TLQ#5 - Behn Greene

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The same questions, asked to different improvisers in Perth. Credit for the idea, and some of the questions, goes to the amazing Addlimb archive.
Photos by Josh Wells Photography.

What led you to improvised music?
When I first started playing drums, I would learn songs note-for-note and try to nail all the beats and fills – I wanted to know all of the cool tricks. When it came to playing in bands though, I had to make up my own parts. I spent a few years throwing out whacky fills and flipping beats around and eventually I developed enough control over what I was doing that I could make parts up as I went along. Over time, I was fortunate enough to find other musicians who also liked to “make up” parts as they went along and through these experiences I started to develop an instinct for playing with other people, in an improvised setting.
At some point I saw the film Naked Lunch and this introduced me to the written works of William S. Burroughs. I was immediately drawn to his ‘stream-of-consciousness’ approach and started seeing parallels between this style of writing and the style of playing that I seemed to be developing. As it turns out, Ornette Coleman also contributed to the soundtrack of the film and I took my first few steps into the world of free jazz. I didn’t know anything about how to play jazz and so I decided to go and study it for a while. As influential and instrumental to my development as this experience was, I began to feel like there was something else that I was going for, creatively, and decided to pursue that instead. I took much inspiration from drummers like Zach Hill, Chris Corsano and Frank Rosaly and started working on extended techniques and incorporating some contact mics and effects into my setup. I was playing in bands and improvising quite a bit, but I felt like I needed an outlet specifically for my own explorations on the drums and that’s when I started my solo project.

What instrument or equipment do you use to improvise, and what is your relationship with this equipment?
I have two kits that I choose from, depending on the gig. One has a 14” rack tom, 16” floor tom and 20” bass drum and is better for heavier settings. The other is more of a jazz kit with 12” rack tom, 14” floor tom and 18” bass drum and is better for smaller, acoustic vibes. I then have my trusty old 14”x8” Tama Artwood snare drum – it has a wide tuning range, making it a good fit with both kits and it is the most expressive drum I’ve ever owned.
I like big, thin, dark cymbals – they don’t need to be hit very hard to produce a nice wide sound, but they also explode when you ‘dig in’ to them. I’ve had a bad habit of breaking cymbals lately, so have had a few changes, but I usually go for 15” hats, 22” ride and crash/china cymbals that are 18” or bigger.
I have other assorted objects and implements that make an appearance from time to time. I use a cello bow on cymbals and bells and sometimes on strings that I set up across my snare or floor tom. I keep a piece of dowel prepared with cello rosin which I can run my fingers down while resting it perpendicular on the floor tom head – this produces deep droning tones that resonate through the whole drum and almost have a bowed-string or even synth-like quality. I have an assortment of bells, cups and small cymbals that I use to mute and distort drum heads and create new metallic textures and playing surfaces. I also have a modified electric toothbrush and a mini vibrator which are useful for creating sharp, jittery sounds when let loose on any surface or long, droning sounds when pressed into a cymbal or drum head.
If the gig calls for it, I like to expand upon these sounds by attaching contact mics to the drum shells and clip-on contact mics to the cymbal stands, just under the cymbals. I then run all of these into a mixer, through a pre-amp, then into a volume pedal and straight through a couple of guitar effects pedals - usually a distortion, delay, looper and reverb, but sometimes I add my ‘Super-Ego’ pedal with a tremolo in the effects loop. I run all of this through a guitar amp and let the noise fly. The raw, unaffected sound from the contact mics is thinner and harsher than regular drum sounds, but I actually really like this. The result is somewhat of a carbon copy of the original sound and when you capture a loop it sounds more like a memory or a dream. If you affect this enough, you can also create sounds that don’t seem like they could have come from a drum kit and this can be a lot of fun to interact with during a performance.

What are your feelings on the relationship between planning and spontaneity in improvisation?
Sometimes, spontaneity is the best – things happen that no-one was expecting and it sends you down some crazy and unusual paths. Other times, it never quite gets out of the gate and this is where some planning would have helped…
In a small group setting, the amount of experience that you have playing together can be an important factor to consider. When you’re familiar with everyone’s playing, it’s much easier to latch onto ideas and anticipate the next move. This eliminates some of the second-guessing that can leave you all loitering in a creative cul-de-sac and usually makes it easier to deliver a tighter performance. In situations where you are playing together for the first time, a loose plan of at least a starting point and a central event is probably a good idea, but I feel like it is still important to remain open to spontaneity, just in case you manage to open a portal to another dimension. I’ve definitely had some great sets where the plan was abandoned early on.
In a larger group setting, the margin for error is much smaller and spontaneity can quickly lead to a performance that resembles a thick, brown soup. This is amazing to be a part of, sometimes – the lines between everybody are blurred and you all become a single, gurgling entity. The strength of the performance then becomes more about the density or the internal chaos of it all. If you’re aiming for something a little more nuanced than this though, a plan involving a starting point and a few other specific events can give everyone a sturdy enough scaffolding to swing from. When this starts opening up, it’s important to leave enough room for each other, or the dreaded soup awaits. 
In a solo setting, I’ve never been too fussed on having an exact plan - I feel like the most important thing for me to do is to get acquainted with the space that I am in. There is no one else to play ‘off’ of and so I need to get to know the room. If I can spend some time while setting up, I’ll tune drums and set gain levels so that when I hit something, the right sound comes back at me. Then, I’ll try to get a feel for the space as an audience member – what kinds of things would translate well, acoustically/emotively? My general vibe from this, combined with my current mental and physical state, will help me to formulate some available options in terms of sounds and themes that I might be able to use. I then select one of these as a starting point and might arrange my effects chain and/or placement of certain implements to prepare for some of the others. I then try to relax my breathing, quiet my mind and I’m ready to go.

