THE ECLECTIC INTERVIEWS RETURN

Arpraxis poses 4 questions to 4 ‘Eclectic Rangers’ and receives 4 wonderfully eclectic answers.

MICHAEL DONOGHUE:

Q1. If your underground / eclectic music scene were suddenly thrust into the mainstream spotlight tomorrow, what elements would you fight hardest to preserve, and which compromises might actually benefit the community?

A1. There’s a certain innocence that comes with being out of the mainstream and the creative process is pure. Keeping hold of that is important.

I’d try and make sure that the community sticks together and that the world is aware of its presence. That mainstream platform needs to be utilised to back each other.

Q2. Beyond Spotify, what unconventional or overlooked channels have you found most effective for connecting your independent music with a genuinely engaged audience who appreciates your particular sound?

A2. Good question. Engagement is hard to come by, especially when your sound is considered ‘niche’. I don’t really have any good advice in this area. Ask again in 5 years.

Q3. When you discover a piece of music that truly resonates with you, what specific elements or qualities make it stand out? Is it technical innovation, emotional authenticity, cultural significance, or something entirely different?

A3. I rarely try to pick out anything technical. It’s all about getting an emotive response.

Q4. If your music collection gained sentience and had to vote one track as its spiritual leader, which underground / eclectic favourite would rise to power, and what would its first decree be to the listening masses?

Norrisette – Numbers. A song about music and art being reduced to numbers by streaming platforms (Spotify particularly). Fuck the numbers. Embrace the art.

WILL FARR

Q1. If your underground / eclectic music scene were suddenly thrust into the mainstream spotlight tomorrow, what elements would you fight hardest to preserve, and which compromises might actually benefit the community?

A1. Eclectic music isn’t really a scene, it’s lots of scenes so it’s really hard to compute what all of them thrust into spotlight would look like. It would suggest some radical upheaval of society, and I would probably suddenly have bigger fish to fry. I like helping people so I’d probably try to help whatever now found itself marginalised. Unless it was fascism, or something clearly detrimental to humanity. It would be pretty perverse to spend ages promoting underground / eclectic music and then get shirty that the scene has changed. I remember when hard house DJs started playing techno, and I was pissed off that the big names in hardhouse jumped ship to techno and were taking the credit for something I’d been playing for years. So, I think I’d find it hardest to preserve my ego. Community is inherently a living compromise, so all.

(ARP follow up question) Great…what if the word scene was changed to your musical preference. Would your answer remain?

WF Responds It would shorten it.  I guess it also depends on what capacity I am being asked. If the music I produce became mainstream, maybe I’d consider making it available to buy. If the music I push became mainstream, then I wouldn’t have to do it, and I could concentrate on making weird music nobody really understands or likes.

Q2. Beyond Spotify, what unconventional or overlooked channels have you found most effective for connecting your independent music with a genuinely engaged audience who appreciates your particular sound?

A2. I have never and will never use Spotify, music has been flying down hill faster since they showed up and I don’t think it is a total coincidence.  I’ve found the best way to connect with an audience is to get off my butt and go and play it in venues and talk to people about it. The internet has rendered having real world interpersonal skills a trump card, and shouldn’t be underestimated. This answer doesn’t help people who aren’t great at going up and talking to strangers, but I hope it encourages them to get better at it.

Q3. When you discover a piece of music that truly resonates with you, what specific elements or qualities make it stand out? Is it technical innovation, emotional authenticity, cultural significance, or something entirely different?

A3. I have just written something about this, so I’ll just elaborate on that. Music can just sound nice, but that doesn’t mean it will do anything for me. I’ve come to regard music as an unspoken coded message conveying an inner understanding of the human condition. It often doesn’t matter what the music sounds like, I just hear something in how it was made that I can understand – it’s a code I can understand, but I don’t know how. I make a point to try to talk to everyone when I have felt this way about their music, and without exception we have got on and communicated well through conventional language. It’s wild, and I love it. I hope I never understand it fully because the world needs mystery and magic. Some music is just really nice to sing with friends and family, and that’s different again.

(ARP follow up question) Ok WF, for sure music is an expression of the creator. If we accept that every song is a snapshot of a moment in time, then are we, as listeners, experiencing that moment as it was when it was made, or are we witnessing the echo of a moment, distorted by the passage of time and our own perception?

WF Responds Um, we’re hearing a snapshot, but the meaning changes depending on who is listening and when.  I’ve got something wilder for you. WAV files contain all the music produced, 320kbs mp3 files contain most of the music, and 128kbps are missing lots. The magic of your brain fills in the missing bits of music. What happens if everyone’s brain is projecting their own musicality into the missing bits? Everyone is listening to a slightly different piece of music. We have a common understanding, but only to a certain extent. What I think it means to be in love with someone is entirely subjective and fed by my experience, it will mean something quite different to someone who’s experienced love through the lens of their upbringing. Yet we all talk about love like it is the same thing. BTW,  on testing, a majority thought the 128kbps recording was the best quality, which just confirms what I suspect of most people.

Q4. If your music collection gained sentience and had to vote one track as its spiritual leader, which underground / eclectic favourite would rise to power, and what would its first decree be to the listening masses?

A4. Oh, this happened recently, so this is easy. Add N to (X): Revenge of the Black Regent – it told everyone to stop distracting themselves with frivolous nonsense and concentrate on upheaval. It decried the society we live in being built of a succession of failed structures built on other failed structures, and it wanted it all torn down and built again from scratch, but good this time. The masses didn’t like its policy on EV charging points in rural locations, so it had to water down a lot of its more radical policies.

