Angus Maiden is a blogger, label representative, and first of all, very prolific musician (Peach Tree) from Melbourne, Australia
How would you describe the meaning of music for yourself? What exactly does it mean for you?
I am not religious, I am spiritual, and Music is my deity, forever serenading my soul. It is my reason for living and the reason I'm alive. I can't imagine a world without music and for the 1 or 2 people who say "I don't like music" when I meet them, I am absolutely flabbergasted.
Music is complex vibrations in air particles that are translated in our brain into electrical signals. The vibrations are normally created by a piece of cardboard in a cone shape moving backwards and forwards to pulses of voltage it then transfers to the air.
When these signals hit our brain, a variety of effects can spill forth. It can make our hair stand on end, it can bring people together, it can make us cry, it can evoke memories, it can spark rage and fury.
So… for pieces of cardboard moving backwards and forwards to be able to do this, I see no other answer than: Music is something way, way bigger than we give it credit for. I know not where it comes from, or what it's doing here, but the way it moves me, both when I listen and when I create, brings me closer to some kind of Higher Spirit.
There's another point here: I have only met 1 or 2 people who don't like music. It is a global phenomenon. It is something that we all share in, and has shaped human culture and expression for countless years. Music is All.
You have issued approximately a dozen of albums in a timespun of 4 years. By any means it seems to be quite much. Wherefrom do you get inspiration to be active this way?
I actually answer this question in the description of my latest album, "A Scrapbook For Glue Junkies", which I will quote here:
"People often ask me how I'm so prolific (as I release my 18th album).
It is because I rarely screen my own material. I learned very early not to second-guess what comes out in the creative process. It forms from the subconscious for a reason, and if the artist desires to share his or her work with the world, then there is no point censoring, altering or deleting tracks that "might not work" - that's pandering to trends and sociology.
After all, art is about expression. Even if something doesn't quite fit an album I will still release it, just because it was made. As simple as that."
So yea, I've actually released 13 LPs and 5 EPs, and my first release was in 2005. And, as quoted above, a lot of it was just released "For the fuck of it", meaning some albums are quite weak and likely to make people cringe with poor vocals etc. However, I feel it is extremely important to vent everything you feel into your art.
The wavering in my voice expresses a certain honesty that I believe my music has, and I have enough skill with music theory and instruments to compel people to actually listen. I am not a professional, because I release everything for free, but neither am I an amateur or "experimental artist" - when I release something it is because my whole heart and skill has gone into it. Sure I could have done another 20 takes on the vocals for track X, but in the end I kept the take that made the final cut because I felt it conveyed something important.
Let`s speak some words about your creating process. Do you follow the flow of unconsciousness or is it somehow determined by your side?
This ties into the above question about inspiration. When creating I just make sure that whatever idea pops into my head immediately flows through my fingers to my guitar or piano, and lyrics into a notepad. You have to capture the essence of creativity at its source, even if the bulk of the work is done later. As long as you have something to start with, everything else flows if you're open enough about it. So, I simply live my life and when creativity pokes it head… I sever that head, shrink it, and put it on the shelf to be scrutinised later.
What sort of equipment do you exploit to conjure up your oeuvre?
Ooo… all sorts of stuff. See? I got really excited about answering this one. The bulk of my work is done with the aid of software. My main Digital Audio Workstation is ProTools, the industry standard. I did a sound engineering course that made a lot of use of Tools so I can work very quickly and efficiently with it. It's connected to a 003 Rack, which has 8 inputs with their own pre-mics, so I can record voice and guitar and piano all at once, and work on them separately.
The 003 just sits on my desk, with my MacBook Pro on top. When I bought the laptop I thought I might be doing some field recording stuff but to be honest it's never moved from this spot. I am writing on it right now, and its power cord is permanently plugged in. It's where I surf the net from, write from, search porn on, etc.
Surrounding this core DAW are some mid-range speakers (not everything can be industry standard on my sort of budget), two Shure SM58s (they are traditionally live mics but I use them for recording because the sound is sublime, I actually prefer the dynamic range and presence of them better than super expensive condensers and such), and my synth. Her name is Synthia.
When it comes to software I have a plethora of ProTools plugins and instruments that I use, but for drums and most of the electronic sounds you hear in my recordings they're made with Propellerhead Reason - by far the best electronic audio station around. I love it. I also use Ableton Live occasionally.
As for guitars, I mainly use a Fender Stratocaster for electric, and my most beloved - my Cort acoustic - it was the first guitar I bought and although I should probably change the strings more often it has this beautiful lush, warm sound that has never faded in all these years. Apart from that there are hmm… 7 other guitars in the house including a Gibson SG which I sometimes use and this beautiful nylon-string that was bought for $40 in an op-shop (Probably worth about 500!)
I also spin vinyl decks occasionally so I have two Stanton T-60s and a DJ mixer, as well as shitloads of vinyl. They haven't worked their way into recordings because I prefer original sounds over sampling. It's funny, DJ-ing is sort of a mediator between listening and making, so when I feel like doing both I'll DJ.