How do you evaluate or reflect upon improvisations you’ve played? How does the evaluation of a recording differ from the evaluation of a performance?
I usually go straight to packing my gear up after a set – I’ve always done this and I think it’s because it gives me an opportunity to linger in the headspace of the performance on my own for a bit. While I’m packing up, I might also reflect on the sections or ideas that are still resonating in my mind and make note of what worked and what needs more work. To be honest though, I find that I usually can’t remember it all in enough detail to thoroughly evaluate it. I much prefer to record a set and listen back to it a few days later. That way I can hear it as a whole piece and with a more objective ear. 

Do you think there is room for discursive (as opposed to non-discursive) thought in improvisation? Can discursive thoughts whilst playing be productive rather than distracting, and if so, do you have an idea as to when this might be the case?
Anything which has the potential to skew your focus can be risky in an improvised setting, but I think that discursive thoughts are part of the catharsis of improvised music. Just like in a meditative or psychedelic state, the unprovoked thoughts that emerge can become a direct line to something that you need to reckon with in some way. If it is something that you can use to drive your performance or propel a new idea, then it’s worth letting that in, you just have to keep any self-indulgence in check. Just because you’ve suddenly been swamped with an existential dread doesn’t mean that everyone in the place wants to cop a 15-minute screamed-expletive/harsh-noise-wall finale. 

Can you name three albums/pieces/experiences that inspired you to start improvising, and three that are currently inspiring you?
Three albums that inspired me to get started:
Ornette Coleman – “Free Jazz” (double-quartet, free jazz masterpiece - possibly what started it all for me)
Chris Corsano – “Cut” (amazing acoustic solo drumming)
Frank Rosaly – “Centering and Displacement” (an interesting blend of solo drumming with electronics)

Three albums that have inspired me recently:
Tristan Perich – “Noise Patterns” (not really improvised, but amazing 1-bit, electronic sound art)
Sumac – “What One Becomes” (long-form post-metal/noise with some great improvised passages)
Flaherty/Corsano Duo – “The Hated Music” (furious free jazz for sax and drums)

What do you feel should happen next to see further growth in exploratory music practice in Western Australia?
I think a good thing would be to integrate experimental/improvised music into the broader scene of original music. There is definitely a trend towards more experimental sounds in Perth and I think there is more common ground there than people might realise. Collaborations between the two could make for some really interesting results, either as one-off performances or as a means of establishing new groups/bands.

orphans - the consequence of following (TL002)
orphans of Noise (RTR Feature)
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving

TLQ#4 - James Bradbury

in ,

The same questions, asked to different improvisers in Perth. Credit for the idea, and some of the questions, goes to the amazing Addlimb archive.

1. What led you to improvised music?

When I was young I found it hard to get involved with improvised music as it seemed reserved for people with impeccable aural skills and jazz training. I learned music predominantly through orchestral viola where improvisation was neither taught nor encouraged and this created a divide between what I thought were two very distinct practices. I also never had those particular jazz skills, so for a long time I was steered away from improvising. It was only when I started my undergraduate that I started to improvise with others more freely. I have a pretty fond memory of doing some ‘improvised operas’ with Drew Woolley and Agamous Betty, which were total nonsense, but at the same time there would always be a brief moment where we might listen back and go ‘Is this good?’. Long answer short, it wasn’t, but finding the right people to develop confidence with was essential in breaking down any stigmas that I had been wrongfully forming. I think that in composition we’re always improvising with ideas mentally and physically, and this is something that I had been doing anyway, so all the cognition was there just no feeling that it was worthwhile for other people to be involved with my limited skill set. Now, the idea of play and exploration is essential in my own music and improvisation to me isn’t polarised against formalised ideas with strict representations in musical performance. Conceptually, the two intertwine in how they elicit performers to behave and often fixed material is full of improvised behaviours anyway, so the divide has become much closer.

2. What instrument or equipment do you use to improvise, and what is your relationship with this equipment?

I’ve sometimes used my viola to improvise but after years of not practicing my technique is pretty bad. Since becoming more involved with electronics I’ve turned to the computer as my main improvisatory tool, instrument or whatever you want to call it. I have a lot of problems though with electronics in the way that they present themselves amongst other acoustic instruments. It’s not that they are so different in their origination, materials and behaviour but that collectively, musicians have often approached electronics as prosthesis for the user. This approach really disinterests me, and I’m more inclined to explore the idiosyncratic behaviours that machines, devices and electronics have baked into their synthetic bodies. As a result, I want to see what I take from the machine and what it takes from me, rather than controlling one like a physical instrument.

