Regular viewers to �Setting Sun� and my blogspot attached to it (http://www.swampheartland.blogspot.com) will have noticed back in
November of last year I saw my pal, Bela Emerson in concert and saw a
couple of other interesting acts in concert in somebody�s house over in Levenshulme, which was a night and a half I won�t forget in a hurry
(Read the review believe me).
During this night, besides witnessing Bela produce a typical hair
raising performance � I also managed to watch a number of other
interesting acts, one of which was a very softly spoken Canadian girl
called Sherry who now lives in London and produced a wildly experimental
set under the name of One Person Music which in a way touched on the
style of Bela�s cello / double bass playing, expect it flowed through
a guitar and would frequently start off with a beautifully strung of
acoustic strums before building sometimes into almost white noise.
To say we were blown away was an understatement and it made almost natural sense to approach her for an interview as soon as time in both of our
busy schedules allowed.
Thanks to Sherry for her time and trouble with this interview.
The last answer in particular made me chuckle.
I certainly recommend you check out her website www.musicforone.com
or contact her directly on [email protected] - her version of
�Funny Valentine� is particularly worth hearing but I would also
suggest you check out her original material for something truly
awe-inspiring.
Cheers
Andrew N
Setting Sun:
How�s tricks and whats happening at the moment?
Music for One:
i'm a bit hungover... birthday/holiday festivities. because
or in spite of this i feel quite optimistic at the moment.
Setting Sun:
Now can you tell us a little bit about yourself,
introduce yourself be it for a better word tell us
what started you off, who fired the starting pistol
etc? Music for One:
i play guitar (primarily) and sometimes other objects
that make sounds.
When i hadn't managed to flee for the city, playing guitar
at home made the suburbs vaguely bearable (that and
getting annihilated on booze from my parents liquor cabinet
or tripping on acid and other teenage pursuits.) i played
in a few unremarkable bands for a few years and then
played in a band that left all the doors open for me.
We were an instrumental trio and played just for the sake
of playing.
We didn't consciously try to do anything particularly different
but just allowed sounds to happen... we fueled each others
creativity and gave each other a sense of hope in a fucked
up world. by this point i had been hungrily devouring all sorts
of abstract music and saturated with all this i started making
micro music of my own. i played a couple of shows on my
own in vancouver and then moved to england and
music for one slowly and sometimes quickly unfolded.
Setting Sun:
What are your influences (music wise) and what have
> you been listening to recently?
Music for One:
i have too many music influences to list... but i hope that
maybe other things besides music influence my music
making more. i think that would be more interesting.
I got a philip jeck cd for my birthday that is really nice.
The drones at the start of it are top quality. i
really like this album by a woman called lhasa which is
beautiful and i can't stop listening to it. on
my birthday i went to the south london
gallery and had kaffe matthews manipulate the
intense frequencies of her sonic bed while i
was lying in it. it's literally a sonic massage...
low frequencies absolutely rattle you (but in a very
good way) and high pitched chirps and clicks
flutter around like sonic insects.
Setting Sun:
Can you also confirm to us what have you released
so far and where and where can get hold of these from?
Music for One:
the recordings page of my website more or less covers
this.... stay tuned for a very limited 3" on a japanese
label. exciting.
Setting Sun:
I know from conversations with Bela Emerson that
you play gigs on a sort of regular basis, can you tell
us a little bit about your gigs - how they compare etc
to your more studio recordings - is their one you
prefer over the other?
Music for One:
the gigs i play are with guitar, effects pedals (which includes
2 looping pedals), and a few other changeable random bits.
Everything is created live, as and when. some gigs are more
improvised some less...
I usually always have a handful of preconceived melodies and
sounds i know i would like to play. how it all unfolds can
sometimes be a completely different matter. this keeps
me on my toes and gives the audience something to engage
with as i'm low on the rock poses. studio
recordings i do at home and record into the computer.
Sometimes i leave the recordings untouched and other
times i try my best to puree my guitar and bits into
digital soup. live things have always flowed quite well...
I think i have to fight with things more in the studio
(at home) which is ironic seeing that i'm a sound engineer.
Setting Sun:
Can you also tell us what inspired you to call yourself Music
for One?
Music for One:
i like the name because it's open to interpretation.
Setting Sun:
I haven�t yet heard your newly released album,
instead picking up your Inside Out album but I was
really impressed with this album, in particular your
cover version off �Funny Valentine�� Can you tell us
what inspired you to do such a individual take on a
classic track like this?
Music for One:
inevitably you're going to leave your fingerprints all over
your version of a song, that's what makes a cover
engaging... i just happened to have messed around
with this song in my halfhearted efforts at being a
jazz musician and when i started doing stuff on my
own it just sorta fell out and seemed to lend itself to
being played really slowly with my added or stripped
away choice of chords. last year i played a satie
(piano) song for a little bit.
Setting Sun:
What�s next for you? Do you have any more concerts
planned / releases etc?
Music for One:
as mentioned 3" cd... i'm takin' some time off gigs to
collaborate with some visual artists and also to restart
work on an installation.
Setting Sun:
A few more slightly light hearted questions - what
would you do if you were not a rock and roll star?
Music for One:
get drunk more often, assassinate tony blair or some
such power hungary halfwit, or be an organic farmer.
Setting Sun:
Lastly, something light to finish off (Borrowed
from a pal's zine almost) - Imagine you were ship
wrecked on a desert Island and could have (Clearly
have second sight here � lol) the choice of having 5
records or Cd's with you with a Stereo of course-
what would be your desert Island discs?
Music for One:
5 gorgeously amazing albums that i've never heard
before that will become my new loves.
