BRIEF ENCOUNTER: DAREN HO

Daren Ho is a composer and performer,  as well as one of the proprietors of  CONTROL,  certainly the finest modular synth shop on the east coast.  While working with synthesizers,  especially in the form of modulars can seem daunting at times,  Daren brings helpful insights to the process of making sound with electricity.  The kind folks at CONTROL in Brooklyn are certainly one of the reasons  for  frequent visits to my favorite borough.

You work primarily with electronics. Why were you initially attracted to the eccentricities of oscillators,  filters,  sequencers,  etc?

I was taught how to perform music at an early age and played a handful of musical instruments in various traditional music ensembles...orchestras, symphonies, choirs, quartets, and other gang formations. I began to become genuinely interested in electronic music when I picked up the electric guitar. The idea of electric rock music and electronic music being very new to me and having a lot of undefined boundaries was and still is really appealing. The instrumentation and music I was brought up with had too much conservative ideas and loaded histories behind them to really get away from expectations and assumptions.

Your recent work seems very much about rhythm,  texture,  and repetition.  Is that a fair assessment,  and how does this body music fit into an expansive view of what you do?

I've always been attracted to repetitious music, which began with Bach via Tetris for the Nintendo Game Boy, singing Frere Jacques in 1st grade French class, eventually leading to the Boss DD-3 pedal, Terry Riley, Kosmische Musik, Techno, House music..it can go on. It's all pretty much an analogy to life. Things are cyclical routines with little tweaks to grow and correcting the wrongs with rights. Tweaking repetitious music with sounds that are much more pleasing than the previous. At least that's how I think about it. I could be completely wrong. Or right. Who knows?!

You've (and business partner Jonas Asher) recently had an anniversary of sorts,  that of the opening of CONTROL,  one of the few brick  and mortar modular synth stores. Its walk in and patch immediacy and connectivity with local artists (Rob Lowe,  Rene Hell,  etc.) as well  as Eurorack manufacturers (in-store demos by designers) seem both inspiring and creatively generative.  How do you feel after a year online and on the streets of Brooklyn? 

One year in and feeling not too shabby. I've met the most diverse group of people and have had opportunities that I cannot be more thankful for. Hopefully that isn't the end of it. That would, to put it plainly, suck a lot. I am also hoping that we've made our friends of the shop more knowledgeable about electronic music and modular synths, through telephone conversations, email exchanges, and the habitual walk-ins who've stopped by whenever they're around the neighborhood.

I've also definitely noticed a change in my eating habits. I'm not so sure if that translates at the shop, but I hope that if it does, it's delicious. For everyone.

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ONCE AGAIN: FIRST FIGS OF THE SEASON

With their thick skins and mild sugars,  these early figs are hardly harbingers of what is to come.  Of course if we were in Rome right now we'd have had our share of that sweetness by now.

OPTIK: HEAVEN'S GATE

Power and class in America,  that's what this much maligned film from 1980 is all about.  The financial failure of HEAVEN'S GATE meant the end of personal film-making in Hollywood,  risk-taking replaced by cliche.  It's message seems oddly prescient for our time, where rich men make ALL the decisions in America, poverty is rampant,  and the masses take solace in the meaningless deaths of our "heroes" in uniform. Where Wal-Mart seriously thinks minimum wage is a living wage.  And the "others" (immigrants) are the targets of our frustrations (be they financial or ideological). Little has changed in the American class structure. Director Michael Cimino shows the joys and failures of both classes,  turning chaos into ballet and history into poetry.  See all three and a half hours of it,  and decide what side of the fence you're on.

PROCESS: Are We There Yet?

When considering whether a painting is "finished",  one must spend plenty of time viewing and thinking about the phenomena set before you,  especially when the work is abstract in nature.  Given its apparent openness in terms of interpretation,  I depend neither on the opinion's of others,  nor the seductive sensuality of color for any affirmation. It's very much about the poetic potential of form,  isn't it?

MAGNIFIERS: JAPANOISE by David Novak

What I always liked about Japanese noise is its ability to blot out any expectations one might have about barrages of feedback,  distortion,  and abused electronics actually being music.  Well beyond cultural and aesthetic considerations,  this particular noise functions as a bludgeoning entity,  and in doing so,  generally abolishes language's attempt at explaining it.  Fortunately David Novak does a fine job of  traipsing through the fringes of Japanese culture and hence illuminating this intensely analogue bodily astringent. I, for one became interested in noise  when I stumbled upon an underground cassette culture that sought to circumvent the usual means of production and distribution.  My main contact turned out to be none other than Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) who was just beginning to amass his immense catalogue of cassette releases.  He became my entry point,  a kind and generous soul who just happened to be creating some of the harshest sounds ever!  This book serves a similar function,  but with greater authority and a broader view (the US scene is also explored). Its wildly comprehensive exploration of Japanese noise  (practitioners,  methodology,  anti-aesthetic and history) may be more of an immersion into noise than we would ever need.... nah!

