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theseventhhex · 6 years ago

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Makeness Interview

Kyle Molleson

Photo by Dexter Lander

It’s the contrasts which stand out in Makeness‘(aka Kyle Molleson) music. Crafting tracks which make a virtue of disparate influences, Kyle manages to pull off something difficult: making tirelessly-crafted songs which sound loose-limbed and to-the-point. He comes from a Leeds-born scene which, counting Adult Jazz and Glad Hand amongst its numbers, haven’t pegged themselves to one musical discipline. That network of like-minded friends, and the restless ethos cultivated between them, continues to shape the music Kyle makes on his own. His debut album, ‘Loud Patterns’, is the fullest example of this yet. On the one hand, it’s noticeably indebted to house and techno; there are 4/4 rhythms, and a no-nonsense directness which nods to the likes of Omar-S and Theo Parrish. On the other hand, those dancefloor structures are a vehicle for a wider spectrum of sounds. Channelling avant-garde experimentalism and an outsider’s interest in pop, he embraces the distance between those two poles… We talk to Kyle about tricky vocals, skating and Bill Murray…

TSH: How would you sum up the soundscapes that you wanted to imply with ‘Loud Patterns’ and the natural compulsions coming into play for you?

Kyle: I wanted to create a record that sounded quite live but still had the pulse and mechanism of electronic music. I seem to gravitate towards quite heavy and intense sounds so having a balance of sweeter moments and moodier, darker ideas was quite important when I was making the record.

TSH: When you’re creating music, do you consciously pick the emotions or moods you try and capture, or do the songs unfold more organically?

Kyle: I usually have half an idea of what mood I’d like to instil. For instance the track ‘The Bass Rock’ started off as just messing around with sequences with not much direction. I was home in Scotland for Christmas at the time and we went for a walk in East Lothian overlooking this island called The Bass Rock. The weather went from really sunny and calm to torrential gale in a matter minutes and you could see the storm front coming in over the Island. I took that experience and wove it into the track.

TSH: Were there certain songs that required quite a few iterations to get right during the recording process?

Kyle: Yeah, the ones with vocals were really tricky. I wasn’t quite sure about doing any singing at all, especially writing songs. The more I challenged myself to do it the more I warmed to it though. Still, getting that right took a lot of time as well figuring out what my voice was and what I wanted to share. Lots of firsts!

TSH: What do you mostly like about the idea of combining live instrumentation and mechanised electronics?

Kyle: It’s all just ingredients so I don’t always think of the two being separate. It’s all about the drums though so as soon as you start mixing acoustic and electronic drums sounds it becomes pretty blurry. My favourite thing to do is probably making programmed drums sound like live kit recordings. Very time consuming but I really like it as a sound.

TSH: You’ve talked about making this album a piece, rather than a collection of ideas, how challenging was this for you?

Kyle: It was quite hard. I spent a lot of time honing the sound palette so to speak. I used lots of different kinds of sound sources from old analogue synths, plate reverbs and acoustic drums through to digital drum vst’s and modern effects. I ran everything through the same mixer and would re amp a lot of the synthetic sounds through a guitar amp to give the whole record a certain colour.

TSH: With the track ‘Stepping Out of Sync’, were you looking to evoke a certain mood?

Kyle: That track took a long time to get right. In my head I saw it as writing a pop song; it has all the caveats, but also perhaps shows that I’m a little uncomfortable within that genre.

TSH: Which parts/features would you say required most focus as you formed ‘Day Old Death’?

Kyle: There’s a little break about a 3rd of the way through that took a while to get right. I wanted to have some really heavy industrial sounds but without it being out of context. It was a case of adding some of that heaviness to the lead up that makes it work I think.

TSH: What led you to gravitating to having some warped vocals too?

Kyle: I started off using my voice as an effect, pitching it around and making little melody phrases out of it. When I started actually singing I kept doing that sort of thing. I quite like doing some ridiculously modern sounding vocal effect then recording it to tape or through a guitar amp.

TSH: Does the melody and harmony that you incorporate in part come from the folk music your father used to play?

Kyle: Yeah, definitely. It was a big part of the music I was exposed to growing up. The importance of live music in that sort of world has definitely influenced me as I have gone down a more electronic music path.

