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AmbiEntrance: Can you give us a bit of background about yourself?
Johnson: I started out as a b&w photographer and then began to see a common thread between
my artwork and the music I was creating at the time. As time progressed, both
my music and photography started to take on a real organic feel. I was
searching for something, but couldn't quite put my finger on it, this was
around 1987. Somehow I wanted to reflect the essence and energy that natural
environments project, in my sound.
I started out by mixing "man made"
environments with organic sounds created in the studio. I'd go out and record
mingling crowds in shopping malls, cars and busses on city streets, etc., etc...
Then I would put those field recordings into the mix with some organic sounding
synths, samples, instruments & tape loops, creating a sound environment that
would stand on its own. I continued to work with this idea, and gradually
refined my approach, to include more subtle nuances. My first few cassette
releases are real heavy with "man made" sounds and tended to push the listener,
rather than let them settle in. I was coming from more of an
industrial/noise/avant garde/ influence that I had learned from working with
Dan Burke & Thymme Jones.
AmbiEntrance: Any chance that these recordings may be re-released, now that you've got your own Label and all?
Johnson: Yes, over the course of this summer I plan on digging back into them for
source material, so most likely they will turn up in some way or another
on an upcoming release.
AmbiEntrance: What can you tell us about your work with Illusion of Safety? Which release(s) were you involved in, and when?
Johnson: Ahhhhhhhh the good old days......... I met Dan Burke when I got a job at a pizza
restaurant, he was one of the managers there. In fact the entire group of
Illusion of Safety worked there, and then some, Thymme Jones, Dan Burke, Mark
Sorenson, Mark Klein, Chris Block & Mike Greenleese. Now that I think about it,
it was a pretty amazing time. I went to one of their jams that they had in the
restauraunt after hours in 1986, and was hooked. I am on their first cassette
release "Its a dead dog" and "Live Sound of IOS Post Effects" which is a
release that came from recorded improve jams that we had prior to a show at NAB
Gallery in Chicago 1987.
My work with Illusion of Safety was alot like going to
school. These guys taught me alot about sound and what you could do to it and
how to work with it. The approach towards sound was pretty much "anything goes"
and it usually did! From electric saws, power drills and voices to beautiful
soundscapes of tape loops and everything in between, It was alot of fun!
AmbiEntrance: Do you keep in touch (with the guys from IOS)? Any thoughts of
collaborating with them in the future?
Johnson: Unfortunately I haven't seen or heard from any of them in a long time. A
collaboration wouldn't be out of the question if we were to get back in
touch.
AmbiEntrance: You created your entire Unity CD on the computer; what were your
previous sound tools?
Johnson: An old casio keyboard, a sequential circuts six tracks, ALOT of effect pedals,
3 tape players, guitar, some toy instruments, quite a few contact mikes,
regular mikes and the piano practice rooms of Northwestern University.
AmbiEntrance: Were you a student at Northwestern?
Johnson: No, when I lived in the area I used to sneak into the practice rooms
with my portastudio and create pieces on the piano. That was alot of
fun! I remember a time when I was working on a really quiet piece that
had v e r y long pauses between notes and quite a bit of dissonance,
when I heard a student outside the practice room say to someone "what is
that?!, it's definitely not classical thats for sure!" Hey, your not
from campus security are you?
AmbiEntrance: Your musical worlds are incredibly soft and peaceful; how does this relate
to your real world?
Johnson: They reflect the natural environment that lives outside and around my home. I
live on a large open prairie-like area of about 15 acres that has practically
no trees, but lots of gracefully tall grasses, some wetlands, and wildlife that
ebb and flow through the seasons and weather as the year moves forward. This
movement is so beautiful and powerful and yet it can also be so subtle. The
spirit of this place just seeps its way into you. I love to just sit in the
backyard and watch and listen.
AmbiEntrance: Your latest, Surrender, was released on April 21; what were
your feelings? Give us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the "making of"
Surrender.
