Ryan North – Writer of The Adventure Time Comic Series

2011/12/21 //
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I have a gift for you guys. It’s an interview I did with Ryan North, who is writing the new Adventure Time comic series, out in early 2012. I am a mega-fan of the show, and hopefully this won’t be the last Adventure Time related feature I do. Ryan is also the creator of the Dinosaur Comics. Here we go!   

DD To me,  Adventure Time is the best show on TV. How did you hook up with the team behind the show and how do you hope to compliment the show with your comic series?

RN Adventure Time is really great – it’s one of the few shows I’ve recommended to my friend Joey Comeau (he writes A Softer World) and he loves it too.  We were in a hotel room in Florida and Adventure Time came on and I pretty much yelled “STOP, STAY ON THIS CHANNEL” and by the end of the episode he was hooked.  Pen and I had talked a bit years ago before the show launched but couldn’t get anything to work, but when the chance to write the comic came up, the stars aligned!

I’m hoping the comic and the show will go together really well.  I’d like them to be so that anyone can slide from one to the other and not miss anything, but I also want it so someone who has never heard of Finn or Jake or Princess Bubblegum can pick up the comic and say “Aha, I get this!  I understand what this is about and it is AWESOME.”  And it’d be great if Adventure Time viewers who want more adventure more of the time pick up the comic and it scratches that itch really well too.

DD What is the most challenging aspect of this project?

RN It’s been a fun change to work with someone else’s continuity!  I’ll write something and I’ll have to stop and say “Wait, is that item stored in that room of the tree house?  Does the Ice King have his prisons on the same floor as his throne?” and then I’ll look it up on an Adventure Time wiki or fan site somewhere and be able to continue.  I don’t think that Adventure Time is a show or a comic that should be choked by its own continuity, but I’d rather have something right if I can!  There’s nothing to be gained from having something be different for no reason, and if you can get it right, it’s deeply satisfying for both readers and me as a writer.  It makes the whole story seem real and official, if that makes sense.

With Dinosaur Comics the continuity is both a) looser and b) all in my head, so there’s no place to check for this sort of thing, but it also comes up much more rarely.  Someone did make a Dinosaur Comics Timeline which puts all my time travel comics into one consistent narrative, and it is CRAZY, but I’m glad it’s out there.  I should manufacturer reasons to refer to that timeline document more often.

DD Will the comic series reenact old episodes, or will these be all new story lines?

RN All new!  I think the show already has such a great visual style that there wouldn’t be much to gain from simply translating them word-for-word into a new medium.  It’s a much better idea to create something brand new and just as awesome!

DD Will there be any new characters in the comic series?

RN There will!  Adventure Time the show has tons of new characters showing up all the time, and the comic will have some of that chaotic creativity.  But it’ll also have lots of familiar faces.  It’s not Adventure Time without Finn and Jake (or Fionna and Cake)…

It has been super fun to send descriptions for any new characters to the artists, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb, and see what they come up with.  I get back emails with the most amazing, terrific stuff, and it all looks like it could be on the show.  It’s gonna be a lot of fun to read!

DD Disco Droppings mainly focuses on music so I wanna ask, what songs/artists get you hyped to create?

RN It’s funny, because if I listen to music I haven’t heard before when I’m writing, I get too distracted by the lyrics and figuring them out.  So when I write I either listen to songs I’ve loved for years, or I’ll listen to songs I don’t particularly like so I can ignore them – but when I notice that, I’ll just turn off the music.

I’ve been big into mashups lately, so much so that I haven’t listened to just ONE song at a time for a while.  A Plus D and The Kleptones do my favourite stuff!

DD What do you enjoy most about your job? Sounds pretty rad to me!

RN It – it basically is?  I get to get up in the morning and write, AND, there’s usually a bunch of emails from people I’ve never met saying that they like my work and therefore like me too.  It’s REALLY EASY to wake up to!

To answer your question, I love having the freedom to work on what I want.  It sounds like a little thing, but it means you’re always working on something that engages you, and that’s critical.  It makes working fun!

