E*ROCK INTERVIEW

This is totally one of my fav artists right now, his stuff is so youthful and free: I love it. He's one third (or half, I'm not sure) of Wyld File, the people responsible for the Standing in the Way of Control" video for The Gossip, "Gameboy Homeboy"(beck video) and many other awesome things. If that wasn't enough, he also runs one of the cooler labels out there: Audio Dregs . He's also does a ton of art, flash and music which i practically want to hump, it's so good. It's cooler than smoking, I swear.

I didn't have many good questions, but he's was a sweetheart and answered them anyways.

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hi!
I bought the "Secret Lawns" cd/dvd a while back, and I was wondering if I could interview you for this little music blog I make. That would be awesome if you could.(editor's note: go buy the dvd)

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hey john,yeah, i'd be down for an interview. though if you want charlie/panther you should contact him here: panthercontrol@yahoo.com i put out the record, did some beats and made some videos, but its his band!

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-I thought you did some producing too,
what other beats/projects have you done?

Yeah, did some production on there too. Some upcoming remixes for ratatat, panther, yacht, white rainbow...discography here, but i haven't updated in like a year! http://www.e--rock.com/discography/index.html

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-what's your current musical project that you're excited about?

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New e*rock stuff might take a while to surface, but trying to do something more visual with live manipulated audio/visual sync... that and remixes and some other stuff that i can't really talk about because its going to take too long to finish.

-So you would say that you're still a visual artist primarily then?

Maybe. Well, that's the easiest way to get off the hook when people ask what I do. I'm something different every other week these days.

-When did you start being an artist professionally, and how did that happen?

I made a slow transition over the past 10 years of working only freelance and working for myself. I was a buyer at a record store for ten years after I moved to Portland; doing more and more print design work freelance, and eventually more video and animation, and kept the record label going all along. My "fine art" work has meshed with my "pop culture" side and (commercial side even) more and more. I'm not really making art "professionally" as far as I can tell. ha.

-What software/machines do you like to use ? (for music AND video)

For audio I use Abelton Live almost exclusively now. For videos I use Flash, After Effects and Final Cut, as well as Illustrator and Photoshop and whatever I can scan in there, if there's any animation involved. The usual things as well as some extras like macromedia futuresplash.

What are your favorite drugs?

coffee

What do you think about political art?

That's a good question, I feel like politics is in most good art, but maybe in the background. I think living sustain-ably is probably the most important political statement you can make. Eventually the politics will become more apparent in all the things that we do.

What are your favorite mediums when you draw/paint/color whatever it is you do?

I like when everything gets mixed. Drawing and Flash might be my favorites and I should probably incorporate more paper drawings into Flash, but it can be very time consuming. It would be nice to have a scanner that you could load a stack of papers into and it would scan and save in sequence. That's my dream right now.

What's your favorite beer?

Duvel

What are you typically doing on a friday evening?

That's a good time to stay home and edit video if there's no bands playing that I need to see.

Do you think Justin Timberlake is as dreamy as everyone says he is?

Yeah, pretty much. Maybe not much to look at, but dreamy like a baby horse.

What's the going rate for an e-rock music video these days?

A stack scanner and a Duvel.

Why did you start audiodregs, and how would you say it differs fromother labels in the way it's run?

I did a cassette label in high school (mostly my own music to start), then CDRs, and then did vinyl and CDs with Audio Dregs, but it was always about releasing friends music that wouldn't have been heard otherwise. I didn't know I was "doing a label at first", but it was something. We're different than most because we're not commercially motivated. I'm not trying to release popular bands-usually more insular single expressions of home producers or people that operate between genres, but its about the ideas and working with people that you like. \

What kind of buisness model does the label typically operate under? Small runs? any Distro?
We usually do 1000 CDs and repress if needed. Our main distro is Darla. They are a small indie distro/label and are nice people and consistent and have really helped me out a ton. Its actually possible to our order our CDs through more mainstream places and one stops and like Amazon.com but I really doubt that many get sold that way.

What's the worst/best thing anyone's ever said about your work?

People usually just say that my work is basically The Red Hot Chili Guys in the year 2010. I think that's the best thing anyone has ever said. The worse is when they said that my art made me look fat.

(I know this question is corny) Where do you get inspiration/ideas from?

Friends, the internet, LP covers, video games and zines... Shoboshobo, Mat Brinkman, Ola Vasiljeva, Paper Rad, Matt Lock, Brent Wadden, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Eye, Kyle Field, Seripop, CF, Zeloot...

Do you garden much?

It sounds like a good idea, but our yard is about 3 feet wide.

What's your favorite ethnic food?

Japanese, Vietnamese and French and those wood oven Euro style pizzas with salad are awesome. In australia they put beats and fried eggs on hamburgers-not very awesome.

from an artistic standpoint, how much of what you do is premeditated/spontanious?

That's always the trick, trying to balance solid premeditated ideas with a spontaneous approach so that the outcome has some surprises. Its like being a scientist in a way.

Can you tell by the line of questioning that I'm ADHD?

I know HD means "high definition" but the other part is like after the year zero?

Doesn't art school just make you throw up in your mouth a little?

I never tried art school. My sister is going to grad school right now for art and it sounds a little intense, but I think it can be good if it challenges you and you can take what you want from it in the end. I'm not a very professional artist, I suppose I should try harder, but I also like that because there's no pressure to follow anyone's rules. BUt I also want to do it all, and art school would probably be a good way to focus for a while.

I guess I don't have anything else to ask... is there anything you wanna talk about/say? music or food or something?

I like turtles.



Panther_Hey (E*Rock Remix) from wyldfile on Vimeo.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ericwmast
http://www.e--rock.com/
http://www.audiodregs.com/
http://www.frykbeat.com/
http://www.wyldfile.org/