Brightest Young Things

Gavin Russom is not a man of frivolous or half-baked thoughts.

When it comes to music and art, Russom has big, principled ideas, and he’s spent the past ten years fearlessly exploring them on New York's seminal DFA Records.

Reading the bio section on his website, you’re struck by two notions: “Is this guy serious?”; and shortly thereafter, “This guy is totally fucking serious.”

To wit: “This desire to get inside the magician's cabinet, to understand the workings of the machine – whether it be human or mechanical – is central to Russom's practice and is a further reflection of his drive towards the total integration and synthesis of action, artist and materials.”

The bio – along with another for his collaboration with Delia Gonzalez – is loaded with meditative stuff just like this.   That particular excerpt is part of an explanation as to why Russom builds most of his own electronic instruments, including, first and foremost, unique variations of analog synthesizers.   It’s something Russom has done for all of his projects on DFA: Black Leotard Front, Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom, Black Meteoric Star, and now, The Crystal Ark, who you can catch live this Friday @ HIRSHHORN AFTER HOURS.

It was such technical knowhow that landed Russom at the James Murphy's label in the first place: “I had sent out a mass e-mail to everyone who had ever e-mailed me and forgotten to BCC’s mailing list that I could fix and design analog synths.  I had taken a year off to learn how to build synths and was unbelievably broke.  James Murphy was the only person that wrote back so I went over to his studio where there were piles of vintage gear which I started to repair.”

After years of building tools, instruments, and machines for LCD Soundsystem, Russom took a more active role in 2009, joining Murphy during the recording of This is Happening, and playing with the band across Europe and the States (including that little show at Madison Square Garden).

Around the same time, he began working on The Crystal Ark, a collaboration with Viva Ruiz that was inspired in part by a trip to Brazil, where Russom soaked up “Carioca Funk, atabaque drumming, Tropicalia and South American style rave.”

You hear that influence in sensual rhythmic pulse of the Crystal Ark’s three 12”s – 2010’s “The City Never Sleeps” and “The Tangible Presence of he Miraculous”, this year’s “Touch” – where live percussion and Russom’s distinct synth drones combine to create something overwhelmingly hypnotic and physical.

Over the past year, the circle of contributors to the Crystal Ark has expanded, and when it visits DC on Friday night, the line-up will include Tyler Pope (!!! / LCD Soundsystem), Jaiko Suzuki (Electroputas), Matt Thornley (LCD Soundsystem), artist Sohhna Heathyre Mabin, and Alberto Lopez.

In anticipation of the show, BYT talked with Russom about the Crystal Ark’s past and future, as well as his reflections on LCD Soundsystem, DFA Records, and going clean cut.

BYT: You’ve cited a five-week trip to Brazil as an inspiration of sorts for the Crystal Ark.  How were you filling your days and nights there?  Where in Brazil did you spend time?

Gavin Russom: I went down there to perform Black Meteoric Star with AVAF at the Sao Paulo Bienial.  I spent time hanging out and going out in both Sao Paulo and Rio as well as exploring both those cities significantly on foot.  I visited Candomble and Umbanda Terreiros, went to the ocean whenever possible, took a 36 hour bus ride to Salvador where I heard real atabaque and berimbau music, then traveled by several kinds of boats and even a tractor out to some beautiful islands in Bahia where I spent New Years. I DJ’ed a bit, spent time with friends, drank a lot of fresh juices, went to a lot of beautiful churches...

BYT: When you were figuring out what you wanted to do with the Crystal Ark, what about the music made you want to work with a female vocalist?

GR: When I write music I can usually hear the parts that need to come next before I record them.  I listen back to what I’ve done carefully and I can hear the next thing that isn’t in there yet playing in my head while I listen.  And when I’d “finished” the instrumentals of “The City..” and “The Tangible...” I could hear female vocals in Spanish over them.  So I just knew finding a singer who spoke Spanish was the next step.  I was also really into the Phantasia 12”s at the time and really liked Nikki Van Lierop’s vocals as Jade 4u. I also knew that I wanted someone to write their own lyrics, to really contribute a whole other aspect to the music and not just sing something I had written.  And I wanted that person to be a woman too.

BYT: Do you speak Spanish?  If not, do you know what it is that Viva Ruiz is singing?  Or is it not essential to have a complete grasp?

GR: Yes, I do speak Spanish.  Viva’s lyrics are extremely poetic and powerful and their content adds a lot to what the music as a whole is saying.  Of course it’s possible to get plenty out of the songs if you don’t speak Spanish but there’s definitely a deeper level if you do.

BYT: “Touch” is less than half the length of the Crystal Ark singles that preceded it, and – to my ears – the most conventionally dancefloor-ready song you’ve released since Black Leotard Front’s “Casual Friday”.  Was there a conscious effort to make something more succinct?

