|
 Ambient seems to have the same old faces in Pete Namlook, Biosphere among others but i:Vibes.nu sits down with quite possibly the new face of Ambient music and his name is Marvin Ayres. The interview is quite possibly one of the most eye opening things that we have ever done.
As a Senior Editor for i:Vibes.nu, I (Andy P) am constantly looking for new artists who rather innovate then just make music. Ambient is an artform that does not get enough credit because its smaller and more lately a niche market but the sonic marvels that these people create is extraordinary. We can call Marvin Ayres the new face of Ambient because I feel he is but he is definately a multi dimensional artist. i:Vibes.nu is always looking for new things to explore and learn about and this was certainly one of those times.
Marvin Ayres is a British born, classically trained artist that has released a few albums but what people took notice of, was when he released an album with videos that ended up being shown in art shows around the world and he had that interesting value that just picked my mind. So i:Vibes.nu decided to have a sitdown with Marvin Ayres and needless to say, we were not disappointed.
i:Vibes: So I imagine you were a classically trained artist to begin with?
A: Yes, that's correct, albeit somewhat reluctantly at the time!
i:Vibes: When did you decide that you wanted to become a musician?
A: Literally from the first moment I played a few notes on an instrument. I was captivated and it never let go of me. I grew up as a child with the notion of becoming a musician, as nothing else came remotely close in terms of stimulus and joy, although, ironically it wasn't until I tried to stop that I knew that I would always be compelled to play. The sensation from playing, especially a string instrument is very powerful and the most addictive thing I've known.... but the complicated bit was trying to work out what 'type' of musician I wanted to be, which over the years I've distilled through a process of refining and discovery.
i:Vibes: Did you get on board with wanting to make Ambient because of Brian Eno, Biosphere or Pete Namlook or did you decide on your own? Was it a hard decision?
A: It happened because of a certain set of circumstances at a particular time in my life. I was badly injured in a car accident, and during the period of my recovery, I had the opportunity to re evaluate what it was that I wanted to
do as a musician and composer. Questioning myself as to why I was doing this at all in the first place. Through enforced periods of solitude and rehabilitation I began to
rediscover a peace and my neglected spirituality, and for audio comfort I travelled back about as far as you can in Western music and was listening to more and more 'early' Renaissance choral music, which is so pure and uncomplicated but at the same time incredibly rich and complex. I wanted to play and write with that same sense of warmth and serenity by using just string instruments, perhaps because they mirror the human voice so closely, and ultimately more expressive than any keyboard can be. I began to work on some pieces that eventually became 'Cellosphere'. I was then signed to the Mille Plateaux label and suddenly I was part of a 'genre' that I didn't even know existed! I'd never heard of Biosphere or Pete Namlook (except that he had some connection with my publishers 'Freibank') although I confess to having heard of Eno through Roxy Music, so the influences that are there are purely subliminal.
i:Vibes: How long does it take you to create your tracks? Take me through the process from the idea of the song to the finished work, how long does each step take?
A: For my own albums the process of creating pieces is very long, as I play all the instruments 'live' and normally avoid looping and I very rarely have a 'click' or metronome on, thus allowing me to travel freeform. I either sketch out an idea for a piece on manuscript, or just begin improvising, mostly a mixture of both. I like to build up dense layers of strings as live overdubs, so they're never sampled, which I like to think gives them a very human, imperfect and spiritual quality. Once the ideas are down and the playing has been finished I begin the development which happens in two stages. The first is to develop the musical shape and the second is the 'mix' development. If the playing and the shape is the heart of the piece, then for me, mixing music is the 'soul' of it, by revealing what is there through the enhancement of all the latent sounds which I call my 'psycho acoustics'.
i:Vibes: What advice would you give to an amateur producer wanting to make ambient tracks?
A: Discover what it is about yourself that is unique and develop that, and try not to follow the trend but follow what's inside you. The greatest rewards come from being musically true to yourself, regardless of whether it's ambient
music or any other type of music.
i:Vibes: You seem preoccupied with texture in all your tracks? Is this done on purpose?
