diablatomica: hey Dj Spooky tha: hello all, I'm just touching base to make sure everything works... check check check.... anechoic: hello...the chat begins in 12 minutes... Dj Spooky tha: Okay, so it's that time. I'm not that sure about how to start, so I'll give it a brief shot: Dj Spooky tha: I'm a conceptual artist and writer who uses sound to construct "narratives" based on "polyvalence" i.e. multiple formats and cultural zones. Sampling is one extension of this, and so is electro-acoustic composition... diablatomica: any preferable or more interesting format? Dj Spooky tha: nah, whatever allows me to explore different aspects of the creative act. I pretty much consider the entire range of whatever my mind can engage as my palette diablatomica: personally i think certain genres and i would imagine formats also lend themselves more to certain emotions and ideas.. anechoic: can you explain a bit mroe about the term polyvalient? diablatomica: what do you think? Dj Spooky tha: I use the term "polyvalent" because it has a more "molecular" connotation and in a certain sense whenever you're dealing with combining sounds and situations you're in a recombinant/syncretic mode. I like to flip things around and see what draws different stylistic situations together, what gives them an "attraction field" what coordinates the trajectories... the idea is that it's kind of being an open text where what ever happens is allowed to co-exist outside any cultural frameworks that "allow" or disallow different combinatorial strategies. It makes life alot more fun... rss: hello anyone? anechoic: can you give us some examples of how this works in your work? diablatomica: hello anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ rss: has the chat started yet, im living on the otherside of the world, its 1.00 lunch time here Sat anechoic: excuse the markers they are used for logging purposes... diablatomica: the chat has just started Dj Spooky tha: In a certain sense almost all aspects of my creative ouevre are "recombinant" - whether its dealing with the different "threads" of a net symposium (I helped start the Afro-Futurist symposium or sampling small fragments of records and urban field sounds, the idea is that the creative act has become "algorithmic" - i.e. pulling differentials into different relations with one another. With hip-hop this is done vocally and with the sampler (thin of Alan Touring's notion of the machine that can be any other machine i.e. universal computing, but in a real life context that is completelty configured by electronic culture.... Dj Spooky tha: oops, sorry about the typos. I'm writing very fast... anechoic: we don' anechoic: t worry about typos here diablatomica: how is the afro-futirirst symposium related to african culture? anechoic: I find your approach interesting...how do you view the ivory tower vs the street conflict? do you see one expoliting the other? Dj Spooky tha: For me all of the distinctions between high culture and low culture have completely become some kind of vaporware 'cause the only thing holding all of this together is information. You either have it or you don't, and the academy alot of the time, is completely behind in terms of what's actually going on in the "real" world, but then again, the "street" might not have the ability to contextualize what's going on... no over view... there's room for everything, and that's something the notion of "threads" in a list serve can also reflect as well: multiplicity os the norm in electro culture. Less information means less existence. anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ anechoic: btw: "viral sonata" makes avery nice soundtrack to this chat diablatomica: i'm going to say that i feel bad because i have not heard enough of your work so far Under: has iannis xenakis ever heard some of your music...? ;) did he express any comments? Dj Spooky tha: thanks, that was done for the Whitney Biennal back in 1997, and it was meant to be a complete coceptual environment, it's okay if you haven't heard much of the work, the basic idea that drives me creatively is to build bridges between cultural zones - I as an individual am not necessarily that "important" - it's the information that flows through me that embodies what I'm talking about. Xenakis was incredible when we worked together precisley because he focuses on music as information. He liked the Viral Sonata, but one thing that's regretfull is that he is now really really really sick and can't function as well as he normally would. Dj Spooky tha: hi eloy! diablatomica: for what reason do you choose involve the cultural aesthetic? just general interest and approach? Eloy: Hey Paul !! anechoic: why don't we see more people of color in the electro-acoustic scene? and why are white people afraid of black intellectuals? Dj Spooky tha: for me everything is culture. Humans as obssesive animals, humans as creatures "of habit" - I can't think outside the frame except with music, and the experiences I've lived through condition it all. As a composer I like to think of my style as "creation via osmosis" culture is my search engine, so to speak... diablatomica: or blaxican (inside joke black / mexican ie: me) diablatomica: im not familiar with white felows being afriad of black intellectuals. is this really the case? Dj Spooky tha: This question of identity and authenticity - as far as I can see - disturbs a very fine tuned equilibrium for white