| Justin
Sanvicens from Xtreme Music received responses to an e-mail interview
with Trey Spruance on June 3, 2005, and G. Stuart Dahlquist on June
9, 2005. Minor editorial alterations were made by Justin Sanvicens on
June 4, 2005, and June 9, 2005.
Xtreme Music: How did Asva form and start recording music
in the doom rock genre?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: I've been playing this Doom stuff for a while,
starting at the tail-end of Thorr's Hammer which after a few months
and the addition of Edgy 59 became Burning Witch. The writing, the playing
of this music came easily; it felt amazing just standing in front of,
or really surrounded by all those shimmering tonal waves. I immediately
felt at home, and the door was unlocked! After Burning Witch, Sunn(0))),
Goatsnake, a brief period of floundering about in Los Angeles music
scene, B.R.A.D. called up and asked if it might be fun to put out a
heavy, slow thing; if we could write some stuff together again. Over
the course of about six months and the introduction of Dylan Carlson,
"Caprichos 1-80" was recorded and then released as a split
with Burning Witch by B.R.A.D. and I. After that we started working
on the "Futurist's Against The Ocean" music, not knowing who
would be involved in playing really. One aspect of Asva that I really
like is feeling that the band is evolving, musically and with members
as well, the new additions always bringing a new sonic frontier along.
So when Dylan got busy with Earth there was a brief question of "Who's
next?", and then Trey showed up... terrific! How Jessika, Trey,
and Troy became interested in Doom I'll never know, Asva might have
been their first taste of it. They've certainly provided new voices
to the genre, and now I've started writing from a standpoint of who's
talents are what, and where can Asva's music go? Maybe Doom can encompass
a broader sound, or perhaps Asva will move beyond what this "Doom"
genre can support.
Xtreme Music: Please tell us about the writing processes
involved in producing your debut album "Futurist's Against The
Ocean".
G. Stuart Dahlquist: It's a lot of work! Initially the songs are written
by myself, very rough versions that sort of contain a basic overview,
a template for the others to work from. The riffs come easily, usually
I'll get something in my head and have a basic idea for a track in about
a day. At that point I'll send off CD-Rs to everyone else and we each
chime in, the song becoming pretty fluid at this point with different
ideas being thrown around. A lot of the sort of "micro-tonal"
stuff between Jessika, Trey, and Troy being discussed between them,
the more heavy guitar/bass/drum aspects being worked over by myself,
B.R.A.D, John Schuller, and Daniel La Rochelle. It's almost like there's
two seperate entities at work, a sort of crash right in the middle,
and bang, there's a track. Producer Randall Dunn also has a very good
idea of what B.R.A.D. and I are trying to get across and is instrumental
in determining the finished sound of Asva. In the case of bringing both
Jessika and Trey into Asva, it was Randall who introduced us. He's brought
a great deal to this project.
Xtreme Music: What innovative production techniques do you incorporate
into your recorded music?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: Not being a real tech-guy in the studio my comments
have to stay mostly in the writing and song creation realm. There's
some simple tools I employ in my studio at home that have nothing to
do with playing an instrument but that have led directly to the creation
of a song. I like to experiment with other people's music, taking my
rough ideas and laying somebody else's music right over the top just
to hear what it sounds like. "Fortune" was initially recorded
like this; taking the rough "Fortune" demo, I layed a piece
of Hildegard
Von Bingen's on top. When it finally sat right timing-wise over
the demo it brought tears to my eyes. Jessika was recommended by Randall
as a person who could sing ancient music and that was how she was brought
into the fold, and now with the influx of all these new people to the
band so much is within our grasp. Trey and Jessika both bring amazingly
varied influences, B.R.A.D. with his super minimal percussive style,
Troy and his Hammond Organ hardly move but by using the drawbars he's
really created an astounding, and to my ears, a new approach to keys.
The fact that Asva's members are coming from different head spaces besides
Metal or Doom seems pretty innovative to me although I'm very sure others
are and have been taking a similar path. Maybe using old school tecniques
in the studio like 2" tape, vintage gear, is now coming full circle
and represents an innovative approach to recording. If that's the case,
then Asva certainly uses those tools, the tape machines, the tube gear,
and all that.
Trey Spruance: I'm really proud of my tubular bell solos on that record.
Actually, Randall Dunn is fucking amazing. We used a copper microphone
of his that looks like a pipe bomb on the piano, which gave it a really
dusty tone. That and squashing it on the "nuke" setting on
the Distressor. Randall is a good adventurer. My frequency zone was
different than almost everyone elses, high mids mostly, so for the small
amount of stuff I did on the CD, clean guitar, piano, and tubular bells,
he was really adaptable to what I saw as the "necessary" additions,
minus anything else. In my mind I had habituated myself to a certain
sonic role in Asva. A scratchy but barely discernable movement in the
massive darkness, like a tumbleweed blowing by at midnight. Anyway,
I can be the worst nightmare for an engineer that is set in his ways
because in my own universe I know exactly what the hell I'm doing. In
technical terms as well as the art fag ones, and that's the worst. Randall,
God bless him, completely loves all of that shit.
