On May 31 Cronkite Satellite, a seasoned one-man-band man armed with songs, beats and musical instruments will improvise live loop backings and soundscapes for the poets as well as a brief musical item or two of his own. If you have any trepidations about performing with music - relax. This is probably going to be one of easiest and most enjoyable poetry performance experiences of your life. Don't miss out!
How and why did you start composing?
My Grandparents had an old, out of tune piano in their basement I used to bang around on. I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew I wanted to do it. That was back in the days before cable TV and WIFI, so I had to find unique ways to entertain myself in their small town. I still remember the first (and possibly the only) song I wrote on that piano. I was maybe 7 years old and the feeling I got throughout my body for making something no one else had ever heard before was life changing. I instantly became addicted to art and the idea of creating something out of nothing. I’ve always known that I see the world differently than the majority of the people around me so pursuing the arts seemed to be the direction to head. Ever since those days in my Grandparent’s basement, I’ve been experimenting with different types of art, but most especially in the area revolving around sound. Whether it’s hitting guitar’s strings with Lincoln Logs or annoying my classmates by playing a drum solo on my desk with pencils, I’ve always had music flowing through my blood.
When creating, do the words come first or does the music come first?
I get this question a lot. Because every song I compose is built off of different experiences, the process is always unique. The track I’m currently working on is recreating a song I heard in a dream. One night I jumped out of bed, ran to my studio and recorded everything I heard in the dream as quickly and as precisely as I could, before it disappeared from my memory. In my dream I could hear all of the words crystal clear, but when I tried to record it, I could only hum out the syllables and a few lyrics mixed with harmony. Another song I’m working on was written and recorded in one afternoon. I even performed it at a show that same night. Most times my writing process is like a puzzle where everything is written separately, then I lay everything out on the floor in front of me and see where it all fits together. Before the days of cell phones, I used to walk around, collecting sheets and sheets of paper in my pockets. Every corner of a receipt, napkin or airplane ticket was covered with my random poetic scribbles. I am always working on another instrumental in my head. I can put the song together, rearrange it and try out different lyrics all inside of my head until I feel it’s ready (or not ready) to be mass produced. To this day I literally have bags of unused verses and hard drives of unpublished instrumentals that I bring with me as I move from country to country. So I guess I cannot definitively answer that question with one solid answer because each song is an exception to the rule.
These days music production and multimedia are like twins joined at the hip. Has this stretched your range as a performance artist?
It’s always been a goal of mine to incorporate a more visual experience in my live shows. I went to college for the visual arts, so I most certainly classify myself as a multimedia artist. But being an independent musician who basically has a budget of zero, there’s no way I could obtain or transport all of the equipment I’d like to have onstage to bring my live show into the next level. I do like having limitations though, because I think restrictions bring out the best of my creative side. Being said, I hope to find more time to utilize my graphic design skills to their fullest, rather than only making album art, posters and the occasional music video. I used to bring a projector on stage and designed my own visuals to shine on the ceiling or walls. This would give the audience another experience while enjoying my musical performance. When I do bigger festivals or stadium shows, I usually show a montage of all of my music videos in the background, on a provided LCD screen. Long story short, once my time and resources open up, I look forward to incorporating a more focused multimedia aspect to my musical performances that truly showcases my full range of artistic styles. -
Dub and then rap poetry has made its impact riding on the back of music. What are the challenges of working with other forms of poetry?
I feel challenges bring the best out of an artist. After all, true art is taking risks. Being a solo, live looping musician, I am constantly running into obstacles that cause me to step back and look at the challenge from multiple perspectives. How can I break the rule but still entice the audience? Furthermore, “Rap” stands for rhythm and poetry. Personally, I am extremely driven by rhythm. You can hear its influence in my verses and lyrical patterns. With that said, I don’t want my songs to sound like one another so I constantly try to break away from my comfort zone. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t, but without that external force pushing me to try something new, I feel my art would become sterile and dull. I think it goes without saying that this belief is echoed by multiple other artists, in a variety of different fields.
What is your driving ambition as a cross music/multimedia artist? And where does Asia fit into your scheme of things?
Truth be told, it’s long over due that I get back into creating visual art. I am always inspired about the endless possibilities regarding what I could do. Especially in the context of my live show. I pride myself on presenting a professional, entertaining, high energy performance, overflowing with emotion but there’s always a way to kick it up a notch. For example, I want to do live painting on stage as well as incorporating interactive video projections around the venue. There are so many things I want to do onstage with the visual arts, dancing and live looping but at this current time I don’t have the resources to pursue most of these multi-media visions. This doesn’t mean I throw up my hands and give up. On the contrary, I write these ideas down and save them for later. You’d be surprised how much is able to manifest after a little time passes. I try to make each live show and music video unique, so these ideas always come in handy when planning my next move. I do hope to make more music videos but as of now I simply do not see them as a high priority. Something I see more beneficial is continuing to make tutorial videos teaching different live looping techniques. Making more of these educational Youtube lessons about the art of live looping not only helps other musicians advance their skills, but it also allows me to take a step back, look at my art more critically and see what I’m doing (or not doing) and how I can improve my own craft. I always have irons in the fire and “next steps” for my artistic journey. But looking through the lens of my current musical aspirations, I plan on doing some tours around Asia. With this in mind, I have significantly minimized my live looping set up I use on stage so it’s lighter, more compact and doesn’t require the purchasing of extra baggage when flying. It’s true that my live show is a bit more restricted with this new, condensed equipment set up, but by keeping it simple I am able to bring my musical experience to more parts of the world.
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