Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Everything Up Their Sleeve

A New Record Label Promises the World


ARTIFACTS: Sampler 01

U•LOT Records
Release date 09/03/2020

★ ★ ★ ★

 
The COVID-19 epidemic has hit everyone differently. For some it’s been a time to withdraw and hibernate, while others have tackled long-overdue projects and fed whatever creative spirit they have. In this case, restless musicians from seemingly all over the world have contributed new music to ARTIFACTS: Sampler 01 on U•LOT Records — a boutique label that promises to showcase the “Electric & Eclectic”. The Florida Panhandle seems an unlikely hub for headquarters, but label mates Edward Fentilli & Earl Danvers deliver an auditory hat-trick, presenting listeners with music from France, the UK, Japan and a half-dozen cities in the US as well.

Mostly instrumental, the number of styles and genres spilling out of this clown-car are noteworthy, ranging from the hyper-kinetic techno-collage of SlayStax to the laid-back vibraphone soul of The Ray Koenig Group. ‘Sarah’s Cornfield’ by percussion group Filament Quartet is one of many surprises; crisp, beautiful and energizing. Street Tooth’s synth buffet ‘Morphologie’ also spirals upwards with dance floor energy, only to be followed by the post-rock meditation ‘fin’ by Peachboy for a well-deserved exhale.
Elsewhere, quirky rock band The Phantom Trucks join the mix with the upbeat breakup song ‘Loss for Words’, but moments later we’re pulled into an avant-garde soundscape from Polish visual artist Einar Vacek - the most haunting piece of drone music ever to include both a harmonica and sheet metal. Having these 2 tracks share the same project is almost enough to divide listeners, but there is still plenty of connective tissue to hold ARTIFACTS together.

If there’s any theme to this sampler, it’s diversity. There’s more cultures represented than any cast of Star Trek. Some pieces rely on mood more than complexity, but it’s another effective through-line. The real centerpiece of this project is the label itself, delivering depth and electricity, stillness and levity.

By means of introduction, U•LOT wants to deliver something for everyone, and offering its 12-song sampler for a single dollar through the remainder of 2020 makes it the best collection of new music for the price.

ARTIFACTS: Sampler 01 is being hosted on Burlap Productions’ Bandcamp page — likely due to the shared Tallahassee connection. As a sidetone, anyone who opts to pay more for the album will have the surplus donated to Doctors Without Borders in their efforts to combat COVID-19 and provide humanitarian aid in Beruit.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Quiet People





















“I don’t know how else to say it -- we were good kids.” 
- Joy Cyr

Let’s get a few basics out of the way:
The members of Quiet People have control issues. This is their first interview. They fluctuate between enthusiastic and reserved, and they all know their scales. They recognize the “business” in Music Business by crunching numbers with spreadsheets to make sure they’re not losing money on their endeavors. They also start and finish each other’s sentences. During the course of our meeting, they jump at the chance to respond to questions, but several times it’s on behalf of one another rather than themselves. They are a family, and share a collective conscience about their work. It’s a little like interviewing a musical prodigy with three heads.

What was the first instrument you picked up?
LUKE: Piano
  (now he’s primarily the drummer, with a side of synth)
JOHN: Drums
  (he’s the guitarist)
JOY: I would try ‘scream-singing’ when they were playing music together.
  (bass and vocals) 

One of the ways you identify yourself is your process: “We compose, perform, record, burn, print, and package all of our music.” ... Is there an element of control you need to do your art?
JOY (points to John): This one here, for sure...
JOHN: It’s quality control... If I’m going to sell something, I want it to be the best I can make it. If the corner is ripped on an insert, or a staple is off-center I’ll throw the whole thing away. The same thing applies to our music -- I mean, if we’re going to charge people money, then it’s got to be the best we can make it.
JOY: He probably wouldn't be that way, except that he studied recording and sound engineering. Back in high school he studied videography and editing too. For me it’s about the music, and whenever I do design work I want it to be more purposeful; I want to connect it to the meaning I think is behind the music, whether it’s lyrics or the time period when it was written.
LUKE (nodding to Joy): She’s kind of like the editor. Sometimes John and I will come up with a design, and then she’ll come in and cut things out...
JOHN (with a grin): It must satisfy The Joy. If she says no to something, we have to take that into account, that’s contributing... she’s a member of the group and we have to consider her opinion equally.
JOY: Everyone’s an editor and everyone’s a creator, I mean, if you break it up, John mostly does the engineering - the computer stuff, I’m more strictly creative; drawings, chord progressions, and Luke is like... music theory buff and rhythms and restructuring songs so they’re more complex.

