Monday, March 12, 2012

EIC's 10Q's w/ Ʌ

"..reminds me of David Tibet with a flair for modern sounding "Dark-tronic Soundscapes" that unfold into a Gothic fairytale.."


Ʌ
Nebulous Haunt Haus

Ʌ Bio:
Ʌ is Xavier Valentine. XV is a performance/video artist out of Providence, Rhode Island.
More here.



Hello, how are you?
Right now I am feeling okay. Lately I have a phone, which I haven't had for many many years, I only had a rotary land line, so it is very nice to get sms from friends saying "hi" and telling me about their days..

What are you currently listening to?
A lot of Japanese Rock from the 80s and 90s, Buck-Tick & Mucc are really great. And Blonde Redhead, and Humanbeast, the wonderful duo who also own a cassette label called Gross Domestic Product that released 'Wire Migraine' last year.

What's the story with the band name?
It started from really trying to find a genderless umbrella term for the sort of image-based music I make. I was drawing diagrams for a laser and mirror installation I was planning out, and it was a series of arcs. I sort of liked the ambiguity of the symbol, and then after learning what lambda has represented in history, I was really interested in it.

Who were/are your biggest influences when it came to sculpting your sound?
There are so many bands and artists that have had huge impact on me. Some that I would say right now are Komëit, who are self-described "tendercore" and really just have very beautiful music that relies on so little and manages to instigate a lot of feelings of nostalgia, which I like; Goldfrapp's first LP, 'Felt Mountain', the song "Deer Stop"* has been a large drawing point for many years, it is maybe a perfect song; and though are there are so many more, I will stop this list with Wendy Carlos, who is actually from a town maybe 5 minutes away from my city!
*Side Note: I couldn't agree with X more on this track. So perfect.

Out of all your releases so far do you have a favorite?

It is probably really common for people who make anything to say this, but I am always dissatisfied with something as soon as I finish it and the brief moment of pride has washed away. Although, I will mention the project I do with Brady Gunnell ABE SADA, we recorded our first long-player, THE MOTION OF GILDED MOMENTS over the course of several months almost one year ago, and finally released it last month. These songs are very dear to me, because, and I don't want to speak for Brady, but I think it is because these are songs that neither of us would be able to conceive (let alone play) without the other person being there. And also they are all improvisational recordings, which I had not done before, and it was very liberating, coming from a very regimented classical pianist background like mine

If you could collaborate with any artist of your choosing, whom would it be with and why?

Ricardo Tisci, the creative director of Givenchy comes to mind. There is a lot of crossover with music and fashion, and I really like his aesthetic and would really love to make music for a campaign of his or for a runway presentation. My favourite thing to do, when I get the chance, is to score films. So I would really love to work with David Lynch if he ever decides to make any more films. Though now he is doing really great music himself! His LP is so excellent. And finally, I will say that I have a lot of really talented friends who are very dear to me, Ryan Bush, Mira Putnam, Anna Rubin, etc. (there are so many, but I just saw them this morning) who I think have such brilliant ideas in their various pursuits and I look forward to working with them.

Any side projects/collabs we should know about?

Well I guess I did say already that I am doing ABE SADA. but I am in the works right now with a man from Baltimore named Door, who I've only met once, very briefly, but we are going to be putting out a digital split at some point, I am really excited for that. He makes grimy, warehousey gross Electronic music.

What movie would work best on mute with your music as it's soundtrack?

Eyes Wide Shut. Actually just about any Kubrick. or maybe Salò. Something with a lot of tragedy and sex and horror.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
A really good recording of Purcell's 'Dido And Aeneas'.

Are you living your dream?
No, but it is living me.

Thanx X!


Ʌ is currently/always up to something new, surf the net constantly for more everyday if you can..(it's all worth your time, I promise)..

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