A newsletter for the Didjeridu player......June 2003 Volume 9 Issue 6

An Interview by Ed Drury

[Ed] Well, I guess the first thing I'd like to ask is about your original concept for the CD Oil and Water?

[Stephen] My original concept for 'Oil and Water' was to bring a whole range of duets - Didjeridu with all manner of [perhaps] unlikely combinations of instruments to the studio. It was also to be my first publicly released duo collaboration with my long term producer, Simon Tassano, with whom I have worked since the very beginning of my Didjeridu career in Lights in a Fat City [Simon worked as a member of the original LIAFC trio and subsequently co-produced all but the first Trance Mission CD, Beasts of Paradise and with me on my anthology release, Family Tree. However, apart from a couple of sound track projects for dance companies in Spain, we had never worked together in the studio outside of group projects]. The sessions for Oil and Water also began in a very positive creative mode as the first project in my home studio on September 9th 2001. In a surge of creative spontaneity [because of typically epic construction work in the studio I had had little quiet prep time on the actual music I was going to record - and was bursting with frustrated and thwarted intentions] Simon and I began work with what turned out to be the title tracks of the CD - Oil, and Water [Actually one piece divided by a digital bookmark]. This piece then was really a letting off of steam and evolved in a very organic way to become something of a dance groove with loops and multiple orchestrations utilizing both the studio and my latent tendency to introduce listeners to some of the other instruments which I play - most of the world having, understandably, filed me away as someone who can only blow down a hollow log, not realizing the rest of my submerged history in music. So - though varied in its intent - the original idea for O&W was to bring the potential of new duets to light and expose some of my soft musical underbelly, for the first time in my own home studio. Not all, but some of that was to change pretty fast!

[Ed] September 9th, 2001. I wonder if you could talk a little about where the project was on September 11th of that year and how the news of the events of that day affected you at the time?

[Stephen] The project was very much in the moment [to be clear, I didn't have the CD title in mind until later]. There were a few musicians whom I had recently met as guests on my weekly world music radio show [www.KPFA.org]. In those programs I had joined each of them in live on-air duets, which had led me to invite them, rather opportunistically, to the O&W sessions. One of these was a Scots bagpiper named Jimi McCrae, who had something of the look of Mel Gibson in 'Braveheart' and fancied himself as the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes, an ambition that was not far from the truth, at least in my own limited experience of bagpipers. Jimi came on the evening of September 10th as the sun went down and we spent several hours improvising together. My intention though was very clear. I really wanted him to play a piece in the style of a Pibroch, the classical long form of bagpiping lament, a tradition that spans at least 1000 years. So it was that almost the last thing I recorded on the night of September 10th was a piece that the next day felt like something of an eerie premonition. The events of September 11th put Simon and I into as much devastation and confusion as everybody else. We were unable to continue for a time and resumed 2 days later only because we had no other available time free to finish the project. Also, it did feel important to really BE THERE as artists in that moment in history. Part of us just wanted to stop, but we continued.

Another piece evolved from instrumental tracks I had recorded on Sept 10th into which we had recorded the in-tune crickets in our garden as ambient background. Eda Maxym came in on the 13th with lyrics and a song, 'Dark Day', was born. Devoid of didj [I played cello-sintir, drums, shaker and acoustic guitar, while Shea Comfort laid down a Duduk track] The piece was too different to easily fit into the final cut for the CD and remains primed for release, possibly on an upcoming Trance Mission work. The odd thing about the backing tracks is that as 'Dark Day' ends the sound of a late night jet passing over my house is clearly heard. Another sense of premonition, applied after the fact of Sept 11th.

September 11th and the subsequent actions of the US government and media galvanized me into a more pointedly political sense of the recording project. A synchronous conversation with Yassir Chadly, the Imam of the local mosque in my home town here in California had him become a new focus in the course of events in the studio. I asked him to come and bring a positive, peaceful voice of the arabic world into the process. 'Baraka', with 'Dark Day' the first piece to emerge after Sept 11th, was a dirge that needed a lift. Yassir speaks arabic proverbs in the final mix. We worked on a traditional Gnawa piece from Morocco and 'Upstreaming' also evolved from those sessions. The very eclectic course of 'Oil and Water' was set. During that time I also came up with the title. It refers not simply to the marriage of opposites - oil and water don't mix, but they make for great cooking - but also points towards 2 essential elements in our world. Elements that, each in their own way, and in the way that the human race utilizes them, are crucial to the future of this fragile planet and it's ecosystem. I felt the need to put them both on my front page, even if [at that time] the US media would not. It's a play on words, like many of my previous CD titles [for example 'Somewhere', 'Landing', 'Meanwhile', 'Family Tree']

[Ed] I'd like to go back to the construction of your home studio for a bit as I think people would be very interested in this. Can you tell us how that project got off the ground and into place?

