Ghost town--a town of ghosts?
I'm probably not the only passive consumer here so thought it time
to make a post...
Thanks for sharing this interview with us Matt,very eloquent.
Who set it up?




--- In CRUDECAT@yahoogroups.com, "matt" <crude696@...> wrote:
>
> hi all. Is anyone actually on this group????? you're all prety
> dormant...i must admit i've been neglecting thios page a bit but
> man,,,,this one feels like a ghost-town..
>
> this interview is going to be printed in Real Groove Magazine in May
> 2007 . This is a sneek peek.
>
>
> starts_
>
> carter - how many records have crude put out ? you done a lot of
songs
> buster...
>
> crude - I think a good round-about figure would be 70. That's the
> entire self-released lot. As far as actual 'proper' label releases,
> well you got your Inner City Guitar Perspectives on the Flying Nun
> backwash/backlog, Refute a Myth Society on Ecstatic Yod, a string of
> 7" singles both acetate and vinyl..but my deal now is self releasing
> Cd-rs through my web-site (www.crude.co.nz) and it looks like thats
> how it's a-gonna stay. Full artistic control - only your own control
> issues to deal with, no-one elses.
>
> carter - what have been your avenues of distribution ?
>
> crude - It's varied. Earlier vinyl releases made their way into
> obscure indie collections the world over - especially in the US of
A.
> Inner City traversed the western world via Flying Nun. These days I
> use the mighty internet for pretty much all of it - well, setting up
> buyers, approaching stores, radio etc. I've used viral direct
> marketing to bandy the name and sound about and I've deliberately
> penetrated the borders of whatever strange little country I can
(eg :
> China). And now I've embraced the future too soon and have made
Crude
> 100% downloadable as high quality album sized mp3s, direct from my
> server. And that stuff really does get in. Everywhere, anywhere,
anytime.
>
> carter - what side projects are you involved in ?
>
> crude - Lil' bits on the side eh? Well.....I'll mention The
Aesthetics
> - who are now over (sorry boys) , but that was kind of an equal
first
> priority project at the time so....I always had the Rock thing and
the
> stranger Crude thing going. I've got a free jazz Trio, 'The Anomie
> Ensemble' that performs biannually (busy) - core playas there are me
> on Tenor Sax and Duane Zarakov , now proud new owner of Records
> Records, on Drums. Wha' else. Space Dust. When I lived (well,
existed)
> in Auckland I had a synth duo called 'Southkill' going with my
friend
> Duncan Bruce.
> Rumor has it Duncan is now a practising Muslim - i wish him well -
> he's walking the straight path. I always enjoy freelancing my
talents.
> I try to 'write' too.
>
> carter - what is your recording set up ?
>
> crude - Initially it was all cassette 4-track into stereo system -
> cassette mix-down and thats it. I feel confident enough now at 32 to
> say that I got a good, ballzy, rich and punchy sound outta that
thing.
> Over the last 4 years or so I've upgraded to software multi-tracking
> systems and editing suites..still keep it really basic though. Don't
> usually go over 4-7 tracks. Just how it is. Computing allowed me to
> release Cd-rs and now the reviled/adored mp3. My hard-drive is the
> inner-inner- core of the Crude recording legacy.
>
> carter - how much time do you spend on music ?
>
> crude - As much as it takes, man. There were periods in me 20's
where
> I'd commit huge chunks of time to a project y'know. I tend to record
> an album in a compulsive, furious, single-minded spasm - the album
> completed, the latest self-nurtured neurosis dealt with . If I have
a
> project, or a commisioned piece to do, or have a sound/motif I need
to
> realize, I'll simply spend as much time as necessary to get it
done. I
> guess its a kind of unconscious work-ethic or something. And the
work
> ethic - i haven't been able to apply it to anything else quite the
> same as with my music. So yeah...of course, I've been 'unemployed'
for
> ,,hell,,14 years now...plenty of time to 'do' my 'work'. Pity it
just
> dosen't cut the mustard in the so called real world or at WINZ or
> whatever. I feel I'd have more status if I bloody well dug holes - i
> mean..thats a REAL job.
