Publicado en la revista Freak Out! el 2007
Vía los
prodigiosos circuitos que nos ofrece el MySpace pudimos contactar con el
factótum del novísimo proyecto inglés THE FAILED NASA EXPERIMENT quien nos hizo
llegar por el aire, literalmente, su primer disco, “First Frost” (Hi/Lo, 2007),
que resume en casi una hora de excelente folk-noise, no sólo las avanzadas
influencias musicales de Murray -el autor de estas piezas de enajenado pop
alienígena- sino también sus inquietudes espirituales y estéticas. A
continuación un extracto de la interesante conversación que sostuvimos el
pasado invierno con Murray Ward.
Entrevista: Wilder Gonzales Agreda.
Cuando escucho tu música la misma llega a sorprenderme con un sentimiento atmosférico pero también ruidoso. En el inicio, qué te motivó a crear The Failed Nasa Experiment? –un nombre particular, dicho sea de paso.
Murray Ward: Sí, soy bastante ruidoso de corazón, aunque espero que no se trate sólo de noise. El ruido puede ser rudo y agresivo pero puede llenarte de paz o ser hermoso o espiritual también. Leí una entrevista a Bardo Pond en la revista The Wire donde ellos hablaban sobre cómo el feedback de guitarra era una comunicación espiritual con el Universo y yo, definitivamente, me subscribo a esa teoría.
Está esa idea de un hermoso error que también me atrae. El ruido es supuestamente algo equivocado pero es atractivo. Creo que eso se refleja en el nombre de mi proyecto, además de escuchar mucho Sun Ra.
En el álbum tocas una gran combinación entre una guitarra acústica, un ritmo desorientado y algún artefacto electrónico, este track de apertura se llama “Down The River I’ll Make My Home”. ¿Puedes contarnos un poco de la historia de esta canción?
MW: La mayor parte del track fue grabado casi 3 años atrás. Yo vivía con mi ex y mi hijo en un piso justo sobre un bar y lo grabé en nuestra cocina con un micrófono y una laptop. Improvisé canal por canal, improvisé conmigo mismo creo. Las voces vinieron luego, al final del año pasado cuando estaba empezando a estructurar el disco. Quise conseguir un sentimiento natural y de escape y de moverte y comenzar de nuevo en una manera pura… sin ese atisbo de percibida seguridad, sólo los árboles y yo y aún estaré bien.
¿A qué artistas admiras?
MW: Bardo Pond, Six Organs Of Admittance y Sonic Youth han sido una masiva influencia constante. También Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Sunny Murray, Art Blakey, algunas grabaciones folk (tengo excelentes discos de música maya de Guatemala, grabaciones de palomas y ranas, percusiones de Nigeria y mi favorito en este momento es un CD de un guitarrista de Indonesia), mv & ee, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Vibracathedral Orchestra, y mucho, mucho más.
¿Qué hay del sello que editó tu disco, “The Lows & The Highs”? –otro nombre particular.
MW: Somos mi amigo Rod y yo, originalmente lo usamos para editar música bajo el nombre de (Plexus). Estamos en proceso de expansión así que todo se volverá más activo en los meses que vienen.
El nombre vino de la idea que no puedes apreciar la felicidad sin la tristeza o la belleza sin la fealdad, tienes que apreciar todo de la vida – lo bajo y lo alto.
¿Qué planes futuros para tu proyecto, Murray?
Muchos. Estoy mudándome a Glasgow en Escocia y quiero tocar en vivo más y hacer más colaboraciones. Estoy ya encaminado hacia el siguiente álbum el cual creo es definitivamente una evolución para mí del primero. Estoy trabajando en un tema con, espero, 50 vocalistas y feedback de guitarra; todo basado en un cántico de un salmo escocés. Acabo de conseguir un violín y un saxofón también así que más sonidos serán posibles.
Finalmente, ¿conoces algo del Perú?
Sé que la capital es Lima. Soy un gran fan del director alemán Werner Herzog y él filmó en los alrededores de Machu Picchu e Iquitos en algunos de sus films. Lo que he visto de los paisajes se ve muy hermoso y realmente quisiera hacer una visita. En realidad tengo una guía de viajes que me prestó un amigo pero aún no la he leído. Este año pude concretar una visita a México así que para el próximo tal vez sea Perú.
