sexta-feira, 31 de janeiro de 2014

Black Love with Crashfaster - An Interview


O TBTCI dá uma trégua no psych e ataca de electro noise.....

Kraftwerk com Afghan Whigs, NIN com Smashing Pumkpinks?? É o lance do Crashfaster é pra soar esquisito mesmo, mezzo eletrônico e robótico, mezzo guitarrada, e mesmo assim foge das duas coisas.

Further de novembro do ano passado fez um certo barulho pela cena de San Francisco e credenciou os caras a abrirem 2014 já pensando em excursionar pelos Estados Unidos mas antes disso tudo, uma passada no TBTCI pra explicar qual é a dos caras.


***** Interview with Crashfaster *****



Q. When did Crashfaster start, tell us about the history...

crashfaster was founded in 2008 as a solo project with a one goal: repurpose the raw sound of old 8-bit video game systems to create new music that was both nostalgic and also pushed sonic boundaries. After
releasing my first album in 2011, I felt that in order to evolve as an act, I must add additional musicians.
I'm really excited to be working with my bandmates. Each of us has our own distinct influences and style to bring to the project...all of which help create a more diversified musical palate. Ultimately this is what's going to set us apart. We aren't trying to mimic any particular style, but rather, by smashing several genres together,
we've begun to discover a wholly unique sound.

Q: Who are your influences?
Musically, I've been heavily influenced by the scores by Bernard Hermann and Danny Elfman as well as the works of Kratwerk, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, The Postal Service, and Smashing Pumpkins.
Lyrically, I'm a huge fan of Greg Dulli, Damien Jurado and Ben Gibbard.

Q. Make a list of the best 5 albums of all time
This is really difficult. My tastes are all over the place, so I'm going to approach this question through the lense of which albums have been most influential in forming the crashfaster sound:

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Afghan Whigs - Black Love
ELO - Time
Neil Young - Trans
Prince - Purple Rain
Fischerspooner - Odyssey

As you can see, I'm obsessed with albums that have a strong narrative construct and really push the limits of how pop music is defined.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Playing live is one of the single greatest experiences of my life. There's an invaluable feedback loop that's created between the artist and the audience that has molded every one of our tracks. We often
play rough versions of new songs to gauge not only how and when the crowd reacts, but also, how we feel while we're playing. Sometimes you record something that sounds incredible in the studio, but when you
play it live in front of people, it just doesn't work.

Q. How do you describe Crashfaster sounds?
At our core, we're a chiptune act - which is to say, we use a lot of old game systems to generate the electronic melodies. The NES, Gameboy and Commodore 64 are silent members of our band. We also layer in vintage analog synthesizers and drum machines. The rest is organic -vocals, guitar, drums. This creates an interesting dynamic of man versus machine. Our latest album, "Further" ended up sounding a little
more Industrial, but it's still difficult to classify. I think you'll hear all of my influences if you listen for them.


Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Usually we start by playing simple riffs on the NES or Gameboy, and then begin to layer additional instruments on top. This typically results in a very thick-sounding track. When we worked with Patrick
Brown (Producer on "Further"), he had us strip the songs back down to their essence in order to find the simple truth of what we were trying to say. This has had a profound effect on our songwriting, and I'm
excited to start working with a new creative process.

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
I've had the all of these on loop for the past few months: Chvrches, Demon Queen and Perturbator. Also, my (monobomb) label-mate Doctor Popular's upcoming album, "Destroy All Presets."

Q: Which bands would you love to cover version?
We've done many covers in the past, from Nine Inch Nails to Weezer, but I'd still love to do ELO. I find Jeff Lynne's compositions to be equal parts simple (melodically) and complex (sonically). One of these days, I'm going to tackle it, but I want to make sure I do it justice.

Q: What´s the plans for future....
We'd like to start touring outside of America soon, and we're already working on new material for an upcoming EP. We're also playing around with the idea of creating a video game based on the story line of
"Further".

Q: Any parting words?
It's an exciting time to be an artist. Our music is not necessarily something you hear and immediately fall in love with. It's multi-layered. It's a slow burn. But thanks to the internet, people all over the world now have an unprecedented amount of choice on how they spend their time and money. I'm incredibly grateful that we can reach people who are searching for something new, something different, and that they support what we're trying to accomplish.
*
*
*
Thanks Morgan

https://www.facebook.com/crashfaster
https://crashfaster.bandcamp.com/album/beacon