SIGNAL COMMITTEE

Q1. If your underground / eclectic music scene were suddenly thrust into the mainstream spotlight tomorrow, what elements would you fight hardest to preserve, and which compromises might actually benefit the community?

A1. Most of our underground music scene is filled with bedroom artists that don’t play live. So being “forced” to play live would be a great compromise.

I’d want to preserve the raw authenticity of the music. Everything on 6Music sounds like it has been produced by the same apple polishers until it all sounds like gloop.

Q2. Beyond Spotify, what unconventional or overlooked channels have you found most effective for connecting your independent music with a genuinely engaged audience who appreciates your particular sound?

A2. In the pandemic there was a thriving underground community on Twitter. But it was mostly artists listening to artists. Furloughed workers fulfulling their abandoned hopes and dreams. Unfortunately they invented vaccines.

Q3. When you discover a piece of music that truly resonates with you, what specific elements or qualities make it stand out? Is it technical innovation, emotional authenticity, cultural significance, or something entirely different?

A3. I don’t analyse music. I listen to it.

(ARP follow up to question) So no emotion or feelings? Just raw listening power?

Signal Committee responds Is there any emotion in drone music?

Q4. If your music collection gained sentience and had to vote one track as its spiritual leader, which underground / eclectic favourite would rise to power, and what would its first decree be to the listening masses?

A4. Cargo Culte, by Serge Gainsbourg. It would tell motorists to be wary of cyclists. And vice versa.

ARPRAXIS SPEAKS TO ARPRAXIS

Q1. If your underground / eclectic music scene were suddenly thrust into the mainstream spotlight tomorrow, what elements would you fight hardest to preserve, and which compromises might actually benefit the community?

A1. I’d probably fight to preserve the authenticity and creative freedom that comes without commercial pressure. When artists create without worrying about mainstream appeal, the music stays true to its roots. One of my underground passions has always been techno. This is now mainstream in many ways and can’t help but feel the formula has got hold of it and the build ups and drops are like they were in the mid 90s. Nothing original here…where’s the evolution? So keep pushing the boundaries and mangle your sound.

I’d compromise on good toilet facilities. Revolutionary music doesn’t actually require choosing between holding it for four hours or using a toilet that looks like a portal to a horror movie. We can have working plumbing and still keep our anti-establishment credentials.

Q2. Beyond Spotify, what unconventional or overlooked channels have you found most effective for connecting your independent music with a genuinely engaged audience who appreciates your particular sound?

A2. Tricky. I don’t know how to engage with my Spotify followers because I don’t know who they are. I’d like to know…the app itself is not community-focussed as it’s a listening portal. However, radio stations have been wonderful, including and especially FOTN’s  Neil and Del where a community does exist. This has been fantastic. Insta has been incredible and I’ve only been using it for 2 years. Lots of support, reviews and opportunities to get listen to other artist’s music. Robson Darker has been fantastic at creating a community with a shared playlist. This is a great way to engage with others.  I am now a part of FiloFX records…also initially met on Insta and run by RogueFX. He’s created a wonderful community within the label and beyond. I suppose it’s about connecting with those you get a good vibe from. Finally, Signal Committee, who gave me an opportunity to part of the Eclectic Picks and the Del to become part of the wider team. Being genuine, friendly and all the things my mum taught me have proven the most effective. Whether they all appreciate my sound, who knows 😃, they are all incredible.

Q3. When you discover a piece of music that truly resonates with you, what specific elements or qualities make it stand out? Is it technical innovation, emotional authenticity, cultural significance, or something entirely different?

A3. Very hard to define. That’s the magic. I don’t know what it is. Leonard Cohen has me singing and electronic music has me staring into space watching the music, while trying to dance. When I DJ, it’s the rhythm and structure of the tracks layering. Music I like, I suppose has always held my attention, I don’t know why. It’s neural escapism. Whether it’s a repetitive 160 stomper, a complex night at Ronnie Scott’s or Duran Duran I’m transported.

Q4. If your music collection gained sentience and had to vote one track as its spiritual leader, which underground / eclectic favourite would rise to power, and what would its first decree be to the listening masses?

My collection would elevate The Martian’s ‘Stardancer’ as its spiritual leader, and it makes perfect sense. Still when I hear that singing synth and flanged heaven cutting through the rhythm, it’s calling for all the paths not taken. Its first decree would be something “Remember when a lot of music actually made you feel something? Before you went out of your way to buy comfortable and sensible shoes? This track…this perfect glorious monument to possibility demands you recognise that the clock is ticking. The kick drum isn’t just marking time; it’s reminding you it’s running out.

Those 4 a.m. moments weren’t misspent youth. It was authentic. Remember who you were before spreadsheets, avoiding driving during rush hour and using go compare for the best electricity tariff.

The minimalism isn’t emptiness. It’s clarity. Strip away the accumulated nonsense. Your streaming algorithms showing you watered-down versions of music that once changed your life? ‘Delete the app’ it whispers to you in your ear.

‘You don’t need more stuff’. ‘You need more meaning.’ You need to promote what actually matters. When was the last time you felt your body vibrate with purpose to a sound system? ‘The day will come when you can’t dance anymore’ it announces as it spins mesmerisingly. That day isn’t today. All hail Stardancer.