Johnson: Surrender was born out of a power journey to Teotihuacan Mexico I had taken
back in November of last year. During the trip I was lead by a nagual guide/teacher
and taught about the ancient Teotihuacans and their path to freedom. After I
got back, I wanted to create some sonic environments that reflected the power
and knowledge of Teotihuacan.
I ordered the three pieces on "Surrender" in such
a way as to mirror the path that the ancient Teotihuacanos once took to
surrender and ultimate freedom. 1st - She Will Shift You meaning- the feminine
side of spirit will help you shift your perception; 2nd - Rememberance meaning-
once you have shifted your perception you begin to remember who you are; 3rd -
Surrender meaning- when you begin to remember you can then surrender to who
you are and be free. I created She Will Shift You & Surrender in Cakewalk
sequencing external synths and sampling sound cards in the computer.
Rememberance was recorded up at Paul Vnuk's (Ma Ja Le) Moss Garden Music.
AmbiEntrance: How did you get involved in this intriguing expedition (to
Teotihuacan)? Were the photos on Surrender taken during your trip? (Is
that you on the cover, in the sombrero?)
Johnson: Yes, that's me on the cover at the "Island of Temptation". All of the
photos for the artwork on the CD were taken on the last trip back in
Nov. of 1998 by Stephen Collector. In short, Teotihuacan is a very
powerful place and holds within it the knowledge of the ancient
Toltec's. In pursuing a personal path to freedom, I have made a few
trips there to help "push" me along. It's a wonderful place and holds
something different for me each time I go there.
AmbiEntrance: Did you know the to-be-released Chemical Brothers CD is also entitled
Surrender? Do you expect any confusion?
Johnson: To be totally truthfull with you David, I don't know who the Chemical Brothers
are.
AmbiEntrance: The Chemical Brothers are part of the "Electronica" scene.
Anyone expecting one Surrender and getting the other would probably be a bit surprised. Who do you listen to for your personal pleasure?
Johnson: My CD player gets all kinds of sounds put into it, Thomas Dolby, Tears
for Fears, Terje Rypdal, Sarah McLaughlan, Talk Talk, Brian Eno, Harold
Budd, Gentle Giant, Peter Hammill, Zappa, Tom Waits, its all over the
place! Lately I've been listening to Robert Rich, David Torn, Ma Ja Le,
Steven Phillips and the new Weightless, Effortless compilation from
HYPNOS :)
AmbiEntrance: What's your favorite stage of the whole recording process?
Johnson: Definitely during the composing and creation stage of each piece. Most of the
time I haven't a clue as to what is going to come out of a session, unless I
have a specific intent that I want to accomplish, like with Rememberance,
which was more or less purposefully composed. I usually just sit down, hit the
record button and start "building" layers and sounds until something hits me.
It's always a different journey each time, and if it's a familiar environment
that seems to be evolving, I will take my past experiences and try to push it a
little further than the last time.
AmbiEntrance: Is there any particular "she" referred to by She Will Shift You?
Johnson: The feminine side of spirit, which my wife represents so wonderfully.
AmbiEntrance: Tell us about your wife; How did she "shift" you?
Johnson: My wife has been wonderful in supporting me and my music. There's been
times when I've felt like something is missing in a piece or about the
way it's developing and she has helped me see it from a different
perspective, totally "shifting" the way I've been approaching it.
AmbiEntrance: You recorded Remembrance with Paul Vnuk, (of Ma Ja Le); according
to the liner notes, he contributed "Frog Tweaking" and "Twinkle"... can you
explain? And that's a "real" piano we hear?
Johnson: Yes, I finally got my hands on a real piano. There simply is no substitute for
the real thing, the feel, the sound, the smell, everything! I'm thinking about
recording a future CD with more piano and treated piano on it. Paul did a real
nice job of mixing & recording that piece.