Xtreme Music: What does the album and tracks titles on "Futurist's
Against The Ocean" reference?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: "Futurist's Against The Ocean" is actually
taken from the title of a simple collage ["Futurist's Battle With
The Ocean"] in a twelve page chapbook by Aleksei Kruchenykh called
"Universal War" [aka "Vselenskja
Vojna"] [Download
Info .pdf] . Each page is collage, simple, and elegant, just a few
pieces of colored shapes against a solid background of blue, white,
pink, or purple. It seemed fitting to me that Asva would be equated
to the Russian Futurist's movement of the early part of this last century.
Really I've been suprized at the amount of commentary that has come
about due this title. There though, lie its origins. I had done some
artwork that went along these lines for the record; block shapes, really
minimalist, but no one seemed to like it much, and it was shelved.
"Kill The Dog, Tie Them Up, Then Take The Money" is from a
horrible event that took place next to my old home in Seattle. Some
thugs broke into my neighbors house, killed the dog, tied up, and actually
killed my neighbors, then stole whatever money they had in the house.
The thieves were caught and convicted because of DNA samples taken from
the dog that were found on their clothing. True story. In retrospect
the title seems funny, bungling thieves being told by the boss how to
pull off a robbery. Sadly it's not really that funny.
"Zaum;Beyonsense": "Beyonsense" is really just a
loose translation of what "Zaum"
means. This word is again from the Russian Futurist's and relates to
the use of transrational discourse in art and written language. Taking
an abstact thought and translating it into emotional expression that
is divined and interpreted within the beholder. It seemed appropriate
in the context of this piece of music.
"Fortune" is the title given to the first movement of Carl
Orff's "Carmina Burana" and I borrowed it. Jessika wrote her
part and we stuck with the given title. I think its fitting in that
the payoff here, your fortune if you will, after some thirty minutes
of listening to "Futurist's Against The Ocean" is the voice
of Jessika Kenney.
"By The Well Of Living And Seeing" is the title of an extraordinary
poem by Charles
Reznikoff ["By
The Well Of Living And Seeing"], and the lyrics of the song
consist of lines taken directly from that poem. B.R.A.D. sings on this
track as well as Jessika, and he is responsible for the melody and the
unusual harmony.
Xtreme Music: What are your reflections from working in
the studio together with the band members?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: Asva's music comes down to a fair amount of experimentation,
trying different things, instruments, tonal elements; the only thing
that has really worked out prior to getting in the studio is how the
song will go. For example, this part is played seven times, this five,
things like that. There's a lot of give and take, a lot of negotiation.
It's a little stressful, a lot of fun, and the middle ground we discover
tends toward a wholly new sound that differentiates Asva from other
Doom bands. Just being able to let go of preconcieved notions of how
things should sound opens us up to so many possibilities, and exploring
those possibilities is fast becoming the most exiting aspect of this
band!
Trey Spruance: Amazed and intrigued, especially by Stuart and his weird
and uncontrived way of hearing this "Doom" music. The way
the whole thing grew out of itself was pretty neat.
Xtreme Music: How did you come to discover Jessika Kenney's
resonating vocals, and what are the beautiful lyrics that she sings?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: Jessika was introduced to me by way of Randall
Dunn; I had sent him a copy of "Fortune" with the vocal part
I had overdubbed by Hildegard
Von Bingen and liked so much. I was asking about the possibility
of running it as a sample when we played live, and Randall said "Well
sure, you could do that but I know someone who can pull it off"
and Jessika was that someone. Intitially she just came to a show, walked
on stage and improvised... I could hardly play! I'd get so choked up
listening to her, tears would blur my vision, literally sobbing on stage.
She just captivated me so. "Fortune" is sung in Latin, based
on an alchemical text from I think the 14th century. Not understanding
Latin, it's my very basic understanding that what's going on lyrically
is "To kill the dragon, you must first kill the dragon's brother".
I should someday get a better idea of the content! "By The Well
Of Living And Seeing" was explained earlier, a Charles
Reznikoff poem that B.R.A.D. had borrowed lines from prior to Jessika's
involvment in the band. The phrase at the end of the song "Penumbral
tu halo" is Latin meaning the "Ring around the moon is your
halo".
Trey Spruance: I've known Jessika a long time and played many gigs with
her, most of which have been either tentative and rewarding forays into
"early music". Music of Michael
Maier (!) and Thomas
Campion, or me doing a hack attempt at reading charts and doing
the easiest gong parts in slendro tunings behind some of the actual
West Japanese repertoire she is quite familiar with.
