Jenner: Remy (Orouni) present me your work and I got very impressed about your music. I think it relates to early 20th century music and I read that your grandfather is an inspiration for you and he used to be an organist during the World War II... at the same time - it sounds psychedelic and reminds me the best days of Syd Barret... Can you tell us what inspire you to compose ?Michael Wookey: I suppose I'm a pretty modern man. I don't know much of war, and I've only had one family death, so I'm not often inspired by tragedy, but I have crossed paths with plenty of women, some as evil as Hitler. And most of my songs are about those experiences.
Jenner: Is that you playing all instruments ?
Michael Wookey: Most of the time it is me, but I don't play drums so I have an instrument called a Optigan, which is kind of early sampler, with preset sounds. The sounds are stored on discs made of film, so it's optical technology, pioneered by the talkies (films with sound). I have a lot of discs for my Optigan, and each has different drum loops and things in the style of the discs.
So the Big Band Beat disc features a real big band section. Most of the players are listed as annonymous German Session Musicians. So I'm backed up by those nameless people. Also, I have occasional guests.
Jenner: Tell us more about the instruments and effects and skills you use to record the new album YOU SHIELD ME FROM DARKNESS ...Michael Wookey: Well, firstly, I decided early on that I didn't want to use any traditional effects. You know people will often record something, and then add reverbs and things to make it gel together and sound like it was recorded almost live, or certainly in one place. I tried to use the sounds of rooms I liked. Some things were recorded in a giant freezer, and some were recorded in a shed. In the end, after trying for a long time to make it sound like it was recorded live, I decided to embrace the sound of it being pieced together. So on one song, the percussion was recorded in the freezer, and the vocal in my hall, and then the guitars in my shed. Then on top of that I used some Optigan. I tried to make it so that when I listened, I would be taken back to all of those places. The only processing I did was using old tapes and amplifiers. I used a lot of small keyboards, and tried to make them sound better by warping them. If it sounds like it was found in a fire, I think it's a job well done. I used mostly reed organs and casios to get the sounds I wanted.
Jenner: YOU SHIELD ME FROM DARKNESS CD was released in December 2007. How this new album relates to the first one ?
Michael Wookey: One press review said it was like a merry-go-round. That was nice - the experience of being on it and feeling sick because of too much candy floss and getting to see all the different sides of the fair. The first album was recorded on an 8 track, and it's a final homage to my old equipment and ways of writing. It was very quick to make, and a lot more spontaneous than the second album. It was a strange time in my life, where I was just beginning to be an adult. Dreams Of You sounds quite sad to me now, and I think You Shield Me From Darkness is a far happier album, and I'm glad the critics have noticed that, because I was a lot more happy when I made it. But I was sad sometimes too (it took 5 years to make). I specifically remember when I recorded the vocal at the end of Seal The Volcano, I was in my bed and had been there for quite a long time. I think in Dreams Of You I was quite disapointed at adult life.
Those 3 songs presented at Misturinha are good examples of what I´ve talked about the song where I recorded the percussion in a freezer was Come On To My Place. Keep A Promise has an Optigan chorus and Seal The Volcano is the one where I was sad.
Jenner: List of 5 photos you dream of taking:
Michael Wookey: OK. In no particular order:
- the inside of a whale
- the view from the window of a submarine with a shark outside
- me playing a wurlitzer theatre organ
- the inside of a whale
- the view from the window of a submarine with a shark outside
- me playing a wurlitzer theatre organ
- inside a gas chamber
- the chernobyl control desk.
Jenner: List of 10 dead artists you wish to talk for an hour
Michael Wookey:
- William Burroughs
- Andy Warhol
- Alessandro Moreschi
- Marilyn Monroe
- Spike Milligan- the chernobyl control desk.
Jenner: List of 10 dead artists you wish to talk for an hour
Michael Wookey:
- William Burroughs
- Andy Warhol
- Alessandro Moreschi
- Marilyn Monroe
- John Lennon
- George Harrison
- Mama Cass
- Tiny Tim
- Kurt Cobain
Buy ! buy ! buy !
"YOU SHIELD ME FROM DARKNESS"
cd album with 20 page booklet here
More About Michael Wookey:
http://www.michaelwookey.com/
www.myspace.com/michaelwookey
>>
Michael Wookey track list
01. Peter Lyons - Regret
02. Tom Waits - Please Wake Me Up
03. Laura Jeanne - Hold Me Tight
04. Dona Davos - Baby I
05. Patience And Prudence - A Smile and a Ribbon
06. Grandaddy - Gentle Spike Resort
07. Magnetic Fields - Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
08. Tomahawk - God Hates a Coward
09. Animal Magic Tricks - Bow Bells
10. Kevin Kirker - People Grow From Trees
Jenner track list
11. Michael Wookey - Seal The Volcano
12. Michael Wookey - Keep a Promise
13. Michael Wookey - Come On To My Place
14. Madensuyu - Oh Frail
15. People Like Jack - Steps*
16. Private Dancers - The Form*
17. Subburbia - Jesus Express*
18. Faith No More - She Loves Me Not
* artistas brasileiros / brazilian artists
download (click here)
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