GR: Absolutely.  Originally I had only planned to do those first two 12”s as the Crystal Ark with Viva and then move on.  When we were asked to play live and then put a group together to do so I realized that I wanted to make much more music with these people and in this vein.  An album was the obvious next step so I began working on tracks that would fit that format.  Once I started I got very into the idea of packing the intensity and drama of the long pieces into a more conventional song format, or at least length.  Also I have studied so much music, worked with the very far out ends of jazz, 20th century classical, electronic dance music etc and it’s been a dream of mine for a long time to bring my experience with that kind of music into song writing and see what would happen.

BYT: Each Crystal Ark single has seen an expansion of the project’s line-up.  “Touch” is the first to feature all of the members currently performing as the Crystal Ark.  How has the project’s sound developed as the band has grown?  How has the Crystal Ark changed from how you first envisioned it?

GR: The band has expanded in a very natural way, mostly around the live show and capturing the energy and density if the songs we’re making for the record without just playing track from a laptop.  Then that started feeding back into the recording process, for example using live bass rather than or in combination with synthesizer bass on tracks, or bringing in Jaiko Suzuki and Sokhna Heathyre Mabin to sing back up in the studio.  Viva had originally brought them in to sing in the live show to capture the vocal layering we were doing in the studio, but the 3 voices worked so well together that I wanted to get them onto the new recordings as well.  The major shift in the sound happened after finishing the first 2 singles.  There was that one vision, about tropical psy trance basically, and then the new vision happened when the live band first came together.  That new vision is about making a really inclusive, physical music that draws on the talent and inspiration of all the people involved.  Also I think the sound changed a lot when I moved back to New York from Berlin.  The two cities sound very different and they are both present in the music, that’s part of the point, but making New York my base again turned up the volume on the Latin influence and brought other sounds I love that this city has created way up in the mix.

BYT: Are there plans for a Crystal Ark full-length?  If there are, will the full line-up revisit earlier singles “The City Never Sleeps” and/or “The Tangible Presence of the Miraculous”?

GR: We’re finishing up recording the full length Crystal Ark album now.  Live we always play "The City Never Sleeps" and sometimes play "The Tangible Presence of the Miraculous" (when we can get Lizzy Yoder to do a cameo vocal).  We don’t have plans to re-record either of those tracks with the new line up but anything is possible.

BYT: Aside from its music, what other elements will the Crystal Ark be incorporating into its performance at the Hirshorn on Friday?

GR: There will be a strong visual component to the performance at the Hirshorn.  Bec Stupak and Johnny Woods of Honeygun labs will be doing live projections with video synthesizers and other projection tools.  Dancer/Choreographers Irene “Discos” Deros and Alberto Cortes will provide live movements throughout the performance and the 3 female vocalists; Viva Ruiz, Jaiko Suzuki and Sokhna Heathyre Mabin will perform several ceremonial dances to bless and charge the space.  I encourage all the people involved in the project, whether musicians, dancers or visual artists to think of themselves as players in the group, so that what they contribute deepens the total experience.

BYT: Your various projects have almost always included a strong visual and/ or dance component in their live performances. Is there a part of you that views your recorded output as incomplete, or as just a portion of a larger picture?

GR: It’s more that I am a person who enjoys total experiences in which all details are attended to.  A recording of music is self-evident as a document of sound and time and an experience unto itself, but when performing music live there are so many factors in play that I like to try to address as much of that as I can and create not just an imitation of the recorded music but an entirely new and also quite rich and specific.

BYT: You released the fantastic “Night Sky” 12" under your own name this summer.  I’ve seen you go into detail over why the Crystal Ark and Black Meteoric Star were named as they were, so I have to believe this kind of a thing isn’t just an afterthought.  Why release the single under your own name now?  How will music put out under Gavin Russom differ from projects that have preceded it?

GR: “Night Sky” was a track that I made that didn’t feel like part of a project but brought aspects of many of my projects together.  The decision to release it under my full name was about putting it on a long time scale where there was no expectation of a quick follow up, album etc.  It was simply a statement: “Here’s a track I made.”  Releasing music under my own name feels very open ended to me so it’s hard to say what that will exactly look like in the future.  I’ve done several live shows of long format semi improvised music under my name, and all of my remixes have been done as Gavin Russom as well, so I suppose that is where the aesthetic clues on future works lie.

BYT: You said on your blog that touring with LCD Soundsystem took you “the greatest depths of my music knowledge and experiences.” How do you think your time with the band has affected – or will – the music that you make?

GR: Well I’ve always learned a lot from working with James.  We have very different ideas and aesthetics but we have a lot in common too.  I definitely learned a great deal about songwriting by digging into the depths of James’ musical output.  I think most importantly that playing big shows almost every single night brought me to a very intense level of focus around all aspects of the creative process but especially rhythm.  And that has stuck with me even after the tour ended.

BYT: You had worked with LCD in the past, building synths and tools, as well as playing on perhaps the act’s crowning achievement, “Yeah”. You seemed more involved on This Is Happening: you received songwriting credits for “One Touch” and “Drunk Girls”, and even appeared on the cover art for the latter 12”. What were your contributions like for this record?  How would you describe James Murphy as a collaborator?

