Post by esp on Jan 25, 2006 17:43:54 GMT
When did you begin to record as Modulator ESP? Well, I have been recording bits and pieces in between playing in bands since the early nineties, though I didn't actually decide to use the name until about 2001. It was then I compiled my first proper solo album Random Fluctuations out of the best stuff I'd produced over the previous five or so years. More recent albums as Modulator ESP have all been recordings of improvised gigs. I'm just about to start work on my second studio album, if I can ever make the time.
How would you describe your style to new punters? A mixture of dark ambient, '70s electronic music (Jean Michel Jarre/ Tangerine Dream) and prog rock (Rick Wakeman). To people who don't know the music of the artists mentioned I'd say it was spacey instrumental music, the sort of music they would play in planetariums.
So what exactly is this experimental synth project? A 'get out clause' so that I can do different things when I want to without getting labelled as one particular style. Also a way to get round the one small problem I discovered after choosing to call my project Modulator, that there is an American pop/rock band who have been using it slightly longer.
What instruments and kit do you use to create the music? I use analog and digital synthesizers in combination with analog style step sequencers that allow real time interaction with the sounds and the rhythmic parts enabling me to improvise more freely.
Tell us about the other bands you've been in during your time in Nottingham? I've been in three 'bands' in my time in Nottingham: Spiritland was a studio project with a guitarist called Dave, we made a tape and then he left to play with Toyah, she dumped him after the tour and he lives down somewhere down South. Voyage Within was an obscure 'prog' band. We did three gigs, very weird, complicated music in all sorts of odd time signatures. We had terrible problems with drummers and vocalists and were an instrumental band for most of the time we were together. I left due to 'personal' differences. Made in the Shade/ Shadowdancer was the last band, doing quirky melodic rock/pop, with another two guys called Dave, we did lots of gigs around Nottingham and even one in Derby, again without a drummer. I left to do my own thing, which turned out to be the current project and I'm also in another band called Astrogator with a chap from Manchester.
If you could get anyone in to hook up on a track, who would you choose? I'd quite like to do some stuff with a guitarist, someone like a young Dave Gilmour or Robert Fripp, into more textural stuff.
What other music in Nottingham are you feeling? Not a lot really, there doesn't seem to be anyone doing the sort of stuff I'm into in the city these days. I mostly go to gigs up in Leeds or at the National Space Centre at Leicester.
What other music are you feeling generally At the moment, I'm listening to lot of pretty obscure electronic music, stuff by Steve Roach, Stephen Parsick/ ramp, a band called Node etc.
What's your idea of a good night out in Nottingham? On a night out I generally prefer the rock end of the music spectrum, so I like the Tap and Tumbler for a drink and then on to Rock City.
Do you follow County of Forest? Neither, I'm afraid I've never understood the appeal of football.
Who is your ultimate Nottingham hero? After much deliberation I'd have to say Richard Beckinsale, he was funny and it was tragic that he died so young.
What was the last thing that made you laugh? Marvin the Paranoid Android shooting the Vogon soldiers with the Point Of View gun at the end of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie, leaving them all collapsed on the floor moaning about how depressed they were. Sad to say that was probably the funniest bit of the film.
What was the last thing that made you cry? The end of King Kong, when Kong dies at the top of the Empire State building
You're into your films then. What have you seen recently? I went to see King Kong on my birthday, fantastic, made me laugh and cry and even feel a bit sick. I've just watched The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on DVD. I couldn't bring myself to see it at the cinema after reading a review that slated it, I'm a huge fan of the books. It was an interesting experience, with great visuals, but I felt it suffered from superfluous additions to the plot, crap characters and the wanton removal of all Douglas Adams jokes. I did laugh occasionally though, the POV gun amused me.
What was the last book you read? Batman Year One, graphic novel by Frank Miller, an extended take on the Batman origin detailing his first year as a fighting crime and corruption in Gotham City.
What can we expect from your gig at the Orange Tree? Depending on time, one or maybe two quite long evolving improvised pieces, with some weird abstract bits and some more rhythmic, melodic bits. There are several good examples of live sets available from my website, including one recorded very early on New Years Day which was streamed live around the world.
