Monday, September 1, 2014

Art Rush


For those of you who aren't familiar with the work of Art Rush this may be of great service to you. I first stumbled upon the lanky, ungroomed and charmingly obnoxious Art Rush circa mid 2009 at a Hopetoun gig which was fundraising for FBi radio. He was bookended by Madeline Lucas (Devotional) and Daisy Tully (Low Lux), two subtle and very emotionally engaging performers. Although they were all solo artists, Art was the polar opposite of your regular guitar and vocals singer/songwriter. It was just him and his iPod jumping up and down singing about the state of music in Sydney, with songs like "I Spin Bland Beats" and a strange story about a "Silver Corolla".

Listen to Silver Corolla how it should be heard.

Over the years me and Art have worked on a number of musical projects including The New Termites and The Sweet Sweet Innards, we even lived together for a while in a dilapidated shack in Sydenham. I've been looking forward to this interview so I could explore Art's motives and also delve a little bit into the psyche of Sydney's premier lo-fi superhero.

So Art let’s get this started by talking about what’s been making you tick lately, I know you’ve been vigilantly researching for your Michael Jackson bio which is sounding very cool and you’ve also been blogging, studying and branching out into all sorts of literary projects. But I want to know what’s happening musically with you right now. I heard you’re working on the new instalment of your 50 malls project ‘Westfield Parramatta’ with the help of the lovely and very talented Paul Macadam (Library Siesta), what’s the direction been with it and where do you see it going?

Well, Paul and I put out a 'Driving To Canberra' EP not long ago called IGNORANCE, I really hate EP's and I always rag on them but I just really wanted to put something out. IGNORANCE has a few songs from the album we're planning called "9:31" and the last one will eventually be on 'Westfield Parramatta'. I am really in a lost space lately in terms of music, only recently I've been playing piano again now I finally have a decent living space and a clear head. I have 42 more malls to do so there's a lot of work ahead of me but it's going to come at a much slower rate. I'm going to need to find new approaches without losing too much of the grunge, the sort of filthiness in all the clipping of my earlier stuff. A lot of the songs we've been working on with Driving to Canberra just sound too clean. It's hard to get a good recording setup and I really don't want to force anything.

Listen to 'Driving To Canberra' here.


It's interesting how your lo-fi aesthetic seems to create the 'Art Rush' sound. It was really prevalent when you used to perform with backing tracks and your keyboard, but it's been a long time since you've done anything like that. Do you think it's more about the accessibility of recording on a laptop and the speed with which you can churn out records? Say you had access to a studio with engineers and an abundance of gear even session players for an entire year, would you relish in the opportunity to have a 'Pet Sounds' fantasy play out? Considering where Ariel Pink has gone with his latest releases, even though they have that clean studio sound, they aren't necessarily commercial songs. Do you find it's more about independence of creativity? Like being some sort of bedroom Rundgren.

Honestly it's all been downhill ever since I moved out of my parents' house in Gladesville. I had the ability there to make as much noise as I wanted at whatever time of night without having to be self-conscious about it, and a dodgy mic setup that suited me well. Also I was younger and cockier back then, I'm a lot more self-conscious about expressing myself now. If I had all those session players and whatnot, yeah I could come up with something for sure. Paul is basically a one-man version of all of that anyway. The other thing is that for some fucked up psychological reason I tend to push away, resent and alienate anyone who encourages me creatively. At least I'm aware of the pattern now and I'm trying to break it. Man I was just at a nursing home today, life is too fucking short. I've got a good singing voice and 42 more malls to do.

You seem to be singing more sentimentally recently rather attacking the everyday. The cockiness appears to have been replaced by a reflective and ephemeral presence. What subjects lyrically do you seem to be drawn to lately? Apart from the obvious themes like Sydney, malls, and young love.

Well... I haven't really been writing too much at all, the handful of songs I've done have been on some girl stuff, plus I really want to explore the "facilities management" industry on the Westfield Parramatta album but inspiration is slow, and it's hard to make that shit interesting. Honestly I feel like I've been gutted.

