In this interview, we chat with solarminds about his newest project Intimate Portraits and Ambient Gestures. There is also a bonus/companion album available, X-Rays and Open Tranmissions, consisting of remixes, alternate and live versions, and other exclusive tracks not available anywhere else.
Full Q&A as well as audio streams available below.
We’ve featured you before but let’s dive a little deeper into the artist and the music. What attracted you to this genre or style of music?
When I was first really getting into music in my early teenage years, grunge was taking over, but it was bands like The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, and Slowdive that got me into playing guitar. Then I heard The Great Annihilator album by SWANS, and I was like, “oh, this is what music can be.” It was those rich, layered textures, rhythms, drones, and mingling of darkness and light that blew my mind. There was also a realness, rawness, power and vulnerability expressed in SWANS (and related projects) that I liked. This Timeless Turning by Sky Cries Mary, and the Dead Can Dance live album, Toward the Within, also really drew me in. They had a primal spirituality that really resonated with me.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
I bought a Tascam 4-track recorder and began recording my songs in ’94 or ’95, and I self-released my first album on CD-R in 1996. Shortly after, I hooked up with an independent label called Dark World, and did a couple albums with them. Then I started my own label, Mind Altering Records, in 2005.
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?
I suppose my writing is influenced one way or another by all the different music I listen to. As a live sound engineer and freelance producer, I encounter a lot of great music and musicians. It helps to be surrounded by excellent music and artists. I once heard an interview with a musician who said something like, “I write music because there’s music that I want to hear, but it hasn’t been created yet, so I have to create it,” and that rings true for me too. I love listening to music, and sometimes I want to hear certain sounds and textures. I keep writing music because as cheesy as it may sound, my soul tells me I have to. I enjoy pushing myself and trying to do things sonicaly that I haven’t done before.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
Well, even though I am releasing Intimate Portraits and Ambient Gestures under the name solarminds (which is the band I’ve spearheaded since 2002), it is basically a solo project. I’ve never done an album that was completely a solo effort, and I wanted to see what kind of album I could make all on my own. Making a solo album offers a kind of creative freedom you don’t get with a band, but it also comes with it’s own challenges, and that’s what I wanted. There were a couple specific things I wanted to do on an album that I’d never done and wanted to try- like the polyrhythmic drumming on “grit in your teeth,” and writing string parts like the ones on, “things I’ve done,” and “just do the maximum and try to feel things.”
What was the last song you listened to?
“One of Us Cannot Be Wrong,” the last track on Leonard Cohen’s first album.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
You didn’t ask about cassettes. Up until several years ago, I still had a tape player in my car, and a box of old cassettes in the back seat that I listened to regularly, and my CD collection is enormous, but I guess vinyl is my favorite.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Spotify is cool for previewing albums that I usually end up buying. I’ve recently become a fan of Pandora because I can get introduced to new artists and bands.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?
Well you kind of nailed it. There is a lot of really good music out there. One of my big challenges is that my music is pretty niche, and people tend to either love it or hate it, so promotion is about trying to reach out to listeners who will appreciate what I’m/we’re doing. It’s not for everyone, and I know that, but I console myself in also knowing that most of my favorite artists and bands are like that too- maybe not a ton of fans, but the fans we have are highly devoted and really into the stuff we create.
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you perform?
As I mentioned, the latest solarminds album is basically a solo album, and it’s more of a recording project than anything. It’s not the kind of material I could replicate live, but I am toying with the idea of scheduling a series of “live in studio” performances at some college radio stations of some stripped down arrangements of solarminds songs.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
You can find Mind Altering Records on Facebook, and solarminds on Facebook, but the best place is the Mind Altering Records website www.mindalteringrecords.com.
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
Definitely a big shout out to all the people, friends, family, and strangers, who contributed to the kickstarter campaign. I’ve never done a kickstarter before, and we successfully raised the money we needed to make this album happen, so those people deserve a huge thank you, and have my eternal gratitude. As far as words of wisdom go, I’ll leave you with a quote from Wayne Coyne that I like so much, I named the last track on the album after, “just do the maximum and try to feel things.”