GR: Well LCD in my opinion really IS James Murphy.  There are a lot of people involved of course but the creative vision is James’.  The flip side of that is that I think he’s very inspired by the people around him in the band and around the label.  Who they are, what they’re into and what they’re doing musically and that feeds into his own process.  I’ve always felt my role was around that stuff.  I worked with James in the studio on both “One Touch” and “Drunk Girls” and we, you know, all made some sound together, I brought what I do to the table.  And then I went home and James worked with what was there and made the songs out of what had happened.  But much of the structure and the idea was there when I walked in the door.  Working with LCD is kind of like plugging into a big machine.

BYT: You said the LCD tour left you with the feeling that the band will be “one of the greatest of my generation.”  Why do you believe that?  What do you think of the criticism that Murphy’s music – while very good – can be explicitly, perhaps overly, referential to past artists and sounds?  Do you think a band needs to be forward-looking to be great?

GR: Mostly I believe that because I watched the expressions on the faces of crowds of people every night as they listened to us play the songs live.  It was definitely doing a lot for them.  I also think that James is a really talented song writer in a way that few rock musicians are today.  There is remarkable contemporary song writing in R&B but in rock, not so much really grabs me in a way that makes me think it will last.  I can certainly see where James’ writing draws heavily on its influences, but I think people don’t realize that there’s an aspect of his work that’s coming from a background of contemporary art, where the ability to reference and evoke other works within a new work is a strength rather than a weakness.  I really have no idea what makes a band great, except truth.  I think truth is an essential quality for greatness.  And I suppose part of that is being in touch with the reality of when and where you are.

BYT: You’ve been releasing music on DFA Records since 2003.  How would you describe your relationship with the label?  How has that relationship changed over eight years?

GR: I feel pretty close with the label. They’re like family in a lot of ways.  Honestly my relationship hasn’t changed much with them over the years.  I suppose the major change is that I went from being someone who worked in the studio to being an artist on the label.

BYT: Do you think Tim Goldsworthy’s departure changes the identity of DFA?

GR: I’ve seen the label go through a lot of changes since I’ve been working with them.  Many people have come and gone and become more and less involved.  Certainly Tim’s moving on is a change but it’s also part of a larger story of the label continuing to change and evolve as it grows.

BYT: You cite influence from moments like early 90s Belgian rave and late 80s Chicago acid house.  I don’t think it’s an understatement to say you have appreciation for music stretches far outside the mainstream.  How would you describe your relationship with popular music, and pop culture as a whole?

GR: Well I spent many years feeling like an outsider looking in on culture and society in general, whether that be “underground” or  ”mainstream” culture.  I’m not endorsing that or saying it’s good or bad but it is a fact of my experience.  I feel less like that now than I’ve ever felt and that’s something I enjoy.  I have always had an interest in what was mainstream, popular and widely distributed as far as music goes.  I’ve always had an interest in music in general and I don’t really draw lines anymore between different types of music.  I just listen to as much as I can and try to get the most out of it, and also expand my knowledge and experience of music while staying close to some central aesthetic themes that attract me.  And I guess my relationship to popular music is like that, I listen to the radio, especially in the street, in stores and in the laundromat.  I observe what’s going on around me and take it all in.

BYT: You’ve become an increasingly prolific remixer in the past few years.  What’s led to the increased activity?  How do you go about choosing what to remix?

GR: When I began to release music on DFA I started to get remix requests.  At first I wasn’t so interested because starting with someone else’s idea was a bit foreign to my creative process. Then I did the one for Petar Dundov and also started to do quick re-edits and remixes of songs I like to include in my DJ sets.  When remix requests would start coming in I began to approach it more like, “If someone brought me this as a demo and asked me to produce it what would I do?”  And that helped link things together for me.  Approaching it like that I got really interested in remixing and began to enjoy it a lot.  Basically, when I’m offered something to remix, I listen to the track and if I can hear some things over it, if some part of it grabs me or if I can any way imagine doing something interesting with it I’ll usually end up doing it.

BYT: You cut off your mane of hair and got a clean shave.  What prompted you to give up such a badass look? Has it taken you a while to get used to?

GR: Well I’d  been working the long hair and beard look for a while and was ready for a change.  Lots of other things in my life had changed so it made sense to give that an external gesture that matched it.  It was a good way to get a really fresh start on what was a new decade and a new chapter in my creative life.  And I think it was also about bringing a more essential version of myself to the surface.  I’m surprised how quickly I got used it.

Previously in BYT interviews:

• 5/18: INTERVIEW: Jasmine Solano
• 5/18: Interview: Richard Linklater
• 5/17: Interview: Penguin Prison
• 5/16: Interview: Brian Regan
• 5/15: Richard Davies (Cardinal) Interviewed by Archie Moore
• 5/11: Interview: Horse Feathers' Justin Ringle
• 5/10: Reflections on a Conversation with Mickey Avalon
• 5/9: Inside the STYLELINER
• 5/8: The Politics of Mastodon
• 5/4: Preview: Mucca Pazza @ The Kennedy Center's "Look Both Ways" Festival