Is there any question that you really wish we had asked you..? No, these have been pretty comprehensive.
Anything else you'd like to say to LeftLion readers? Come to the gig at the Orange Tree if you fancy an evening of music almost but not completely unlike anything you will hear anywhere else...
www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/1026
How would you describe your style to new punters? A mixture of dark ambient, '70s electronic music (Jean Michel Jarre/ Tangerine Dream) and prog rock (Rick Wakeman). To people who don't know the music of the artists mentioned I'd say it was spacey instrumental music, the sort of music they would play in planetariums.
So what exactly is this experimental synth project? A 'get out clause' so that I can do different things when I want to without getting labelled as one particular style. Also a way to get round the one small problem I discovered after choosing to call my project Modulator, that there is an American pop/rock band who have been using it slightly longer.
What instruments and kit do you use to create the music? I use analog and digital synthesizers in combination with analog style step sequencers that allow real time interaction with the sounds and the rhythmic parts enabling me to improvise more freely.
Tell us about the other bands you've been in during your time in Nottingham? I've been in three 'bands' in my time in Nottingham: Spiritland was a studio project with a guitarist called Dave, we made a tape and then he left to play with Toyah, she dumped him after the tour and he lives down somewhere down South. Voyage Within was an obscure 'prog' band. We did three gigs, very weird, complicated music in all sorts of odd time signatures. We had terrible problems with drummers and vocalists and were an instrumental band for most of the time we were together. I left due to 'personal' differences. Made in the Shade/ Shadowdancer was the last band, doing quirky melodic rock/pop, with another two guys called Dave, we did lots of gigs around Nottingham and even one in Derby, again without a drummer. I left to do my own thing, which turned out to be the current project and I'm also in another band called Astrogator with a chap from Manchester.
If you could get anyone in to hook up on a track, who would you choose? I'd quite like to do some stuff with a guitarist, someone like a young Dave Gilmour or Robert Fripp, into more textural stuff.
What other music in Nottingham are you feeling? Not a lot really, there doesn't seem to be anyone doing the sort of stuff I'm into in the city these days. I mostly go to gigs up in Leeds or at the National Space Centre at Leicester.
What other music are you feeling generally At the moment, I'm listening to lot of pretty obscure electronic music, stuff by Steve Roach, Stephen Parsick/ ramp, a band called Node etc.
What's your idea of a good night out in Nottingham? On a night out I generally prefer the rock end of the music spectrum, so I like the Tap and Tumbler for a drink and then on to Rock City.
Do you follow County of Forest? Neither, I'm afraid I've never understood the appeal of football.
Who is your ultimate Nottingham hero? After much deliberation I'd have to say Richard Beckinsale, he was funny and it was tragic that he died so young.
What was the last thing that made you laugh? Marvin the Paranoid Android shooting the Vogon soldiers with the Point Of View gun at the end of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie, leaving them all collapsed on the floor moaning about how depressed they were. Sad to say that was probably the funniest bit of the film.
What was the last thing that made you cry? The end of King Kong, when Kong dies at the top of the Empire State building
You're into your films then. What have you seen recently? I went to see King Kong on my birthday, fantastic, made me laugh and cry and even feel a bit sick. I've just watched The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on DVD. I couldn't bring myself to see it at the cinema after reading a review that slated it, I'm a huge fan of the books. It was an interesting experience, with great visuals, but I felt it suffered from superfluous additions to the plot, crap characters and the wanton removal of all Douglas Adams jokes. I did laugh occasionally though, the POV gun amused me.
What was the last book you read? Batman Year One, graphic novel by Frank Miller, an extended take on the Batman origin detailing his first year as a fighting crime and corruption in Gotham City.
What can we expect from your gig at the Orange Tree? Depending on time, one or maybe two quite long evolving improvised pieces, with some weird abstract bits and some more rhythmic, melodic bits. There are several good examples of live sets available from my website, including one recorded very early on New Years Day which was streamed live around the world.
Is there any question that you really wish we had asked you..? No, these have been pretty comprehensive.
Anything else you'd like to say to LeftLion readers? Come to the gig at the Orange Tree if you fancy an evening of music almost but not completely unlike anything you will hear anywhere else...
www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/1026