Entrevista: Wilder Gonzales Agreda.
Cuando escucho tu música la misma llega a sorprenderme con un sentimiento atmosférico pero también ruidoso. En el inicio, qué te motivó a crear The Failed Nasa Experiment? –un nombre particular, dicho sea de paso.
Murray Ward: Sí, soy bastante ruidoso de corazón, aunque espero que no se trate sólo de noise. El ruido puede ser rudo y agresivo pero puede llenarte de paz o ser hermoso o espiritual también. Leí una entrevista a Bardo Pond en la revista The Wire donde ellos hablaban sobre cómo el feedback de guitarra era una comunicación espiritual con el Universo y yo, definitivamente, me subscribo a esa teoría.
Está esa idea de un hermoso error que también me atrae. El ruido es supuestamente algo equivocado pero es atractivo. Creo que eso se refleja en el nombre de mi proyecto, además de escuchar mucho Sun Ra.
En el álbum tocas una gran combinación entre una guitarra acústica, un ritmo desorientado y algún artefacto electrónico, este track de apertura se llama “Down The River I’ll Make My Home”. ¿Puedes contarnos un poco de la historia de esta canción?
MW: La mayor parte del track fue grabado casi 3 años atrás. Yo vivía con mi ex y mi hijo en un piso justo sobre un bar y lo grabé en nuestra cocina con un micrófono y una laptop. Improvisé canal por canal, improvisé conmigo mismo creo. Las voces vinieron luego, al final del año pasado cuando estaba empezando a estructurar el disco. Quise conseguir un sentimiento natural y de escape y de moverte y comenzar de nuevo en una manera pura… sin ese atisbo de percibida seguridad, sólo los árboles y yo y aún estaré bien.
¿A qué artistas admiras?
MW: Bardo Pond, Six Organs Of Admittance y Sonic Youth han sido una masiva influencia constante. También Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Sunny Murray, Art Blakey, algunas grabaciones folk (tengo excelentes discos de música maya de Guatemala, grabaciones de palomas y ranas, percusiones de Nigeria y mi favorito en este momento es un CD de un guitarrista de Indonesia), mv & ee, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Vibracathedral Orchestra, y mucho, mucho más.
¿Qué hay del sello que editó tu disco, “The Lows & The Highs”? –otro nombre particular.
MW: Somos mi amigo Rod y yo, originalmente lo usamos para editar música bajo el nombre de (Plexus). Estamos en proceso de expansión así que todo se volverá más activo en los meses que vienen.
El nombre vino de la idea que no puedes apreciar la felicidad sin la tristeza o la belleza sin la fealdad, tienes que apreciar todo de la vida – lo bajo y lo alto.
¿Qué planes futuros para tu proyecto, Murray?
Muchos. Estoy mudándome a Glasgow en Escocia y quiero tocar en vivo más y hacer más colaboraciones. Estoy ya encaminado hacia el siguiente álbum el cual creo es definitivamente una evolución para mí del primero. Estoy trabajando en un tema con, espero, 50 vocalistas y feedback de guitarra; todo basado en un cántico de un salmo escocés. Acabo de conseguir un violín y un saxofón también así que más sonidos serán posibles.
Finalmente, ¿conoces algo del Perú?
Sé que la capital es Lima. Soy un gran fan del director alemán Werner Herzog y él filmó en los alrededores de Machu Picchu e Iquitos en algunos de sus films. Lo que he visto de los paisajes se ve muy hermoso y realmente quisiera hacer una visita. En realidad tengo una guía de viajes que me prestó un amigo pero aún no la he leído. Este año pude concretar una visita a México así que para el próximo tal vez sea Perú.
CELESTIAL FISSURES IN NOISE - A Chat With The Failed NASA Experiment
Via the prodigious circuits that MySpace offers us we could contact the factotum of the newest english project THE FAILED FISHNET EXPERIMENT who carried us through the air, literally, his first disc, "First Frost" (Hi/Lo, 2007), that it sums up in almost an hour of excellent folk-noise, not only Murray's advanced musical influences -the author of these perturbed extraterrestrial pop pieces- but also his spiritual and aesthetic worries. Later an extract of the interesting conversation that we hold last winter with Murray Ward.
