Welcome to Kief, a section on
Honest Bag that contains short interviews with some of my favorite artists! I have come to adopt the notion that a little
kief on your bud goes a long way. These
short interviews, in most cases, will be posted a few weeks prior to a new
release – this functions as the kief and I’m hopeful that the readers will buy the bud
(record) when it is released.
Shit man, I cannot think of a better way to
commence this section than by chatting with one of my favorite artists, Ernesto González, of Bear Bones, Lay Low (BBLL) and Sylvester Anfang II (SAII). His eagerly anticipated lp on Kraak, El
Telonero, will be released in May of 2012.
Please support Ernesto and the venerable Kraak label by buying this record.
thanks to Generic Collective for sharing the kief :)
Your last
three cassettes on Cabin Floor Esoterica, Sloow and Sicsic are beautiful and
contain synth. Soon you will be releasing an lp on Kraak, El Telonero. Can you
talk about the process of making El Telonero and the instruments/devices used
on the recording? Also, I am an advocate of the def sound! For the readers that
do not know about def sounds, can you talk about its importance to you?
Ernesto: The new LP is made up of songs I’ve recorded for the last 2 years. Kraak asked me ages ago to do a follow-up for the “Vallée de Dith” LP and I’ve been taking my time for it. I wanted to make a more song orientated record, so whenever I would record something that would fit, I’d put it aside and work on some other stuff until I came up with something else that was along the same lines. All the songs started off as improvisations on some instrument and then I put melodies and crap over it. Sometimes, I’d think of parts I’d like to put in a song and include that in the improvisation. I’ve been making songs like this since I was 17/18 but for some reason never wanted to associate it with BBLL. The main instrument is my roland sh-1000 synth but I also use a lot of other stuff like drum machines, organs, percussion, tapes and sampler.
Def means stoned in French. I like making and listening to music that makes you feel more than it makes you think. Of course it’s always cool to read about the intellectual side of stuff, but as far as listening goes, if it doesn’t make me feel like floating or it doesn’t give me a punch in my gut, then fuck it, I probably won’t be into it. This has a lot to do with the way it sounds.
Ernesto: The new LP is made up of songs I’ve recorded for the last 2 years. Kraak asked me ages ago to do a follow-up for the “Vallée de Dith” LP and I’ve been taking my time for it. I wanted to make a more song orientated record, so whenever I would record something that would fit, I’d put it aside and work on some other stuff until I came up with something else that was along the same lines. All the songs started off as improvisations on some instrument and then I put melodies and crap over it. Sometimes, I’d think of parts I’d like to put in a song and include that in the improvisation. I’ve been making songs like this since I was 17/18 but for some reason never wanted to associate it with BBLL. The main instrument is my roland sh-1000 synth but I also use a lot of other stuff like drum machines, organs, percussion, tapes and sampler.
Def means stoned in French. I like making and listening to music that makes you feel more than it makes you think. Of course it’s always cool to read about the intellectual side of stuff, but as far as listening goes, if it doesn’t make me feel like floating or it doesn’t give me a punch in my gut, then fuck it, I probably won’t be into it. This has a lot to do with the way it sounds.
Also, you
are a member of Sylvester Anfang II. The most recent release on Great Pop
Supplement, Perzische Tapijten, is the best lp I have listened to this year. It
sounds great and a little different than the records on Blackest Rainbow and
Aurora Borealis. What was it like to make this record? Also, can you talk about
the instruments that you played on this record?
Ernesto: Glad to hear you dug it, I think it’s also my favorite SAII release. Making that record was exactly like making all the other records: jamming. We don’t really have some sort of plan when it comes to making records, we just hang out sausagefest style and record all day. After months of putting shit to tape, we put together the releases we have to do. That’s how it’s pretty much been so far. The recordings on Tapijten were actually made at different times, in several locations like Glen’s (Hellvete) parent’s attic, Tommy’s sister’s ex-husbands futuristic farm and the Kraak offices. On this record I played keyboards, synth, guitar and baby sitar (peace to Etherik).
Ernesto: Glad to hear you dug it, I think it’s also my favorite SAII release. Making that record was exactly like making all the other records: jamming. We don’t really have some sort of plan when it comes to making records, we just hang out sausagefest style and record all day. After months of putting shit to tape, we put together the releases we have to do. That’s how it’s pretty much been so far. The recordings on Tapijten were actually made at different times, in several locations like Glen’s (Hellvete) parent’s attic, Tommy’s sister’s ex-husbands futuristic farm and the Kraak offices. On this record I played keyboards, synth, guitar and baby sitar (peace to Etherik).
