Andrew Pekler (New Environments & Rhythm Studies) - Album of the Month
An exclusive interview with Andrew Pekler shedding light on his creative practice, sonic alchemy and constructing his unique sound worlds
“Split between longer immersive compositions and shorter glimpse like sketches, these 12 tracks feature new juxtapositions of Pekler's familiar palette of synthetic field recordings, warm, undulating electronic textures, shifting percussion patterns and serene melodies.”
Every month I share with you an album that I’ve been listening to that I think of very, very highly and pair it with an exclusive interview —
This month, it’s Uzbekistani born, Berlin based sound artist Andrew Pekler shaping worlds with his new collection of soundscapes - New Environments & Rhythm Studies -released on the German label and electroacoustic music temple — Faitiche.
Hi Andrew. Thanks for taking time to share your reflections with me. Can I start by asking where the inspiration for your new record — New Environments & Rhythm Studies — began?
This album is a continuation of the ideas and methods I began exploring with the albums Tristes Tropiques from 2016 and Sounds From Phantom Islands from 2019. Essentially, this album is a playful investigation of the aesthetic and conceptual parameters surrounding the (Western) idea of the exotic — and specifically how this idea manifests itself in sound. There is a long history of course, going back to at least the Greeks, of Europeans looking out beyond their own borders and intertwining their fragmentary knowledge of the “outside” with their imaginations and fantasies to construct ideas of foreign / other / exotic worlds — their flora, fauna, inhabitants, societies, etc. My aim is to try to make these mechanisms (which are at work in our minds at all times) of imaginary projection apparent in the music itself as well as through the information (such as this interview or the website Phantom Islands – A Sonic Atlas ) I provide around the music, without taking anything away from the evocative potential of the listening experience. In fact, this apparent contradiction is what I find most interesting. As in the case of the Phantom Islands project: knowing for a fact that these places don’t exist (and never have existed) in no way diminishes how their existence is nonetheless allowed to unfold in the mind simply through the music and sound interacting with the listener’s imagination
“…many of the sounds on my records that might appear to be organic are actually synthetic in origin and have been processed to sound as if they come from nature. I also work in the other direction; beginning with field recordings, and processing them to sound as synthetic as possible”
Your sound signature is a beautifully rendered blend of synthetic and organic sounds. How do you personally go about connecting the environments and experiences you collect in the field to the electronic sounds you summon in the studio?
It’s interesting that you mention “synthetic” and “organic” because many of the sounds on my records that might appear to be organic are actually synthetic in origin and have been processed (using granular synthesis and other techniques) to sound as if they come from nature. I also work in the other direction; beginning with field recordings, and processing them to sound as synthetic as possible. In all of this, I’m interested in finding that midway area where the ear can’t quite discern whether it’s hearing something “natural” or “man-made”, or (and even better) it can hear both at the same time. In this way, ideally, the entire edifice of this supposed dichotomy between “natural” and “man-made” becomes evident and leads one to the realisation that the categories themselves are mediated and self-imposed, rather than somehow inherent in the sounds. This is what I mean when I say that my aim is to make the mechanisms of imaginary projection apparent.
How important is setting to your creative writing & recording process?
I would say the physical setting is not particularly important, apart from some basic technical parameters. I’m thinking about music all the time anyway and so when I’m actually actively working on it, the general direction of what I want to do, or even concrete ideas are already there in my mind.
How much of a role does field recording take in your creative practice? Do you seek out particular sounds or do you prefer to wander and record then listen back through for inspiration in the studio?
I would say I am attentive to the soundscape of the world, but I’m actually not especially interested in the process of field recording itself, nor do I ascribe any kind of privileged status based on “purity” to geophony or biophony. To me, field recordings are as much a mediated artefact (in the sense that their content is intentionally chosen, edited and delivered by people through technological means) as music or any other kind of anthropogenic sound recording.
Having said that, I’m making music that tries to occupy a particular middle ground of perception between “synthetic” and “organic” and so of course field recordings are a part of this. What I acutely try to avoid is using them in a purely ornamental or symbolic manner (ambient with nature sounds). Instead, I try to integrate them into the compositions on a deeper, structural level and tease out their often surprising musical qualities.
