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Interview With Ikue Mori
Ikue Mori moved from Tokyo to New York over two decades ago and since then has been filling the air with tumultuous and complex beats, emoting a range of atmospherics from the tranquil to the brooding to the cacophonous. Initially working on an acoustic drum kit with no-wavers DNA, she now coaxes a blanket of beats out of her self-doctored drum machines and samplers. She has worked with a wide range of experimentalist luminaries, including John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Fred Frith, Brian Eno and Arto Lindsey and has appeared on over 80 releases to date. Her latest album is an inspired collaboration with Kim Gordon and DJ Olive released on SYR, Sonic Youth's record label (see review elsewhere in this issue of Clicks and Klangs). This interview was conducted prior to that collaboration. Do you still consider yourself to be a drummer? Not really. What I'm playing is closer to synthesiser. It's all digital, so I don't really think of myself as a drummer. Do you see any kind of connection with acoustic drums and the drum sounds that come from working with a machine? Well, I still use rhythm and beat as tools; as a vocabulary I use rhythm. I like to work with texture, and colour and melody. How do you see that as different from some drummers you admire? Someone like Susie Ibarra? She has a different form, she's more physical than me. Using a machine I feel rather than use physical elements to make sound... She's not really keeping a beat; she's more about texture, so that's kind of similar to what I'm doing. What I'm doing uses different muscles... My composition is like a combination of numbers on the surface. The machine is all numbers - a three drum machine-combination of the pattern each machine has (each one has about 100) and also a program that manages the multi-process with a program number. But this program is done randomly. Do you see that there is some sort of advantage, a certain feel or texture... something you can't achieve with the drum machine? Yes, of course. Right now I'm doing a lot of solo programs, playing for about 40 minutes with just the machines, and I think it's somehow a bit tiring. If you have acoustic elements, acoustic sounds of instruments together, it's much more interesting. What about the fact that when you sit down, you're in front of a machine as opposed to the drums, surrounded by the toms and such... That I don't miss... it doesn't seem like it, but I'm still kind of physical in a way... using the pedal, and then changing the programs, pushing buttons. It's just a different way of using the muscles, but it's still physical. That I don't miss. It's just that the acoustic sound is a totally different thing that I can't create. What about the range of sound? Do you find yourself missing the subtleties you can coax out of the drums? Well, I can create enough from my playing... that's what I'm trying to do, anyway. Creating different sounds with the combination of machine and effects. Sound-wise, part of the acoustic sound from the drums is missing sometimes. What about with percussion instruments - not just the drums, but the piano - the kind of attack you can get out of them that kind of comes down to the subtle touch or the hard touch - as opposed to the machine where it's manipulation of button and knobs? Well, it's just a matter of creating different dynamics, and being satisfied with that... because as you said it isn't as sensitive as other instruments... I would like to combine my work with acoustic instruments. When I'm playing solo - right now I'm concentrating on just drum machines and effects, but I'm also composing for ensemble, so it's really necessary for me to work with acoustic instruments. It's more like I'm closely working with the visible aspect of interaction... when people see me playing just the drum machine, I feel really boring. So it's important how you present your work - not just in a boring way, like when you see someone sitting in front of a computer. So right now I would like to collaborate with physical artists. That's the direction I want to go in right now. And then of course in the future, I'll probably use acoustic instruments. Are there any artists you've approached about that? Well, I've just started thinking about it this year. Are there any other drummers you admire that you can talk about a little bit? I only think about people that I work with. I've always admired Joey Baron, the way he plays. The dynamics, the way he combines melody and sounds, especially when he plays with Masada. He's so imaginative and complicated, the mix that he creates, that it's just like "Wow!" Any particular recordings you've enjoyed him on? No, it's more the live feeling. And I just played with Jim Black in Palestine in an ensemble. I heard about him a lot but I'd never played with him. Otherwise, I played with Eyving Kang. It was really nice - I really enjoyed playing with Jim. Jim isn't a very smooth drummer, so he can interact very well with the machine. I have a very short memory, so I just talk about this couple of people... What about people who use