I know you won't consider backing down from the 50 malls project, like old mate (Sufjan Stevens) did with the 50 states, but it seems like focusing on other things has been good for you. You don't make music for money or commercial success, so how much of it is spite based? 

The Westfield Sydney album last year was made entirely out of spite. It was my 'Atlas Shrugged'. Nobody really seemed to notice it even came out but I really like a lot of it, it gets pretty ridiculous but there's some great grooves, a lot of literary references just beneath the surface and the spite of it all works on several levels. The poetry slam scene needed to be taken down a peg. Someone had to do it. I've learnt to phase out the spite though, I read JD Salinger's "Franny and Zooey" which brutally exposed me to how immature I was being.

Listen to 'Westfield Sydney' here.

To add to the above. I really like bands that are humanist, completely positive. Songs that are genuinely uplifting, people who aren't afraid to be cheesy. It might look like clowning at first but there is serious wisdom in promoting positivity. For this reason Kool & the Gang are my favourite band of all time. A song like "Joanna" or "In the Heart" might not seem like much but if you pay attention these are incredibly profound statements from people who are in tune with the world. There's a full video on youtube of Kool & the Gang's show from New Orleans in the 1980s, I really recommend it for an idea of what I'm talking about. Also for similar reasons I've been listening to a lot of Human Nature lately. It's a shame they do so much Motown these days cause those guys are a total unit, absolutely on top of everything they do. And very positive. Their first album 'Tellin' Everybody' could have been an MJ record. 

Check out Kool and The Gang at their best here.

Do you wonder how much of the positivity in music is somewhat ignorant? Or is the sense that it's heartfelt make it genuine enough? I'm often suspicious of 'happy' bands with a positive message because I wonder if they are preaching the words of positivity blindly without a lived in experience of it's real world application; as if they're Jehovah's Witnesses knocking door to door all saying the same thing. I'm not convinced by Yoko's 'Don't Worry' I just feel like 'Be Weary' is a safer message for most.

Well, Starpeace is my favourite Yoko Ono album. Completely positive, very new-wave, almost like children's music, even a bit Kool & the Gang-esque at times now I think about it. Yoko knows what's up in general, she is wiser and more experienced in every area of life than most people will ever be and has triumphed over so much hate in her life. She's also proven that she's capable of glass-shattering rage in tracks like "Don't Worry" as you mentioned. So coming from her it means a lot, and it shows me that having faith in humanity and love is not misguided. There's a quote from the liner notes of Yoko's Feeling the Space that I think about every day: "Hate is just a funny way of love."

That's nice man, I think you may have just reinvigorated my appreciation of those sentiments. Anything you wanna say before we tail end out of here? 

Well to all the readers out there, if you have any advice for me my email is artrush@gmail.com

Art Rush also has his own Wiki Universe with all his 14 albums available for listening, head there for a better insight to what the man has achieved since 2007.


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Interview with Ivan Viznitzin from Ghoul c. 2009


Emerging band, Ghoul, are as refreshing to the Sydney scene as a glass of cloudy Lemonade and Tequila on a 'fuck me' hot day. Quoted by a friend recently as 'Jeff Buckley in the future' I personally get the impression of 16-Bit Eno's meeting The Smiths. From the EP, 'A Mouthfull of Gold', and the 3 times I've seen them live, I can tell you, the music is catchy and intelligent. Although Ghoul haven't formed their sound completely in stone, they are progressing in a promising way, un-commercialised, original and honest. I talked to singer, Ivan, about Ghoul and his own musical ideas.

So, Ivan, what do you love about music?



These questions are always the tough ones! If you'd have asked what music do you love, or what gear do you love using I could come up with an answer straight off... What do I love about music? I love it's simplicity and complexity. I love that music can remind me of people or places, I love it because it's essential to driving, to studying, to cooking... anything really. I love it because it's what excites me most and because it challenges me like nothing else.

What kind of music influences you?


