How has being located in Tulsa had an impact on Digitalis? And on North Sea?
I'm
sure it has though it's hard to pinpoint how, exactly. Tulsa's pretty
isolated in some ways in that there's not a ton going on with the local
scene or shows and what not, so in some ways it's like being on an
island. The biggest impact it's had is that it's so cheap living here
that Eden & I are able to pay our rent/bills by working part time,
so it leaves a lot more time and energy to put toward the label and
music.
Do you have any thoughts on the remarkable vitality of fringe music in Middle America?
I
think a lot of it stems from living in places where there's not a ton
of stuff always going on, so we've got to find new and fun ways to stay
inspired, creative and moving forward.
Are there other scenes, in America or internationally, that are exciting to you right now?
I
dunno - it's hard to say since I haven't done a ton of traveling
recently. I will say that I've got a deep affinity for Madison,
Wisconsin and Chicago, but part of that is just from the fact we were up
in both cities recently. With the kind of music I'm interested in,
it's impossible to ignore Portland, OR and all the incredible stuff
coming out of there.
Tell
me a little about the beginnings of Digitalis -- did you have a clear
idea of the kind of music you were interested in releasing?
Yes
and no. I mean, I've never had a clear idea about it beyond it being
something I was really into, so that's why our stuff can be sort of
all-over-the-map soundwise. But I like that... for me, nothing is
off-limits so it keeps everyone on their toes.
How would you say the label has changed, and is changing, since you first started it?
The
biggest change has just been in our ability to get stuff out to a wider
audience, I think. Obviously over the years we've done a multitude of
formats and now we're hoping to transition into doing mainly vinyl and
cassette releases (w/ digital versions available of some). I'm just
figuring it all out as I go along.
I'm
also curious about your North Sea project, how long it's been going,
what it started out as, how it's different from Ajilvsga and Alligator
Crystal Moth?
The North Sea started in 2002 though
has its roots in an early project I did in the mid-to-late '90s called
Ukraine. Sound-wise, I'm not sure how different it is from other
projects but the main difference is that it's generally just me, doing
all the sounds. This isn't the case on the new album, "Bloodlines," on
which Mike Weis of Zelienople plays drums on the whole thing. But
generally, it's just me.
So I
just read that Not Not Fun is starting to digitalize their out-of-print
back catalog so people could listen to otherwise unavailable music on
ipods -- do you think other underground labels will start going in that
direction?
Most of our CD releases (and some vinyl
releases) are already available via digital download. The way I look at
it is that anything that gets released on whatever format, some rip or
mp3 version of it is going to end up on blogs, torrent sites - whatever.
And generally, I'm cool with that - I want people to hear it. But I
figure there is some population out there who doesn't really buy
physical media (which is their loss, in my opinion, but still - music
fans are music fans, whatever format they prefer) - so I figure why not
give them the option of a format they want
in a way that supports the bands and the label?
And:
What are your five favorite bad pop records (I will let you interpret that as you like)?
I
don't know about five favorite, but some 'bad' pop records I'm
listening to a lot these days are Erasure's "The Innocents" (I really
gotta get that recent 21st anniversary edition); Lady Gaga; Miley Cyrus'
"Party in the USA" (which was seriously my favorite song of 2009); The
Cardigans; and I can't get Ke$ha out of my head lately.