When I listen to your music it kind of surprises me with an atmospheric but also noisy feeling. In the first place, what made you create The Failed Nasa Experiment? –it is a really particular name also.
Murray Ward: yeah, i'm fairly noisy at heart. hopefully it's not just noise though. noise can be harsh and aggressive but it can be peaceful or beautiful or spiritual too. i read a bardo pond interview in the wire magazine and they talked about how guitar feedback was a spiritual communication with the universe and i definitely subscribe to that theory.
there's that idea of a beautiful failure that attracts me too. noise is supposedly kinda wrong but that's kinda appealing. i guess that's in the name, along with listening to a lot of sun ra.
In your album you play a great combination of an acoustic guitar + a disoriented dub + some electronic artifact; the track is titled "down the river I'll make my home". Can you tell us a little about the story of this song? What was your inspiration in this opening track?
most of that track was recorded nearly 3 years ago. i was living with my ex and my son above a bar and i recorded it in our kitchen with a mic' and my laptop. i just improvised it all track by track - improvising with myself i guess. the vocals came later, late last year when i was starting to get the disc together. the title came before the words but i guess i wanted to get some sense of nature in there and a sense of escape and moving on and restarting in a pure way. without the shackles of perceived security - just me and the trees and i'll still be okay.
What artists or bands do you admire?
bardo pond, six organs of admittance, van morrison (astral weeks era), sonic youth have been constantly been a massive influence, sun ra, ornette coleman, albert ayler, sunny murray, art blakey, smithsonian folkways recordings (i've got some great discs of mayan music from guatemala, recordings of birds and frogs, drumming from nigeria and my favourite at the moment in a cd of indonesian guitarist), mv & ee, sunburned hand of the man, vibracathedral orchestra..... many many more.
Can you tell us about the label that released this disc, "The Lows & The Highs"? –another particular name, by the way.
that's me and my friend Rod and we originally used it to release music under the name (plexus). we're in the process of expanding the whole thing so it should become quite active over the coming months.
the name came from the idea that you can't appreciate happiness without sadness or beauty without ugliness. you have to appreciate all of life - the lows as well as the highs.
You live in Middletown, U.K., please tell us about the underground scene in your place. How is that scene developing? What other bands do you recommend us?
(i live in 'loughborough' in a region known as the midlands)
there isn't that big a scene. in fact there's pretty much no-one at all in loughborough. the city of leicester is close and they have dragon or emperor who are great and black carrot who are starting to do really well for themselves. nottingham is also quite near and favourites there are the good anna, the exploits of elaine and felix (all of these are on myspace by the way so search them out and show your support). leicester isn't that good for gigs but nottingham has some brilliant promoters who bring in great artists from around the country and the world.
The last track, "crashing", is one of my favorites of the album. Really a mindblowing trip, it also reminds me of some pieces played by Spacemen 3 like "starship" or "rollercoaster". Have you listened to these songs? Do you have an opinion about the art and the concept of this famous English band?
i don't really know spacemen 3 very well and haven't heard those songs but i'm flattered by the comparison. this song is very special to me though. my friend rod sang the vocals when we tried to record a version of his song together 3 or 4 years ago. our equipment was very bad and the music never fit the vocals properly. over a year ago he unfortunately lost his voice due to throat cancer so i decided to try and use my computer to make these old recordings fit together properly. unfortunately again the tracks were too messed up so i recorded my own version of the music to his vocals as a gift and testament to my friend. i was very happy with the results but wanted to keep it personal. after thinking about it though i thought it should see the light of day and included on the disc.
Any future plans for your project, Murray?
lots and lots and lots. mostly i'm moving to glasgow in scotland and want to gig more and collaborate more. i'm most of the way through the next album which i think is definitely a development for me from the first. i'm working on a track with hopefully 50 vocalists and guitar feedback based on scottish psalm singing. i just got a violin and a saxophone too so more sounds are possible.
Finally, do you know something about Peru?
i know the capital is lima. i'm a big fan of the german film director werner herzog and he shot around machu picchu and iquitos for some of his films. what i've seen of the landscape looks very beautiful and i'd really love to visit. in fact i have a travel guide i borrowed off of a friend but i haven't read it yet. i managed to visit mexico this year so maybe peru next year.
