About two years ago I went to a concert by Colin Stetson. He mentioned a story that had inspired him to compose a new song. It was about a whale who happened to sing in a different register than other whales. The result was that the other whales could never hear what he was saying.
Stetson’s music has had a huge effect on me the last two years. I used to play sax as a kid, but the music school and the adults managed to kill my inspiration for it. When I heard Stetson’s music I realized I just hadn’t found the experimental side of the instrument at all. No one ever told me to go crazy. Quite the opposite: I was told to play from the notes, practice the scales, learn the classics… But at least I have this story now.
One of the soundworks I’m working on now is in a way a reflection on these stories and events. The single bass tone that I’m working with might be too low for the speakers to fully reproduce it (reminds me of the whale). The panning patterns make me think of Stetson’s arpeggios. And the low, distorted bass sound has something to do with the memory of me being in Berlin and a friend introducing me to the music of Stetson from a record… through big and cool looking but crappy speakers, which added distortion to the elemental roar of the bass sax. Experimental electronic music blending in with free jazz, with elements of dub, minimalism and eastern mysticism.