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AmbiEntrance: Which came first; your interest in electronic music, or your interest in ethnic music?
Nerell: Musically I would have to say electronic music came first, that started
when I first heard Tangerine Dreams "Rubycon" album back in the mid 70s. I
wasn't introduced to ethnic music until I entered college where a friend of
mine showed me a gamelan, but at the time I was ready for something like
gamelan to come around. I was looking for new and different types of music
(at the time I was also studying the music of Harry Partch), plus I had
already been primed for such an experience by some earlier trips to Mexico
and Central America. I spent a couple of summers traveling around visiting
all the pre-colombian sites, seeing how other cultures live, etc. It made
me aware that there are other possibilities in life then what we normally
are shown in the west.
AmbiEntrance: At what point did you begin to fuse the two together?
Nerell: I started thinking about it almost immediately after my introduction to
gamelan but I didn't really start until I got my first sampler sometime
around 1984.
AmbiEntrance: Did the music lead you to your UCLA studies in ethnomusicology, or vice
versa?
Nerell: The music lead me there. I decided that I needed to become more serious
about my studies of other cultures music. UCLA has a reputation for being
one of the best programs in ethnomusicology so it seemed like a logical
place to be.
AmbiEntrance: Are you still enrolled?
Nerell: No I graduated last year but I still participate in some of their
activities such as performing in the Balinese gamelan ensemble.
AmbiEntrance: To the uninitiated, how would you describe gamelan music?
Nerell: Basically the word gamelan means ensemble, its not one particular
instrument. It's predominately found in Indonesia on the islands of Java,
Bali, Lombok and Madura. It is a tuned percussion ensemble that can range
in size from as little as four to as many as 40 musicians. There's quite a
variety of styles within these four islands, on Bali alone there are at
least thirty different types of ensembles. Musically they range from the
extremely slow forms -- the most popularly known being the court styles of
Central Java -- to the extremely fast, an example of which being the
Balinese gamelan form called "Kebyar". I have heard some groups from Bali
that can play as fast as 180 beats-per-minute.
Of course I should also point out that it's a living breathing art form.
Most people seem to think that it's this stale dead music that someone
created several hundred years ago that has not changed much since. This is
not completely true, older forms and compositions are still regularly
performed but their is also a lot of new music and dance styles being
created.
AmbiEntrance: What was your involvement with Paul Haslinger's World Without Rules?
Nerell: My involvement was for the most part minimal. Paul asked me to give him
some stuff to work with so I brought over some samples and loops for him to
play with. Later I also gave him on dat some improvisations I did on some
gamelan instruments I own. I was never around while he actually worked on
the project so it was interesting to hear it when it was all finished.
AmbiEntrance: Steve Roach has just re-released Stormwarning, 10 years after its
initial recording; what do you remember about engineering the original?
Nerell: That CD brings back a lot of fond memories. I was basically his roadie
helping him move and setup his gear before and after the gigs, while during
the concert I would recorded his performances off a direct feed from his
mixing board. I recorded a lot of his concerts back then (over a six year
period probably around one hundred concerts), it was a lot of work and a
lot of fun.
What I remember specifically of each recording.
Day One: it was the second of three concerts that Steve performed at Cal
Poly Pomona. I remember it being a 24 hour non-stop affair, leaving my
house at 6AM one day and getting back 6AM the next without any sleep in
between! Kevin Braheny made a guest appearance on a couple of tunes one of
which can be heard on the Dreamtime Return CD.
Day Two was recorded at Saddleback college. What I remember most of this
concert was during the performance every once in awhile Steve would get a
little bit of audio feedback, which was quite unusual since he was
completely electronic and not using any acoustic instruments. Finally about
half way through the concert the sound system let out this horrendous
screaming feedback. Steve literally pulled the plug on his mixer trying to
get it to stop which it didn't do. It turned out that the house systems was
the culprit. At the beginning of the concert an MC had introduced Steve
using the house sound system (Steve was using a different sound system).
The person who was running the house forgot to turn off the mic. Finally
after about an hour enough volume had built up to cause the feedback
problem. After turning off the mic he resumed what was otherwise a great
concert.
AmbiEntrance: You've been in the business for quite a few years now; how would you
describe the changes in technology?
Nerell: So much has changed. Most of the labs I worked in when I first started
making electronic music where based around one or two monophonic modular
analog systems (usually a Moog or a Buchla) with a bunch of tape recorders.
Digital synthesis was mostly a dream. If you where lucky the computer
department allowed you to use one of it's mainframes and then it would take
the damn thing nearly six hours to spit out a simple triangle wave! Just
getting two different devices to talk to each other was difficult at best,
but with the introduction of low cost digital CPUs that has all changed now.