The brothers used to be afraid of clichés. They even downplayed the fact that they were siblings because they were not The Partridge Family or anything you might recognize from The Disney Channel. Musically, there’s a subtle, steady push-back against being categorized, even as they navigate the predictable minefield of indie pop. If a song sounds too much like something they’ve heard before, they scrap it. 

So when did you get interested in forming a band together?
JOHN: I had been for years. Luke was younger and at the time he was only listening to classical; none of the stuff I was listening to. Joy and I shared very similar tastes in music, but in my first year of college we were separated. When I graduated Joy and Luke were still in high school, so they formed a really strong bond, which eventually led to them doing a talent show together. 
JOY: Luke pretty much came to my rescue because I really wanted to play a song I had written, but it wasn’t very good. He offered to help with it, even though he was terrified right up to the day we were going to perform it, saying “this was a bad idea, we shouldn’t do this”...
LUKE (shrugs):  In high school, being seen with your older sister was “not cool”, so I was really embarrassed, but she was saying stuff like “you don’t understand -- people are going to think you’re awesome!”... We performed the song “Quiet People” as a duet on piano and synthesizer for a talent show. I think the three of us avoided playing together for awhile because we thought wouldn’t be able to get along...
You were worried about sibling dynamics?
JOHN: On our first album, we fought like crazy. We’d steal each other’s lines and play them on our own instrument, like turn a guitar part into a bass line, or a vocal riff that used to be on guitar. I don’t think we were ever hateful towards each other, but I know I used to get impatient. I’d freak out if Luke didn’t play something “correctly” and we’d have to start over again from the beginning.
LUKE: We just found an old tape cassette -- I must have been 8 or 9, John was 14 -- we were playing music and he would just count it off over and over again and say things like “No, you’re doing it wrong -- you’re going too slow!”
JOY (laughing): it goes on for like 15 minutes!

They agree, though, that arguing eliminates most of the half-baked ideas. If it’s worth defending, or campaigning to convert the undecided, it only makes the finished product better. Some of the songs have, through conflict, undergone a complete transformation. Luke and John usually start with equipment as their muse, but Joy starts with a notebook, and poetry.

JOY: ... it can start if I’m really sad or really angry. I used to just sit down at a piano and just ‘go’, but then I’d usually end up forgetting. I’ll read the words back and some of them just... turn into a melody line or have certain values to them. I’ll listen to the pentameter and it evolves from there -- I’ll get rhythms or chord changes and “shells” of songs. The chorus could just have a bass line, the verse a guitar part. From there, you know, fill it in, change the melody line, find a cool effect, etc.

So when you’ve presented your brothers with a piece you’ve written this way, how many times have they ‘dashed your toy doll to the ground’ by way of a tempo change or manic guitar riffs?
JOY: All the time. 
JOHN (laughing): Probably every single song.
JOY: Yes. That’s why our first CD was so difficult. I had these very personal songs that were really important to me, written 5 years earlier, and I was like: “don’t screw them up”.

You included so many production elements on your 2010 album “Symptoms of a Steady Mind”... what was the experience like?
JOHN: I slaved over our first album for 8 months. It was really chopped up, partly because we took turns playing all the instruments, and partly because of the software I was working with.
LUKE: It was a variety show.
JOY: Yeah, I didn't see those songs as all being part of an album -  it was more like six individual pieces.

They all agree that their current album ‘Childproof’ is the album they could play live without a lot of role-switching or pre-recorded trickery. They describe it as more cohesive, and more representative of the direction they want to go. There are fewer acrobatics, and it feels like the trio gave themselves permission to let a song ‘breathe’. The variety show has evolved into storytelling.

Is it important for you to have a physical product?
JOY: I think digital is good, but I’d rather have smaller circulation and be able to present something. Being available online all over the world isn’t as special.
LUKE: Yeah, having something physical is better. Years ago, it was a bigger deal to get your music onto iTunes or something like that.
JOHN: It almost the reverse now -- it’s too easy to get your music online. If you don’t have a hard copy it’s like you’re not as legit. 

