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Yoshio Machida Interview in Nov.2003 *What is the idea of this album? I was making recording music, "Hypernatural series", which combined field recording , electronic sound and sound of various musical instruments. When the musical possibility was considered, I began to get interested in "performance" again. At first I just started from making an instrument, my original Steel Pan(I made two different types in the past.). And then I started to play the half improvised and half composed music which processed by Max/MSP. Although 70% or more depended on "recording" in the albums released before, this album has pieces of having depended to 70% or more "performance." The reason for choosing "flower" as a theme is that I wanted to make the image of a small thing being accumulated and completing a big texture. In fact, my performance is also minimal and the sound which is cut out from Steel Pan is reconstructed things like particles of the sounds which processing of MSP. There is an area in South Africa, called "NAMAQUA"(it uses also for the title of music). In this area, the many kinds of flowers bloom at one time once a year, and the land whole surface becomes carpet of flowers. This image is really important in this album. *How was this album made? Tracks which were improvisatorially performed by a self-made Steel Pan & a normal Steel Pan made from Trinidad and Tobago, and computer, tracks using the steel guitar of Guyatone, which is regularly used from the time of my being a high school student, a slow tempo unique track with the shout of mambo and robot voice... Keiichi Sugimoto (Minamo, Fonica) and Tetsuro Yasunaga (Minamo, Voima) played in several tracks. Both of they have rich talent truly. They were good to do work very intuitively. It was pleasant. *Why did it result in an idea called steel bread? It is a developed form of the gong sound which was being used in Hypernatural series. At the beginning, I found the fact that gong was used as a symbol of the sun which was the candidate for faith of ancient Southeast Asia including Japan. So the gong was used as a symbol of the image of "light" in Hypernatural. Among Chinese ethnic minorities, gong is surely installed in the center of the open space of a village at festival even now. It is drawn the image of the circular sun on the surface. But only one key can be fundamentally obtained from one gong. I wanted several keys in one instrument. Then, I was interested in Steel Pan which can get several keys. it has a circular form, just like radiation of light. From the first, I liked the tone, and also liked Mr. Yang Tomita's album. Then, I started to build my original Steel Pan. Because I wanted to feel the structure of the musical instrument through my body, not brain. This became very good study. Although gap existence is always recognized between imagination and reality, the same is completely said of making a musical instrument. The process of how sound is produced was able to be experienced from the beginning. It's just like that sport player needs a body for game. And he makes body for it by himself. *Are there any artists in whom you received influence? It is variously ... Recently, I often listen to Perez Prado of mambo. Pops of East Africa, i.e. Remy Ongala. In music experience, the church choir music in a village located in the north in Zambia was impressed most until now. It was choir by mamas and was really wonderful!! The music was felt like "life" itself. Being able to say in common with the southern Africa area from Sahara, the quality of music in a life is very high. I like funk, James Brown and thought that the groove was most groovy in music. But after this experience, JB's groove was listened as just like machinary "digital." For fine arts, I like art of the 70s, Minimalism, Support Surface, Arte Povera, MONO-HA, etc. I also like Kunie Sugiura's work, and Ei-Kyu. However, I may be influenced many from non-art rather than "art" recently. *How about your future activity? . Since amorfon has just been started, I have to put power into management of this label just for a moment. The acoustic band of Serbia is considered as a next release. And I want to strengthen network with not only music people but also people in another fields. This kind of music is in the very narrow range at the moment. Even the quality is very high, activity does not spread so much with reasons that it does not appear in media, and not so familiar. Such a thing has a problem in how it is functioning in society rather than a problem is in the very thing. Usually, a company which is functioning in order to obtain profits in society is concerned about how the significance of existence was accepted in people. Therefore, not only goods but naturally they try hard how it should be sold. It is a very natural figure. I think that a small label like amorfon should follow example of such postures. |