confirmation from Warp that the address the email came from was indeed his. I plucked up the courage to ask him for an interview, which he very kindly accepted. I sent him a bunch of questions, and he replied very quickly, and generously, and sent a picture of him playing with a robot dog, which his girlfriend had taken the weekend before. A few weeks later, he invited me to come to a big Warp part at Electrowerks 2, where he was playing. After his set, I got to meet him, and we ended up chatting about quite a few things, including sailing on lakes around Leeds. Mark Bell was an extremely generous and kind artist, and although themilkfactory is no longer around, I am reviving it briefly today to republish this interview. RIP Mark, you are a true legend, and a true gentleman.

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INTERVIEW: MINOTAUR SHOCK Rural Electronics

themilkman on Aug 19th 2012 11:49 pm

INTERVIEW: MINOTAUR SHOCK Rural Electronics

After recording one album and a handful of EPs for Manchester-based imprint Melodic ten years ago, David Edwards got the chance to move his Minotaur Shock project to 4AD, a label that had partly inspired him over the years. Reality however rarely matches expectations, and things didn’t quite work out as idealistically as he had hoped. Four years on from his last release for the label, he has picked himself up, recorded his fourth studio album, Orchard, and Melodic have welcomed him back with open arms. Here, he talks about his 4AD experience, working with Melodic again, the freedom he had recording the new album, and how British music has inspired him a great deal this time round.
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INTERVIEW: OBERMAN KNOCKS Northern Lights

themilkman on Jul 4th 2012 10:32 pm

INTERVIEW: OBERMAN KNOCKS Northern Lights

Three years ago, the first album on Andrea Parker’s new venture, Aperture Records was published. The work of Sheffield-born Nigel Truswell, released under the enigmatic name of Oberman Knocks, 13th Smallest was a particularly dense and abstract electronic record, sounding somewhat like a malfunctioning machine. With his second album ready to be released, once again on Aperture, we caught up with the man to talk about his formative years, rubbing shoulders with Autechre, Mira Calix and Andrea Parker, learning to get to grip about the technology he uses and the prospects of a collaboration which may take him onto a very different path. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: NUOJUVA The Natural Sound Of Decay

themilkman on Apr 16th 2012 10:14 pm

INTERVIEW: NUOJUVA The Natural Sound Of Decay

Finnish musician Oli Aarni first appeared a couple of years ago as Ous Mal on Australian imprint Preservation, but after just one album, he decided to pull the plug on the project and start anew. His new album, once again published on Preservation, was released as Nuojuva, and while it shares a certain feel for ghostly aesthetics with some of his compatriots’ work, his music is undoubtedly personal. Here, he discusses the reasons behind his change of name, why he keeps vocals to rather enigmatic textures, and how he feels about the Finnish music scene.   Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: ALOG From The Ground Up

themilkman on Feb 5th 2012 05:30 pm

INITERVIEW: ALOG From The Ground Up

In the fifteen years since they formed Alog, Norwegian musicians Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan have released some extremely original and fascinating records, made from a vast array of acoustic and electronic instruments, most of which they build themselves, With their new album, their fifth, they have worked with a number of other musicians and involved them in the creative process. In its complete version, the album stretches over four LPs and 2 and a half hours. Here, Alog talk about their formative years, how the new album came together, working with collaborators and how playing live has to be approached very differently.

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INTERVIEW: THOMAS STRØNEN The Importance Of Being Thomas Strønen

themilkman on Dec 4th 2011 08:48 pm

INTERVIEW: THOMAS STRØNEN: The Importance Of Being Thomas Strønen

Thomas Strønen is undoubtedly one of the most talented drummers of his generation. A member of Food, Humcrush, Meadow, Monsters & Puppets and many more, his very diverse, yet highly recognisable style puts him is at the heart of these projects. With new albums from Monsters & Puppets, Humcrush and The Living Room, Thomas takes some time off his incredibly busy schedule to talk to themilkfactory about how he started playing drums, his long-standing collaboration with Iain Ballamy as Food, his relationship with Maria Kannegaard and how it led to Monsters & Puppets, and what his next solo project may be. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: SWEET EXORCIST/RICHARD H. KIRK This Used To Be The Future