How do view recordings vs. performances?
JOHN: We feel more exposed onstage, but when we’re recording we’re much more relaxed... 
JOY (gives a steady look in John’s direction): - Wrong! 
JOHN (negotiating): ... well, vocals we get much more freaked out over. Recording takes forever.
JOY: -- but you guys are pretty comfortable with that process.
LUKE: For me (live) is much more fun. I used to do a lot of classical piano performances, you know, very intricate, rigidly structured... but playing in a rock band environment, you can improvise on the spot. You can even turn a wrong note into something intentional...
Luke seems aware of his brother getting a little uncomfortable at the subject of ‘wrong notes’ and continues:   
... some people say we have some sort of telekinesis. When something goes wrong during a set we’ll sort of... look at each other.
JOY (with a closed smile): ... we all know each others’ parts, too. 
JOHN: We all know our equipment so well, I get really freaked out when something doesn’t go right on stage. Everything has to be set up the way I want it set up.
So John, are you also the roadie of the group?
JOHN: Yeah, I maintain all the gear. I can diagnose problems pretty quickly.
Do you explore and expand upon your songs when you’re on stage? When you play live shows, are you aiming for creation, or re-creation? 
JOY: John wants it to sound exactly like it does on the CD... 
LUKE: ... but there are too many production elements
JOY: ... if you have a product you’re selling, you should be able to replicate it live; have (the musicianship) be at least as good as your recordings, however they were made.
JOHN: The stuff from our first album is pretty difficult to play live, so I can’t do much on stage besides concentrate on the song. 

Bonus trivia: John says he 'has to' play barefoot to properly turn all the knobs on his guitar pedals. Meanwhile, Luke’s set-up is such that there’s a Roland GAIA synthesizer perched just above the drum heads... he serves double-duty in most performances.

Luke, do you play keyboards like a drummer, or play rhythms like a keyboardist?
LUKE: I would say I drum like a keyboard player. I studied piano, and always thought of drums as secondary. Because you can play a lot of simultaneous parts on piano, I compartmentalize a lot of different drum-beats -- I think of complexity.
JOHN: We were all in marching band, so we all have a drummer’s background. I’m especially proud of our drum heads, they’re pretty consistent (in where they’re struck)... the snare in particular. I’d actually feel 10 times more comfortable on a drum set than than on guitar -- the only reason I started playing guitar is because I got tired of playing drums by myself. I actually learned how to play (guitar) through YouTube videos.
LUKE: I played quads for 2 years, and in addition to all the drums being small, you’re walking the whole time. There’s a little tiny drum in the middle that counts off the entire band, and that’s only 6 inches in diameter... if you miss it everyone knows.
JOY: ... and you’re not supposed to look down...
LUKE: ... and even if your hands are bleeding, you have to just keep going.

The Cyr family grew up in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Joy calls it "halfway between the middle of nowhere and a tourist town" -- The glossy, fantastical community of Seaside (where the movie “The Truman Show" was filmed) was only about 10 minutes away, but they lived in a trailer on a church campus. Dad was a traveling preacher off and on for a few years.

What did you listen to growing up?
LUKE: 90‘s Christian power rock!
JOY (laughing): Sort of. Since we grew up in a religious household, there were a lot of hymns, but also high energy stuff from Carmen (who happens to hold the world record for the largest solo Christian Concerts in history). There was sing-along stuff like Mary Poppins and Fiddler on the Roof...
JOHN: ... and a Batman & Robin LP from the late 60‘s.. but we started listening to some stupid ‘house’ remixes of things and make these random CDs for ourselves...
Joy starts humming a melody line, and Luke pounces on it...
JOY: ... and “Space Jam”!
JOHN: That was a great song! Meanwhile, we got to know about some of the older established artists from watching infomercials late at night -- Golden Hits of the 80’s and 90’s - stuff like that.
But I believe they’d only play the 5 most recognizable seconds of each song(?)
LUKE: -- right, so we never knew the whole thing - we just heard the chorus!
JOY: It was weird, though; at the same time I was listening to Radiohead, Beatles, Mamas and the Papas, Modest Mouse and Pedro The Lion -- 
JOHN: That’s probably the first CD I ever bought. I studied their music.
JOY (continuing): ... they’re probably my favorite band. They win; hands down. 
LUKE: That’s really how we learned to play together -- we did covers of other people’s songs, but the first Quiet People song we all played together was “Drugs and Alcohol” (from Symptoms of a Steady Mind). That song kind of served as a template for the new album, with me primarily on drums.