A: I am arent I! Perhaps it's because it holds the key to everything for me. Usually in music you will find chord structures, then instrumentation, and then a mix/production, so it seems that the fourth dimension is the beauty of the texture which is almost always ignored, yet reveals all. The texture is the 'reading
between the lines'. The chroma and the intensity comes from the texture.
i:Vibes: Has Ambient become too boring for its own good or is that just a small percentage of people making music today?
A: It's easier to answer that question by saying that the term 'Ambient' has become difficult to define, or rather, it gets heavily misused. It can apply to so many similar things, that it almost becomes meaningless. There are a lot
of people using 'Ambient' elements, making 'Ambient' type tracks which feel very busy.
For me the essence of true Ambience is a stillness, an antedote to that . It's appreciation is about context I'd say. If you're engaged in high adrenalin activity (ie, clubbing/dancing), then it probably feels inappropriate and therefore 'boring', but a come down from that or just a need for contemplation is enhanced by good quality Ambience, that doesn't dictate to your senses, but instead, allows you to be taken where you want to go.
i:Vibes: So you joined up with Pete Gomes, how did you guys decide to work together and before you released that DVD, was it only seen in Art Houses? Why was that, why did you not try to push it to a wider audience?
A: We had worked on a number of projects in the past, including film, and then The ICA in London commissioned us to make a DVD film installation, which built on our concept of having 'portable environments'. DVD technology at this point was in it's infancy, in fact we didn't even know anybody that owned a DVD player, so it was all a bit revolutionary then. We managed to get sponsorship from a leading Hi-Fi store in london so that we'd actually have the equipment to play it on, and in turn would promote their products.
The same thing with the surround sound mix. We persuaded one of the only surround sound producers in Europe to give me studio time to mix it in 5.1. So, the market had not developed to the point whereby it could be released as a DVD, furthermore, the industry wasn't even sure that DVDs would take off and replace video. So, we used to re produce this arthouse, mini-chill-out-surround-sound space in various Art Galleries and the reaction was astonishingly positive. The DVD 'Sensory' was finally released late last year, together with another installation piece 'Scape'. Now that the market has caught up with the concept, and it has become possible to release these pieces on one DVD, I hope that it will find the wider audience we initially made them for.
i:Vibes: Does it bug you that you have not achieved industry wide appreciation for your works?
A: Not really no. I think over the last few years my profile has expanded and more and more people have become aware of what I do and are extremely appreciative. I think this year alone I've had over 30 international reviews,
overwhelmingly generous in their praise..and anyway, I think that with what I do, it's
down to a slow build really, and now that I have a stable record company environment, along with new distributors who are putting my albums into stores as well as in internet shops, the future should see my stock rise to gigantic proportions
i:Vibes: How hard is it for an Artist like you to make a living from music, where most of your releases are on smaller, more niche oriented labels?
A: I make my living by diversifying. A fully paid up 21st Century man! I'm quite an adaptive musician and person and I have pluralistic activities such as collaborations, composing for film, tv and sessions too.
i:Vibes: Did you ever think of giving up?
A: Yes, but fortunately (or unfortunately) it doesn't think of giving me up!
i:Vibes: What's next for you in terms of films or albums?
A: I have two new albums out in November - 'Scape' and 'Cycle', which are full length developments and re mixes, added to which I'm sketching out a brand new album which will coincide with the current writing and recording of the second album in my collaborative project Mask (with Sonja Kristina). I/we are
also going to be coming to the States early next year to promote our first album ('Heavy Petal', which will be released on Globe Music in the U.S) and my own albums, which will include some live performances.
I:Vibes.nu would like to specifically thank Lynn Hasty from Green Galactic for hooking us up with not only Marvin's music but for getting this interview together. She deserves most of the credit and thanks and we thank Marvin for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk with us. Check out www.marvinayres.com
|
![[i:Vibes]](i_pic/ivibes_new.jpg)
Frontpage
News
Reviews
Interviews
Party Reports
Artist Profiles
Label profiles
Diaries
What is...
Tutorials
Links
Radio-info
Forum
Chat
User Stats
Crew-info
i:Vibes Info
Related Links
Tell a friend