>
>
> carter - do you get disillusioned and feel like sometimes you're
> squalling in the wind/ yelling into a big empty canyon etc? i only
ask
> cos i think a lot of people feel this
> way...
>
> crude - Every now and every then. I actually have a couple of tracks
> that smack of those images...These days doubts pass pretty quick
> though. It's like this:experimental ( in the broadest possible
sense)
> music simply dosen't have an abundant fan-base. I mean, relatively
> speaking. It is a specialist music - as is Jazz apparantly. It's
taken
> me 13 years to truely realize this. How deluded i have been,
thinking
> i can 'make a living' eh what? Playing the USA did it for me. I was
> briefed on the state of the avant garde nation by a local indie
> booking agent and yeah - its the freakin same there too. I mean I
> don't want to destroy any dreams or pubescent hearts but that's just
> how it is. I'm just going to keep recording and realizing my own
> vision regardless. I think thats the only way to be.
>
> carter - 'songs' or 'noise' ?
>
> crude - Songs and noise. I tend to churn out short, simple but
spooky
> songs. Little ditties, retarded rock stuff, little synth numbers.
They
> come and go. I'll always craft songs.
> My 'noise' stuff, the formless , gurgling, purring, dark ambient or
> whatever the hell it is - that serves a purpose. I love sound. I
guess
> my songs are the abstract, noise and experimental electroinc Crude
is
> the full publication as a pdf.
>
>
> carter - are you a 'difficult' character ?
>
> crude - It depends on who you are, what we are doing and where we're
> doing it. Sure, I can be difficult, opaque, seemingly acting
according
> to some putrid set of internal rules...but most of the time I'm
> compassionate, easy-going, friendly and generous. Eh. Yeah. I used
to
> be way worse than I am now. Unfortunately its those frequent
episodes
> in my early 20s that people seem to tag to my name. Pity I didn't
> realize that's like rule number one of small town social psychology.
>
> carter - do you find it easy working with other people or would you
> rather do it yourself ?
>
> crude - If you are easy to get along with then I am easy to get
along
> with. I think the mark of a mature musician is their ability to work
> alone, to craft ones own songs/sounds to a high standard, and to be
> able to work in a group. And to be able to adapt for a duo, trio,
> quartet, quintet, sextet, septet etc etc. Doing it yourself allows
you
> to tap in to an internal dialogue and problem solving process that
you
> can bring to the table when you're in a group. Ultimately it
enhances
> the aesthetic evolution of a group.
>
> carter - i had a weird experience recently. i was asked to go back
to
> my old high school and talk to some kids there which is odd as i
> tended to polarise opinion back in the old days. anyway...the
teacher
> who'd invited me there asked me if i thought the rigid conservatism
of
> the place had given me something to kick against in my 'formative'
> years and whether it had some influence in the way i turned out and
> what i did.. you know what ? it did. with this in mind what kind of
> influence did growing up in invercargill have on you ? it's the
bottom
> of the earth.....
>
> crude - Long pause and sigh. Invercargill seems to produce some odd,
> genuinely unique talents. Why? I have no idea. Those of us from
> Invercargill with something 'special' to offer the world are usually
> strangely 'driven' people. For me Invercargill was somewhere I just
> had to leave. Thats about it. Even a 'zero fee scheme' can't tempt
me
> to live there.
>
> carter - is revenge a good musical motivation ?
>
> crude - Hell yeah. But to a point. I mean you can't stab someone 23
> times with a song.
> I guess I often spike my lyrics with a vengefull spirit. I hate alot
> of shit. Corporate greed. Supression of dissent. Right wingers, in
all
> degrees of intensity. Revenge is always a very personal affair. I
> don't think music is the ideal forum for revenge.
>
>
> carter - did going to the states open your eyes in any way ?
>
> crude - Absolutely, it made me realize that in essence, we're all in
> the same predicament wherever the hell you are on Earth. Streets are
> streets whether its Gore or Paris. The USA opened my eyes to the
fact
> that we are extremely priviledged to live here though - to be able
to
> draw a welfare benefit if needs be, to be able to get free medical
> support occasionally, the beautiful lush native bush...when i
arrived
> back I could taste the beauty. I guess thats a first timers cliche
or
> something.