[Stephen] My home studio is called The Weaving Room. When we moved into this house a few years ago my main interest in it was the fact that it had a free-standing garage, perfect for a music room/studio away from all distractions. It took us a couple of years to get into it but in the summer of 2001 I invested much of my advance from Intuition for the Oil and Water project into building an isolation booth adjoining the main room. The day the contractors finally cleared their gear out Simon and I began work. As far as the equipment we have goes, I started with ADATs and during the O&W sessions incorporated hard drive recording on Digital Performer. All the wiring and layout in the studio was accomplished by Simon and me working the graveyard shift for days and nights on end with soldering irons, making cables. I am not that technically minded, having had the good fortune to work with excellent and talented engineers for many years now, and I don't consider myself in any way an engineer, but I do basic tracking for projects, while always looking for helpful and qualified engineers to work with. Apart from Oil and Water the main recording project we have undertaken in there is the latest Trance Mission CD. Due to the frantic pace of life in all it's myriad forms for all involved, this project is slightly stalled at present but requires only a little more work to complete. It is quite a departure from the earlier Trance Mission of the 1990's.

[Ed] In what ways does the current Trance Mission project differ from the Trance Mission of the 1990's?

[Stephen] Until the late 1990's Trance Mission was a quartet comprising Beth Custer - Clarinets, Kenneth Newby - Woodwinds, Electro-Acoustic Atmospheres and Percussion, John Loose - Multi Ethnic Drums and Percussion, and myself on Didjeridu, Percussion and, more latterly, Cello Sintir. Most of our music was instrumental and based in improvisations that evolved into more structured pieces. Sometimes we had guest musicians involved in recording projects. One of these was Eda Maxym, who contributed vocals on all the first 3 TM releases. In 1997 the group rearranged itself. Kenneth and John both became unavailable to tour regularly with the band and all of us were becoming busy with other projects that took attention away from Trance Mission. Eda joined as a full member of the band and we continued for a year with a harder, more edgy sound, having brought canadian Peter Valsamis in on Drum Set and Electronics to cover the rhythm zone [with the Didj and Cello-Sintir] . At the end of that year, which included a frenetic tour zig-zagging crazily back and forth across Europe playing 21 gigs in 22 days [Many stories of legend from that trip] other life forces took over, in the case of Beth, her own band in which she sings; for Eda and me it was our young daughter. We played a farewell gig on July 25th 1998 which was released on CD as 'A Day Out of Time', a title which celebrates the day on the Mayan calendar on which we performed.

The new Trance MIssion, which played a few gigs in 2001 before going into the studio in 2002 is based on the axis of Eda, myself and Peter Valsamis along with an array of guest musicians. The music continues in the vein of some of 'A Day Out of Time' but is more song oriented. The direction is more lyrical but perhaps the trance-groove factor in our playing goes deeper than before. This year we have begun to work with keyboardist Kit Walker, but we have also played with Shea Comfort [Duduk, WInds], Boushaib Abdelhadi on vocals and percussion and other locally based musical guests too. The Trance Mission project is continuing but I think, if anything, its going to become more diverse in the future and will probably be billed Stephen Kent and Trance Mission, featuring a somewhat flexible line-up. So TM 2004 could be performing the material that will be on our next release.... or alternatively feature selections from my entire catalogue of 16 CD's [or whatever it is now] or be playing a completely new set! Forwards in all directions!!!!!!

[Ed] On the subject of song orientation, I wonder if you would expand a bit on this? I'm thinking of Beast of Paradise a little….is that in the ball park?