From your Foxy D. interviews, I know that you
like to collect records. What are you listening to lately?
Ernesto: Hehehe well, I think I was talking out of my ass in that interview (like now probably). I’m just a record buyer, collecting implies serious discipline and really going for it when it comes to getting shit. Anyways, lately I’ve been spinning these recordings from Bali and Java that CBS put out in the 70’s on their “Musiques et Traditions du Monde” series. Of course there’s shit tons of great recordings of this music, but I really like these LP’s not only because the jams are particularly kick ass but also because the dudes putting together the actual object had a good eye for sleeves, adding huge pictures for the front and back covers as well as gatefolds with even more pics and info. They’re quite easy to find and right now I’m looking for the one on Indian music. These past few days I’ve been listening non-stop to Juicy J’s Rubba Band Business 1 & 2 mixtapes and I’ve realized that he’s one of my favorite MC’s, the fucking coolest voice when it comes to talking about sex, murder, money, weed and codeine. Oh yeah can’t forget the Spiral Joy Band 3xtape box has been on heavy rotation, awesome b-day gift from big brother Glen. Right now I’m listening to the Orkustra.
Ernesto: Hehehe well, I think I was talking out of my ass in that interview (like now probably). I’m just a record buyer, collecting implies serious discipline and really going for it when it comes to getting shit. Anyways, lately I’ve been spinning these recordings from Bali and Java that CBS put out in the 70’s on their “Musiques et Traditions du Monde” series. Of course there’s shit tons of great recordings of this music, but I really like these LP’s not only because the jams are particularly kick ass but also because the dudes putting together the actual object had a good eye for sleeves, adding huge pictures for the front and back covers as well as gatefolds with even more pics and info. They’re quite easy to find and right now I’m looking for the one on Indian music. These past few days I’ve been listening non-stop to Juicy J’s Rubba Band Business 1 & 2 mixtapes and I’ve realized that he’s one of my favorite MC’s, the fucking coolest voice when it comes to talking about sex, murder, money, weed and codeine. Oh yeah can’t forget the Spiral Joy Band 3xtape box has been on heavy rotation, awesome b-day gift from big brother Glen. Right now I’m listening to the Orkustra.
2012 has been a fruitful year for BBLL and
Sylvester Anfang II. What does the future hold?
Ernesto: As far as SAII goes, we have enough stuff for a new album, but don’t know on which label and when it’ll come out, if it ever happens. Of course, some tapes will pop up as well, at least one on SicSic (peace to Daniel and Holger). Glen and I have an acoustic/electric drone project called Steenkiste & Gonzalez and we should have a couple of tapes coming out real soon, the first will be on Eiderdown Records from the US (peace to Adam, coolest internet buddy). It’s based mostly around harmonium and violin, taking cues from minimalism with balls from La Monte to Pelt. We still have a lot to learn, though. I’m also jamming with Shazzula under the name Sayona and a tape and a track on a compilation should’ve come out already, don’t know how that’s going. As for BBLL, there’s a tape coming out in a couple of days on Young Girls Records from Liège (peace to Yvesito) of recordings I made during vacations in Venezuela and Spain. It’s pretty raw and done using non-multitrack overdubbing and shit. Also got a track coming on a compilation on Econore . Fuck it, I think that’s it, hope to tour as well!
Ernesto: As far as SAII goes, we have enough stuff for a new album, but don’t know on which label and when it’ll come out, if it ever happens. Of course, some tapes will pop up as well, at least one on SicSic (peace to Daniel and Holger). Glen and I have an acoustic/electric drone project called Steenkiste & Gonzalez and we should have a couple of tapes coming out real soon, the first will be on Eiderdown Records from the US (peace to Adam, coolest internet buddy). It’s based mostly around harmonium and violin, taking cues from minimalism with balls from La Monte to Pelt. We still have a lot to learn, though. I’m also jamming with Shazzula under the name Sayona and a tape and a track on a compilation should’ve come out already, don’t know how that’s going. As for BBLL, there’s a tape coming out in a couple of days on Young Girls Records from Liège (peace to Yvesito) of recordings I made during vacations in Venezuela and Spain. It’s pretty raw and done using non-multitrack overdubbing and shit. Also got a track coming on a compilation on Econore . Fuck it, I think that’s it, hope to tour as well!
Ernesto, congratulations on your new lp and thank you for being so generous with your time. Peace to you, bro :)
