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BlipVert

Redmond: The BlipVert project first started in a small room I was renting above an animal hospital in Brooklyn, New York City in the winter of 2002. I had originally moved to New York from California in August of 1999 to work on a Master's degree in composition at NYU. From 1999 until 2002, I played guitar in a variety of bands ranging from avant-rock to live drum & bass to free improvisation. These groups led to some successful gigs, album releases, and tours all over Europe and the USA which really challenged me and exposed me to new ways of collaborating and performing with many different kinds of musicians. Soon, I felt I needed to go in my own direction as far as composition and performance go. I had been listening to electronic music ever since high school; it had always been a sort of 'undercurrent' of musical influence and inspiration for me. I began to witness the use of the laptop and electronics on stage, which appealed to me as radical and sophisticated performance tools. I figured this was the best place to start, so after acquiring a laptop and a small sampler, I went to work.

The word 'blipvert' was first coined in the Max Headroom movie to describe a a short commercial, and has since been used to describe a particular form of subliminal e-mail advertising. Does it bother you that your project title can also refer to spam, or do you get a kick out of it?

Redmond: I always reference Max Headroom when people ask about the origins of BlipVert, but I had no idea it referred to subliminal e-mail advertising. However, now that I know this, I really do get a kick out of it! I think the similar principle in both cases is the unrelenting stream of information resulting in complete overload, although I can only hope that my music will never be referred to as junk mail. I really like how overload was first addressed in Max Headroom as an advertising medium created to stop 'channel-switching' which actually became deadly. I think the creation of the blipvert also introduced the point that most advertising is spam to begin with, and that we are surrounded by a constant barrage of this 'added' information in our natural environments. My project attempts to address this constant barrage of information and turn it into something artistic and meaningful.

Your music is somewhat difficult, in that it's extremely condensed, eclectic, and unpredictable. What is the most important thing that you would like listeners to come away with after hearing a BlipVert album?

Redmond: Well, first is that you can't specifically label this music. I've heard people try to categorize BlipVert as IDM, noise, breakcore, 8-bit, industrial, and even gabber. To me, it's simply composed electronic music and doesn't aim to be anything other than what it is. The fact that it is difficult and unpredictable represents the point that it doesn't fit easily into any kind of genre. The second thing I'd like listeners to come away with is that if I had to be labeled as an artist, I'd prefer to be considered a composer. The word 'composer' is rarely used in today's world, and it's a shame, because it represents a vital aspect of all musical traditions. To know that Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Bach were incredible musicians and instrumentalists is one thing, but to overlook the fact that they were 'composers' is to overlook an elemental part of who they were and what they represented.

Tell us about your newest album, Stop:Skronk:Explode!; besides the onomatopoeia aspect, does the title refer back to any particular themes?

Redmond: Stop:Skronk:Explode! attempts to somewhat humorously refer to the character of the music itself. The music is constantly evolving, morphing and changing, thus resulting in very dramatic shifts of mood and structure. 'Skronk' is a fake word that I've heard used sometimes amongst improv and avant-garde musicians referring to quirky or unusual sounds achieved on an instrument, often through the use of extended techniques (e.g. scraping the strings on a guitar, dramatically honking a saxophone in extreme registers, etc.). My music is meticulously composed within a mostly improvisatory state of mind, with every sound and part playing off of each other and often 'exploding' into completely unexpected areas, very much like how a group of musicians improvising together might operate. Every piece grows independently and takes on a life of its own. Often, the idea I start with has nothing to do with what the final product is. Thus, each piece evolves and matures on its own by employing compositional methods that are random and chaotic.

The cover art is also extremely distinctive; how did you choose it, and how does it relate to the music?

Redmond: The cover is a drawing called 'The Sonic Mask' which was developed by a New York City artist and friend of mine named Gavin Wilson. I wanted a cover that would represent the chaotic, extreme, and somewhat nonsensical nature of the music. Gavin's art mostly deals with, as he calls them, 'Buddha masks,' bondage, and psychedelic imagery. I absolutely love his work, as it tends to draw one into a random and somewhat disturbing world he might not be ready for but can't turn away from. I've gotten a lot of positive and negative comments about the art (my mother certainly doesn't like it). However, this is precisely why I chose artwork of such an unconventional nature. It not only is incapable of eliciting indifference from a viewer, but it suggests music that is explosive and erratic.

Several of the phrases, loops, and samples on Stop:Skronk:Explode! refer to people getting poked in the eye. Is that a personal obsession, a theme specific to this particular album, or just a coincidence?

Redmond: In all honesty, this is pure coincidence. I can think of two specific examples on the disc that address this: the end freak-out on 'Couch of Soob' and the end of 'Black Jellow Interior.' The end of 'Soob' was a sort of nod to The Residents, as I can't get enough of all the bizarrely effected vocals they use in their work. That series of vocals just happened to end with 'put things in my eye.' The end of 'Black Jellow Interior' is a thrashing, fractured beat accompanied by an excerpt from a prose poem I jotted down awhile ago that refers to a scenario involving the surgical removal of one's mental and physical facilities piece by piece. The main idea within the poem is how people are used and pushed to the point of destruction in our modern world, and 'My eyes are gone' might represent the dying embers of thought before complete blackness. I suppose that most of the material involved with this album is meant to provoke a reaction from the listener, or perhaps 'poke' one in the eye using strong visual imagery. I once heard La Monte Young describe John Coltrane as someone who was capable of 'projecting right out into the world without any reservation or sense of commerciality.' While I'd never compare myself to 'Trane, this is an immensely powerful idea to me, as being able to project (or 'poke') in such a manner represents an artist's commitment to the spiritual nature of their work and the belief they have in it. If it happens to affect one's senses in an unusual manner, so be it. That is, after all, the great power of art.