Murray Ward: yeah, i'm fairly noisy at heart. hopefully it's not just noise though. noise can be harsh and aggressive but it can be peaceful or beautiful or spiritual too. i read a bardo pond interview in the wire magazine and they talked about how guitar feedback was a spiritual communication with the universe and i definitely subscribe to that theory.
there's that idea of a beautiful failure that attracts me too. noise is supposedly kinda wrong but that's kinda appealing. i guess that's in the name, along with listening to a lot of sun ra.
In your album you play a great combination of an acoustic guitar + a disoriented dub + some electronic artifact; the track is titled "down the river I'll make my home". Can you tell us a little about the story of this song? What was your inspiration in this opening track?
most of that track was recorded nearly 3 years ago. i was living with my ex and my son above a bar and i recorded it in our kitchen with a mic' and my laptop. i just improvised it all track by track - improvising with myself i guess. the vocals came later, late last year when i was starting to get the disc together. the title came before the words but i guess i wanted to get some sense of nature in there and a sense of escape and moving on and restarting in a pure way. without the shackles of perceived security - just me and the trees and i'll still be okay.
What artists or bands do you admire?
bardo pond, six organs of admittance, van morrison (astral weeks era), sonic youth have been constantly been a massive influence, sun ra, ornette coleman, albert ayler, sunny murray, art blakey, smithsonian folkways recordings (i've got some great discs of mayan music from guatemala, recordings of birds and frogs, drumming from nigeria and my favourite at the moment in a cd of indonesian guitarist), mv & ee, sunburned hand of the man, vibracathedral orchestra..... many many more.
Can you tell us about the label that released this disc, "The Lows & The Highs"? –another particular name, by the way.
that's me and my friend Rod and we originally used it to release music under the name (plexus). we're in the process of expanding the whole thing so it should become quite active over the coming months.
the name came from the idea that you can't appreciate happiness without sadness or beauty without ugliness. you have to appreciate all of life - the lows as well as the highs.
You live in Middletown, U.K., please tell us about the underground scene in your place. How is that scene developing? What other bands do you recommend us?
(i live in 'loughborough' in a region known as the midlands)
there isn't that big a scene. in fact there's pretty much no-one at all in loughborough. the city of leicester is close and they have dragon or emperor who are great and black carrot who are starting to do really well for themselves. nottingham is also quite near and favourites there are the good anna, the exploits of elaine and felix (all of these are on myspace by the way so search them out and show your support). leicester isn't that good for gigs but nottingham has some brilliant promoters who bring in great artists from around the country and the world.
The last track, "crashing", is one of my favorites of the album. Really a mindblowing trip, it also reminds me of some pieces played by Spacemen 3 like "starship" or "rollercoaster". Have you listened to these songs? Do you have an opinion about the art and the concept of this famous English band?
i don't really know spacemen 3 very well and haven't heard those songs but i'm flattered by the comparison. this song is very special to me though. my friend rod sang the vocals when we tried to record a version of his song together 3 or 4 years ago. our equipment was very bad and the music never fit the vocals properly. over a year ago he unfortunately lost his voice due to throat cancer so i decided to try and use my computer to make these old recordings fit together properly. unfortunately again the tracks were too messed up so i recorded my own version of the music to his vocals as a gift and testament to my friend. i was very happy with the results but wanted to keep it personal. after thinking about it though i thought it should see the light of day and included on the disc.
Any future plans for your project, Murray?
lots and lots and lots. mostly i'm moving to glasgow in scotland and want to gig more and collaborate more. i'm most of the way through the next album which i think is definitely a development for me from the first. i'm working on a track with hopefully 50 vocalists and guitar feedback based on scottish psalm singing. i just got a violin and a saxophone too so more sounds are possible.
Finally, do you know something about Peru?
i know the capital is lima. i'm a big fan of the german film director werner herzog and he shot around machu picchu and iquitos for some of his films. what i've seen of the landscape looks very beautiful and i'd really love to visit. in fact i have a travel guide i borrowed off of a friend but i haven't read it yet. i managed to visit mexico this year so maybe peru next year.
The Failed NASA Experiment - First Frost [TEASER] from The Lows and the Highs Records on Vimeo.
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