woodwind

interview by Pippa Maarsden

Okay, I got the interview for woodwind section. I should be pleased, but really, woodwind? Who plays that these days? I'm strictly samples and Dj's and I'm not a musician at all. I write. I do a bit of stand-up around town. Knowing I know nothing about woodwinds, I listen to the tracks and read the notes. Ok, so its ‘blowy' things. Saxamophone, (ha!) and clarinet (why?) and flute (should I point out that its not made of wood?) I'm intrigued by my ignorance, and I like the songs. She's a friend of a friend and though I haven't actually seen her in concert, I've seen the DVD! (my fiend was the editor) I go along with this interview charade, (mainly for the free lunch) and speak with Amarevois, about...woodwind.

PM: So I'm reading through the list of instruments that you play and it's mind boggling. And the ‘woodwinds' are saxophones, clarinets and flutes?

A: Yes.

PM: Why plural?

A: (laughs) Because there are different types, bass ones and soprano ones and tenor ones and alto ones. Plural. You're going to keep my on my toes today, I can feel it.

PM: No, I'll be good, I promise. Okay, what attracted you to those sounds in particular, or why did you choose to get into playing these instruments? They're not exactly rock-godess territory, are they?

A: Well I got into alto sax when I was exploring the world of jazz when I was about 21. I delved into all the classic jazz eras and covered the greats of every instrument you could imagine...and I also discovered bossa around the same time, which also turned me onto the flute, which up until then I'd thought of as a bit of a weak instrument. As part of my jazz immersion I heard a lot of Dixieland, so I rediscovered the clarinet, which I had played in the school band in high school. So over a couple of years, I bought a sax, a clarinet and a flute and started messing around with them in different ways, imitating the recordings I had and their different playing styles. I started using them in my song writing, so naturally when it came time to record those songs, I wanted to play the parts myself.

PM: You mentioned in your notes that you were influenced by eastern music, tell me a little bit about that; - in English (laughs).

A: (laughs) I discovered Byzantine music about five years ago which put a whole new spin on the clarinet and its descendants and also the music of Japan which became a favourite sort of practising technique on the flute. These are both amazing instruments with incredibly diverse histories and tonal palletes.

PM: Right, I guess saxophone deosn't really feature in the traditonal ‘musics' of the Near... and Far - East, does it?

A: No, not really! Although I'm sure it does today. For me, it was always more of a jazz thing. Of course, saxophone is very sexy as well. I liked that aspect. But from the playing point of view, I tended to like the soft fluffy players with very strong phrasing sensibilities like Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon and Lester Young. There are so many. It's a daunting hostory. I try to forget all about that and kjust play it like an instrument and use it like a colour, otherwise I get scared that I don't have the ‘chops' that the great players have. I don't mind things being simple. Effectiveness is more important than complexity.

PM: I'll prove to you that I read your notes; you mentioned Talk Talk and their use of orchestrations for woodwind. Ha! You like that?! What was special about them to you?

A: When Talk Talk threw out all their synths and made Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, those records really taught me volumes about taking your time, about space and about how the parts can fit together to make a single texture. Some of the textures that they achieved on those records are still some of the best examples of the use of woodwinds in contemporary music. I think I wanted to emulate the feeling that they had created to a point, but my style was just different, so I gave up on trying to imitate and just did my own thing, but always with those records in mind, I think.

PM: How do you make the time to practise all the instruments?

A: (laughs) I don't really, which is a shame. I'd really like to consider myself a proper player on all the instruments but I know that because I've spread myself so thinly, that I'll always be limited by that factor. In the end though, I just like playing them, because they all have very different, distinct voices that are rewarding in different ways.

PM: How on earth did you get into something like bass clarinet? Or the alto flute, I mean, you just don't come across them every day of the week – or do you; maybe you do. How do you choose which one you use? Is that too many questions at once?! (laughs)

A: (laughs) Well, I've had a lot of fun jamming with bass clarinet, its really quite a funky instrument and I was very inspired by Mick Kahn's work on Rain Tree Crow in 1991. And he's a very funky bass player, perhaps that's why he liked it as well, I don't know...There were a few parts on the album that I realised would work much better with an alto flute down a bit lower, it's a sadder sound. I find tenor sax sits more comfortably in terms of register or range as well, in how I hear it, but takes more effort than alto, and I still shy away from the sop, because of what we were all subjected to in the jazz fusion of the 80's and 90's, which is a shame. It's a bit like pan pipes, which you just don't do, unless you're scoring a South American picture or something – I wish! (laughs). It can be a bit corny. A bit too ‘nice'.

PM: No exceptions to the Pan Pipe rule, then??

A: I'll make an exception for Branford Marsalis on Sting's 80's showpiece album Bring on the Night. I think there was a pan pipe in there somewhere.

PM: Very gracious of you (laughs). Are there any ‘woodwind' players that you really like at the moment? Anyone ‘hot'!?

A: Er, I don't really know of who's around right now...and I guess I'm listening to pretty much the same old stuff, so no, I don't have any new heroes on that front, no. Which is just as well, otherwise I'd never get any sleep!  I used to have a lot of friends that would give me stuff to listen to, but that doesn't really happen as much any more. I guess they know I've got my hands full!

PM: Or maybe they've just stayed away?! Just kidding! Indeed you certainly do have your hands full being a woodwindist! And I think we've explored that here today quite thoroughly. Look, I'm getting the wind-up here, we'd better pay the bill...its your shout, yeah?

A: Sure, of course. Does that mean that I can have a ‘comp' to your gig on Thursday night?

PM: No, sorry. We're a bit low on ‘comps'....you know how it is.