intellectuals dealing with black culture - I think how much people responded with bitter reviews to people like Basquiat or Ornette Coleman, and yep, it still happens to me... I consider myself a pretty mellow person, but I get some really flipped out responses to what I do. I don't think that there's "fear" so much as "newness" and people don't necessarily have a framework to view new aspects of the culture yet.... anechoic: very insightful...thank you for that anechoic: bit of info... rss: are we not men? Dj Spooky tha: One thing I have to add is that things are changing, and people - black and white, Asian and Hispanic - whatever - are all getting used to the fact that diversity is a healthy thing. Cultural exchange is what makes the world go round these days, and it's a process I can only see intensifying over the next century... diablatomica: absolutely anechoic: yes but I still find this racial divide...a subtle subtext that I still find in people I would think were eveolved otherwise anechoic: but I agree that things are changing...thank goodness anechoic: what is your view on the curent wave of computer music called "glitch" or what I like to call "post-digital"? anechoic: someone else should throw in some q's too! rss: where do you find the music going in the future, with computers the way they are? Dj Spooky tha: the racial divide is based alot more around class and economics at this point... I think white americans and black americans have alot more in common with each other at this point than with their respctive cultures of origin, but then again, I always like to point out that the whole idea driving electronic culture is a serious critique of origins - glitch music seems to be a kind of "post-process" kind of thing - letting the John Cage notion of "total theater" become a norm, but then again, once you let the algorithms have their say what else is left but the mistakes we make when we use them? diablatomica: other note: ive always found that background concerning your interest in your father's recoord collection very endearing.. just though i'd add that. any particular records of his you greatly enjoy? diablatomica: i still have not found myself enveloped by the post-digital approach.. i dont have a fascination with accidents yet, though i enjoy listenining to them. anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: It's a weird situation - I always refer to myself as an archivist of culture, and I used the records my dad left me when he died as a reference point just to see what different styles sounded like. There was no formal kind of thing going on... I just used whatever was in the house, and that happened to be his record collection. I was really into his Count Basie stuff and his Cab Calloway (did I spell that right?), and still am... I think about the 1920's as a kind of American Golden Age, I can't describe how many times I've listened to that stuff... I'm listening to a mix I did of 4 Hero and Cab Calloway I did a while ago, now... Eloy: can you tell us a bit about of the proccess for making some of your records, like with the Scanner CD, you had a bunch of samples that made into records to scratch...? what tools do you enjoy using ? diablatomica: as for myself, i have grown up with classical and mariachi.. diablatomica: i wouldnt consider mariachi as a definite influence Dj Spooky tha: That record is called "The Quick and The Dead." It's on Scanner's Sulphur label. It's made of all sorts of stuff - cell phone frequencies decoded, "recycled" hip-hop beats, voices all cut up, the soft ware I used was mostly sound designer, hyper prism, and stuff to sort through things with an Akai s3000 sampler. I'm not sure what stuff Scanner used, but we sent our elements back and forth until the record was done. It's a pretty chilled out record. Eloy: It's a great record, when you colaborated, did you meet and play together, or mostly share samples and sounds diablatomica: im not familiar with sound designer.. a general audio editor or does it produce synthesis? anechoic: do you use the net in the creation of music? (at any level of abstraction) anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: We were never in the same room, and we recorded stuff that we thought the other would be able to flip around. I like doing collaborations alot - I consider the whole situation to be a kind of culture of dispersion. I use the net, I use the sampler 'cause they are both reflctions of a culture where things have become abstracted from their sources, georgraphy, culture, identity - it's all about how you gather fragments and reflections... diablatomica: any plans for new work coming out? Dj Spooky tha: at the moment, I'm just trying to chill. I have a crazy schedule. I'm working on a project for the Venice Biennial and Eloy is working on aspects of that with me, and theirs a classical music project too, also, there's the magazine me and some friends do that's called "Artbyte: the magazine of Digital Culture" that I think some of you might be into... diablatomica: does it become difficult finding your cultural source material for use and manipulation? ie: purchasing of records worthwhile, sampling found sounds, etc.. diablatomica: i wonder if it becomes inane at times Dj Spooky tha: yeah, when you're dealing with sampling everyone has access to different levels of memory - alot of people have the same records... it all depends on how you flip things. That can be just as inane