interview

New Oren Ambarchi interview

My interview with composer and multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi (whose records are ace) has been published at Cyclic Defrost. Here’s an excerpt:

“I’m chasing a feeling I get from some of my favourite musics. Something that’s transporting, otherworldly. Ecstatic free sound. I’m searching for something that is almost unknown to me, until I find it, that is. Some kind of beauty.
“I know it when I find it. Somehow everything falls into place – hopefully – at a certain point. I’m happy for this to take a while, so it’s a journey.
“There is some perfectionism but I’m trying not to be too anal about it all. I don’t want to suck the life out of it from refining, refining, refining. It still needs to retain a rawness, an unpredictability. There’s a fine line there, and I have to watch it.”

You can read the rest here.

…And Then There Were III – The Immortal Lee County Killers

This is an older interview of mine, presented here for archival purposes. The writing is undoubtedly different to the present, and the review style may differ between publications. Enjoy, if that’s the right word. 

Some days, rock requires a hearty constitution. You have to be in your prime to handle the mammoth toll of The Road and The Rock, and all the debauchery and seat-of-the-pants flying that that entails, to be ready to belt out screams, high kicks and overdriven, amped-gig freneticism.

On other days, you sit on your porch and comfort your cat during a thunderstorm. That’s what The Immortal Lee County Killers III’s vocalist and guitarist Chetley Weise was doing on the day that I caught up with him. (more…)