 E.B.I.
e.b.i. or Electronic Barnacle Island, is an amazing
electronic release from Aaron Noel, another Jacksonville resident. He
is also the founder of Kira-Kira Disc which is also Minikon's label as
well. e.b.i. is slightly hard to categorize. It draws from so many
electronic musical elements that it does not fall into one genre of
music. At times, it seems like the song could come apart at any given
moment as beats and noises seem to fall into an almost chaotic state.
It never does however, and as warm melodic synths begin to flow on top
of the mix, the structure of the music stays intact. It spans the gap
between Autechre and Tangerine Dream. At least, that is one way to
describe it. All I can say for sure is on April 25th you should
definitely go out and purchase what I think will be one the best
electronic
music releases of this year. I asked Aaron to give us some insight on
the development of e.b.i. and what can we expect next from this very
talented musician.
1. When did you first start working in the field of electronic
music? Who were your influences?
In 1989 I purchased my first synthesizer. Shortly thereafter I bought
a drum machine and a hardware sequencer. Early on I used my piano
skills to hammer out basic tunes since I was just getting used to the
idea of having a pallette of sounds to work with. Some of my earliest
influnences were Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Patrick O'hearn. I
always gravitated to anything that was melodic. That was and still is
the most important thing to me in music. In 1996 I met a local
electronic musician named James White (a.k.a. minikon) who opened my
eyes to the many avenues that I could travel in the electronic music
world. It was at this time in my life that He and one other person
became a major influence on my endeavors. James had a project then
called "signal" that just blew my mind. The melodies and emotion that
came out of his songs were just what I needed to hear at that time.
The "other" person I don't know personally, but his music inspired me
greatly. Mark Clifford, from Disjecta and Seefeel, an early Warp
Records recording artist, lent much then to what I do today. His sound
was very mechanical
and gritty sounding, something that I had never heard anyone do. I
loved his style and I wanted to expound on that thinking. On top of
that, James would always push me to be more creative in my sound
development and song structure, which I am very grateful for. All of
that lead up to what I call e.b.i. for short.
2. Tell us about your main project e.b.i. (electronic barnicle
island.) How long have you been working on it?
Since I was able to take in the best from James and Mark Clifford, I
wanted to create a musical project that embodied emotion as well as I
could, while maintaining a certain degree of experimentation. My first
song entitled "the failed embrace" was written in 1997. I would like
to think that my songs take the listener somewhere, maybe a place they
have never been, while still maintaining a familiarity with each
passing song. I guess that is the hope of all musicians. Overall, most
of my music could be described
as dark and melancholic.
I have always preferred to listen to something sad, it's just my
natural tendancy to do so. It is a very fun project to work on. As I
am working on a new piece, I can relax knowing that I am doing
something that suites my taste (of which I am very picky) and allows
for my expression. All in All, I would say that I am very happy with
where I have wound up with e.b.i.
3. How did the name come about?
First of all, I love the quirky name, but I think I like the way it
came about even more. I am sure that most people have seen those
little word magnets that you can get at places like Barnes and Nobles
and whatnot. Well, I was at one of my ex-girlfriend's houses one night
just hanging out like normal. I had been trying to come up with a name
for several weeks. So, she had these little magnets all over her metal
bed frame all lined up in no order at all. I was glancing over them
laughing when I came accross three words that I just stared at for
about a minute. I said to her. "electronic barnacle island?!! How
cool!" Unknowingly, of course, she had come up with the name for me.
4. When can we expect your debut CD to be released?
Though it has a tentative official release date of April 25th, I am
offering it now as a pre-order available on the website at
www.kirakiradisc.com . The
CD will be in digipak and you can see the cover art and track listing
on the site as well.
5. You also have a second project entitled Dance Contest Winner,
that is heavily inspired by Yellow Magic Orchestra, a Japanese
electronic group from the 70's, which was very strange offbeat disco
pop. When did you discover them?
Once again, I will have to thank James White for that one. He played
me some Y.M.O. about two years ago and I have never been the same.
Dance Contest Winner is my attempt to both honor the aforementioned
Japanese superstars and have a great time while doing it. It will
contain elements of pop, disco, have a somewhat asian feel in places
and will be very upbeat, all while staying in the electronic realm.
That will be a challenge. I will start working on the concept for the
album after e.b.i. has been released.
I want people to know when they listen to Dance Contest Winner that I
am heavily inspired by Y.M.O., but I definitely have a sound of my
own. Look for samples of Dance Contest Winner on
www.kirakiradisc.com
in the early summer of this year.
6. You have started your own label Kira Kira Disc. How many artists
are on the label so far, other than your projects and Minikon?
What inspired you to create your own label? Was it very difficult?
Right now the website shows a total of four artists. One of them,
called Eastgate Sound is another project of James White. Eastgate
Sound will most likely debut in the Summer of 2004, quite a ways off
actually, but I am anticipating it quite a bit. Audio samples will be
posted to the label's website as soon as I have some.
As far as starting the label goes, it was mainly out of a desire to
release my own material without the
red tape that you would have signing with a bigger label. Such ideas
as the cover art, the concept of the album and even simple things like
track selection and order are important to me. Plus having James's
music on the label is a major bonus as well. We work well together and
I like to consult with him on certain things. It wasn't very
difficult, although it wasn't that easy either. I will say that it has
been very time consuming.
7. How about gear? Care to elaborate on what was used in creating
your music?
Sure. I used some hardware on some of the album. An ASR 10 Sampling
Keyboard was used for a
few tracks but since then I have sold that and have moved on to all
software based production. I use All of the Native Instruments
plugins.......they are simply the best on the planet.
8. James from Minikon did the fabulous cover art for E.B.I. Will he
continue to do your album covers for future projects?
As long as I am breathing. Or until he stops or something.
9. How would you classify E.B.I. ? Or would you rather the listener
decide for themselves?
I would like to leave it up to the listener. It is a little hard for
me to do so being so close to the
project.
10. Finally, how do you feel about the file sharing issue. Does it
help or hurt the music industry?
Well, it is illegal, so I don't condone it. I do know people that use
it for good reasons. They check out new artists and then collect the
ones they like. Then I know some people that never buy a CD and I
don't think that is cool but to each his own. It's too hard to decide
right now whether it's a benefit to the industry or a determent.
Everyone has copied a CD of a band they like, and that never gets any
attention. The only reason why the file sharing issue is such a big
deal is that the Recording Industry can see it take place on the net.
Copying CD's must have had some impact on the industry as well, but
not many seem to mention that. As a musician, I don't mind the file
sharing clients so much, it allows more people to hear your music and
collect it if they become a fan. As a record label owner, I don't like
it so much. Things will even out eventually. |