themilkman on Nov 21st 2011 09:31 pm

INTERVIEW: RICHARD H. KIRK This Used To Be The Future

Richard H. Kirk was already a legendary figure on the electronic scene when he teamed up with DJ  Parrot, then one of the main DJs at Sheffield’s club Jive Turkey, to form Sweet Exorcist, and recorded a series of minimalist techno records which were released on a fledgling label called Warp. The following album, Clonks Coming, was to be the first album released by the label. Twenty years on, to celebrate this momentous event, Warp have collected the album and EPs into a double album. Here, we catch up with Richard H. Kirk and look back at the whole Sweet Exorcist story, from how the pair got acquainted to working with Warp and becoming part of the label’s legend. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: NILS FRAHM Loving Other People

themilkman on Oct 9th 2011 09:42 pm

INTERVIEW: NILS FRAHM Loving Other People

In just a few years, Berlin-based pianist Nils Frahm has worked with the likes of Peter Broderick, Greg Haines, F.S. Blumm, Ólafur Arnalds or Deaf Center, but it is with his own work, released on Kning Disk, Sonic Pieces and Erased Tapes that he has gained recognition. With his new album, he explores a miniature nocturnal sound world where every sound of his piano is amplified to reveal its most minute intimate details. Here, he talks about his formative years, how it is easier to like the music created with others and the recording of his new album. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: SPLASHGIRL Crossing The Boundaries

themilkman on Aug 29th 2011 06:58 pm

INTERVIEW: SPLASHGIRL Crossing The Boundaries

Norwegian trio Splashgirl may have started as a fairly conventional jazz formation, but as time went on, they have evolved into a much more fluid formation, incorporating elements of other genres in their increasingly improvised music. As they are releasing their third album, Pressure, following a refined performance in London in June, Jo Myhre and Andreas Løwe talk about their predominantly acoustic approach, pushing further into improvisation, experimenting with sound and how their various other projects all inform what they do as a trio. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: GORAN KAJFEÅ  North By South East

themilkman on Jul 3rd 2011 06:32 pm

INTERVIEW: GORAN KAJFEÅ  North By South East

Born of Croatian parents, both musicians, and raised in Sweden, trumpet player Goran KajfeÅ¡ has played with an impressive number of musicians and artists of international stature. As a solo musician, he has released two albums and his third, X/Y, a double album presenting two very different sides of his work, has just been published. We took the opportunity to talk with him about how his Balkan roots and Scandinavian upbringing influence his work, working with megastars, and how the two distinct sides of his new album are in fact complimentary. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: MONTY ADKINS Composing Layers

themilkman on Apr 17th 2011 11:48 pm

INTERVIEW: MONTY ADKINS Composing Layers

With his latest album, British sound artist Monty Adkins has been finding inspiration in the painting of Pip Dickens and art collective Brass Art, an approach that already partly infused his previous record. Over the years, he has work on various installations, scored dance projects and curated projects for the legendary GRM in Paris. Here, we talk with him about working on a project celebrating the work of Pierre Schaeffer, looking for electronic music in the orchestral works of Ligeti and Saariaho and understanding the process used by Rothko and adapting it to his own work. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: ARANDEL The Anti-Lady Gaga

themilkman on Mar 7th 2011 09:49 pm

INTERVIEW: ARANDEL The Anti-Lady Gaga

Arandel goes a long way to protect his identity, from performing behind a sheet to posing for publicity shot whilst wearing a mask. With his first album, In D, released last year on InFiné, he aimed to create a techno-infused record using only sounds of real instruments which he had sampled himself. Followed a string of remix digital EPs which are now about to be collected onto an album, due to be released in the coming weeks. Here, he talks about the need to remain anonymous, the challenges of working with real instruments, his influences and what Arandel could be like as a live formation. Continue Reading »

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