 Minikon
Minikon is the brainchild of local artist James White.
His music has to be some of the most interesting and original
electronic releases I have heard in quite some time. This could easily
be the soundtrack to any number of Japanese Anime films. It's happy,
bouncy, melodies will surely put you in a good mood no matter how bad
your day has been! I had the pleasure of interviewing James to find
out what was the inspiration behind his unique musical endeavor.
Minikon's debut CD was released on March 25th, and you can check out
samples of Minikon at
www.kirakiradisc.com , or Minikon's website
www.minikon.com as well.
Give us a history about Minikon. How did it come about?
Well, there's not really a lot of history to Minikon at this point. It
started about a year and a half ago. While working on another project,
I found myself creating a lot of very happy music and I realized how
much fun I was having. I have always enjoyed using "small" sounds to
create a "bigger" sounding song, whether it be through the complexity
of sequencing or the power of a melody. With Minikon I can do that and
be unabashedly happy. It's a lot of fun. I signed with Kirakira Disc
last year and shortly afterwards finished the first album.
Obviously, Minikon is heavily influenced by Japanese anime. How
long have you been interested in that?
While I do watch my fair share of anime (particularly Hayao Miyazaki's
work) I think that I may owe a little more credit to Nintendo. I think
that Shigeru Miyamoto is a brilliant game designer and his quirky
style is very inspiring to me. As far as other musicians, I would have
to say my love for Yellow Magic Orchestra definitely contributed to
the sound of Minikon. Japanese pop culture in general is a major
influence.
Musically, there is quite a bit of complexity with the compositions
on this album. How time consuming was it to create and compose the
album?
From start to finish I would say it was about six months in the
making. Generally I work pretty fast. This is mainly because I hate
leaving work in an unfinished or unpolished state for too long. If I
do, I usually just lay it to rest. Some of the tracks, like Snoball
for example, were the product of one sleepless session. Others didn't
come together quite as easily. Champion Sound was one of the first
songs I started and it was one of the last to finish.
You also did the album cover artwork, as well as the artwork for
the upcoming album by Electronic Barnacle Island. Both are incredible
pieces of work. How long have you been doing art?
Thank you. I have been painting for about fifteen years and I have
been dabbling in graphic design for about ten. I really enjoy it.
What type of synth tools did you use to create the album?
My studio is mostly software based. Lots of VST analog synth stuff and
sound development tools. Many of my tracks begin in Fruity Loops and
wind up in Wavelab for finalization. Model-E from Steinberg and Pro-52
from Native Instruments were both used abundantly on the album.
Have you had any feedback from those who have heard advanced copies
of Minikon?
Actually, the feedback has been phenomenal. Even people whom you would
never suspect could enjoy such a thing as Minikon have loved it. I
guess it's still possible for people to like happy music. Who knew?
Are you working on any other projects at this time?
Right now I am working on the next Minikon and plan to start working
on a project called Eastgate Sound shortly after its release.
I ask this question to everyone. How do you feel about file
sharing? Does it help or hurt the music industry?
I believe it depends on who is downloading. I personally use file
share programs to decide if I want to buy a CD, not to replace CDs
altogether. I can think of many albums in my personal collection that
I would not have purchased if I had not heard them first. However, I
know that I am a rare breed when it comes to that.
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