manifest[ation]o
(as unilaterally conceived and articulated by Sean Kilpatrick)

 
"There's a bunch of people playing music all around the world, and we're just some of them."

"Is The Hybrid Association's music best placed under the World Music genre?  Probably not, but then what other generic choices are there?  And we'd like to know: is there non-World Music available anywhere in the world?  Generically, we don't play any easily identifiable forms, although they are certainly more reminiscent of certain types of music than of others.  Our sensibilities aren't heavily Western based, and we've all lived somewhere other than North America at some point of our lives; furthermore, 99% if the instruments we play are from outside the Western Hemisphere, so World Music is where we have to be."

"Is The Hybrid Association generically 'indie Lo-Fi', as in 'independent Lo-Fidelity'?  MP3.com would seem to think so: 'Lo Fi is short for low fidelity. The term has become a catch-all for home recordings of independent musicians. The technical quality of the songs was typically on the thin side,' they write.  The Hybrid Association at this stage typically records their rhythm foundations with a pair of microphones in a slanted-ceiling attic playroom with a analog 4-track tape recorder.  Overdubs have been kept to a minimum, with no more than two more tracks being used to simultaneously record string and/or wind instruments.  From there it is transferred onto an 850 MHz Pentium III and edited with Cool Edit 2000.  Frankly, we've heard a lot of music from the 1970's and 80's that's a lot "thinner" than anything we're doing, so we're going to reject that definition."

"The Hybrid Association is Low-tech even in its high-tech moments, such as the nineteenth century Sumatran Batak rebab (noteworthy is the distinct absence of Batak rebabs in existence), restrung with wound brass dulcimer strings and played through a Boss DD-2 pedal into a Laney Linebacker amplifier, or the same configuration using a python skin godji (when godjis are made with lizard skin).  The rebab uses friction pegs for tuning and the godji uses a leather thong for tuning, making them distinctly Low-tech instruments.  Both the DD-2 and the Laney amplifier are close to being antiques at this historical stage, so the High-tech nature of the musical project is really only found at the digital editing stage.  Even this text was composed on Low-tech (Dell NL25 386 laptop, held together with duct-tape and epoxied nylon straps left over from the djembe's strap)."

"Does The Hybrid Association's music fall under either the 'mood music' 'new age', or 'spiritual music' categories?  Here again, MP3.com probably doesn't think so, but we remain to be convinced.  With vocals noticeably absent in most if not all of The Hybrid Association's music, it lends itself easily to background or ambient listening.  While none of the musicians consider themselves, or any of their sensibilities, to be New Age (kiss the virgin, stroke the toad), we all suspect that New Agers would greatly appreciate the music.  Particularly because we approach our music consciously as Kivis Spiritual music, in the sense that the term Kivis originally meant (before being appropriated by the Romans) an equality of relationships between members in a household.  Something akin to spouse, in that the term is both free of gender and hierarchical position.  We're largely successful at this and we often have real trouble distinguishing (or remembering) who played what instruments and drums on the foundational tracks."

"Is The Hybrid Association's music 'experimental'?  Unless you're playing somebody else's music, isn't it always?  It's certainly not 'experimental' in the sense of the genres representation in the 'alternative' category.  So how then should we generically define the music that The Hybrid Association makes?  Does it matter?  If anything, the music is connected to syncretism and hybridity and grounded in The Groove.  We've really enjoyed making it, and we hope you'll be affected somehow."  - Sean July 2001.

Artwork credits:
"Peregrination" - Foundation: Guitar - Blake; Dun-Dun - Sean; Jun-Jun - Denise; Tibetan Bowl, Djembe - Rebecca. Overdub: Guitar - Blake; Sumatran Rebab - Sean.
"Arising - [(r)Evolution Mix]" - Foundation: Genggong (bamboo jaw-harp) - Sean; Dumbek: Rebecca; Jun-Jun: Denise; Big Baby Dumbek: Blake.  Overdub: Guitar - Blake; Sumatran Rebab - Sean.  Inspired by the poem of the same name by the Caribbean poet Jean Binta Breeze.

Political Skin artwork- "erzulie dantor politically armed" e-art by Sean; (Sub)Textual Woman (mask made from paper maché, beads, rope, and raffia) by Rebecca
"dambala renegotiated" - digital art by Sean