| Justin
Sanvicens from Xtreme Music received responses to an e-mail interview
with The Demix (Paul Fuhr) on June 12, 2004.
Xtreme Music: How
would you describe your music?
The Demix: Experimental Mixology - I think the music speaks for itself,
you have to listen and judge for yourself. Typical, right? I bounce
around to many places with my music and touch on as many genres that
I can. It's heavy on the Ambient/Noise tip with beats all over the place.
Music for Aliens and Zombies. Psychedelic, Drum n' Bass, Breakcore,
IDM, Metal, Jazz, whatever. I've been told I should be composing for
or even making horror movies. I guess my shit is pretty scary and it
is meant to freak people out. I want people to have strange visual images
pass through their minds while listening to my music. It's the soundtrack
to my life. It's moody, dark, aggressive and hard to deal with. It's
psycho shit, but I feel there is beauty in it and there IS order among
the chaos. In terms of djing, a lot of the music I mix is just what
I'm digging at that time, so if I'm listening to The Beach Boys and
Wu-tang Clan all week, that's what your going to hear getting torn apart
in my mixer.
Xtreme Music: Who
are your main influences & how have they shaped your musical direction?
The Demix: Kid606, Doormouse, Merzbow, John Corigliano, Nine Inch Nails,
The Beatles and Pink Floyd all have directly influenced my art. I think
Motley Crew was the first act to influence me in the shock factor of
music. Venetian Snares, Eminem, Matmos, God Speed You! Black Emperor,
DJ Tron, Zod Records, DJ Qbert, DJ Shadow, DJ Swamp, death metal, Midwest
rave parties circa '97 - '00. I'm influenced by everyone and anything
I listen to. I try to learn and take some knowledge out of listening
to music. When I listen I like to walk away feeling inspired or challenged
to create something up to par with what I put on a pedestal. I worked
for a symphony orchestra for 5 years and that's when my appreciation
for avant garde symphonic music kicked in. Corigliano's 3 Hallucinations
For Orchestra was on our season and when I saw that performance I wet
myself cuz it was so fucking good. You walk away wanting to create something
that will give those euphoric feelings to other listeners. Whatever
I am listening to at the time has a major influence on my musical output.
All the artists I mentioned pushed boundaries and that's what I respect
most about them. They do what they do and to me it seems very pure.
I just do what feels good & usually what I hear in my head is what
comes out.
Xtreme Music: What
innovative production techniques do you incorporate into your music?
The Demix: Improvisation with roads and boundaries. Well mapped chaos.
The mind itself is a production technique. I just try to use my tools,
if you will, in ways that maybe most people wouldn't. I like to abuse
my instruments. With Storm I wanted to make it the loudest record possible
and I think I did a good job. When your speaker starts to rumble and
make that awful noise like it's about to blow that's totally intentional.
When I play live I like to hit people in the heart with that shit. I
use a lot of effects on everything. I take strange samples from old
records like the original War Of The Worlds broadcast, when people actually
thought the aliens were attacking. Or weird movies like Altered States
or this great propaganda movie called Atomic Cafe. I put audio from
movies on to CDs to create a cinematic feeling. You must dig hard for
the right samples. On my laptop I run Reason, Recycle, the free Ableton
Live demo, Protools & this freeware called Dekstasy. I just learned
some new tricks with Recycle so I'm in remix mode right now. I own this
Ampeg amp/6 channel mixing board monstrosity that must be from the 70's
that I like to use live. I set it up so I can create controlled feedback
running it through my DJ mixer - if you shake it, hit it and smash it
on the floor enough it starts to make great noise that moves in rhythmic
patterns, I can control the patterns with the bass & treble and
this feedback reducer on the ampeg. Hmmmmm... Well, call those "production
techniques" if you will...
Xtreme Music: How
have you used Mike Patton & John Zorn's work to develop your own
unique style of music deconstruction?
The Demix: Those guys are mad scientists - I've listened to them for
almost 15 years, from before the time Bungle's debut dropped. They opened
the door to experimental music for me and they constantly impress me
with each project they release. I think both are incredibly meticulous
in detail. Perfectionists. They are into creating organized chaos, and
that's what I try to do. I know what records go with what records and
I know what samples I want to fuck with - they are like interchangeable
puzzle pieces. But I'm not always going to play them in the same order.