Who were some other influences? Comparisons?
They toss names out like emptying the contents of a backpack on the floor... Mewithoutyou, Beachouse, Peter Bjorn & John, Eisley, Headphones, Deerhoof, St. Vincent... Luke includes some classical like Schoenburg and Ligeti. Furthermore, Joy says she learned how to play the bass by listening to a different Interpol song every day.

What movie would you do the soundtrack for?
LUKE: Some kind of action film, like Inception.
JOY: I really liked Elliot Smith’s soundtrack for Good Will Hunting, and I would want to do something like that. Or Proof with Gwyneth Paltrow.
JOHN: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I would have a lot of fun writing that score -- I would use a lot of synthesizers.

What are your guilty pleasures?
JOHN: For me it’s playing video games with high-end graphics. It relaxes me the way I imagine smoking does for other people. 
JOY: There a lot of things; obscure foreign films, all 9 seasons of X-Files, going places without anyone knowing where... I’ll dance in my room sometimes -- I took ballet, modern and hip-hop, mixed in with mime classes. I think the guilty pleasure that John and Luke would say for me is coffee. It’s my rebellion of sorts, since my dad is against caffeine. None of us smoke or drink.
LUKE: I like to make banana ice cream. 

If you were a corporation, what would your Mission Statement be?
JOHN: To Share My Music as Others Have shared with me.
He lets that sink in for a moment and continues:
... the main reason I’m interested in sharing this music is because someone shared it with me. At a show I’d rather play for the 10 people I don’t know instead of a roomful of people that’ve heard us before. Hopefully we’ll do a good job. 
LUKE: Writing Sounds That Come Into My Head For You.
JOY: Writing My Life For You. Quiet People is more therapeutic than anything. When I was younger I had a lot of surgery on my jaw. I had braces for 10 years, and speech therapy for 4 years. I’d get angry or frustrated because it was difficult - often times painful - to physically talk, so I would write it into a song just to get it out. It was never intended to leave the room, but as I got older though, I knew other people were going to hear what I had to say because I’m in a band now.

So who is the “Bruised Ear Boy” (from the album Childproof)?
JOY: John.
JOHN (surprised): What? I didn’t know that...
LUKE: Mind blown... 
JOY: John and I started this journey together. When you’re in a family band you can hit on all sorts of touchy subjects.

How did Quiet People become your band name? 
JOY: It’s based on a verse from the song by the same name. We were writing down different band names, though. “Parameter” was one, but we were going to say it differently, like “Perry-meters” or something?
LUKE: I don’t think we wanted to do ‘Quiet People’, just because it’s kind of like... a trigger word.
JOY (giving her brother a gentle smile): Luke didn’t want to use it because he is a quiet person...
LUKE (pushing back): But you guys are too...
JOHN: I know I went through a ‘quiet’ phase early in high school, but I always thought (with a band name) - why should we call attention to the fact that we’re quiet? We had a particular friend who’d always ask us “why are you so quiet / why don’t you ever say anything”. First of all, we’re in school, we’re not really supposed to be talking...
JOY: It was such an awkward situation, and unfortunately I don’t know how else to say it -- we were good kids. We respected teachers, but not for the purpose of getting a good grade. It wasn’t an act. We were there for math and science and marching band.
It sounds like you were being picked on for being ‘steady’ -- non-conformist, yet non-confrontational.
JOHN: Yeah. Acceptance wasn’t something we were overly concerned about. We just wanted to exist.
It was a brave move then, to brand yourself with the very thing your were getting hassled about... like being “found out” was one of the things that made you squirm?
LUKE (squirming): Yes.
JOHN: I think what we’re trying to show is that there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s not like we’re going to be stand-offish if you get to know us.
JOY: I think it’s the difference between quiet and shy. In school it seemed like you had to bring your whole private life to show off to everyone. We never felt it was necessary. Some people aren’t super out-going, but they still have stuff they do in their own time. People can see the other side of us when they come to our show -- they get to see what we’ve been doing in our living room all this time.