As with any audio material, the process is the same: I edit, manipulate, loop, transpose, layer, etc. field recordings in order to find within them rhythmic, harmonic and melodic elements that suggest other musical forms. For instance, I’ve made a number of pieces where the rhythms come from pitch-shifted recordings of insects — Cumbia Para Los Grillos or Fabulation For K from the new album — interacting with other elements. I like this because it saves me from having to come up with rhythmic ideas myself and I find the results often more interesting and than any rhythm pattern I would have thought of.
Do you use a lot of digital processing to build your soundscapes?
My main process is granular synthesis, i.e., scanning through an audio recording and rearranging small fragments with them. I have a few different tools for this, one of my favorites is the Mungo g0 module that never leaves my synth. Beyond that, I don’t really use anything much more exotic than EQs and filters. There’s so much that can be done with just these simple tools. Occasionally, I’ll fool around with pitch shifting and spectral processes – but these are to my mind just an extension of EQing.
“…sometimes it transpires that I will have a whole day, or even several days in a row with nobody else at home and nothing else that needs to be done and I can just concentrate on music. This is what I cherish more than any piece of equipment.”
Could you share a little about your studio - do you cherish any particular hardware or recording equipment?
I don’t really have a studio. I have a desk in a room that also has my partner’s desk and our young daughter’s bed and play area. I have a modular synth, which is my main instrument for composing and also what I use to play live, some pedals, an electric guitar, plus a computer and audio interface for recording. I don’t really cherish any of these pieces of equipment – all of them are useful in their own ways. Maybe I would say my modular synth is kind of special to me because I’ve been building / arranging / using it for the past 15 years or and it’s developed to fit my needs really well.
Usually, I only have maybe an hour or so a day when I don’t have other work and family commitments (and am not too exhausted) to work on music actively (although I’m thinking about most it of the time). However, sometimes it transpires that I will have a whole day, or even several days in a row with nobody else at home and nothing else that needs to be done and I can just concentrate on music. This is what I cherish more than any piece of equipment.
Are there any particular artists that have greatly inspired you on your path?
Very many of course, both from the musical field as well as from elsewhere. But I don’t really enjoy talking about influential artists, or, at least not about the obvious ones. Instead, I always like to point out ideas (which are themselves a synthesis of influences) that I keep coming back to in my work and are constantly in my head like a mantra. One of these “reducing to the max”. In other words, using only the smallest possible contingent of elements / layers that will allow the desired aesthetic effect of a piece of music to emerge.
— A related idea is “say less and imply more”…
You recently worked on the soundscape for the Issey Miyake SS25 collection — a quite incredible collaboration. What was it like to work on a project like this? Did you approach it any differently than you would your usual compositions?
This was the first time for me working in any way connected to fashion so I initially didn’t know what was expected. Meeting Satoshi Kondo (the head designer) at Issey Miyake’s office in Tokyo for the initial discussion about the collaboration was quite eye-opening. I learned about Kondo’s thinking and the things that he was inspired by for that particular collection. This included many ideas from architecture, sculpture, music, traditional and modern Japanese interior and industrial design, folk crafts, and of course nature. It was interesting to see that there were some common resonances between our work, especially in our shared interest in the combination of synthetic and organic textures. This seems to be the reason he asked me to collaborate.
Once I understood the technical parameters of the work (the various parts, their length etc.) the composition work was not too much different from how I usually proceed. In this case, I was sending sketches of music to Kondo and his team, getting their feedback, then refining and revising, sending new versions, getting feedback, refining and revising further, etc. There were small revisions all the way up to the day of the show in Paris!
I think it worked well, there are some videos online of the show and you can see for yourself. At any rate, I was pleased with the results and my new album includes a couple of pieces based on what I made for the show.
What projects do you have coming up in your timeline? What's the best way to keep updated on your creations?
I don’t have any concrete plans at the moment, other than to perform a bit more frequently in the second half of this year. I guess (unfortunately) my Instagram is the easiest way to know what I’m up to musically.
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Mat
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