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: COOTIE

This toy is indeed iconic to us oldsters,  and certainly suggests a kinder, gentler,  pre-digital mentality,  even while its name is synonymous with a fictitious disease aimed squarely at the opposite sex (STD,  anyone?).  The idea of actually manipulating brightly colored body parts to form a kind of Fauvist bug  may seem foreign to kids brought up glued to their IPhones,  but it's certainly what hooked me.  While I doubt that my brother and I ever actually played a game of Cootie,  it was the sheer joy of creating incongruous creatures as if in Dada parlor game that fascinated us.  Indeed,  my various Cootie creations may well be the only sculptures I will ever make,  as well as my only foray into  improvisational "jazz".  Go figure!?

CIBO: CROSTATA FRUTTA

My wife used her culinary creativity to put together the above bit of baked tart madness.  Combining figs with blackberries,  homemade raspberry jam,  sugar,  honey,  and a touch of basil,  it was as delicious as it looks! Espresso,  anyone?

CIBO: PASTA PUTTANESCA

What does one do on a hot and humid day?  I guess one cooks a spicy italian dish and washes it down with a nice red wine.  My repertoire includes both an arrabbiata and a puttanesca sauce,  angry and hot in equal doses.  I chose the puttanesca because of the richness of flavors it includes:  black olives,  capers,  garlic,  oil,  chucks of tomato,  pepperoncino,  fresh parsley,  and anchovies. Mmmmmmmmm.

SIMPLE SYNTHI +

HEAR: MACKIE MR5mk2 5" 2-WAY POWERED STUDIO REFERENCE MONITOR

There's been a bit of dialogue within the Yahoo Buchla Group or Muffwiggler (or perhaps both) on the best small monitor speakers for use with one's 200e.  Some individuals went as far as to suggest Apple computer speakers! I would heartily suggest the above Mackie speakers for their fat bass tones,  clear midrange,  and concise highs. No mud here. I heard quite the difference immediately upon installation! Many thanks to Jonas at CONTROL for not only his advice in this area,  but for invaluable hands-on at the store.

ROE ENNEY'S BASSES

You've got to love these lightweight,  mostly hornless, headstock-free basses. They take up very little room and seem custom built for both more melodic work and apartment life,  rather than the rigors of alpha bass tones. Artist Roe Enney (above) uses them to great effect, commingling low end washes and electronics with her lovely voice.

FIRST STATE: New Painting

OPTIK: CONTEMPT (LE MEPRIS)

This 1963 film by Jean-Luc Godard may be his most mainstream work (along with the later ALPHAVILLE),  but its readily followed narrative and lovely Cinemascope framing still pack quite the wallop.  CONTEMPT uses  the filming of THE ODYSSEY as a backdrop for emotional turmoil,  philosophical musings,  aesthetic meanderings,  and critiques of Hollywood film-making.  The orchestral soundtrack by George Delerue is so sadly beautiful that its main motif is repeated throughout the film without losing any of  its haunting power.  Many writers have said that this film is about emotional disgust,  but I say it's really about confusion and estrangement during a time of upheaval (in this case the tumultuous sixties).  How does one find his/her way in a world that seems to be crumbling under  each step,  each word,  each response?  That question is inadvertently answered by Camille (Bridget Bardot) when she describes Odysseus as a "guy who is always traveling",  much like her recently estranged husband,  Paul (Michel Piccoli).  The only difference here is that Paul's travels are all internal,  but are equally strained by a milieu of change (whether social/emotional like feminism,  or political/aesthetic/commercial).  Bardot is Paul's Penelope,  who must fight off the advances of an unruly suitor (Jack Palance as the film within a film's pushy producer),  but eventually succumbs to his "charms" and a tragic car wreck.  Director Fritz Lang plays himself,  as he quietly,  but firmly attempts to steer the film away from despotic commercial concerns as envisioned by Palance's Jeremy Prokosch.  Ironically,  Bardot seems to have been pushed into the role of Camille at the height of her popularity and sensuality,  much to Godard's chagrin. He needn't have worried about ruining his aesthetic,  political, or experimental leanings in the service of a Disney approach.  Highly recommended for initiates into the world of Jean-Luc Godard.

LOOKING FOR A FLOATING VCS3?

In accordance with the rules of the first annual Transatlantic Synth-Float,  two intrepid noise-niks await a sighting.  Their not so secret wish is that a legendary EMS VCS3 would soon be glimpsed in the waters off the Great South Bay! (photo by Roe Enney,  processing by This Second Sleep)