umami is not my real name. I once got booked for a drum and bass DJ set under my birth name which is sort of like seeing Kiss without their makeup on, except that I don't play drums from a 40-foot hydraulically operated tower. I don't wear makeup either, or perform with a helmet or inside of a giant pyramid or anything. Which isn't to say that I wouldn't, it's just that I want you to know that I'm not a robot from the future or a cartoon character (though I look uncannily like Lupin III--look him up) or an animal mascot. I make electronic music because the sounds that fill my head happen to come out that way, but if I could play a guitar, drums, bass, something that sounds like a violin making babies with a diesel generator, and sing all at the same time I'd give it a go. I'm sure the show would be incredible.
The sounds on my 2006 LP Theme for Travel are built predominantly from a collection of found samples and field recordings coerced into behaving like proper instruments. Music is a negotiation, not a dictatorship--sometimes I tell it what I want and other times it tells me. If you're taking a road trip soon or flying a good distance, there are some great songs for staring out the window and enjoying the passing landscape. I'd recommend the desert, but you'll find it to be good company wherever you go. I have a thing for rhythm, and another thing for really huge bass--the kind that makes you feel like you can't breathe quite right. I also have a thing for the kind of melodic harmonies where you want to crawl inside the speaker box and make a little pillow out of the batting and let the music vibrate your headbones until your whole body is buzzing with sound. Oh yeah, and filters. You know the ones where you can feel the sound in the back of your throat, and your eyes can't help but squint shut like you're a cat kneading its claws on the back of a really expensive sofa. If you listen to KEXP, you can hear Riz Rollins play some of the album on his Expansions show on Wednesday nights. I've got an exclusive EP of ambient tracks in the works for him that I'm hoping will get a little airtime.
In 2004 I did a couple of laptop battles. I lost, twice. My first attempt was a song with so much bass I thought something broke open in the universe when I heard it on the P/A for the first time. It wasn't very "live" as far as live performances go, but I made everyone in the place stop and stare for a minute so that's something. After my second attempt, I realized that laptop shows are pretty fucking boring (unless you're drunk--they asked me to be a judge after the second event, and I got to sit in back and pound tequilas and shout about who pushed their buttons better), even if you're jumping around like a maniac. Actually, those can be pretty awesome, but I'm not the jumping around type. I'd probably be Kelly Joe Phelps if I could play guitar worth a damn, or sing. My live show involves a trumpet player--a really fucking awesome trumpet player. My god, the guy can play so good it makes me want to just start over. Later, my live show will probably involve me playing a few bits of guitar and/or percussion, a violinist, maybe some singing from the incredible seafloor (we can talk about my singing later), and you'll still be able to dance to it. Most of it, anyway. Hopefully some of the non-dancy stuff will get the people in the back to stop talking for a second and just listen, but you can't please everyone.
I love to do remixes. There's something about taking a really good song, or even a mediocre song, and pulling out all the parts you like and adding your own flavor to it that is totally satisfying. I did a remix for The Trucks--three of them, actually--and Clickpop decided to put one on the Titties EP that should be out right about now in a record store near you. I'm working on some remixes for The Long Ranger as well--the last one I did made us all laugh a little bit. If you are a musician or a label and you want me to remix a track, or a whole album of yours, get in touch.
I'm working on a new album, due out before the end of the year. It's less mom-friendly than the last one, but more cohesive. Ten tracks, a few good booty-shakers in there, and at least one nostalgic, headphones-required song. The working title is The Desire to Connect, which is what this whole thing is about, after all. Thanks for listening.
