The greatest educational, enriching experience I’ve ever had is making music with another person who genuinely does not give a shit what anyone else in the world would think of it, or whether it ever gets released. In my opinion, making music with no intention of releasing it is the best thing a musician can do for his own development in this day and age. The Trickfinger LP was made in that mindset, and it was the beginning of a new musical life for me. When I hear it, it sounds like I am opening up doorways to new worlds, and I never have had that feeling listening to music I made for the purpose of releasing it and selling it. Upon meeting Aaron, I made friends and acquaintances who grew up around nothing but techno, hip hop, jungle, industrial, etc. and this was very comforting and stabilizing for me, as I was, and still am disgusted with the thinking of modern rock musicians, and the downward direction that form of music has been going. Also, through Aaron, I discovered labels like Suburban Base and Lucky Spin, which put out some of my favorite music which has ever existed, back in the 90s.
When I made The Empyrean, I had been making records by the traditional work methods of rock music for a long time, and could visualize my concept for a song or a record, and then achieve the realization of that. When I made Trickfinger, I lacked this ability in electronic music, and each track just ended up however it ended up. I wasn’t at all concerned about the result. I was devoted to the process, and I have remained that way to this day, despite that after a few years I did start releasing music again. My records PBX, Enclosure and Outsides, were all made after I had developed the ability to visualize a concept for a record and achieve it, in electronic music.
“Starting a recording with a pre-written song is an antiquated method of making a musical recording.”
Starting a recording with a pre-written song is an antiquated method of making a musical recording. Making music with no pre-written map is the new frontier technology has made possible, and I began my journey on this road with the Trickfinger LP. I have made records since that time with pre-written songs, but I nevertheless employed the work methods of modern electronic music, and found my way as I went along. That’s the kind of person I am. I don’t mind being lost, and I don’t mind having no degree of certainty where I am headed. I love exploration and investigation, and Trickfinger was when I began making music exclusively for these purposes. I would always begin with a simple element which required no ‘brilliant idea’, and move from machine to machine, until the track was ready to be performed and recorded.