TSH: What sort of effect do you look to infer when you attempt to humanise some of the sounds?

Kyle: I think when you’re making music on your own; each sound can be worked over a lot and become quite important to you. I found running everything through the same devices once the tracks had been finished really helped to place everything properly. Taking synthetic sounds and giving them some real world context, recording them in the room back through microphones, helped place everything in the sound world I had imagined.

TSH: What was the experience like in performing in a church in Oslo recently?

Kyle: That was great. A little odd for sure though. The whole place was full but everyone was sitting on pews in silence when I went up to play.

TSH: Do you still make time to skate when you can?

Kyle: Ha, yeah I do try. I used to skate loads but now I’m more than happy cruising the bowl and with a few front tails. It was amazing to skate in America though. My 16 year old self would have been stoked.

TSH: What was going through your mind when Bill Murray walked past you?

Kyle: Ha! I was at the airport and took a double take. I was making some crunchy techno at the time which is now called Bill Murray V1.

TSH: Finally, in the wake of ‘Loud Patterns’, can you tell us some of the most important lessons and factors that you’ve taken away in working on this record?

Kyle: First thought, best thought!

Makeness - “Day Old Death”

Makeness - “Stepping Out of Sync”

Loud Patterns

#Interview #Makeness #Kyle Molleson

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930club · 7 years ago

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SIDE NOTES: Unknown Mortal Orchestra at 9:30 Club on April 27

Have you ever been to a show where two complete strangers, independent of one another, offered your crew their barricade perches? Or one where the band had a difficult time playing the next song because they were smiling so hard? Perhaps one where once the headliner left their encore and the house lights came up, everyone just kept dancing? That was the energy brought by the crowd – and matched by the artists – at Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s show on April 27. It was a night filled with collaboration, kindness, and sheer joy, qualities it feels hard to come by these days.

We began with Makeness, a one-man, many-MIDI project from Leeds. Nom de plume for Kyle Molleson, Makeness began and ended his set with humility and an endearing shyness, despite having the audience in a tight and meditative trance throughout. Electronic music is a marathon, not a sprint, and Makeness certainly knows how to make the journey. Songs like “Day Old Death” and “Loud Patterns” recalled the dark sensuality of groups like Wild Beasts, Junip, and Antiphon-era Midlake. But there were also clubby jams like “Fire Behind the Two Louis” and “Stepping Out of Sync.” Hip hop breakbeats and Talking Heads-aping synths wound their way into the mix, too.

This unassuming genre-hopping was the perfect way to set the stage for the main act. Unknown Mortal Orchestra has been around in one form or another since 2010, and has spent that whole time pushing the boundaries of its own descriptors.

Now might be a good time to mention the literal stage setting, which can basically be boiled down to ‘ice hotel.’ Dead leaf arrangements were stacked high in the back, and white fur carpets draped the drum and keyboard risers. Dead center were a spinning white turntable, a white bench, and a plain white chair. Combined with the amoebic and finely-tuned lighting UMO brought along, it was like watching a blank canvas change colors for two hours.

Given this seemingly muted and trippy atmosphere, a wintry nook ready to receive UMO’s sleepy psychedelics, you might think 9:30 was in for a tranquil evening. You’d be wrong. In front of an adoring and frenzied room, the Portland-via-New Zealanders transformed into a sort of millennial Rush. There were loudness wars, guitar heroing, crowd surfing, and onstage tequila shots.

But the thread of intimacy was never lost. That turntable and chair also transported us to the band’s bedroom tape deck beginnings. During “From The Sun” – y’know, the ballad about isolation and suicide – Ruban hopped offstage and onto the packed floor, becoming about as un-isolated as a rock star can. Despite the obsessively-practiced prowess of this group of musicians, it somehow felt like an even playing field for the audience below.

UMO’s set spanned their discography, from classics like “Ffunny Ffriends” and “So Good At Being In Trouble” to cuts from 2018’s Sex & Food like “Hunnybee” and “American Guilt.” Unlike most other acts, and serving as a testament to the devotion of their fans and the quality of the sonic offerings, the crowd’s intensity didn’t let up one iota when anything new was played.

