Interview : Pineptones

1. Your first musical memories?
In elementary school I would always have my friends listen to Taj Mahal’s “Squat That Rabbit” from my dad’s collection.  It was hilarious to us as kids. There is a pretty big gap from that time until college that was filled with nothing but baseball and coke-a-cola.

2. The best record you received as a present? / The worse one?
A few years ago I went to a Growing show. They were the opening band, so during the real band I walked out to the merchandise table to see stuff.  Joe was just sitting there.  I had finished the easy confidence beer, and the miss social cues beer. After a few minutes of me trying to tell him that I bought a sampler just because of ‘that one sound like wrrreaaakkk wroooosh’ on Vision Swim, he said I should take a record for free and be on my way. I ended up with a Growing/Mark Evan Burden split. No matter whether it was a bribe or reciprocation, I really enjoyed it.

3. The first record that you lost? 
Like I said, I really enjoyed the Growing split, so it’s a little embarrassing that it is the first one I lost. Maybe it’s not lost now that I think of it. The other Travis probably has it.

4. The name of your imaginary band?
‘Pony Dreams: the crab pony sessions pony crab’. This is a ridiculous name, but a friend that wields more authority than I’d like to admit says this is my real name.

5. In which environment do you like to record music?
Time is much more important to me than space in making music. The best way to let things unfold naturally - or unnaturally for that matter - is just to spend time with them. A little bit of back pressure from real life helps too. Knowing that there is an imminent but not urgent deadline has produced some of my sounds and designs I am most proud of.

6. What will music sound like in 50 years / 5000 years?
There should be enough permutations of noise in pop and vice versa to last 50 years easily. I think the bulk of this type of synthesis has already happened, but cycles of exposure, emersion, and familiarity en masse work much slower than the mechanisms of generation. If there is a single dominant trend it will be a simplification of structures with an opening of timbres.

In 5000 years there will be no new music. The Disney lobby will have effectively indefinitely extended copyright protection. Everything that can be made or remixed will have been made or remixed.

In 5000 years things can be way more awesome. Animals will speed up our sampling and processing rates so that we can experience frequencies in the audio range rhythmically. Audio/visual exercises will mature from novelty and expand to all senses. As for the content, I’m sure that Marcus Popp (Oval) already made it.

In 5000 years critical reviews will replace the music itself.

In 5000 years hype-cycles will be pre-emptive. People will write about musicians and music that don’t even exist yet. They will continue writing about the style, context, and  production values of the music until someone actually makes the music they are describing.  People will then listen to the music in order to assess the competency and relevance of the critic. jk.

7. Which underrated album will start a new musical genre?
Fly Pan Am’s Ceux Qui Inventent N'ont Jamais Vecu. I hope this has already happened and I just don’t know about it.

8. Which album should never have been made?
Any album that has used the words ‘motion’ or ‘flow’ in the title.

9. Your favourite album to have a drink?
Drinks 1-2 Let It Bloom, Black Lips.
Drinks 3-5 The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest.
Drinks 6-∞ Dreamweapon, Spacemen 3.

10. Your dream collaboration?
I wouldn’t be a part of it. It would be Big Boi (OutKast) replacing Malcolm Mooney, and working on Can’s Delay 1968.

11. The record that freaks you out? 
Daniel Johnston’s 1990. I gladly subscribe to the mythology that surrounds him. His story usually seems like one of his songs - one and the same. But this album makes him seem like a real person. The jump from unfortunate genius to thinking about him in reality is devastating.

12. The record you would like to listen to right now?
Moondog’s Moondog. (for full effect, you should listen to it too as you continue reading).

13. The film that tickles your creativity?
Blue Velvet. The first time I watched this movie was the first time I realized that creation doesn’t have to have a single note of fidelity or sincerity to make it into the suburbs. It’s got nuance smashed together with big chunky ideas that don’t really display their relation to each other. But at the same time I didn’t feel like anything was being obscured for the sake of hollow mystery. I don’t really know what to make of this movie though. It provides me with ideas whether they are there or not.

14. The little-known track that everyone should have heard of?
“Es un aesina” by zerogroove.

15. An album or an artist you wouldn’t want to be?
Maybe Aphex Twin. People lift his sounds from his ideas and then say that he is their greatest influence. It’s like a filmmaker thinking that using futura makes them a disciple of Wes Anderson. Really as long as I make it past 27 I will be happy.

16. The cover version you would love to do?
I can do one of the dance moves from Billy Joel’s “You May Be Right”, so I’ll go with that.

17. The mashup you would love to do?
Usher and a screaming goat.

18. The text you would like to produce a soundtrack for?
The Windup Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami, and I think I have almost completed it.

19. Have you ever had auditory hallucinations?
None. I’m a conservative you see.

20. How would you like to die?
It’s strange that you are threatening me. I thought things were moving along quite nicely until now. But it is generous of you to ask for my input… so… surprise me!

Isolation Decade by pineptones



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