Included in the "equipment" of my home studio would be my cat, Tigerlilly, who seems to enjoy curling up and listening to me play a loop over and over to get that perfect sound.
You are running the label (Tribal Dancing Kid) either. What additional duties has it put on you shoulder?
Not as many duties as running a record label should!
I've really let TDK go for the last year or so. It will always be there, but I'm not very good at promoting so I don't scout for talent, and rarely offer people contracts even if I love their stuff and they're unsigned. I just don't want to disappoint people with a promise of a record contract and then not delivering much on the promotion front.
I was stoked to be able to release Nezumi's CD, "The Principle of relative constancy in metamorphoses", which took a bit of a chunk out of my wallet that I never saw back. But it felt great to be able to send Nezumi his own printed CDs to proudly give or sell to his friends.
I don't think TDK will ever be in a position to make a profit but I'm fine with that. I'm a bit anti-label so it's kind of a conundrum. I kind of deliberately put off work on the label in case people flock to it expecting something I can't offer. I'm just a guy.
As I said it will always be there, and people seem to like the idea of "Bizarre Music Produced By Strange Minds" and my whole "Because Who Wants To Be Normal Anyway?" approach, so a time will come I'm sure when TDK becomes a much bigger part of everything I do and thus a bigger part of the music scene in general. Until then I'm happy to have released such interesting artist as Titee and Nezumi through the label.
In which way have you found the artists represented in the roster of TDK?
I am very connected on the net to a lot of other artists and artist groups. The ones that have found shelter under the wings of TDK simply naturally found their way to me through this networking. I still see everyday about a dozen "Click here to listen to Blah" posts on various forums such as Facebook, Twitter and LastFM, and I listen to as much as I can or feel like listening to at the time, and sometimes it will be amazing music, and sometimes they'll be looking for a label… but as I said, I'm not really pushing Tribal Dancing Kid too much right now so for those artists I just offer praise and wish them well.
In the future, should I wish to sign more artists, I don't think it would be hard given the amount of DIY musicians that are releasing stuff out there.
How would you describe the music environment around you in Melbourne? What is important for you there?
Oh, man… Melbourne is the most amazing place for live music. Any night of the week you can find a multitude of live gigs. We seem to be in a rock/punk-revival mode at the moment so that's the sort of stuff I go to, but especially on weekends you can find a rave if you just spend a bit of time surfing.
Most genuine music venues are just that: places to listen to music. The other clubs that play 50 Cent and stuff so that Jack and Jill can dance dirty with each other and go home together are, and have always been secondary to the real music pubs. If you're at a music venue, you're surrounded my musos too… who are always interesting to talk to.
What I believe is most important in the music scene here is that the listeners have a good time. I don't like "We're on the stage, fuck all of you who aren't" attitudes - they're rarely seen, but they clear rooms out when you do see them. People want to get their rock on or their rave out: and most DJs and bands cater to that very well.
Could you name your favorite artists and on the other side some of them regarding strictly the 10s?
Ok… Let's see here. Cradle of Filth, Radiohead, System of a Down, The Beatles, The Beatles, The Beatles, Tool. I have about 160 Gb of music so I listen to a lot of stuff, I have daily favourites, weekly favourites, monthly favourites, etc. But I really like the above mentioned artists and listen to them a lot. This question is the one musos hate answering, so I'll leave it at that…
In regards to the 10s? Between the Buried and Me are a band I've just gotten into that are still going strong, as always are Trent Reznor and Radiohead - looking forward to the next 10s albums from those two. I dunno… St. Vincent, Noisia… a lot of dubstep which is past it for UK'ers but only really reached Australian shores in the 10s. Hmmm… that should give you a really vague picture, fill in the gaps yourself. As I said it's such a hard question to answer. So, nuff said.
What could the listeners expect in the future by your side?
A graceful fall into the depths of insanity meticulously documented by a whirlwind of guitar riffs, inane poetry and unintelligible noises.
However, you could convey some messages over to your sympathisers?
Here's the deal… I spend a lot of time on my music, and I release it all FOR FREE… all I ask in return is that you listen. Know that I cannot be pigeonholed, I make a variety of different styles, everything from death-metal to psytrance. If you're listening to one of my albums and don't like the first track, don't be a douche and just stop listening to the album… it will grow, it will morph, and by the power of The Flying Spaghetti Monster it will amaze you by the end! So listen, this is music for The Now, made by a human, distributed by 1s and 0s… Share, and be merry!
You can find my latest and remastered albums at
http://thepeachtree.bandcamp.com
ENTIRE CATALOGUE (And where I built my fanbase):
http://www.last.fm/music/the+peach+tree
VIDEOS:
http://www.youtube.com/thepeachtree
Thanks to Kert of Borealiscape for the chance to do this interview.
May Music be with You!
-Angus Maiden
(The Peach Tree / @gamoneterik)