Whether they’re Phishing or starting a mosh pit from the floor, Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a group tailor-made for everyone. Their music refuses to be categorized, and its themes – of depression, queerness, polygamy, and getting by in the harshness of the modern age – create a rare inclusivity often lacking in indie and psych music spaces. Tl;dr: Unknown Mortal Orchestra is the future liberals want.

-Kelsey Butterworth

#Side Notes #UMO #Unknown Mortal Orchestra #9:30 Club #Makeness #Kelsey Butterworth

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thebittersweetdistractor · 7 years ago

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MAKENESS “Loud Patterns”

Kyle Molleson, the Scottish producer also known as Makeness is following up his 2015 debut Ep “Rogue” with a new single, the first for his new home-label Secretly Canadian. “Loud Patterns” is a swirling, psychedelic song perfectly matched with the visual created by Samuel J. Travis. Watch it above.

#Music #makeness #loud patterns #video #secretly canadian #electronic #psych #rock

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popentertainmentconcertreviews · 7 years ago

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Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA – April 28, 2018

People of all ages packed into Philadelphia's Union Transfer this past Saturday night, welcoming New Zealand's Unknown Mortal Orchestra. The band is on tour following the release of their fourth studio album, Sex and Food.

Upon entrance at the venue, one was overcome with pink light. The stage, clad in fake fur rugs, vinyl, and a wall of glowing pink plants, set the tone for a laid-back night of psychedelic rock. Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Ruban Nielson would grace the stage with his brother Kody Nielson on drums, Jake Portrait on bass, and Thomas Mabus on the keyboard.

The show started with Kyle Molleson, known as the Scottish producer Makeness. He had a classic electric guitar, a laptop (featuring smashed screen), and all kinds of effects pedals. Amidst a web of mixer effects and drum pads, Makeness played an interesting blend of grunge dance and indie rock. Looking around, the crowd was eager to loosen up and heads started to bob.

During the short down time between sets, it was hard to look past the array of instruments waiting to be picked up by UMO. The bassist had two Rickenbacker basses waiting for him, while Ruban Nielson paid tribute to classic rock with at least three different Fender guitars. The drummer had minimalist set up, as well as the keyboardist. There was, however, a saxophone. A few voices in the crowd questioned it. Before anyone could decide who would play the sax and when it would be used, UMO graced the stage of Union Transfer. Ruban Nielson greeted the audience wearing a "Philadelphia Est. 1776" hat.

The first song played was "Necessary Evil," a track off their third studio album Multi-Love. Unfazed and happy to be hearing older songs, the crowd sang along in awe. With every riff, there was a new chord or tempo change. Nielson employed arrangements not previously heard by fans. Barely ten minutes into the set, Ruban Nielson proceeded to step off the stage and onto the barricade while playing a solo for "Swim and Sleep like a Shark." The crowd lost their minds and knew they were in for a show flaunting instrumental genius.

It wasn't until the fourth song that tunes off their latest album began to flow. Sex & Food is Unknown Mortal Orchestra's most politically conscious album. As UMO dished out, "Ministry of Alienation," I could feel empathy radiate from the crowd as everyone sang, "My thinking is done by your machine, can't escape the 20th century."

Their distinctive use of sing-along R&B melodies paired with low-fi psychedelic effects put the audience into a trance. But, before anyone could get comfortable, a jaw-dropping guitar solo was almost always around the corner; tastefully paired with thought-provoking lyrics from "A God Called Hubris," "Major League Chemicals," and "American Guilt." The show came to a conclusion with Nielson jumping into the crowd for an acoustic version of, "Not in Love We're Just High."

Escorted back on to the stage, Nielson rejoined the band and gave a subtle thank you as his group proceeded back stage. The crowd did not stop dancing or cheering, and this continued until UMO reappeared for their encore. "Ffunny Ffriends" blessed the ears of those listening, employing all of UMO's famous techniques of electronic rock. Finally, Nielson grabbed the saxophone for a striking minute-long solo to end the night on a tasteful note. There is no doubt Unknown Mortal Orchestra left a lasting impression for those feeling nostalgic and awfully groovy.

Shana Bergmann

#Unknown Mortal Orchestra #2018 #Concert Review #Union Transfer #Philadelphia #Shana Bergmann

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