DD What would you like to be known for? Between all the projects you’ve done so far, what ties it all together for you? What do you hope readers take from your art?

RN This is a really good question!  I suppose if you take Dinosaur Comics, Whispered Apologies, Machine of Death, Project Wonderful and now the Adventure Time comic, put them in a blender, and chugged what came out, I’d hope you’d end up with a semi-viscous liquid that was delicious, entertaining, pushed the boundries of what you thought was possible, and was also awesome.  Awesomeness is really important to me.  I feel it is unarguable that things would definitely be improved if everything were awesome.

Ryan North on Twitter 

– Jimi Jaxon 

Categories Interviews

Amable

2011/12/19 //
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Releases on Bandcamp 

 

DD Thanks for sending me that comment on Disco Droppings with a link to your music. Took me a while to head over to your Soundcloud, but I’m glad I did!

A No problem! Thanks for taking the time to listen and for putting this interview together. I truly appreciate it.

DD Amable translates to “kind” if I’m getting it proper. How does this  play into your music?

A Amable is a spanish word meaning nice. I’m also making  a reference to the slang use of “nice.” In regard to the music, I aim to make music that’s enjoyable but not necessarily “nice” in nature. You have to have variances in moods or it gets boring.

 

DD What was the best part of your summer down in Florida?

A My favorite part of the summer was going to Cape Canaveral Sea Shore. It’s the best beach I’ve been to in Florida. On a good day you can have a mile of beach all to yourself with wildlife surrounding you. It’s a great place to get away.

DD Who do you look to for inspiration when building these fluid, dreamy kinds of beats?

A Pete Rock, Large Professor, Jaylib, Doom, Odd Nosdam, Jel, Mansbestfriend, Alias, Boards of Canada, Count Bass-D, Joe Beats, Dibiase, Maker, Dabrye, Blockhead, P.U.T.S., J-zone, Fat Jon, J Rawls, Kankick, Jneiro Jarel, The Strange Gibberish Crew, The Sassbologna Crew, The sp-forum heads,  The artists on the beat-tape co-op blogs, Jazz, Rock, Soul, Funk, Films, Comedy. I could go on and on.

DD What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far as an artist?

A The same challenge that every artist deals with, recreating themselves and improving their craft. I don’t want to make the same album over and over, so I’m trying new approaches to how I make songs. The “Amable” beat tape was more loop oriented while “And Now” was chopped up and has parts that I played on the keyboard. Creating outside of your comfort zone can have surprising results. It keeps the creative process interesting and allows for progress in your sound. 

 

DD Where will Amable’s music go for the rest of 2011 into 2012?

I’ll be contributing to the Strange Gibberish downloads. I’m also working on a new beat tape called “Nice” which will be released on Geweih Ritual Documents. The artwork is going to be handled by Peter DeAngelo  and as an added value item for the release, there will be a limited cassette version of “And Now” with new artwork. There are also rumors that 4 remixes of songs from “And Now” may be released on a 7 inch record. Also in the works is a video directed by Matt Nelson. All of these projects are currently in the works so stay tuned! 

DD What songs stuck in your head right now? Good or bad.

A “Sacre Cool” by Young Montana and the video is nice too.

 

Amable on Soundcloud & Facebook 

Take Care –

Jimi Jaxon 

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Categories Interviews

Lostlojic

2011/12/14 //
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DD Ukraine, what’s that like?

L Right now the whole of Ukraine is in anticipation of snow, but we have a lot of bass-party organizers, who will warm us all winter. These include such organizations such as the Wicked Bass, Bass Me, Kievbass and many others, so I will not be bored. We have lots of good music and energy, that’s Ukraine to me.

DD Talk a bit about the labels your associated with. Rotation Deep UK, Millions Of Moments..

L Millions of Moments is a very respected label, known for the release of techno music from artists such as Quantec, Atheus, Synkro and more. I`m very glad to be a part of this label family. Always pleased with their colorful palettes. [:

Now I`m working on a few releases on British labels Subdepth and Phuture Shock Musik so, more lostmusic to come. [:

DD Your Tumblr is super sleek.

