A short talk with Folded Voices on the art of sampling, collage and visual art, and finding "beauty" in "chaos".
Diogo: Your music sounds intense, bringing a more explosive version of plunderphonics to the table. Where does this energy come from?
Bret: I’ve always been attracted to club/dance music, and accelerated music in general. Daft Punk - "Technologic" was one of the first things I bought when I got an iTunes gift card in elementary school.
Diogo: What are the characteristics that captivate you in the art of sampling? At what point do you consider a piece of art to be truly independent of the one that gave birth to it? And how would you describe the role played by the artist in providing this transformation?
Bret: A lot of the samples I use are from my own recordings, and messing with radios and video players. I still do sample other music occasionally but I would say that I’m more interested in the transformation of non-musical sound into music, opposed to other's music into my music. Sampling audio just allows me to access anything audible to make art. My interest in sampling also correlates to my interest in collage and visual art. Kurt Schwitters, and Robert Rauschenberg were two of the artists I was most obsessed with early on, and a lot of their work is the reinterpretation of “non-art materials." I think a new piece is “truly independent of the one that gave birth to it” when the artist deems it to be a new piece of art. It’s not about how the artist transforms it necessarily but more about the idea with which they approach it. “Insert Marcel Duchamp's Fountain here” lol
Diogo: Could you highlight one collage/ visual art piece and explain the reasons behind this personal choice?
Bret: Any of the pieces from The Carboards (1971-72) by Robert Rauschenberg are great examples. "Spanish Stuffed / Mode / Plus" to pick one. He's arranging these cardboard boxes and displaying them like any painting or collage would be shown. It highlights the idea of arranging/recontextualizing as a way of making art. I think my interests in music are more similar to this than anything else.
Diogo: There’s beauty in destruction. Do you agree?
Bret: Of course.
Diogo: In your opinion, where specifically should we search for beauty in the midst of chaos? How should we look at destruction if we wish to find "beauty"?
Bret: It's up to you. How do you feel about chaos/destruction? I use it as the starting point, How do I make something I love out of this rubble? Like I said about Deconstructed Club as an idea, you blow something up to make something new out of its parts.
Diogo: While listening to All Velcro, the image of a psychedelic disco came to mind, where people are trying to dance, but can't due to the changes in rhythm. I believe you celebrate a form of art that tries to find meaning in the cyclical dismantlement and reconstruction of itself. Could you share your thoughts on this topic?
Bret: ALL VELCRO was all about blowing up club music and rebuilding something new out of the parts, trying to make something that reflected where I was at. That has always been one of the focuses of Deconstructed Club or Post-Club in general, the idea of dissecting Club music tropes and then making something that doesn't follow any of the same rules. I wanted ALL VELCRO to feel like it was made out of advertisements and Youtube videos, like all the elements of each song were independently vying for your attention.
Diogo: Here's one example of the form of "chaos" I was mentioning earlier on: "[...] like all the elements of each song were independently vying for your attention". I think the "beauty in destruction" here is related to the big picture; to the way these elements interact and transform each other, creating something immense in comparison to their individualities.
Bret: Yes, exactly. There are hundreds of bits of audio going on throughout ALL VELCRO, and none of them are particularly elegant or meaningful on their own. The juxtapositions and sum of them all is what ends up being interesting.
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