as the electronica scene where everyone is using the same software... ya know? diablatomica: and seemingly becoming autechre all at the same time Dj Spooky tha: exactly diablatomica: we just need something new.. Eloy: we need to make our software... anechoic: that's why apps like Max/MSP are heavily used...so you can roll you own software with a 4GL diablatomica: i think im going to take my endevours into csound for a bit.. see how it goes Dj Spooky tha: I think newness will come as more cultures get into digitality because each scene will being different elements to what's going on and put things together in a different way. I like C Sound diablatomica: have you used csound in any pieces of work? anechoic: what do ytou like do you like Csound anechoic: er, what do you like about Csound? Dj Spooky tha: I like c sound 'cause it feels like you're playing with different "modules" its like leggo blocks diablatomica: hey Dj Spooky tha: hello all, I'm just touching base to make sure everything works... check check check.... anechoic: hello...the chat begins in 12 minutes... Dj Spooky tha: Okay, so it's that time. I'm not that sure about how to start, so I'll give it a brief shot: Dj Spooky tha: I'm a conceptual artist and writer who uses sound to construct "narratives" based on "polyvalence" i.e. multiple formats and cultural zones. Sampling is one extension of this, and so is electro-acoustic composition... diablatomica: any preferable or more interesting format? Dj Spooky tha: nah, whatever allows me to explore different aspects of the creative act. I pretty much consider the entire range of whatever my mind can engage as my palette diablatomica: personally i think certain genres and i would imagine formats also lend themselves more to certain emotions and ideas.. anechoic: can you explain a bit mroe about the term polyvalient? diablatomica: what do you think? Dj Spooky tha: I use the term "polyvalent" because it has a more "molecular" connotation and in a certain sense whenever you're dealing with combining sounds and situations you're in a recombinant/syncretic mode. I like to flip things around and see what draws different stylistic situations together, what gives them an "attraction field" what coordinates the trajectories... the idea is that it's kind of being an open text where what ever happens is allowed to co-exist outside any cultural frameworks that "allow" or disallow different combinatorial strategies. It makes life alot more fun... rss: hello anyone? anechoic: can you give us some examples of how this works in your work? diablatomica: hello anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ rss: has the chat started yet, im living on the otherside of the world, its 1.00 lunch time here Sat anechoic: excuse the markers they are used for logging purposes... diablatomica: the chat has just started Dj Spooky tha: In a certain sense almost all aspects of my creative ouevre are "recombinant" - whether its dealing with the different "threads" of a net symposium (I helped start the Afro-Futurist symposium or sampling small fragments of records and urban field sounds, the idea is that the creative act has become "algorithmic" - i.e. pulling differentials into different relations with one another. With hip-hop this is done vocally and with the sampler (thin of Alan Touring's notion of the machine that can be any other machine i.e. universal computing, but in a real life context that is completelty configured by electronic culture.... Dj Spooky tha: oops, sorry about the typos. I'm writing very fast... anechoic: we don' anechoic: t worry about typos here diablatomica: how is the afro-futirirst symposium related to african culture? anechoic: I find your approach interesting...how do you view the ivory tower vs the street conflict? do you see one expoliting the other? Dj Spooky tha: For me all of the distinctions between high culture and low culture have completely become some kind of vaporware 'cause the only thing holding all of this together is information. You either have it or you don't, and the academy alot of the time, is completely behind in terms of what's actually going on in the "real" world, but then again, the "street" might not have the ability to contextualize what's going on... no over view... there's room for everything, and that's something the notion of "threads" in a list serve can also reflect as well: multiplicity os the norm in electro culture. Less information means less existence. anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ anechoic: btw: "viral sonata" makes avery nice soundtrack to this chat diablatomica: i'm going to say that i feel bad because i have not heard enough of your work so far Under: has iannis xenakis ever heard some of your music...? ;) did he express any comments? Dj Spooky tha: thanks, that was done for the Whitney Biennal back in 1997, and it was meant to be a complete coceptual environment, it's okay if you haven't heard much of the work, the basic idea that drives me creatively is to build bridges between cultural zones - I as an individual am not necessarily that "important" - it's the information that flows through me that embodies what I'm talking about. Xenakis was incredible when we worked together precisley because he focuses on music as information. He liked the Viral Sonata, but one thing that's regretfull is that he is now really really really sick and can't function as well as he normally would. Dj Spooky