MORPHEUS MUSIC MICRO-INTERVIEWS
Morpheus Music Micro-Interviews consist of three brief, no-nonesense questions that can be absorbed quickly and digested easily. We ask the same questions to all artists so that we get to see different views on the same matters. We really appreciate these great musicians giving us their time and we certainly enjoy the opportunity to have a little more insight into their thinking.
 

 -----Steve Roach

   

 -----Robert Rich

Q: What drives you to make music?   My creative drive comes from a sense of life that I am attuned towards...also the influence of time and the feeling of the inevitable is part of the ever changing fire that burns within... Beyond that I love being immersed in sound , and silence.   Q: What drives you to make music?   For years I've simply felt the need to "eff the ineffable," through whatever means I might have at hand. Music seemed to be the tool that came most naturally, the format that could convey the abstract in concrete terms, the format best suited to convey mystery and beauty in direct ways, non-symbolic ways. Music requires no translation. It creates a surround which can evoke the unsayable. So, it becomes a natural means of expression for those who take the shamanic journey, and wish to return with good medicine.
             
Q : Why did you choose to work under your own name rather than create one?   It was not something I choose, when I started recording and releasing my music in the early 80’s its simply was not a concern nor did it even appear as an option to think of finding a name other than my birth name to record under. My perception is that the created name emerged out of DJ culture in a big way.   Q : Why did you choose to work under your own name rather than create one?   Why hide behind a pseudonym? I take full responsibility for my actions. Pseudonyms work better in group contexts. I have played in bands before, and a band name serves to collect group actions under an ego-less umbrella. I can understand the theory that pseudonyms for solo activities can also serve to subdue the ego, but I think it rarely works that way. It simply sounds awkward, especially during collaborations, like "John Smith and SpaceLab" or something like that. It creates an inequity. I see our community as something a bit more akin to jazz, where individuals often support and work together on different collaborations, and it makes more sense in that context just to use our names. Come to think of it, there's even an earlier instance of "Rich and Roach": back in 1963 Max Roach and Buddy Rich did an album together. So, you see, we have precedents!
             
Q : What’s the piece of music that you are most happy with from your own output and why?   

I feel all of my recordings are to be considered audio - biographical presenting a document of that point in time in my life....

12.12.04

   Q : What’s the piece of music that you are most happy with from your own output and why?   

Each album serves a unique question, in place and time. Some albums might better approach their source of inspiration, others less well, but each album is so different from each other that I need to compare them individually to their inspiration, not to each other. As far as proximity to their pure source is concerned, some of my most difficult albums are the most pure, ones like "Below Zero" and "Bestiary". I'm happy with some because they sound like they came from a totally different place from "myself", such as "Temple of the Invisible" where I wanted to create a totally unique musical culture, a hermetic language. Of course "Somnium" holds a special place for me because it encapsulates a core part of my life's work with trance and long durations. The collaborations hold another special place, because each reflects a meeting in time during the path of life, often crystallizing a special human chemistry, documenting friendships and an exchange of energy. Each project stands on its own.

20.12.04
 
 

 -----Amethystium

    

 -----Mysteria/Phobos
Q: What drives you to make music?   Well, it's something I've been doing since I was a little kid, so partly it's just a natural thing, something I can't keep from doing. Part of it is also the fun and enjoyment of the process, and the satisfaction of completing a song or album, being able to hear the finished work. Although the actual composing usually flows pretty effortlessly, getting a song from the beginning musical ideas to the point where it's a finished presentable recording is almost always a time-consuming struggle in many ways. So it becomes a bit like climbing a mountain or something I guess; an enjoyable challenge where in the end a part of the reward is to have done it, and to sit back and "enjoy the view" so to speak. I've also found that an increasing part of the driving force is the feedback from listeners, creating something that other people also find enjoyment in.   Q: What drives you to make music?   It's the only thing that feels right to me. I
have tried many other occupations but writing music is where I connect and feel one with the world.
             