L Thanks. I often change my site design, I like to visually arrange the music.

 

DD How has your production techniques changed since you started? What new areas do you plan on exploring?

L It may sound strange, but to me I don’t often write an interesting track, I’m a very self-critical person. Nothing has changed  since I`m started, still write with varying degrees of success, still using only Reason, still waiting for inspiration..

I plan to explore more techno music, slow and minimalistic, but with vocals. [:

DD If you could book your own show with 4 acts, who would they be?

L I think the first who I’d call to play would be Synkro, Dark Sky, Pariah, Sepalcure…

 

Lostlojic on Soundcloud

– Jimi Jaxon

Categories Interviews

Daega Sound

2011/12/13 //
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DD I’ve heard the electronic community in Vancouver is vibrant. How does it look from your perspective? Where would you like to see it go?

DS Yep, lots goin on in Van, whatever your tastes may be. Originally hailing from Southern Ontario, we can offer a perspective on Vancouver that begins from around 2003.. the local scene in all genre’s has always been strong, even if limited in size, but for the bass music community, things really picked up around 2006 with the first dubstep events being booked by Kuma and Tusk (Kode 9).  Around the same time Max Ulis and Jesse Proudfoot started promoting a weekly grime and dubstep night followed by a local festival (New Forms Festival) that started promoting bass centric nights under the guidance of Michael Red and Malcom Levy (Dubforms). From that foundation we’ve seen the scene flourish and now see regular events from multiple crews (Lighta! Sound, I.G.U. Shah Dj’s, Perception to name a few) featuring both local talent (Taal Mala, Max Ulis, Michael Red, Calamalka, Hxdb, Self Evident, Librarian, Myles Away, Glitchy & Scratchy to name a few) and international talent (Mala, Distance, Benga, Skream, Hatcha, Martyn, DJG, 2562, Headhunter to new a few) as well as locally based labels (Fathom, Aufect, East Van Digital) and now an amazing new festival close to home (Bass Coast). When you have good talent, a good vibe, a good crowd, good sound-system standards, and a backdrop of rain-forest and mountain tops, it’s hard not to have a really good time.  

As far as where we’d like to see it go? It’s going where ever it needs to go, we’ll see cycles of what peeps are feelin and what they’re not. We’d like to see it hold true to it’s foundations of pushing new sounds to new audiences and maintaining those standards of vibe, setting and sound-systems that have given us the scene we so much enjoy. Ultimately the scene will continue to evolve how it has in the past – new music will come through and producers will push boundaries.

 

DD What’s your experience been running your label Fathom Recordings? What’s been the biggest challenge?

DS As we are really still in the early stages of Fathom’s development we don’t have a lot to share yet on it’s history :].  From conceptualizing design, art and content to the distro, marketing and retailing of the records, the job certainly has many facets – with the first release down the second will be easier. It is worth it tho, to have something physical, “an artifact” (to quote Jon A.D. from LoDubs) to be passed down through time as opposed to a digital file that can just as easily be thrown into the recycling bin/trash and deleted as easily as it was downloaded, makes doing the 12 inch’s special.  This is why we’ve chosen to do limited runs, silk-screen our own art and number the releases, it’s fun to have/collect/own an artifact that has a story.  Thus far, the biggest challenge with the label would have to be the fact that you have to do everything yourself.  The artistic side is super fun and fulfilling and we have a tight vision, whereas the bizz side, distro, marketing and promo stuff – like making sure people know what you are doing and keeping the release current in peoples minds with all the other great stuff that’s happening out there is def a challenge. 

DD Tracks of yours have appeared in sets from Mary Anne Hobbs, Mr. Scruff and Headhunter, congratulations! How did that come about?

DS Our first dubstep EP went out on DPR recordings which is run by garage legend Noodles based in London UK. He has been an integral part of garage music for a number of years (Groove Chronicles – him and El B) and has Mary Anne Hobb’s ear. Not to sure how MR. Scruff came across “Passion” tho probably through Noodles. With Headhunter we played a show with him an gave him some music – from there we’ve stayed in touch.  He’s supported our first release on Fathom Recordings and also our Moonrise EP that went out on Blipswitch in 2010.