tha: hi eloy! diablatomica: for what reason do you choose involve the cultural aesthetic? just general interest and approach? Eloy: Hey Paul !! anechoic: why don't we see more people of color in the electro-acoustic scene? and why are white people afraid of black intellectuals? Dj Spooky tha: for me everything is culture. Humans as obssesive animals, humans as creatures "of habit" - I can't think outside the frame except with music, and the experiences I've lived through condition it all. As a composer I like to think of my style as "creation via osmosis" culture is my search engine, so to speak... diablatomica: or blaxican (inside joke black / mexican ie: me) diablatomica: im not familiar with white felows being afriad of black intellectuals. is this really the case? Dj Spooky tha: This question of identity and authenticity - as far as I can see - disturbs a very fine tuned equilibrium for white intellectuals dealing with black culture - I think how much people responded with bitter reviews to people like Basquiat or Ornette Coleman, and yep, it still happens to me... I consider myself a pretty mellow person, but I get some really flipped out responses to what I do. I don't think that there's "fear" so much as "newness" and people don't necessarily have a framework to view new aspects of the culture yet.... anechoic: very insightful...thank you for that anechoic: bit of info... rss: are we not men? Dj Spooky tha: One thing I have to add is that things are changing, and people - black and white, Asian and Hispanic - whatever - are all getting used to the fact that diversity is a healthy thing. Cultural exchange is what makes the world go round these days, and it's a process I can only see intensifying over the next century... diablatomica: absolutely anechoic: yes but I still find this racial divide...a subtle subtext that I still find in people I would think were eveolved otherwise anechoic: but I agree that things are changing...thank goodness anechoic: what is your view on the curent wave of computer music called "glitch" or what I like to call "post-digital"? anechoic: someone else should throw in some q's too! rss: where do you find the music going in the future, with computers the way they are? Dj Spooky tha: the racial divide is based alot more around class and economics at this point... I think white americans and black americans have alot more in common with each other at this point than with their respctive cultures of origin, but then again, I always like to point out that the whole idea driving electronic culture is a serious critique of origins - glitch music seems to be a kind of "post-process" kind of thing - letting the John Cage notion of "total theater" become a norm, but then again, once you let the algorithms have their say what else is left but the mistakes we make when we use them? diablatomica: other note: ive always found that background concerning your interest in your father's recoord collection very endearing.. just though i'd add that. any particular records of his you greatly enjoy? diablatomica: i still have not found myself enveloped by the post-digital approach.. i dont have a fascination with accidents yet, though i enjoy listenining to them. anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: It's a weird situation - I always refer to myself as an archivist of culture, and I used the records my dad left me when he died as a reference point just to see what different styles sounded like. There was no formal kind of thing going on... I just used whatever was in the house, and that happened to be his record collection. I was really into his Count Basie stuff and his Cab Calloway (did I spell that right?), and still am... I think about the 1920's as a kind of American Golden Age, I can't describe how many times I've listened to that stuff... I'm listening to a mix I did of 4 Hero and Cab Calloway I did a while ago, now... Eloy: can you tell us a bit about of the proccess for making some of your records, like with the Scanner CD, you had a bunch of samples that made into records to scratch...? what tools do you enjoy using ? diablatomica: as for myself, i have grown up with classical and mariachi.. diablatomica: i wouldnt consider mariachi as a definite influence Dj Spooky tha: That record is called "The Quick and The Dead." It's on Scanner's Sulphur label. It's made of all sorts of stuff - cell phone frequencies decoded, "recycled" hip-hop beats, voices all cut up, the soft ware I used was mostly sound designer, hyper prism, and stuff to sort through things with an Akai s3000 sampler. I'm not sure what stuff Scanner used, but we sent our elements back and forth until the record was done. It's a pretty chilled out record. Eloy: It's a great record, when you colaborated, did you meet and play together, or mostly share samples and sounds diablatomica: im not familiar with sound designer.. a general audio editor or does it produce synthesis? anechoic: do you use the net in the creation of music? (at any level of abstraction) anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: We were never in the same room, and we recorded stuff that we thought the other would be able to flip around. I like doing collaborations alot - I consider the whole situation to be a kind of culture of dispersion. I use the net, I use the sampler 'cause they are both reflctions of a culture where things have become abstracted from their sources, georgraphy, culture, identity - it's all about how you gather fragments and reflections... diablatomica: any plans for new work coming out? Dj Spooky tha: at the moment, I'm just trying to chill. I have a crazy schedule. I'm working on a project for the Venice Biennial and Eloy is working on aspects of that with me, and theirs a classical music project too, also, there's the magazine me and some friends do that's called "Artbyte: the magazine of Digital Culture" that I think some of you might be into... diablatomica: does it become difficult finding your cultural source material for use and manipulation? ie: purchasing of records worthwhile, sampling found sounds, etc.. diablatomica: i wonder if it becomes inane at times Dj Spooky tha: yeah, when you're dealing with sampling everyone has access to different levels of memory - alot of people have the same records... it all depends on how you flip things. That can be just as inane as the electronica scene where everyone is using the same software... ya know? diablatomica: and seemingly becoming autechre all at the same time Dj Spooky tha: exactly diablatomica: we just need something new.. Eloy: we need to make our software... anechoic: that's why apps like Max/MSP are heavily used...so you can roll you own software with a 4GL diablatomica: i think im going to take my endevours into csound for a bit.. see how it goes Dj Spooky tha: I think newness will come as more cultures get into digitality because each scene will being different elements to what's going on and put things together in a different way. I like C Sound diablatomica: have you used csound in any pieces of work? anechoic: what do ytou like do you like Csound anechoic: er, what do you like about Csound? Dj Spooky tha: I like c sound 'cause it feels like you're playing with different "modules" its like leggo blocks diablatomica: hey Dj Spooky tha: hello all, I'm just touching base to make sure everything works... check check check.... anechoic: hello...the chat begins in 12 minutes... Dj Spooky tha: Okay, so it's that time. I'm not that sure about how to start, so I'll give it a brief shot: Dj Spooky tha: I'm a conceptual artist and writer who uses sound to construct "narratives" based on "polyvalence" i.e. multiple formats and cultural zones. Sampling is one extension of this, and so is electro-acoustic composition... diablatomica: any preferable or more interesting format? Dj Spooky tha: nah, whatever allows me to explore different aspects of the creative act. I pretty much consider the entire range of whatever my mind can engage as my palette diablatomica: personally i think certain genres and i would imagine formats also lend themselves more to certain emotions and ideas.. anechoic: can you explain a bit mroe about the term polyvalient? diablatomica: what do you think? Dj Spooky tha: I use the term "polyvalent" because it has a more "molecular" connotation and in a certain sense whenever you're dealing with combining sounds and situations you're in a recombinant/syncretic mode. I like to flip things around and see what draws different stylistic situations together, what gives them an "attraction field" what coordinates the trajectories... the idea is that it's kind of being an open text where what ever happens is allowed to co-exist outside any cultural frameworks that "allow" or disallow different combinatorial strategies. It makes life alot more fun... rss: hello anyone? anechoic: can you give us some examples of how this works in your work? diablatomica: hello anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ rss: has the chat started yet, im living on the otherside of the world, its 1.00 lunch time here Sat anechoic: excuse the markers they are used for logging purposes... diablatomica: the chat has just started Dj Spooky tha: In a certain sense almost all aspects of my creative ouevre are "recombinant" - whether its dealing with the different "threads" of a net symposium (I helped start the Afro-Futurist symposium or sampling small fragments of records and urban field sounds, the idea is that the creative act has become "algorithmic" - i.e. pulling differentials into different relations with one another. With hip-hop this is done vocally and with the sampler (thin of Alan Touring's notion of the machine that can be any other machine i.e. universal computing, but in a real life context that is completelty configured by electronic culture.... Dj Spooky tha: oops, sorry about the typos. I'm writing very fast... anechoic: we don' anechoic: t worry about typos here diablatomica: how is the afro-futirirst symposium related to african culture? anechoic: I find your approach interesting...how do you view the ivory tower vs the street conflict? do you see one expoliting the other? Dj Spooky tha: For me all of the distinctions between high culture and low culture have completely become some kind of vaporware 'cause the only thing holding all of this together is information. You either have it or you don't, and the academy alot of the time, is completely behind in terms of what's actually going on in the "real" world, but then again, the "street" might not have the ability to contextualize what's going on... no over view... there's room for everything, and that's something the notion of "threads" in a list serve can also reflect as well: multiplicity os the norm in electro culture. Less information means less existence. anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ anechoic: btw: "viral sonata" makes avery nice soundtrack to this chat diablatomica: i'm going to say that i feel bad because i have not heard enough of your work so far Under: has iannis xenakis ever heard some of your music...? ;) did he express any comments? Dj Spooky tha: thanks, that was done for the Whitney Biennal back in 1997, and it was meant to be a complete coceptual environment, it's okay if you haven't heard much of the work, the basic idea that drives me creatively is to build bridges between cultural zones - I as an individual am not necessarily that "important" - it's the information that flows through me that embodies what I'm talking about. Xenakis was incredible when we worked together precisley because he focuses on music as information. He liked the Viral Sonata, but one thing that's regretfull is that he is now really really really sick and can't function as well as he normally would. Dj Spooky tha: hi eloy! diablatomica: for what reason do you choose involve the cultural aesthetic? just general interest and approach? Eloy: Hey Paul !! anechoic: why don't we see more people of color in the electro-acoustic scene? and why are white people afraid of black intellectuals? Dj Spooky tha: for me everything is culture. Humans as obssesive animals, humans as creatures "of habit" - I can't think outside the frame except with music, and the experiences I've lived through condition it all. As a composer I like to think of my style as "creation via osmosis" culture is my search engine, so to speak... diablatomica: or blaxican (inside joke black / mexican ie: me) diablatomica: im not familiar with white felows being afriad of black intellectuals. is this really the case? Dj Spooky tha: This question of identity and authenticity - as far as I can see - disturbs a very fine tuned equilibrium for white intellectuals dealing with black culture - I think how much people responded with bitter reviews to people like Basquiat or Ornette Coleman, and yep, it still happens to me... I consider myself a pretty mellow person, but I get some really flipped out responses to what I do. I don't think that there's "fear" so much as "newness" and people don't necessarily have a framework to view new aspects of the culture yet.... anechoic: very insightful...thank you for that anechoic: bit of info... rss: are we not men? Dj Spooky tha: One thing I have to add is that things are changing, and people - black and white, Asian and Hispanic - whatever - are all getting used to the fact that diversity is a healthy thing. Cultural exchange is what makes the world go round these days, and it's a process I can only see intensifying over the next century... diablatomica: absolutely anechoic: yes but I still find this racial divide...a subtle subtext that I still find in people I would think were eveolved otherwise anechoic: but I agree that things are changing...thank goodness anechoic: what is your view on the curent wave of computer music called "glitch" or what I like to call "post-digital"? anechoic: someone else should throw in some q's too! rss: where do you find the music going in the future, with computers the way they are? Dj Spooky tha: the racial divide is based alot more around class and economics at this point... I think white americans and black americans have alot more in common with each other at this point than with their respctive cultures of origin, but then again, I always like to point out that the whole idea driving electronic culture is a serious critique of origins - glitch music seems to be a kind of "post-process" kind of thing - letting the John Cage notion of "total theater" become a norm, but then again, once you let the algorithms have their say what else is left but the mistakes we make when we use them? diablatomica: other note: ive always found that background concerning your interest in your father's recoord collection very endearing.. just though i'd add that. any particular records of his you greatly enjoy? diablatomica: i still have not found myself enveloped by the post-digital approach.. i dont have a fascination with accidents yet, though i enjoy listenining to them. anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: It's a weird situation - I always refer to myself as an archivist of culture, and I used the records my dad left me when he died as a reference point just to see what different styles sounded like. There was no formal kind of thing going on... I just used whatever was in the house, and that happened to be his record collection. I was really into his Count Basie stuff and his Cab Calloway (did I spell that right?), and still am... I think about the 1920's as a kind of American Golden Age, I can't describe how many times I've listened to that stuff... I'm listening to a mix I did of 4 Hero and Cab Calloway I did a while ago, now... Eloy: can you tell us a bit about of the proccess for making some of your records, like with the Scanner CD, you had a bunch of samples that made into records to scratch...? what tools do you enjoy using ? diablatomica: as for myself, i have grown up with classical and mariachi.. diablatomica: i wouldnt consider mariachi as a definite influence Dj Spooky tha: That record is called "The Quick and The Dead." It's on Scanner's Sulphur label. It's made of all sorts of stuff - cell phone frequencies decoded, "recycled" hip-hop beats, voices all cut up, the soft ware I used was mostly sound designer, hyper prism, and stuff to sort through