Quiet People’s latest album Childproof, is available through Bandcamp and elsewhere:



Friday, June 21, 2013

Cookies 'N Cream







































It’s Mothers’ Day. Slumped comfortably in an old lounge chair sits Michael Alexander Ippolito [I], who goes by “Ipp”. He’s in the bands ‘Sun’s Not Yellow’ and ‘Praying’, and as a soloist performs as ‘Fountainpen’. Nearby, Jordan Fore [J] sits on a low couch. He’s a member of Amplifier Worshiper’, and has solo recordings as ‘Murderer’.  He’s also a member of ‘Sun’s Not Yellow’ and ‘Praying’.  Also on the couch is Michael Amason [M], who’s released various solo recordings under aliases like ‘///∆’, is half of the band ‘Amplifier Worshiper’ and is one of the three administrators behind Cookies ‘n Cream Records, Ipp and Jordan being the other two. They all started with one thing in common: Noise Music, on cassette.


Let’s rewind a minute...


What is Noise Music?
A.) A safe-zone of primitive musical expression that requires no training, structure or discipline
B.) A nontraditional construct of soundscapes, reserved for deep-thinking beard-strokers
C.) None of the Above
D.) Both C and D
E.) ssssssssssSssssssssssk(alt)rrrrrrrrrrrrRrhrhrhztztztbbbbubbbbnn/”]≤_-#


The Noise genre is left so loosely defined that the exceptions outnumber the rules. The music can dispense with all tonality, or it can hold a single note for extended periods of time. It can be generated acoustically, electronically, or vocally. The source can be strangled by feedback and distortion, or drowned in more hiss than a snake pit in a rainstorm. It could be the precariously-balanced harmonic overtones pulled between a single bass guitar and the amp it’s pointing at, or the sonic sabotage of a record needle on sandpaper at 45 rpm. It has the potential to be both nothing and everything.

By the mid-60‘s, Noise was creeping into mainstream pop music by way of Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” and Beatles “The White Album”, incorporating tape-loop manipulation and avant-garde aesthetics. Lou Reed’s double-LP “Metal Machine Music” was considered by critics to be the ‘first commercial Noise record’ and, simultaneously, ‘the worst album of all time’. The genre has never appealed to the masses, but those that follow it are fiercely loyal. 
Over the years, cassettes and Noise have reflected back on one another. Recording on the tactile (and inexpensive) medium of magnetic tape meant that the studio itself had the potential to become an instrument. Amazingly, the tape cassette is having a revival of sorts; a backlash to all the cloud-based intangible media. Again proof that what we really want to do is hold something (see Panhandle Rag Issue #1).


Stop. Press play...

What’s the big deal about noise? What should the average person get out of a Noise show?
All three of them overlap. They toss out words like Intensity, Catharsis, Expression, Purity... On the subject of live performance, Michael adds:
M ... a primordial, ‘proto-punk’ danger element. 
I - The cool thing about Noise is that there’s a lot of different kinds. Some people throw garbage cans around as part of their set, and others just hunch over their mixers saying “you are not alone” over and over again. Some of it isn’t as engaging, but It all qualifies as Noise.

So how much of the Noise culture has to be seen to be appreciated?
M - I think it’s important to experience any kind of music you like in a live setting, whenever possible. 

By way of an example, Michael describes his set at NoizeFest in New Orleans earlier this year... With a tattoo gun hooked up to contact microphones and amplifiers, he ‘performed’ a live tattoo on his own leg, which he’s proud to display. The set was described as “punishingly loud” -- so much so that it interrupted other acts during their performance.

If this form of expression is considered to be purer - how come more artists aren’t clamoring to do this?
J - It’s often harsh and abrasive. Not to sound pretentious, but it has a ‘higher access level’.
Ipp - It’s a very freeing experience for someone who’s not formally trained in music.
M - Actually a lot of professional musicians have their side projects in weirder, more esoteric stuff like this.  

Is there a line in the sand you draw? If a piece of Noise is created digitally, do you look down on it because it lacks “tape hiss”?
M - Personally, I don’t like a flat screen; I want something I can put my hands on. If you’re trying to make an insanely loud piece of noise with a laptop, the hard drive is going to crash. I won’t discredit anyone for using a laptop, but it doesn’t cater to my aesthetic.
J - I’m kind of biased against pure digital noise. I just use a bass, two pedals and an amp.
I - Each person is going to do what they think is ‘cool’ and criticize what they think is not. I think the whole point is being able to do what you want, and not have anybody tell you ‘you’re doing it wrong’.


The general consensus is, at least in this conversation, computers are something of a ‘cheat’. Although a noise veteran like Merzbow (350 albums!) has streamlined everything down to a laptop, the hands-on engineers’ aesthetic is still quite common. It’s the trial-and-error with cables and effect pedals that produce the desired sound, not the software. 