Xtreme Music: What can you tell us about the cover artwork
and additional imagery included within this album.
G. Stuart Dahlquist: Stephen O'Malley and I came up with the concept
for the cover art after my aformentioned artwork was poo-pooed by my
bandmates. We let Stephen run with it and after some fiddling around
we came to what you now see. The artwork in the middle is by Melinda
Matson, an artist I was lucky enough to meet several years ago in Portland,
an astounding person, and her partner Mark Rodgers. I had seen a photograph
of this piece and wanted to use it in a Burning Witch record but it
just wouldn't work. Melinda showed up at an Asva show and we talked
a great deal, she agreed to let us use it. Mark sadly took his own life
a couple of years ago, I never had the opportunity to meet him. That
font is a Cyrillic that Stephen and I chose... those Futurist's really
got a bite into me, and I just couldn't and still can't get them to
let me loose. We've taken some shit for using it but I think it looks
good, it's interesting, and if somebody for some reason doesn't like
it, I just couldn't care less.
Xtreme Music: How have Asva's live performances been going
and what has the crowd reaction been like?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: The shows have been good! This last tour had its
ups and downs performance wise. Really I don't think we hit our stride
until the last two or three shows. The addition of Dan on guitar plus
a new track called "A Trap For Judges" gave us alot to iron
out and we rehearsed very little before hand so things evolved during
shows instead of during rehearsals. We're a pretty dark band live, slower
than most, louder than most, and play a somewhat difficult brand of
music for the average listener to digest. Those who "get it"
really freak out, those who don't usually can't stand it at all and
leave the building which is of course better than saying some dumb-ass
remark during "Fortune" which fucks it up for everyone; there's
really very little in middle of the road reactions. We play a solid
wall of sound for about an hour and fifteen minutes, no breaks for a
breath, and it becomes either a warm, welcoming womb of sound or an
entirely claustrophobic sound coffin. My ears generally pop after a
performance!
Trey Spruance: Favorable. It's funny to see people cheer after an hour
long "Doom" concert. Seems like they should just sit down
and cry for a while. I'd feel better about our impact if that was the
reaction. Maybe someday.
Xtreme Music: Please tell us about your upcoming European tour plans
during summer 2005.
G. Stuart Dahlquist: We're working on a limited 12" containing
two new songs, one live and the other studio that will coordinate with
a early September UK/European tour. The dates and venues are just now
being sorted out and booked so I might have definitive information posted
in a week or two, a dozen or so shows. I think we'd all like to do more
but with so many members its tough to sort out schedules. I'm sure looking
forward to it, there's alot of people I haven't seen for a while, some
of whom have kindly offered to buy me a pint or two.
Xtreme Music: For those who enjoy music from Asva, what
other bands or musicians can you recommend?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: My top five would be Krzysztof
Penderecki, Miles
Davis, Carl
Orff, Steve
Reich, and paying attention to turn signals of cars in front of
you while waiting at stop lights. Amazing stuff, highly underrated.
My favorite stuff by Miles
Davis came from the work he did with Gil Evans, "Sketches Of
Spain" in particular. Carl Orff created some amazing music that
incorporated instuments he himself designed; very percussive, sturdy.
By this I mean his compositions haven't dulled over years of repeated
heavy listening. I recommend Carmina Burana to the uninitiated. Krzysztof
Penderecki absolutely rules! His "Polish Requiem" has
been for me the single most influential piece of music; absolutely stunning.
Anything by him is a complete mind-fuck, and we all love a good mind
fuck. Steve Reich
has so much material out that I've no idea what would be my listening
choice! I'll mention something and there's always going to be someone
else chiming in with "But what about this or that?" For the
record, "Proverb"
kills me.
Trey Spruance: IIancu
Dumitrescu, especially "Medium (II)", "Medium (III):
For Double Bass", and "Pierres Sacrées: Acousmatic
Music For Prepared And Amplified Pianos, Plates And Metallic Objects".
I couldn't believe that neither Stephen O'Malley nor Stuart Dahlquist
had heard this. But it just proves their uncontrived nature, kind of
like how some death metal proves atonal serialism as having the potential
of being a "folk" phenomenon. It used to be that "classical"
music was based on folk forms. I think that started to flip around in
the 20th Century. Ok, I'll shut up now.
Xtreme Music: What are your plans for musical projects in
the near future?
G. Stuart Dahlquist: I've got a bunch of stuff to do... getting this
12" out in time for the tour is taking up some time for sure, and
saving some money for tickets to get ourselves there. The "Futurist's
Against The Ocean" vinyl as well that I've got to sort and save
a little money to do. Also writing some new Asva tracks for the next
record, I'm about half way there. Stephen O'Malley and I are cooking
something up but as yet aren't able to unveil it and I'm still hoping
to put together a tour that gets us as far south as Los Angeles, my
home.
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