>
> carter - musically what do you NOT want to be ?
>
> crude - Bono.
>
> carter - what experience do you hope to give the listener ?
>
> crude - A rich, subjective, mind-expanding, subversive dose of raw
> fuckin energy. Even the punk stuff. Even the stupid stuff. I want
the
> Crude listener to be empowered. I use strange, alien timing to
instill
> a sense of superhuman possibility in the listener. Crude cuts and
> drops, clicks and spatters, screams and whispers, is retro but not,
it
> creates a gentle tension - i'm certain it encourages new neurons to
> form. Oh no do I sound like a hippy here?
>
>
> carter - here's 2 questions i asked girls aloud when i interviewed
> them for pavement last year - what do you think about when you're
> singing ?
>
> crude - I think - oh my god did I say that in public?!
>
> carter - and ....does any kind of music make you sick ?
>
> crude - Shit , right.....sick. Goa trance.
>
>
> carter - what is skronk ?
>
> crude - Have I used that term? I initially caught the term through a
> King Loser song title (?) - i think it sorta means any kind of
> horrible noisey din...? The word was first coined by the rock
> journalists Robert Christgau and/or Lester Bangs..
> I always intuitively felt it to be a type of dirty, swampy, fuzzed
out
> synthesiser sound. I guess its dangerous to just throw half
understood
> terminology around.
> Or maybe thats how it should always be - intuitive guess work.
>
>
> carter - a lot of people don't seem to understand that instrumental
> music can be just as evocative as a book full of words. would you
agree ?
>
> crude - Well, this depends on the imagination of the individual.
> Instrumental music evokes feelings...moods. Moods lead to the use of
> adjectives. Your mind tends to wander when you listen to
instrumental
> stuff too.
>
> carter - and if so what do you think your instrumental stuff is
saying ?
>
> crude - It's saying - 'Feed. Feed on the internet, load up,
transcend,
> subvert, deconstruct,
> time does not exist'. It's saying - 'What have you done for me
> lately?' it's saying -
> 'wait a minute - maybe Marx did have a point..' oh yeah..and 'drink
> more' .
>
> carter - i can remember someone saying when they heard crude that it
> "was the sound of mental illness". comments please.
>
> crude - Fair enough. Indeed alot of it is. I know how to encapsulate
> fear with my music.
> The sound of mental illness is something S.P.K strove for. When i
> record I tend to create a real tension. Some stuff is paranoiac.
Some
> is paralysis. Some is
> obsessional. I'll tell you one thing though - the sound of mental
> well-being is
> pretty damn BORING!!!!
>
>
> carter - what would you do if you didn't have music ?
>
> crude - Well, if I lost the ability to play music now, yeah, I'd be
> destroyed. But I'd eventually get over it I guess and maybe I'd try
my
> hand at writing. Maybe some science subject. I'd develop web-sites.
> Poetry. I'd become a monk. I'd eat comfort food and become obese.
> Who's to say. Its a gift - and i DON'T take it for granted!
>
> carter - do YOU think you deserve more recognition ?
>
> crude - Depends what you mean by recognition. Yeah, quite often I
do.
> Especially if the recognition comes with a dollar sign attached.
Ha! I
> dunnow - I've contributed alot to New Zealand's underground and I'm
> basically supressed. Maybe the companies don't want someone like me
to
> be seen as doing well, because I'm doing it myself. Maybe I angered
> the person I should have been sucking up to. Maybe I've been
labelled
> a fascist, when in fact I'm the opposite. Is it because of my
> 'unreliability??'. Do I represent an un-marketable and undigestable
> paradigm?
> I just do what I do, I try my best, I do what I can with what i got,
> and at the end of the day I'm happy to have the support of those
> courageous sonic explorers who I call my friends. Thats all i can
ask.
> I don't have a huge following - but the one I have is very
enthusiastic.
>
> carter - have you been influenced by any of the following bands
> a/ joy division
> b/ the gang of four
> c/ the strokes
>
> crude - Nah not really. Maybe a bit of Joy Division. Haven't
actually
> heard much Gang of Four. And the Strokes...naah. sorry.
>
> end of questions.
>