Interview Ezekiel Honig (Microcosm Music)

Ezekiel Honig è uno dei motori della newyorkese Microcosm Music, etichetta indipendente legata al carrozzone Gigantic, che propone produzioni prevalentemente minimali. Lo stesso Honig da qualche anno si dedica alla produzione di musica, che nel nostro continente ha qualche precedente in alcune produzioni della tedesca Plug Research, in cui una serie di dilatazioni sonori e field recordings si susseguono in un massaggio sonoro ad alto potere immaginifico. In particolare abbiamo avuto modo di ascoltare People Places & Things, una sobria combinazione di suoni soffici e intessiture languide, che trasportano l'ascoltatore in un piacevole viaggio mentale. Non sappiamo chi lo distribuisce in Italia, ma se vi incuriosisce almeno quanto ha incuriosito noi, su Internet non avrete grosse difficoltà a reperire alcuni dei suoi lavori. Buona lettura!

Hi Ezekiel. First of all, how are you? Very well, thanks.

I’ve listened some works by your repertoire. Nice minimal stuff. Your tracks reminded to me some works by other artists such as Chessie and Dntel. Do you have any particular references? Many, many things and sounds influence me. I hope that I retain my own sound, while reflecting my influences. I think that in terms of ideas, Matthew Herbert has been a huge influence on me, though I don't think that our music is too similar. I've also been very influenced by the Perlon label over the years and Tim Hecker and SND and my friend Morgan Packard. All these people and sounds are quite different, but it can give you an idea of where I'm coming from. I really am trying to allow everything I listen to inform me in some way, but in the end I'm looking for my own thing, while acknowledging the people who have had an effect on me. Just walking around in everyday life and listening to the sounds around me also really informs my music, and in general the idea of happy accidents.

How did you create your sounds (in particular that crunchy beat-layer you often use in People Places & Things)? I record almost all the sounds myself, using random objects around me, and occasionally sounds from outside my home. It can be anything really, dropping a tape dispenser on the floor, chewing or mouth sounds, hitting a plastic bottle, a phone falling in its cradle. I record the sounds into my computer and then do a ton of editing, just looking for the interesting pieces in the file that I recorded. It's very spontaneous and I just let the sounds happen and then worry about what to use later.

A propos of People Places & Things it seems you play with contrast between static sounds and dynamic rhithms. And this contrast seems to emerge from titles too: winter spring, focused distraction, memoir of a future past... Could this analysis be correct or not? That's correct for the most part. I think I do that even more now then on People Places & Things. A lot of the textures do have subtle changes and movements if you listen closely, but they're often beds for the rhythms and other sounds to lie in, kind of holding everything else, and providing a foil to all the tiny changes on top. I also like the contrast between the noisy textures and the melodic tones.

What about your musical and cultural background? I was born in, and still live in, New York City. I was definitely exposed to a lot of different cultures and musics from an early age. I began going to electronic music parties when I was 16 and gradually got more involved, DJing, and then finally producing. I've had no real musical training except for a short stint with the violin at the age of 5. After I was DJing for a couple years, I wanted ti start making music that I would want to play, and that has just evolved from there to a much less DJ oriented perspective. When I began producing music I learned some programs slowly, by using them, and by observing, listening to different music, and gradually getting closer to making what I wanted to hear.

We know you’re working on a new album. Any anticipation on it? It's called Scattered Practices and will be out in September. It's based on the ideas of the normal everyday behaviors we all experience, and by which we can subvert normal expectations of how they should be performed. I think I always do this to a certain extent based on the sound sources I often use, but I think this album is even more personal, more intimate in a way, sort of quiet, even when there are rhythms.

More Human Than Human... is it music or technology???? It's both. Music is technology. It's really about bringing the warmth out of the technology, which is kind of the same idea as in Bladerunner, which is where the title came from. The replicants (robots that look like humans) are described as being "more human than human." They mean it in a slightly different way, for a commercial purpose, but I thought it was a catchy title, made sense for the song, and referenced a movie that is a favorite of many people who like this kind of music, myself included.

What about your partners-in-art? I've worked closely with Morgan Packard, both on our collaborative album, Early Morning Migration, and on our joint live shows. At the moment we're focusing on our solo projects, but at some point we'll work together again. We also regularly play shows with our friend Josh Ott, who does amazing visual work with a program he created called superDraw, where he draws improvisationally on a digital tablet and effects the drawings and makes them move. It's really amazing work. I also work closely with Jakob Haglof who does all the Microcosm artwork and Sean Smith (aka Nicholas Sauser), who does music for Microcosm and who I did a split 12" record with recently. We don't make music together as much as keep tabs on what each other is doing and give advice and critiques and remix each other's work.

Someone defined your music as conceptual. What’s your opinion? I would say that is half true. It's conceptual possibly in that the sound sources are things I record myself and I am inherently, without trying to, evoking certain feelings associated with these sounds, but ultimately the sounds themselves are more important to me then where they came from. For the most part, anything I record and use is recorded and used because of the sound it makes, not because of what it is. I do find certain sound sources intriguing to use, but I don't feel they are the main point I'm trying to make. At some point I'm going to do something that is more overtly conceptual, but I'm always concerned with music that is labeled as conceptual because my first question is always, if the listener doesn't know or care about the concept, will they still like the music? It can go both ways for sure, but it's something to be careful of.