Rewind again...
How did you meet?
J - Ipp and I met in the fourth grade at karate lessons...
I - By the 9th grade we started going to record stores and learning about other bands besides Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Jordan started picking up instruments and he “pressured” me to do the same. (Initially) we wanted to reflect the things we were listening to, but then it evolved into something more self-expressive.

Michael came into the picture around 2011. He had seen Ipp and Jordan perform as Sun’s Not Yellow, and introductions at the time were brief. A few months later, they all happened to share a venue -- a tribute concert for My Bloody Valentine. The two karate students watched as Michael stood on top of his bass cabinet, assassinating his amp with guitar feedback. The concert was held on Valentine’s Day -- there was bound to be some chemistry that night...

J - ... our band Amplifier Worshiper was born through conversation at a Whataburger, immediately after doing that show. (I said to Michael) “Let’s see what happens if we turn all of our amplifiers on at once”.

How and why did you decide to start a label?
J - Ipp and I started recording and we came up with a fake label to slap on the first thing we put out. It started as kind of a joke, but then we put a Facebook page together. We had signed one other artist by that point named Soren, who made ambient dub music. After we met Michael, he kind of kick-started things for us...
M - I made them pay taxes.
I - We elected him president, with Jordan & I as co-founders. We essentially hired him to turn us into a business, build a website... 
M - It’s been nice being Spiderman-In-Chief... 

Why use cassettes as your medium?
I - I like making something right out of my house.
J - Cassettes are portable like most things aren’t. We can pick up tape duplicators at garage sales and eBay.
But CDs are cheap, and portable...
J - Yeah, well, it’s also the esoteric idea; tapes are analog.
I - I started doing it because I was already recording on tape. it’s kind of fun to master things on the same format you recorded it on, you know, it never goes through a computer... but with some of (Cookies n Cream)’s other bands, there’s probably a novelty to it.
M - For me it’s more about elevating the product to more of a fetish item.
“Fetish item?”
M - It’s kind of the same way people look at any collectible... you can hold it in your hands. Cassettes are more portable than vinyl, and obviously more affordable for a smaller operation. It’s fun and personal -- there are more things you can do with them besides just download the MP3.

Stop. Eject. Flip to side B... Play. 

Do you all like to work within these tangible limitations?
M - I think there’s a give and take... with tape it just seems so much easier (than digital) right now. Just to be able to have that instantaneous transfer, that snapshot of that moment. I would say having Jordan’s live releases available in this format adds to the charm.
J - Yeah, it’s usually done in one take... 
i  - ... adding to the collect-ability.

You do take some time though, to get your catalogue digitized online, if nothing else for exposure and marketability.
M - We would be in denial if we only did things via mail-order or through magazines. 
J - As far as putting things online, we want to make sure it’s just for marketability because (in that format) it’s all free, just to get it out there. Some people want the physical copy. I personally wouldn’t want an MP3, I’d prefer to own it.
I - Yeah, we’d prefer if people bought the tape because, with most of our releases, we try very hard to get it to look and sound the way we wanted. 

Michael, what brought you to Tallahassee in the first place?
M - I came here to study art & graphic design. Back in high school, I had been in a bunch of s**t-kicking bands.

What kind of s**t did you kick?
M - Stereotypical stuff like Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, but that grew into heavier acts like Sleep and Sunn O))). The music I made kept getting noisier and noisier...

Jordan, let’s take one of your releases... Aastha by Murderer. There is a notable amount of tape hiss on the source recording. Every tape deck that someone plays this on could be introducing a different listening experience, along with a distracting new layer of hiss. Does this chance element concern you?
J - The hiss in itself is appealing to me, but I would be kind of annoyed if someone played my music on a terrible tape machine. If that was the only way they heard it, then it be a misrepresentation. 

Regarding the label you operate... how'd you decide on the name? 
J - Ipp and I were at a record store in Jacksonville, and he picked up a Fugazi 7-inch (the Furniture EP), and the vinyl was sort a creamy color with little black specs in it. One of us said: “it’s a cookies & cream record”...
I - I remember saying ‘if we ever start a record label, that needs to be the name of it’ and you said “OK”.

Aside from occasionally doing live backup drums for each-other for shows, the three have never been in a band together. Like 3 magnets in close proximity, one always seems to be facing the opposite direction. In fact, they’ve had trouble just arranging a way to finally live together in the same city, much less the same house. Ipp cracks a smile...