DD Describe your first show at Mutek Festival 2011..

DS It was wicked. The festival is run so well, they are very hospitable, great sound and production. It was an honour to be asked to participate. We played alongside fellow members of our Lighta! crew and were also booked to perform live. We mostly get booked to dj so it was great to get to showcase our new music in a live pa set.  Montreal is an incredible city, the festival is next level and if you can find a way to attend, don’t miss it!

 

DD What helps you stay in the zone? What keeps you motivated and focused as an artist?

DS Our love for music and a desire to always come up with new and different sounds and of course “life” is pretty much the biggest motivator. There are always things happening, good stuff and difficult things that fuel the fire to express yourself musically. Every time we ascend to what we feel is a new level in our writing we see the next peak as clear as day. So you just keep going and persevere. It also helps to live in such a beautiful setting  – the ocean air is really nice.

DD Plans going into 2012?

DS We have lots of upcoming releases including a 2 track ep on Carcrashset, 3 track ep with DPR and we are currently working on a collab with Hxdb which looks like it will be coming out on 12″. 002 on our Fathom imprint will be coming out on 12″ with one Daega Sound tune and a remix by the excellent duo June Miller.  We are finishing up our website daegasound.com and making our music much more available to everyone than it has been in the past. So getting that music out there will be a big focus of 2012.

DD Last words?

DS Yup, we would def like to thank everyone who has supported and inspired us over the years!

We have some new music coming out December 16th 2011. It’s a 6 track EP titled “Let It All Go” on UK label Echodub. Here’s a link to the preview:

 

Show luv on Twitter & Soundcloud 

– Jimi Jaxon 


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Categories Interviews

I AWAKE

2011/12/12 //
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Special thanks to Sphyramid who showed me this music. Alright. Headphones on, eyes closed, and…listen 

DD What does “neo ambient” mean to you as a producer? How do you hope to expand beyond the boarders of genres with your music as I Awake?

IA I´m doing music straight from my heart. For me neo ambient means to let go of genres and only follow what corresponds best to my mood and to the flavor of the moment. Since I´m quite a fast person in general, producing downtempo music feels most natural for me. It balances me as a person. My earlier releases has been more genre free but I feel that the work I´m doing now goes more and more into chill-out/downtempo, but with a clear twist.

DD Your bio on Soundcloud mentions a style combining celestial emotions, tribal rhythms and an ever present sense of adventure. What moments or periods in your life helped solidify these things as key components of your mindset?

IA I have always been drawn to mysticism and ancient sounds, so blending in elements from the “unknown” has felt like something elementary from the start as a producer. I´m blessed with friends from all over the world which has helped me find either recordings from far away places or people they´ve introduced me to that can play odd instruments which I personally have recorded. I feel that all my work gets like a “print” of that certain period the music had been produced, it comes naturally. Almost like it happens thru myself and not by me.

DD What impact do you hope your art has on listeners?

IA I treat every track as if it would be a specific sonic journey. My goal is that the listeners feels like they are tuning in to that ride and actually are travelling as intended. This requires of course, active listening. Therefore a good pair of headphones in a comfortable setting and closed eyes are ideal for the full experience. 

DD What do your live sets look like? Your music is very visual, does this come into your shows?

IA Until now I have been travelling light with just a laptop and a couple of midi controllers. Mostly I have collaborations with spectacular visual artists like Andrew Jones for instance. Here is a link to a performance we did together on Hawaii in may 2011:

Right now I´m working on a dedicated visual setting for my future performances.

DD If you could collaborate with any visual artist, who would it be and what would it look like?

IA See above.

DD Plans going into the new year?

IA Right now I´m working on a new full-length album, but this time with a full live band! We call ourselves I Awake & The Now. It feels very natural to expand my expression with live instruments and I have some of the most talented musicians backing me up. It is really exciting and once we are done with the album we are sure to deliver something really interesting for 2012.

Continue your journey into I Awake on Twitter Facebook & Soundcloud 

– Jimi Jaxon 

Categories Interviews
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