Or put the same effects on them or do the same scratches... At the same
time there is my own formula I have and it must be followed. Also, they
keep good musical company and each runs fantastic record labels. Sampling
and/or mixing anything from Fantomas is always fun, I use John Zorn's
IAO: Music In Sacred Light a lot... As someone who takes on the role
of a DJ, it's my duty to promote music which I feel should be heard
by more people.
Xtreme Music: Where
do you find your inspiration musically?
The Demix: "The Demix" is just my most honest form of communication,
and in that sense my music is a huge emotional ball of fucked up energy
and thoughts. I think I'd rather spin some records for someone than
talk to them. Everything I experience in life inspires me - movies,
art, the ocean, my issues with the United States government and how
it's fucked, my feelings about the current state of popular music and
how that's fucked, ex-girlfriends, the need to create something different.
Other music inspires me. Live music. I love to witness artists do their
thing live - there's nothing more inspiring than a great show.
Xtreme Music: When
was the best experience in The Demix's music career?
The Demix: That's a tough one. It's been all good on the DIY level but
I feel it's time to branch out. I'm not satisfied. I want more out of
it, I want more people to hear it and I think the best moments are yet
to come.
Xtreme Music: How's
your live performances been going & what has the crowd reaction
been like?
The Demix: Let me say your not going to fully understand The Demix until
you experience the live show. The crowd reaction is always different,
but has been surprisingly positive. People are always a bit confused,
but when you're forced to watch it for 30 or 40 minutes I think you
can at least appreciate the art in it. I've had a few shows where I've
completely freaked people out and maybe a few will politely clap. I've
done shows where the room full will go nuts and that freaks me out.
It depends on the situation I put myself in. If I open for a band it's
a challenge to win over an audience that is expecting "live"
music. But I do like that challenge. So far Los Angeles has been good
to me. I recently played a massive art show in downtown on the roof
of a parking garage with a bunch of experimental electronic artists.
Shows like that are great because there is a lot of love for the music
you're going to play and people ARE expecting it and they WANT to hear
it. I took 2nd place in the Los Angeles Laptop Battle: http://www.laptopbattle.org.
The Laptop Battle is like an MC battle, you're matched up one on one
elimination style through several rounds. Just laptops, no external
controllers. That was a cool event to be a part of, hopefully it will
continue to grow and turn into the DMC for laptop artists.
Xtreme Music: Tell
us about your latest album.
The Demix: Altered Dins is a collection of free mp3's available at http://www.thedemix.com/.
It's an interesting mix of music heavily stealing from the movie Altered
States, most of the samples and music come from it. The tracks actually
have strong personal meanings behind them in their titles and with the
samples I chose. Heartbreak, moving cross-country and war. I took the
audio off the DVD and burned it to 2CD's then mixed and manipulated
them. There's also some demos I threw in for the fun of it. The Bomb
isn't done yet. Metro Red Line is inspired by my time spent on the subway
in Los Angeles. The albums centerpiece is a 12 minute mix of evil ambience,
noise, breakcore & Method Man from my last live show as a resident
of Milwaukee, WI. Download it.
Xtreme Music: What's
happening in the near future for The Demix?
The Demix: Record deals, distribution deals, platinum records, world
domination, hours at the computer, the new Beastie Boys record and trips
to The Coffee Bean. I honestly would like to hook up some distribution.
My overhead is pretty low - I'm one person that can record everything
at home, so making music is not the hard part. I've reached a good amount
people but I know there are more out there that would appreciate The
Demix. Distribution and reaching more people is the current goal. Anyone?
Anyone? Hello. I have some shows coming up, a big L.A. party in July
called the Telethon with a slew of IDM/electronic acts - Go to http://www.icomplex.org
for info on that. And always check http://www.thedemix.com/
for the latest info on me. There will be new Demix Muzik out by Halloween.
Artistically The Demix is in a place I want him to be. As far as business
there is work to be done. |
