On his 8th birthday, he recieved a transistor radio. It was during that time, in the late 60's, when The Chaircrusher
got turned on to the San Franciso/Bay area psychedelic pop music music movement.
However, classical music was a constant influence in his surroundings, "my dad was a symphony conductor, and he used
to bring home anything
new to the classical field, I inherited all the records that were too weird for him."
In high school, he avidly followed the first wave of german electronic producers: Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, and Edgar Froese.
Unable to afford the exorbinate prices of the synthesizers at the time, he had to be content with teaching himself to play guitar
and experimenting with tape loops on an old reel-to-reel.
After getting is masters degree at the University of Iowa, he settled down and raised a family. The Chaircrusher patiently
gathered and
assembled musical equipment for a top-of-the-line home studio.
and ambient music just to name a few genres. His personal computer hardware and software had advanced, and he learned
to combine both traditional analog equipment and computer technology to interface with each other.
The dream of a top-notch home stuido, some twenty years earlier, was at last realized. The Chaircrusher was in full-effect.
"Like classical composers, modern electronic and dance producers work within the constraints of a particular genre," says
The Chaircrusher. "This can be a curse if you fall prey to the cliches of musical style. But, the stylistic conventions can give
listeners something familiar to hang onto when you want to try something new and experimental."
 |  featuring: The Chaircrusher |
You don't limit yourself to just hip-hop beats...you run the whole electronic spectrum...tell us why you are so diverse
in your musical tastes.
The quick answer is that I'm easily bored. I think
growing up in a musical family and being exposed to a lot of different
music
makes it hard to settle on one particular genre at the exclusion
of others. Like Duke Ellington said, "there's good music, and then
there's
the other kind." I listen to a lot of electronic music, but I am a huge
fan of John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Jimi Hendrix,
Miles Davis, etc. I've actually been digging some of the tracks on Lisa Marie Presley's
CD too -- great drum breaks.
Its common knowledge around these parts that your abilities in the
post-production realm are top-notch...what do
you enjoy most about
mastering and what are the least favorite parts about mastering.
Mastering for me is more of an analytical activity, compared to making music.
Music is subjective and messy. Mastering is all
about RMS levels, tonal
balance and hearing. So, it's a craft that I can practice without putting
as much of myself on the line as I do
with my own music. And I get paid;
I don't make very much money from my own music.
Things I don't like about mastering? When I don't get paid. Bitches know
who they are. I mean I do freebies for friends and all but
if you say
you're going to pay me...do it.
You don't limit yourself to just sampling, you play a bunch of live
instruments and sample from them also.
What are some of the instruments
you play and what do you like most about their characteristics?
Samples can be cool, but they mostly just lay there. In some sense, sampling
is about tricking people. Live instruments get back
to where music really
comes from. There's really no substitute; the dude in the James Brown band
playing a B Minor Seventh chord
all night long sounds better than
the same guy sampled. I play Cello, Guitar, and some Piano. When I play
Guitar or Cello
I can play what's in my head. It's trickier getting [the sounds I want] with a computer.
 |
The Chaircrusher's email |