Q : How did you choose the name Amethystium?   The gemstone name just hit me one day at a time when I was trying to find a name for the project, and then I added the Latin ending to make it more unique. I didn't think it was an actual word, but later I found that it's used in some Latin plant names, apparently with the meaning "amethyst-colored" - which corresponded pretty well with the coloring of the album cover and website artwork I had done.   Q : How did you choose the name Mysteria?   A close associate of mine and I found that
Mysteria best describes the music that I am currently writing. It has a celestrial yet dark and mysterious feeling about it.
             
Q : What’s the piece of music that you are most happy with from your own output and why?   

I don't think I'm able to answer that one. Even if I sat down and were able to pick a few favorites, I'm sure I would change my mind again soon. Probably every song has been a favorite of mine at some point, depending on the time, my mood, etc.

08.11.04

  

 

Q : What’s the piece of music that you are most happy with from your own output and why?

  

There are a couple for me.
"Soul of Desire" the intro track on the self titled PHOBOS CD. That was a magical track that wrote itself literally.
"Clear Light" from The Spirit Level's Of Earth and Sky - that was a cleansing track for me, I wrote that one in a small studio on the ocean on the north shore of Long Island, very inspiring.

02.12.04

 
 

 -----Entheogenic

    

 -----Zer0 0ne
Q: What drives you to make music?   I guess it’s the urge to create. I don’t know where it comes from; maybe we are just transmitters of something already out there.
Music creates certain feelings. We try to recreate certain moods through our music, each song is a story, a combination of feelings. In a way, it’s like story telling through sounds.
   Q: What drives you to make music?   More and more, music sets the mood for my life. No matter what personal trial I may be going through, music brings me back to center emotionally. I'm amazed at some of the beautiful things other artists are doing and it serves as inspiration, both personally and musically. When I'm working on my own material, there is a sense of wonder about what I might come up with - I never know what's going to happen. My studio is geared toward experimentation - I try to stay
away from what my own small brain might create and listen instead to the results of my twiddling, which are always much better than deliberately trying to write something. So, I try to keep that sense of adventure when I'm working. When something touches me on an emotional level, I record it. It's cathartic for me.
             
Q : How did you choose the name Entheogenic?   It had to do with the reflection of what represented us at that moment. Ultimately the search for the absolute beauty.
   Q : How did you choose the name Zer0 0ne?   As with all of my better ideas, this came as a complete accident!
I'd been brainstorming with Forest @ Waveform for several days about what to call this project - this was in 1998, the year of my first release with them. We just weren't coming up with anything
that felt perfect to me, and I was feeling quite frustrated. I was booting up the gear in my studio to begin working, and noticed for the first time that the switch on my computer had the digits 0 and 1 on it - I experienced one of those perceptual shifts where, everywhere I looked, I saw 0s and 1s - there must be 20 of them on various equipment that I use, but I'd just never really noticed them. It was then I knew what the project would be called.
             
Q : What’s the piece of music that you are most happy with from your own output and why?   

I would say for me, it’s always the track I am working on right now. I become totally absorbed by it. It’s part of me and I am part of it, It’s the privilege of being involved in the creative process. Being that active part of it right now, which makes me happy. It’s in the moment of it’s creation where I am the closest to a track.

21.10.04

  

Q : What’s the piece of music that you are most happy with from your own output and why? 

 

  

On Psy-Fi, the latest release, I'd have to say my favorite track is "Robots" (although I now wish I'd called it "Paranoia.") The whole track took shape because of another "happy accident" in the studio, where the MIDI routing was all wrong, and the wrong synth patches were playing the wrong parts. It sounded much better to me that way than the way I'd envisioned it. I also like it because there's really not much to it - it's very sparse and simple. I also like "Memory" from protOtype2 for the same reasons. The main melody in this track was a big mistake that I ran with.

5.11.04