drum machines and samplers? Who do you admire that also works with them? I play in a group with Martin Tetreault and Dian Labrosse - one player uses a sampler, one player uses pure turntable, using the needle as a microphone. With the effects, it makes all different kinds of sounds. So that is more abstract - not about melody, it's sound-texture, landscape kind of thing. So those are people I can do things with. And Otomo - I never worked with him, but I saw him doing a festival in Switzerland. What do you admire about Otomo's work? I'm not saying I admire Otomo's work, but I'm kind of seeing a connection there. More like sound-collage... Are there any other players like that, that seem to be on your same wavelength? Well, nobody really works like me with the drum machine, but... well, I worked with DJ Olive - I appreciate his work. I don't know, I'd rather play with a different set-up of instruments, like violin, or organ, or cello, or effects that aren't the same. Then it's kind of limited... So you've never considered putting together an ensemble of drum machines or sequencers... I'm going to be working with Z'ev, the percussionist. We have a double bill with him. He works with drum machines also. He has this very aggressive approach to drum machines also. How about techno/electronica - do you listen to that kind of music? Do you get anything out of it? Not really, I don't know why. I like David Linton and Hahn Lowe - those people use computer programmed drum machines... most beats using a drum machine is really beat-oriented. You have this really fast beat, it's all rhythm... How would you describe your composing technique? Sometimes I use the beat, the phrase that I create is programmed in the drum machine, its patterns triggers the MIDI and that triggers the melody. Or I transcribe the melody from the drum machine and use that to write the piece. So I transcribe from my phrase, making a melody or rhythm to make another instrument play it, like a piano or violin. What kind of things inspired you in the first place to sit down and compose? I think I just improvise with themes and ideas, it depends on what you create. Do you like using graphic scores? It depends, improvising with people, I just use what I already programmed. When I do it solo, it's all numbers... I use graphic scores sometimes also. So you don't improvise at all? I improvise in my solo work. It's all different depending on the work. When I'm playing solo there's usually no improvising, but when I'm working with other people, it's a combination of improvising and using a score. It depends on the situation, but I do a lot of improvisation with different people. After working with Yostoshi this is one of my latest approaches, a kind of ongoing thing I have. If you had some kind of funding from some wise philanthropist, what other things would you do? More recordings, probably... unlimited studio time... Can you tell me some of your favourite covers? I like the Avant projects, because you can do it from scratch. It's getting better and better, technically, as I learn. So to kind of give a people an idea of who you are, can you talk about the other interests in your life? I like a lot of film noir... mysteries, murder/mysteries... I like the mood. That's really important for me when I create music, I like to work with the mood. Atmosphere is important too. Do you have any particular films you like? Just these 50's, 60's movies... I'm really bad with names... I have a big collection, but... Any other hobbies? I don't really have hobbies. When I'm working on graphic designs on computer, I like to put a video on. But that's not really a hobby. It's more habit than hobby! That's my life. Right now it's that and playing... and reading... What kind of reading do you enjoy? Mysteries... Last time we talked, you talked about reading women writers. Do you think it's important to support women in the arts? Sure. There's so many talented women, and women are still a second class in the music world. There's not much in New York, where there's a lot of musicians working. When you're going out, I often find I'm the only female musician. I can't even talk to this male engineer... I'm treated like a kid when I go to the music store, not as a professional musician. It's hard to be taken seriously as a musician. Do you find that same problem with other musicians? Not from musicians, so much. It's more like engineers or technicians in the studio. Have you taken any specific initiatives to support any group of women, or an idea that you've had in the future, maybe? There are many festivals. In Slovania, they have one called City of Women. And in Germany they have one called Canaria. And one in Montreal, in the past they've had a big international woman's festival. I don't know what it's called, but that's where I've met female musicians from all over, like Irene Schweizer from Switzerland. I know you're not a bitter person, but do you feel if you were a man, there would be more opportunities? Yes and no. Maybe so, but maybe because I'm such a unique person. jason gross, clics and klangs 3, october 2000 | |
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