Somojo magazine interview

Somojo magazine interviews Pixieguts http://www.somojomagazine.com Would you mind introducing yourself and telling us what instruments you play? I’m a vocalist in Australia making music with electronic producers around the world through file sharing over the internet. I produce, record, cut, and sample my own voice using Ableton Live, Sound Forge and Acid Pro software. How long has the current band line up been together? I make music with many different artists. The collaborations have been going on for around 18 months in some instances, as with Dementio13 (Wales), Dj Sid-The Apocalypze (USA), Titee (Australia), Adrian Carter (UK), E.I (UK), Crimson Death (Canada), Corrientes (USA). Other collaborations are more recent and have taken off quickly, like Baxandall IP (Poland) and Voide (Sweden). How did you get to meet each other? I’ve only met two of my collaborators in person - my partner Titee, an experimental artist who has his main web presence on the Jamendo site, and The Peach Tree, a Melbourne muso I first met on the internet and then had a cool time with for real on a recent visit to my old home town. In all other cases I have connected with collaborators in cyberspace and we have developed good internet friendships, along with interesting processes for music making at a distance – this just keeps getting better over time. Websites that have made these meetings possible include Last.fm, Pixies Palace (a network I started at Ning), EI Network, Ground Zero, Soundcloud and MySpace. Artist discography ALBUMS Immaterial - Pixieguts/Various 2009 Cwtch – Cwtch 2009 Pixiegraf - Dementio13 Feat Pixieguts 2008 Walking On Mercury - Pixieguts/Various 2008 Pixiegraf Reworked - Dementio13 Feat Pixieguts 2008 Pixieguts! - Pixieguts/Various 2008 EPs/TRACK COMPILATIONS Sun Diviners - Baxandall IP Feat. Pixieguts (EP) 2009 Long Tall Man - E.I ft Pixieguts (EP) 2009 Groundzero - Mr Collie & Pixieguts/Various (compilation track) 2009 1000 Rubies - Adrian Carter/Anne Garner/Pixieguts/Kate Vale (EP) 2008 Mastered By Mr Death - Titee/Pixieguts/Crimson Death (EP) 2008 Electromagnetic Death - Crimson Death/E.I/Pixieguts (EP) 2008 All digital releases except Long Tall Man which is also available on disk. What music did you listen to while growing up? Very eclectic! Old country, ballet music, Elvis, musicals, disco, pop on the radio, live indie rock in Melbourne, experimental, folk. Are you self taught or did you have lessons? I did about a year of classical voice training a long time ago, the rest is exploration. Did you always want to be in a band when you were growing up? I was more into dance and wanted to be an astronaut in my spare time - but from an early age people liked the sound of my voice and I liked singing! Do you record at a purpose built studio or do you record at home with portable digital equipment? I record in my study with a condenser mike and premixer straight onto Ableton Live. Some of the producers I work with have professional studio setups, some work basic with FLP Studio, hi-fi and low-fi make ace sounds. When’s the new album released, how long has it taken? The album just released at the start of April is called immaterial. It’s a selection of tracks produced since July 2008, so about 9 months in the making. Any new recordings planned? There’s music happening all the time. The most recent (finished last week) is a trip-hop track with Crimson Death – Aftershock. Who are the main song writers for the band? I come up with most of the lyrics but particularly love working with other people’s words. Lyrics collaborators include TRavvy, Titee, Nita Disaster and Adrian Carter. Some of the tracks have had lyrics by the producers themselves, some we’ve written together in the back and forth over the net. Do you write songs only about personal experiences? Everything comes from the heart and soul but I work in a mostly improvisational way at the time of recording and sing on the spot about anything that’s in my mind or that the music suggests to me personally. This leads to diverse themes and an impressionistic quality. For a long time I have been drawn to dreams and the unconscious in everyday life, this might be the most consistent lyric element in the tunes. Who are your favorite song writers? Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell are way up there. Which countries would be at the top of your list to tour? Anywhere, especially if I could meet some of my collaborators in person! How do you promote your music and get your music to new fans? The web, especially through Last.fm, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation, Jamendo, Ning networks, blogs, internet radio, podcasts – and I’m on Somojo. Do you think such sites are good for independent and unsigned artists? They have made a whole new world of music making and finding an audience possible, beware the addiction! Would you sign with a major record company? Only if they were very nice, lol. Some of the music is being distributed by netlabels: dPulse (USA/UK), Mystique Moon (Poland), Ground Zero Records (USA). Deep/progressive house music EP and tracks through Juno. How did you come up with name? There’s been comment in reviews about my artist name being bizarre – it’s a nickname a close friend gave me. I love the earth, like fantasy and I’m a sensitive mischievous creature with guts. What would you call your style of music? Eclectic vocal electronica. Trip house alternative. Top tags for the music at Last.fm: trip-hop, electro, house, trance, idm, dnb, house, techno, rave, experimental. Where can you see yourself in ten years? Making music more wondrous than now. What are your day jobs if you have one? I’ve been an artist of one kind or another all my life working part-time rent jobs– at the moment I type for a living. Has your music been used on any film soundtracks? Experimental video. Is there anything you’d like to add? Viva electronica! http://www.somojo.net/Pixieguts Artists mentioned in interview Adrian Carter: http://myspace.com/adriancarter Baxandall IP: http://myspace.com/baxandallip Dementio13: http://myspace.com/dementio13 Dj Sid-The Apocalypze: http://myspace.com/apocalypze E.I: http://eletromag.ning.com Crimson Death: http://crimsondeath.net The Peach Tree: http://tiny.cc/ThePeachTree Titee: http://tiny.cc/TiteeJamendo Voide: http://voide.net