THE SILT
WAVELENGTH #28
AUGUST 20 - 10PM
Who all else comprises The Silt? Are there any instruments used in this group that people might not be accustomed to seeing you play?
The Silt is Doug Tielli and Marcus Quin and I. Yes, each of us plays several instruments. Sometimes any one of us sings and plays the guitar, drums or bass, but Doug also likes to play the trombone, Marcus may play the clarinet and erhu, and Ryan might like to play the flute now and again, or his Realistic Concertmateo. But mostly we just play guitars and stuff.
How does The Silt differ, if at all, from the typical activities of the free improv/"20th century" composition circles that its members (well, you for one) seem to run with?
Sometimes we like verses and, more rarely, chori, and we very much like bridges but we don't use them much yet. Mostly it seems The Silt plays songs that we have written and they really sound like songs. These circles that we run with tend to seem to make music that does not resemble songs. We have however played a number of shows opening for Michelle McAdorey's band (with Eric Chenaux and Martin Arnold) recently. They are playing music so much like songs and we love it.
Judging by some of the instruments you use (thumb reeds/duck calls, analog synthesizers), it seems as though you tend to enjoy working with instruments which surprise even you as you're playing them. Is this a fair assessment?
Surprises can be quite wonderful. There are one million kinds of surprises and they are what might make music or anything exciting. I am not often unable to expect what the instruments I play will sound like, but it is true that the synthesizer and the thumb reeds which I tend to play when I am improvising have the capacity to make large timbral shifts very abruptly. What is surprising is what some people choose to play at the same time as others, and that's why I like improvised music. The Silt is not too much like that because if we play "A Song About A Red Whistle" it's always going to be "A Song About A Red Whistle" with fixed words, tune, chords, etc. Some songs are more "open concept" than others but there is always at least a tune in a Silt song. We think we know almost exactly what some of our songs sound like.
How, if in any way, have the somewhat concurrent recent dissolutions of both the Ulterior series and The Music Gallery's Richmond St. location changed the way you (and your improvising ilk, if they can be spoken for, that is) practice your craft?
I think these dissolutions have only changed the frequency with which the ilk has been publicly crafty and I am certain that soon there will be new regularly occurring series and different venues to welcome the sweet sounds. As I understand it Eric Chenaux is starting a series of improvised music this month and Martin Arnold is curating a series featuring improvised and composed music, sound installation, etc., to be held at the Mercer Union Gallery starting in September. Also Martin is trying to open up the rehearsal space of an existing music company for bi-weekly events.
The inherently paradoxical nature of what could be deemed "silly" sounds in yr non-idiomatic idiom vs. the sombre capital-A Ahhhht-ness of it all; discuss.
Silliness is not something I care much for personally but I do very much like it when something seems silly. For instance, some of Olivier Messiaen's pieces seem wacky or ridiculous at first hearing but they are always about God and you can always feel the underlying seriousness. We have to laugh at things when they amuse us. However it is a little upsetting to me when music is definitively silly or humourous. I think the Silt's music is rarely silly and rarely has the Aaaaht-ness. Sometimes we have haunting vocal harmonies.