3. What keeps you improvising? What do you think makes this music important, either personally, socially, politically, etc.

I honestly don’t improvise that much right now but I would like to do more once I’ve completed my masters. What keeps me improvising though? I would say it’s those moments when it all seems to click either in the moment or reflectively. I recently spent some time with a composer Felipe Waller, who was in possession of some hand made analog circuits similar to the STEIM cracklebox. Even he had no idea what they were fully capable of, so using them cultivated a sense of exploration together and it was great for those moments to emerge where our tinkering coalesced. I don’t think it needs to be said either, but improvisation provides opportunities to form genuine bonds with people and I really enjoy that aspect too. Creating these bonds with other people is incredibly important to me, particularly in today’s cultural climate and obsession with consumption of material goods. It irks me that people are happy to see the amount of waste we’re creating in order to satisfy an economic system that inevitably makes us unhappier. It’s so important now to find how you can cut through all that bullshit and start doing things that matter. So for me, music/art/improvisation and creating genuine connections to others is paramount in this endeavour to live a deliberate life.

4. What are your feelings on the relationship between planning and spontaneity in improvisation?

Planning can produce spontaneous but spontaneity can’t be planned. I think that in many great fixed instrumental works the scored instructions are less of a command and more an elicitation. Even something simple like a violin glissando can be improvisatory when you compound that instruction with for example, vibrato or sul ponticello. Performers immediately internalise these instructions and imprint microscopic features onto them that are usually unconscious and untraceable. Each person will take a different approach to an instruction and this reflects the kind of player and musician they are. So planning and spontaneity aren’t extremes to me, rather, spontaneity can emerge at any point in a musical experience, especially when someone's sensibility is juxtaposed and foregrounded against other’s. Planning sometimes just helps to structure an event or perhaps to give a dialogue some boundaries in which these unexpected moments can occur.

5. How do you evaluate or reflect upon improvisations you’ve played? How does the evaluation of a recording differ from the evaluation of a performance?

I always find listening back to recordings of improvisations really interesting. Often, you hear things that you weren’t totally aware of either because you weren’t listening or perceptually it just wasn’t available to you at the time. A friend and I recently decided to impromptu improvise and record one day. I wasn’t all that chuffed with it at the time, but reflecting on the recording of that improvisation revealed to me some really interesting facets of my own musicality. It was as if I was listening to someone I would like to hear improvise which was incredibly satisfying. That entire process can be reversed too and a great improvisation can be really dissatisfying at the reflection stage. I guess it just highlights the ephemeral and shifting nature of these things.

6. Do you think there is room for discursive (as opposed to non-discursive) thought in improvisation? Can discursive thoughts whilst playing be productive rather than distracting, and if so, do you have an idea as to when this might be the case?

I think that both kinds of thinking are fine. Why wouldn’t they be? There are plenty of different types of improvisors: discursive/non-discursive, quiet/loud, fast/slow, erratic/controlled and I don’t think that any specific combination of these is productive or unproductive. I think it's interesting that improvisation now has specific delineations about the types of improvisors and behaviours and even more so how certain ones are disallowed. I’d be keen to be exposed to an improvisation that is entirely based on being non-discursive but still holds some sort of coherency in its underlying material or structure.

7. Can you name three albums/pieces/experiences that inspired you to start improvising, and three that are currently inspiring you?

Dan O’Connor - IN/EX
St epreo - autechre
Je ne vois qu’infini par toutes les fenetres - Marielle Groven
s/d - Kerry Hagan
He died in St Petersburg - Agamous Betty
Mooncoin - Jeff Lang

8. What do you feel should happen next to see further growth in exploratory music practice in Western Australia?

I’d love to see more experimental music being decentralised from ‘significant’ performance spaces. It’s great that on some nights each week now you can go into bars and see interesting people playing interesting music, rather than waiting for the token experimental music concert once a year from the most well funded organisations. Something I’d personally love to see more of is small performances in people’s homes or in community spaces. Perth has lots of great spaces like this and one venue I particularly like is Satchmo Cafe. I’m not trying to be a shill or anything but any place that can provide me experimental music and food is going to get my approval. More importantly though, there is such a lacking in depth of educational experience provided at the primary and secondary level. I was never exposed to many of the important composers of the 20th century, or exposed to so many musical fields out there that aren’t well represented. I wish I knew about it earlier, and reflecting on it now, I see that the becoming a music teacher is often considered something you do when you don’t make it as a performer/composer. This really toxic attitude curbs the potential for fostering a generally accepted approach to experimental and improvised music as some of the most intelligent and mindful musicians are steered away from sharing their practice to knowledge hungry students.

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James Bradbury - 'Biomimicry'