[Stephen] Well, naturally there are some parallels with the Beasts of Paradise work [though Trance Mission is a rather different animal], both myself and Eda were members of the Beasts. It does feel like we live in different times than the mid 90's though, and the lyrical content of the newer material reflects some of this. I feel in retrospect the Beasts was almost pastoral at times, where TM is more earthy and pointed. The subject matter of the songs recorded so far include poetry with a pagan earth-consciousness at its root and a sensibility in step with growing concerns about the precarious health of the planet. We also cover John Lennon's 'Tomorrow Never Knows' , which has been a perennial live favorite in several of my group incarnations with Eda for years - 'bout time we gave it a fresh look, in spite of the fact that so many others have covered it. There is an epic ode to a departed friend of ours which rides the Gnawa zone in quite a powerful and bluesy manner. I'd say in the writing and arrangements of the newer Trance Mission material we are plugging into more primal material than the Beasts of Paradise, and even than earlier TM. My cello-sintir playing also raises its head like it does on no other recording apart from 'Head LIght' [Where I think I played almost as much Cello as Didj - still one of my favorites]. FYI - the 'cello-sintir' is my props to the inspiration of moroccan and west african music in the way I strap a cello on and play it like a bass guitar. The sound owes much more to Africa though. I cannot claim to be a cellist [This brings to mind an international flight some years ago where I vainly attempted to get my large didj bag on as hand luggage while the powers that be insisted I could bring the cello on - but not the didj. MY priorities were different but I had to bow to authority in the end. I remember feeling a complete phony carrying this cello on board with all these people making comments about Bach.........

[Ed] I want to go back to Oil and Water for a minute. This CD was never, as far as I know, released in the US so I was wondering what the reasons for this are and about your decision to release it in Europe.

[Stephen] The 'decision' to release it in Europe was down to the fact that a European record company, Intuition, proposed the deal to me in the first place, while I was on tour there with Megadrums [Airto Moreira, Zakir Hussain, Reinhard Flatischler et al]. I have been visiting and touring in Europe regularly for years now and there is an audience happening for the didj there [as you can tell by their capacity to support a specifically didjeridu oriented magazine, for example]. Also Intuition licensed all the City of Tribes projects. As Intuition don't have great distribution in North America I elected to make it a Europe-only license with Intuition and shop 'Oil and Water' around in other territories. However the fickle and screwed condition of the [independent] music industry these past years has made it difficult. Though the response to O&W has been almost universally positive ["This is the BEST/Strongest thing you've ever done!"] I have yet to find a reliable outlet for it. Consequently it is only available in N. America through my web page [www.didjeridu.com/skent] and a few select stores. Now, 2 years down the road, I plan to do a few remixes on it and add/subtract a track or two to make a distinct new release for the Americas and elsewhere, possibly putting it out myself [Sadly, City of Tribes bit the dust this summer]. It's in the works.

[Ed] We're coming up on the Joshua Tree Festival and I'd like to reflect back a bit on that event. I believe you've done the event the past two years and are coming back again this year. So I'm going to take a leap and assume you rather like that one. Could you talk a bit about the JT Festival from your perspective?

[Stephen] Didjeridu Festivals are becoming quite the thing in Europe these days. Last year I think I played at 5 different Didjeridu events over there, and again two this year, though there were several more I didn't make it to. Here in the US also there have been Didjeridu gatherings for quite a while and now the JT Didge Fest is in its 4th year. I have grown to like it, this didjeridu festival thing [I should perhaps say that I am not a very 'clubby' sort of guy as a rule] and the opportunity to meet and hang out with the people of the Didjeridu community is one that I welcome and it is interesting to hear what others are up to. I feel that I want to support the Joshua Tree Festival particularly, as it is in my own back yard, so to speak. I also have a belief that as a long term didjeridu artist on the global scene I should be at some of these festivals, though, to be honest, I am wary of becoming 'a fixture' in any programme. For my part I always feel there is quite a good sense of camaraderie among the Didj Brethren, without too much of the potential of ego clashes and back biting which, sadly, so often accompanies the gathering of people who share the same professional activity. As far as the Joshua Tree Festival goes I think, on last years evidence, that it is growing in strength and vitality [the new site is a major bonus, graduating from a parking lot in town for the first 2 years to a very cool 'lake'side campground in the desert under the stars - and the full moon.

Of course all these festivals are fledgling organizations and there are multiple glitches and improvements to be made. But, in general, I would say that the energy is moving positively forward. Perhaps if I had a major criticism it would be the sense that in the actualization of ALL of these events the Aboriginal presence - ESSENTIAL in any serious representation of the Didjeridu - has been very under represented. In my experience the only non-Australian gathering around the Didjeridu which really addressed this was the Jukurrpa festival in Vienna in 1996, where David Hudson, David Blanasi and group, Mark Atkins, Janawirri Yiparrka and others were all in attendance. I eagerly await this years JT festival [this week] where Djalu will be an honored guest. A strong step in the right direction!

[Ed] While on the subject of festivals, I wanted to ask you about your experience at the Garma Festival a few years ago. This must have been quite different from all the others!