AmbiEntrance: Tell us about your first solo recordings, (Point of Arrival and Book
of Alchemy - both overviewed this month)...
Nerell: Point of Arrival was sort of my "student album," it was my first attempt
at a cohesive musical statement, whereas everything I had done before was
basically just learning how the equipment worked. I think it shows my early
influences very clearly (Berlin school sequencer music) with just a hint of
my ethno influences seeping in at the fringes. Steve Roach and Richard Burmer
also added some color to this recording since they where both very much
involved with the production.
Book of Alchemy came about around the time I had just gone back to school
(I dropped out of college for a few years) to study Anthropology/Geography.
Most of my course work was in the areas of North American and Mezo American
Indian studies so this recording was kind of a reaction to all of my
studies with some reflections on my earlier trips to Mexico. Instead of
Steve and Richard giving me a hand this time several members of the group
Djam Karet where around helping out which I think added a more rocky edge
to portions of the recording.
AmbiEntrance: Those recordings are out of print; can they still be found, or do you
make CD-Rs available to anyone who asks?
Nerell: I still have quite a few copies of Book of Alchemy but only a handful of
Point of Arrival. I have made CDrs of them for people when they
specifically ask for one but generally don't make them available for sale.
I would eventually like to release them on CD with some bonus tracks, I
just haven't found a label at this point in time that is willing to put
them out.
AmbiEntrance: Whereas your first releases featured more prominent synthwork, lilin
dewa is much more ethnically rooted. Tell us about the behind the scenes
processes that led you there.
Nerell: Actually I had been heading in that direction for some time, you can even
hear gamelan type stuff on the opening track to Point of Arrival
(Eidolon) and Book of Alchemy really started me down that path. I think
the big difference between these earlier albums and what I am doing now is
the ethnic instruments are more up front while the synthwork is more in the
background. I'm still interested in synthesis.
As to what led me to do Lilin Dewa, it all kind of starts in 1990. I
started working on what would have been my third album which was to be a
sort of collaboration with percussionist Mike Ezzo. One part was going to
be a continuation of the Mezo American type stuff on BOA with the other
part being more gamelan in style. Unfortunately for various reasons
(including Mike moving to Japan) we never finished the project.
After this project didn't pan out it was time to take stock of my future
musical direction. I decided that if I really wanted to incorporate other
cultures traditions into my music then I had better study them, my first
trip to Indonesia in 1992 reinforced this idea. It was around then that I
started studying gamelan more seriously.
I didn't start working on Lilin Dewa until 1993. I started to mess around
a bit with some of the recordings I made there. I built up a collage of
ambient sounds I recorded in Java, which later became the basis for
Borobudor 4 AM. . Lilin Dewa was interrupted several times by various
activities centered around my graduate studies, including a longer more
extensive visit to Indonesia for fieldwork toward my M.A. thesis.
AmbiEntrance: Are the tracks on lilin dewa faithful recreations of actual Indonesian
music, or your own adaptations?
Nerell: No, not really. The pieces that are closest to traditional Indonesian music
are Irama which is based upon a particular style of Javanese gamelan and
Bamboo, Iron, Resin, & Bronze which is based more on Balinese gamelan.
They both use traditional musical forms of gamelan composition but because
of the use of synths and samplers are somewhat outside of tradition.
The other tracks all feature gamelan instruments and Indonesian sounds but
are more free-form soundscapes rather then traditional music.
AmbiEntrance: How much time have you spent in Java and Bali, and what was it like?
Nerell: I've spent around six months there in total, mostly in Bali doing fieldwork
for my M.A.thesis. It's a great place for the most part, the people are
very friendly and helpful. At first I met with a little bit of resistance
from some of the musicians in the village I was studying, I think they
thought of me as just another tourist. But after awhile they came to
realize I was a little more serious and pretty much opened up to me,
answering my questions, taking me to various musical performance and
ceremonies.
AmbiEntrance: What were your surroundings and
living conditions like during your stay? (It sounds rather tropical...)
Nerell: It sure is tropical, Bali and Java are just south of the equator so it
stays hot and humid most of the year. When I was doing my fieldwork I
mainly lived in the village I was studying, living is someone's house which
was very interesting, it gave me a chance to get to know the people better.
I'd go down the street to the local warung (a sort of road side stall/cafe)
and just hangout with the locals.
AmbiEntrance: What was your favorite experience?
Nerell: I have so many, getting to perform at a big temple ceremony with the group
I was studying would have to be one, even though I was as sick as a dog!