The "Frog Tweaking" refers to the
frogs in the background that I had recorded up in northern Wisconsin. Paul
transferred my original cassette recording into the computer and then created a
loop of frogs that plays through the entire piece. I had stepped away from the
studio for a break and when I came back, Paul had placed the frogs perfectly in
the ambient space of the piece. So naturally he gets the credit for those
babys! The "Twinkle" is a sample that Paul also placed in the piece, that can
just barely be heard peripherally in the right channel.
AmbiEntrance: What can we expect to hear with your contribution to the upcoming Hynpos
comp (Weightless, Effortless)? Did this comp have a focused "theme"?
Johnson:
Closure has a little darker feel to it than any of the pieces from my past 2
releases. It was recorded while I was working on Surrender so the underlying
structure to it is a little similar in its feel and flow. The main idea behind
Weightless, Effortless is just as the title suggests. Mike was looking for
artists interpretations of this one theme and how they would express it. I am
very flattered that he chose my piece for this compilation, and am really
excited about the release. I really feel that Mike Griffin is doing something
wonderful over at HYPNOS, his label has consistently released quality and
imaginative works.
AmbiEntrance: How goes it at the Zero Music website? Are visitors more interested in
your Real Audio clips or your MP3s?
Johnson: The site has been steadily improving and the traffic has been increasing over
the past few months.We added another artist Audioasis to the site last month,
and moved into our own domain name http://www.zeromusic.net . We've begun work
on a shopping cart and credit card transaction program so that visitors can
purchase any of the CD's online. It should be up and running soon.When a new
release gets put up at the site (like Surrender) the Real Audio clips receive
a majority of the traffic at the site, but the MP3s have consistenly been the
winners with traffic. I really feel that MP3s are here to stay and that the
internet is going to change the way music is distributed, listened to &
created. In anticipation of this change, Zero Music will eventually be offering
full length MP3's for sale. Right now the longest length that I will put up at
the site is 6min. since the download times can get really long.
AmbiEntrance: What does Audioasis sound like? Do you expect to be signing more
bands onto Zero Music in the future?
Johnson: Audioasis is the first release from a duo out of Australia. It travels a
real wide spectrum of styles from ambient music, acoustic folk, to
progressive rock which makes it quite an eclectic release. I would have
to say that my favorite track is Sigh of the Zephyr because of the
mixture of a jazz type feel in the keyboards & the great guitar work of
Shaun Pilkinton It's really a nice blend. The Zero Music label only
releases my works at this time however, the The Zero Music web site is
a whole different animal. The Zero Music web site is designed as a web
space provider and online distributor for Ambient/Space musicians and
labels. This is what we are doing for Audioasis. We provide web space,
real audio streaming & encoding, MP3 encoding/serving, and purchasing
links to resellers of their titles. Future upgrades planned for the site
will be an online store so that visitors can purchase CD's directly from
Zero Music if they choose. We are also developing a system for
purchasing MP3 files right from the web site as direct downloads.
AmbiEntrance: What are your upcoming personal recording plans?
Johnson: There is another CD in the works that I hope to release at the end of
the year, and I'd like to do a collaboration effort. I really liked how
Rememberance turned out so you may hear a little more of that style on
this next CD, but this time I may "treat" the piano a little
differently. I'm going to continue with my exploration of creating aural
atmosphere's and will hopefully finally finish the sight & sound gallery
installation that's been in the works for the past few years.
AmbiEntrance: While you're on stage here (so to speak), is there anything you'd
like to say, or anyone you'd like to thank?
Johnson: I'd like to say thanks to all the D.J.'s, magazines, listeners, and
artists for their support of my works, there are alot of good people out
there pulling for this type of music and they have helped tremendously
in getting the word out. Also, if there are any artists or labels out
there who are interested in Zero Music's web services please contact us,
we'd love to hear from you.
AmbiEntrance: Thanks for speaking with us, James. We look forward to hearing
more from you.
Johnson: It's been a real pleasure talking with you David, thank you.
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