[Stephen] For me the Garma Festival was an amazing experience, a re-tuning to Australia in the most profound place, Arnhem Land. I had not been in Australia for 13 years prior to that trip [13 years in which I have been doing a lot of work all over the rest of the world with the didjeridu] and and to essentially land at Garma after such a long absence was a profound moment for me personally. I went ostensibly to attend the Djalu Masterclass at Garma, but my real reason was to reconnect with the land and the people. I really needed a shot of Australia and the Aboriginal world there. I went with very little in the way of expectations, both of Garma and of what it might mean to me to be back in Oz after such a long hiatus, but my response to being there was as visceral an experience as it was the last time I was in the Northern Territory, in 1983. I am so moved by the power of that land, the Aboriginal people and the spirit that lives there. As you know, my Didjeridu playing is very much in my own style and, honestly, I have never tried to attempt to play in Aboriginal styles. Learning Yolgnu style playing, for me, was a matter of turning my own technique upside-down and in the context of the Garma masterclass I found it very challenging. I felt that for my own needs as a player the class was oversubscribed, but actually I wasn't really looking to come away from a week with Djalu playing Yolgnu style Yirdaki. I was far more intent on simply 'being there' and absorbing as much as I could about the place, the people and the culture, in such a short time. To pay homage, if you like. It didn't disappoint on any level and I came away from Garma bursting with new energy and love and respect for the people and the land, as well as having had a deepening of my understanding of Yolgnu culture. It was fantastic and I learnt a tremendous amount!

However you play Didjeridu there is absolutely no substitute for going to the source for inspiration.

[Ed] After our first interview I received several emails from people who had wanted me to ask you essentially the same question. Having seen you perform on a few occasions, I think I have a feeling for the reason of such inquiry. The question boils down to this, "where do you go while you're playing?" I think that it obvious you go into a different space at least mentally and if it's not too personal I'd love to hear from you what is going on under the hat (or scarf as the case may be) during a solo?

[Stephen] Well, this is a difficult one to clear my mental desk to address. A couple of weeks ago I played a concert and one of the audience came up to me all aglow and told me that when I play the particular look that I have reminds her of how her baby looked while breast feeding. That completely focused, plugged in, yet unplugged zone. I can get on board with that concept. The truth is that I AM in The Zone. Most of the time I'm in a meditative state and try to lose all sense of self beyond 'being in the moment' and inside the sound of the didj as it comes through me. I think I put it best in a stream of consciousness I put up on my web page:

I am quiet, thoughts are getting lost, I lick my lips, I hesitate - clearing my mind, getting psychically naked, conscious yet unconscious, I look down, I am engaged with...what?...[I don't know in my head].....the 'Other'....Spirit......the air spinning, quiet falling around me, vulnerable. Confident - I know deeply where I am - no words inside or outside - zoning in. The moment takes me - begin - I take a breath, a small breath [maybe] - enough - my body opens - air flows through buzzing lips. Resonant drone fills, fills and keeps filling the room. One note? Yes, but this note is more like a whole orchestra!

There is so much color, so much texture, so much space, so much singing, so much rhythm, so much body, so much time, sooo much timeless time........I plug in. To say I do not play the didjeridu, it plays me sounds cute, but that's how it is. It is the dance, it is trance, it is flow. I tune in. My body responds. I play perhaps this time for 10/15 minutes - I don't know. Space grows, harmonic tones orchestrate with my breath [circular breathing]. Keep going. I use the percussion as color, texture, rattles, shakes, bones, air, earth, elements of nature, natural, urban, what is now? I am here. My body dances, I am blind, I am sound, I am home - and away.........then the groove starts - does it come from in me? Do I catch it? Do I move it? I don't now. The groove and I we beat together. Voices well up from inside me. Maybe my yes are open now, maybe I see where I am, maybe I am aware, maybe not.

I am not thinking when I am in this place. Maybe I play the shaker, shake the groove, maybe I play the drum, left-handed - always left-handed.....with my right I hold the instrument to my mouth. I swing! You bet your life I swing. Animal cries, Animal, Beat, Rhythm, Primal, Earth, Sophisticated, I am music, Sound, I am thousands of years ago, I am now, I am something you hold but can never touch, I know nothing, and everything, in this trance. I am not me, I am apart - a part, a whole, a hole. Full. Where to go? I can keep on going up and up and up......but at some point I check -in with "Reality". I say, 'OK did they get enough yet? Shall I end?' I break the spell. Maybe I finish with a flourish - this is Performance, after all.

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