Music or compositional techniques that are completely unknown, drumming is the best example... I have no sense of rhythm when it comes to playing the drums, that's why cutting and pasting them is so enjoyable and interesting, I wish I could play...

Lyrics can be poetic, understated and straight to the point, where do you derive your lyrical influences from?


I'm no poet, that's for sure. I love Morrissey and think he's the best, hands down, but my word play doesn't extend past simple alliteration or assonance. I'm not a fan of rhyme, I like repetition, because everything I write is so brief. I like honesty, clarity (but not too much) and I like lyrics that suit a voice. Best example is Jeff Buckley, 'lover love lover loverer vloevleorler come over blah blah,' just read some of his lyrics, they're cringe worthy, but out of his mouth they sound like perfect.
I guess recently, my favourite new lyricist is Matt Beringer from the national, his imagery is incredible, so... American, like Springsteen American. I think a good lyricist needs to be able to convey some part of the background and locale that they're from... or something, a feeling or a sense of being rooted somewhere, in a place or moment. Dave Longstreth is another favourite, that dirty projectors track 'off white flag' - which is basically about having a limp dick - has the best wordplay I've ever heard, 'it's been a while, since I've played the game,' the song is about baseball, but not really. then obscure imagery stuff? or rather more clever imagery? my disco, ohana, shellac, whatever.
But as for writing lyrics... I'm slow, and try avoiding songs about girls, there are only 2 on the album. I hope I cover my inadequacy by phrasing and pronouncing words so they can't be heard.

How do you feel about the way you see your music affecting people? And could you tell me how they have reacted so far to the live show and the E.P?

I don't think we can really tell... the live show is hard to gauge, people are mostly quiet, rarely talking while we play, this is real nice.. you know at first it made us uneasy but I think we've settled into it a bit. If you play sloppy everyone hears, but after a song is finished or we finish the set we get a few little claps... no one going spastic. It's probably that we're not playing music you just want to shout out too. What I really believe is that people are confused... a song might end where they don't expect it, or just end suddenly... I'm not sure. We have good nights and bad nights, like most bands but, the bad outnumbers the good. I'm not just talking playing in a sloppy way... there are times where we don't reward the audience with their patience, stuff like bad set-list choice and bad transitions... or not building on an idea. It's all a learning experience and we're getting better at it, the newer songs seem 
to do the trick... the live show is something that we're constantly working on.

As for the EP? again it's hard to tell. I know for certain that 1300 copies have reached people, over the internet and physically given out at shows. That's more than some established bands get for their debuts, at the time when it was being reviewed everything was fairly positive... apart from my crooning. But we can't sell out a venue and we don't get big supports. 
it's a big ? when it comes to reactions.

The drive to play music can be called obsessive in some, playful in others, where do you gain merit from the art? And how does the song writing process come about?

For me, personally, it's a constant drive to better myself at production. I love the studio, it's where I'm most comfortable. But for the band, song writing is a constant conversation between jamming and recording - just back and forth before we get it right. We wrote about 5 or 6 songs at the beginning of December/January, 3 of which are now on the album, others came from studio sessions or are loops from rehearsals... we're all over the shop.
The best way to think of us is as a sample band, we record audio, cut and paste it together and voila, a song. The whole process is very laboured and convoluted but at the same time so enjoyable, I think for the next album we will all go off and record our own stuff and piece it together later, rather than just jamming in rehearsals or the studio.
The stuff we're working on now is very democratic, more of a 'band' thing than the EP was.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?


Hopefully playing with the same bunch of people, and maybe some new people.... It would be nice to have a few good releases under our belts too! I guess the most important thing would be to still be passionate about making music and hopefully be better at it...

Favourite Sydney Album Right Now?

Favourite Sydney album right now is The Dead Sea's debut... great, great, great record. Totally under-appreciated band. Their live performance is incredible... one of the very few times I've been transported outside of a room by music. Amazing.

              
Download their first E.P. for free here - http://www.mediafire.com/download/yjnzym1yiyb/A+Mouthful+of+Gold.rar