You play in several other projects. For people who are new to your work, can you tell us what they are, and your role in each of them?

Redmond: Well, I don't play in nearly as many projects as I used to, as BlipVert takes up way too much time these days. Right now, however, there are several that are somewhat active. I have a world/fusion/improv project that I play guitar, percussion and shehnai in called Cartridge with a good friend of mine I met while in New York, John Savage. John's an amazing woodwind player who's performed with Andrew Hill, Reggie Workman, Marty Ehrlich, Robert Dick, and composer Billy Fox. John can literally insert himself into any musical situation there is and produce on a virtuoso level, which is massively inspiring to me. We tour and perform these days when we can and hope to release a full-length disc soon. I am one half of Elephant Priests, a production duet that composes dub and minimalist abstract music. I play guitar, sing, and play percussion in a Bay Area free jazz/funk/rock big band called The R&B Free Jazz Gospel Supreme 80 directed by my friend, composer Gene Baker. I still continue to gig within the New York City improv community as a guitarist from time to time.I'm also doing more production work these days on a variety of records for some local Bay Area artists. I like to stay active in many different things, as it keeps me inspired and refreshes my outlook on music and collaboration.

How has working in these different projects affected the way you make music as BlipVert?

Redmond: Every project I've been involved with has contributed to BlipVert in some way. Composing music for BlipVert is essentially taking all of my influences and abilities, throwing them against a blank canvas, and then shaping and editing the resulting mess. I greatly enjoy working in this manner because each piece winds up having its own distinct character and attitude. In addition, I'm influenced by everything, from gospel vocal harmonies to playing in an over-the-top noise band to free jazz. Thus, virtually anything can work its way into my compositions. I think this is the quality that makes BlipVert music unique and highly personal; there's nothing that doesn't fit. One piece might contain King Crimson-style guitar textures with fractured dance rhythms and a distorted big band horn section, while another combines schizophrenic, glitchy drum patterns with 12-part vocal harmonies that morph into solid walls of noise. Being exposed to all kinds of music and playing in many different projects in my early 20s had a very profound effect on me in that I never saw any boundaries or limitations to how things could sound. Anything is possible, and it all depends on how far the composer is willing to go to bring forth their true identity.

Will you be touring this year? What's a BlipVert live show like?

Redmond: I just finished a nice tour of the greater Netherlands with Eat Concrete Records, an independent label in Den Bosch that I'm closely associated with. We had some amazing concerts in Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Amsterdam, and Arnhem. I was very pleased with the size of the audiences and the support that Eat Concrete received as a label. I love being out on the road, and I try to tour as much as I can or as much as funds and time will allow. Many tours are often quick, effective groups of concerts within a cluster of cities or a country that I like to call Blip-trips! This is mainly due to the fact that most people aren't really sure how to schedule me, which often results in some very interesting scenarios. My live shows are very intense and full of energy, and I often twitch and bounce all over the place. I'm constantly altering the music with a variety of effects and accompanying the music with looped vocal chanting, distorted yelling, and full-blown shehnai or raita solos. No performance is the same twice, and there's always somewhere new to go. I essentially improvise with the composed material, which makes performing not only exciting but also challenging. Delivering a convincing performance, especially when it comes to electronic music, is very important to me, as I've never wanted to stare at my laptop or effects for 45 minutes and wait for samples or loops to occur. I try to get as involved in the performance as I can and try to embody emotionally and physically what BlipVert represents.

Do you have any other plans for 2009 that you can tell us about, or any other thoughts you'd like to share with our readers?

Redmond: Well, the main thing for '09 is to finish a new BlipVert record. This will hopefully be done by the summer. I can say with certainty that this record will be one of the most extreme collections of music I've ever released, and so far every piece is shaping up to be pretty epic. I'm privileged to be involved with several compilation projects already this year with Lost Compound Records (Canada) and Apogsasis Records (Poland). A project I'm very excited about is a 'BlipVert concerto' which is being written for me by New York saxophonist and composer Rob Mosher, who just released a CD of some of the most impressive jazz and classical compositions I've heard in a while. This should be premiered next year in New York. I'm also looking forward to extending my relationship with two of my labels, D-Trash and Eat Concrete, who've been incredibly supportive and believe in what I do.

On the gig front, things are always coming up. I'll be returning to Holland next fall for some festivals and another tour, and there'll be all kinds of gigs for BlipVert and my other projects on the East and West Coasts. I might try to do another East Coast tour in the spring, but it's a big if. I still have yet to make it to Canada to do an event with D-Trash, so maybe that will be a possibility, as well. Mostly, I'll be toning down the gigs a bit so I can finish the new record.

On another quite different front, I'm currently in the process of learning a bunch of new instruments, such as the udu drum, zurna, and the chromatic electric kalimba. I've been looking to extend BlipVert into more of an ensemble setting and really want to explore the possibilities of incorporating different ethnic elements and instruments into my compositions. I've recently been a voracious listener of the Master Musicians of Jajouka and Konono N1, the African group most notably associated with developing the Congotronics sound, and would like to develop my own unique 'trance' sound for a future BlipVert record. I figure that after my next release, it'll be time to try something new.

As for final words, big thanks to D-Trash, Eat Concrete, Apogsasis, Lost Compound, Trixy, and Ron Anderson/RA Sounds, and most of all thanks to anyone who lends an open ear and mind to my music. To quote John Zorn, 'Powerful secrets are revealed through intensity and extremes of experience.' I hope to follow this principle as long as possible. What else is there to do, anyway?