Visiting my Balinese gamelan teacher from America in his native village,
then watching him perform with his group would have to be another one.
Getting up at 3AM sitting on the steps of the Borobudor and listening to
several masques simultaneously doing call to prayer, that was pretty
magical. Seeing my Javanese teacher perform with the Paku Alaman royal
court gamelan in central Java was exciting. Just hanging out with the
locals was memorable too, I think I enjoyed that as much as anything else I
have mentioned.
AmbiEntrance: When did you decide to do the recordings for Indonesian Soundscape?
Were they originally planned to be a CD?
Nerell: I started recording it in 1992. No I never really even thought of these
recordings in that way, I did it mostly for fun, just because I enjoyed the
sounds. Most of what I usually record are different gamelans, mostly doing
ceremonial music. I have hours of these rare ceremonial styles that I
recorded now just sitting around in boxes here in my studio. It didn't
actually become a serious project until just before my return to Bali in
1997. A few days before I was set to leave I decided on a whim to call up
Charles Powne at Soleilmoon to see if he would be interested in doing some
sort of project. He had just given the green light to a similar project in
Mexico so my timing was right. He didn't want just straight music
recordings but more ambient type stuff. So on my last trip I when out of my
way to record more of those types of things and less of the straight
musical stuff although I still did end up recording quite a bit of that too.
AmbiEntrance: I really enjoyed the locational recordings, like the bus depot, the
airport, and the gamelan instrument showroom. Were you "secretly" recording
everything or being very obvious about it?
Nerell: It's funny that you mentioned those recordings because they where all
recorded by Dale Strumpell an audio engineer friend of mine who went over
to Indonesia with me in 1997. He had just bought a Sony Datman with these
special little lapel mics about the size of an eraser on the end of a
pencil, we called it the stealth recorder! :) He would pin the mics to his
shirt and stick the Datman in his pocket and just walk around recording
anything of interest. Most of the rest of the recording I did with my
larger system consisting of a Panasonic portable dat recorder and a Sony or
Shoeps stereo mic.
AmbiEntrance: Kecak's monkey chants sound quite animated, fierce even! What's the
story behind this?
Nerell: The Kecak was put together by a Dutch artist named Walter Spies. He lived
in Indonesia in the early part of this century for about thirty years. The
story goes he was asked by a film maker to put some spectacular event
together for this film he was making in Bali. Walter took an old trance
ritual ceremony called sanghjang and combined it with the battle scene from
the Ramayana. The monkey chants are the monkey army of Hanuman attacking
the evil King Ravana in aid of Prince Rama who is attempting to recover his
wife Sita whom King Ravana had kidnaped.
AmbiEntrance: The musical sounds seem so "exotic" to me, but to the Indonesians they're commonplace. Are they exposed to (or interested in) much Western
music?
Nerell: Oh sure Western music is everywhere. It's most popular in the larger
cities. I understand Jakarta has a thriving Jazz scene. I've even met a few
electronic music composers over there. Plus they have their own local
western style pop bands. My favorite Indonesian pop band was a group called
"Gong 2000" sort of a cross between Pink Floyd, Heavy Metal and Balinese
gamelan.
AmbiEntrance: Would they think the Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls sounded "exotic"?
Nerell: No, at least not the kids, just like anywhere else they are totally into that kind of stuff. When I was there in 97 the hot new band was this group from England called "Boyzone." I was invited to an event they where
playing for, when some of the local girls found out I became quite popular
for a few days!
AmbiEntrance: Do you have any future travel plans for music or fun?
Nerell: Not this year, but I'm always thinking about going back. Right now I'm
considering applying for a Fulbright grant to go back next year. If that
doesn't happen then I don't know when I'll go back.
AmbiEntrance: Tell us about The Venerable Dark Cloud; what kind of sounds can we
expect from that release, and when?
Nerell: The Venerable Dark Cloud will be appearing on the Amplexus label sometime
around next September. It will be one of those limited edition 3" mini CDs.
The title of this disc is actually the name of the Javanese gamelan I play
at UCLA. Just from that clue one could probably guess that I'm continuing
on with my gamelan inspired phase of writing. I even used that gamelan in
one section of this recording, I took portions of different recordings I
have made over the years of the UCLA Javanese gamelan, I then manipulated
or treated them using my computer changing them to the point where you can
barely recognize them.
AmbiEntrance: Anything else you'd like to add?
Nerell: Just that it's been great and keep up the good work!
AmbiEntrance: Many thanks for your participation, Loren. Keep us posted.
Nerell: Well thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about my music. I will
certainly keep you informed of my activities.
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