things with an Akai s3000 sampler. I'm not sure what stuff Scanner used, but we sent our elements back and forth until the record was done. It's a pretty chilled out record. Eloy: It's a great record, when you colaborated, did you meet and play together, or mostly share samples and sounds diablatomica: im not familiar with sound designer.. a general audio editor or does it produce synthesis? anechoic: do you use the net in the creation of music? (at any level of abstraction) anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: We were never in the same room, and we recorded stuff that we thought the other would be able to flip around. I like doing collaborations alot - I consider the whole situation to be a kind of culture of dispersion. I use the net, I use the sampler 'cause they are both reflctions of a culture where things have become abstracted from their sources, georgraphy, culture, identity - it's all about how you gather fragments and reflections... diablatomica: any plans for new work coming out? Dj Spooky tha: at the moment, I'm just trying to chill. I have a crazy schedule. I'm working on a project for the Venice Biennial and Eloy is working on aspects of that with me, and theirs a classical music project too, also, there's the magazine me and some friends do that's called "Artbyte: the magazine of Digital Culture" that I think some of you might be into... diablatomica: does it become difficult finding your cultural source material for use and manipulation? ie: purchasing of records worthwhile, sampling found sounds, etc.. diablatomica: i wonder if it becomes inane at times Dj Spooky tha: yeah, when you're dealing with sampling everyone has access to different levels of memory - alot of people have the same records... it all depends on how you flip things. That can be just as inane as the electronica scene where everyone is using the same software... ya know? diablatomica: and seemingly becoming autechre all at the same time Dj Spooky tha: exactly diablatomica: we just need something new.. Eloy: we need to make our software... anechoic: that's why apps like Max/MSP are heavily used...so you can roll you own software with a 4GL diablatomica: i think im going to take my endevours into csound for a bit.. see how it goes Dj Spooky tha: I think newness will come as more cultures get into digitality because each scene will being different elements to what's going on and put things together in a different way. I like C Sound diablatomica: have you used csound in any pieces of work? anechoic: what do ytou like do you like Csound anechoic: er, what do you like about Csound? Dj Spooky tha: I like c sound 'cause it feels like you're playing with different "modules" its like leggo blocks Dj Spooky tha: I'm working on some c-sound stuff at the moment, but it won't be out for a while... diablatomica: nice diablatomica: by the way, what is this project you are doing for the Venice Biennial anechoic: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: it's something with an architect named Bernard Tschumi - he's a theorist who has written several books on architecture and transience, it's a long story, but if you're into theory, you'd probably like his work diablatomica: there seems to be a strong corrolation with music and architecture diablatomica: how is this? Dj Spooky tha: yeah, I'm into the idea that all thought is some form of structure, and in a sense the environment that humans have created is a kind of reflection of our interior mind... Dj Spooky tha: inside outside anechoic: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262700603/o/qid=956980781/sr=2-1/104-9430509-8402000 Dj Spooky tha: what's that? anechoic: Architecture and Disjunction anechoic: by Bernard Tschumi Dj Spooky tha: great book, highly recommended diablatomica: i can see structure and music.. i don tknow why i have bothered to admire architecture.. it hasnt been brought to my attention until ive heard these opinions from others anechoic: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dj Spooky tha: it's all about flow diablatomica: when it comes to outside work.. painting by salvador dali are what i admire and turn to.. diablatomica: in the sense of helping me through the music at times.. maybe anechoic: do you have any interest in the transarchitecture movment? ie: Marco Novacks et al Dj Spooky tha: MOndrian's critique of European rationalism, Picasso's appropriation of Afrian "duality" with his multiple faces... basquiat's linguistic fragments... man, I'm glad the 20h century is over.... yeah, Marco Novacks is cool. I just wrote about him in Artbyte/// anechoic: I stumbled across his work when I was programming in VRML and really resonated with his vision...he is amazing... diablatomica: what is transarchitecture? Eloy: gotta go... love... diablatomica: bye Dj Spooky tha: it's a long story. Kim - I can send you his URL in a bit. I have to get going myself, 'cause I have to meet my girlfriend.... diablatomica: alright diablatomica: adios anechoic: OK ...so DJ Spooky has got to take off and I would like to thank him for his time...I asked him for a booklist and I will post it to this server tomorrow or Sunday Dj Spooky tha: If anyone is new NYC Saturday nite, I'm doing a thing with the folks from etoy (the digital arts collective from Switzerland) at Postmasters gallery starting at 9pm anechoic: thanks Spooky!! I like the way you think! Dj Spooky tha: alright peace... diablatomica: thanks