I - ... now that we’re all in Tallahassee, it’s kind of ironic we’re about to be separated again.

The whole operation is in the process of moving to San Francisco. Michael will go first (by way of a small tour), then the three of them will converge in the Bay Area by the end of September.

As you gear up for the move, are you excited as performers, as a label, or both?
I - Both. For Fountainpen, (I’ll be able) to play more shows, and moving will help Cookies ‘n Cream a lot. 
M - It’s about 50/50 split - when you’re an artist living in a big city, you obviously have more people to come out to your shows, instead of just the same 10 who pay attention to you locally. At the same time it opens us up for more adventurous sounds... just being out at shows and finding bands to approach. At the same time it allows us to help anyone who’s already associated with our label.
J ... Personally I’m more excited for the label. I don’t know what I’ll be doing musically. 

So far, the main function of the label is building a community for artists rather than making money or requiring exclusivity for recordings. Connecting with people seems to be the first step for Cookies ‘N Cream, so they're receptive to expanding the catalogue. Noise may have been the hub of the wheel, but each of them want more spokes...

M - Change is inevitable. While I do expect to continue to release noise via C'nC, I would not be opposed to signing more singer-songwriter, black metal, samba, disco-funk, whatever. As long as it is done in a creative manner and presented well, it's all gravy. 
J - I'd like to think we'll be signing more diverse bands. We will always have some focus on experimental/ambient/drone/etc, but we're definitely not limiting ourselves to that. Our rule has always been that if two out of three of us like a band then they're on.
I - I'm open to anything for our label. When I hear a band I like, I want to approach them immediately about getting them on tape. I still get overly-excited sometimes. There was a time where I wanted to sign as many bands as I can, right away. That’s why I’m glad I have these two. I have to run it past them first. 

Although Ipp compares his relationship with Jordan to that of “an old married couple”, Michael sometimes bridges the gap between opposing aesthetics... it brings to mind the fictional bass player Derek Smalls (from rock-mock-umentary This Is Spinal Tap), serving as a ‘luke warm water between two visionaries’...

What matters most, the medium or the message?
J - The message. The cassettes are just a means to an end; it’s all about the music. Ideally it would be a variety of formats.
I - For my own stuff I like cassettes - that’s what it’s always been about for me.
M - For me it’s a give and take, depending on the project. Some things make more sense to release digitally, but others on tape.

Is there anything you’ll miss about Tallahassee?
M - The thing I’ll miss the most is how accepting people are about your show. In other cities, people will even react violently if they don’t enjoy what you’re doing. You’ll get kicked out of bars and never be invited back. Here, even if people hate your stuff, people will at least clap because of the effort you put into it -- even if it’s something as harsh as a pure wall of noise.

What they all agree on is that Tallahassee is losing the opportunity for anything mildly experimental to be performed live. Venues like The Hidden Hand are now closed, and the “gentrification” of areas along Gaines Street seem almost palpable. It’s as if the fringe culture is getting its eviction notice...

Will you continue to oversee Tallahassee-based acts from the opposite side of the country?
M - For as long as they stay in town or as long as they want to remain associated with us. As it is, we have someone from the Russian Federation on our label.

Musically, what are your guilty pleasures?
I - Kenny Loggins and The J. Giles band.
J - I’ve been listening to R.E.M. lately, even though I get a lot of flack for it.
M - I work at a gas station at night, and my ears have to be violated by two different popular radio stations. Even something like Bon Jovi or Fleetwood Mac is a welcome respite... back when people didn’t whine so much...

If you could pick a popular artist to make a noise record, who comes to mind?
M - Give me a bottle of Jack Daniels, Taylor Swift, an Ebow guitar and about two hours. I can make something happen.
I - If I could get (‘Jackass’ stuntman) Ryan Dunn back from the dead, to make noise today, that would be great. 
J -  I’d say a half-dozen trashcans, another bottle of whiskey and George Bush with a baseball bat.
M - I think Bill Clinton would be even more fun...
J - Yeah, but if I had Clinton I’d rather just go to Wild Adventures with him. We could bring George Takei along... Beck could come too.

I’ll make some calls...

Fade to Hiss.
Stop.


































External Links:
Cookies ‘N Cream website: http://CNCRecords.com

Bonus:
Jordan Fore live @ NoizeFest - http://vimeo.com/65782057

Extra Bonus: