“I mostly get the best ideas while walking, traveling by train, or in an elevator. Therefore I always have something to write with with me and I whistle or sing sketches on my mobile phone. I even had situations in a supermarket kneeling in the floor and making very fast sketches of a score for a melody. The production and realization always happens in my studio.
Apart from that, I have an ongoing series of accidental recordings which I call “One Shot Recordings”. I tape special sounds or moments with a flash card recorder – for example, my neighbour tearing down a wall or the high pitched squawking of a defunct shower head. The only influence I have on these recordings is my position to the sound origin and movements with the microphone. It’s my audio dogma. No effects, no additions.
When collecting ideas, the most important thing is my voice. When producing music, it’s my EMU e-64 sampler (it has very good converters and also sounds amazing in extreme transpositions) and my Korg MS 20 synthesizer.
I spend about 70% of my time here as my studio is also my living and wrestling room. So, my production time schedule is rather impulsive and chaotic. When I have to care for my daughter, I work from 11am til 5pm. Then usually as soon as she sleeps, from 11pm til 3am. In the morning I am a mess. She puts adhesive tape on my instruments and eyes and asks for hot chocolate. I walk like a zombie through my studio. When I have strict deadlines I mostly work from dusk til dawn. I never make a difference between work and private life.
I mostly work alone or invite musicians to work on certain recordings. But some projects happen in duets. That creates a totally different working atmosphere. For example, I cannot sit and stare at a spot for 10 minutes or listen to some samples for 30 minutes because that’s kind of idiotic, even if it might be necessary at the moment – necessary but not social. On the other hand, when working with others in the studio it’s easier not to get lost in microstructures which can make you feel out of your head.
When I look out of my window I can see employees working in a glass insurance building. I see them, they see me.”
*************************************************************************
Electronic musician Felix Kubin has been making music since he was a child and is a co-founder of experimental group Klangkrieg. As a producer, he has recorded music for Cologne label A-Musik Records and has his own label Gagarin Records. He is also an occasional radio playwright. Felix Kubin plays Crawdaddy this Friday March 14th at 11.30pm. For more information, gig dates and tracks, visit www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomkubin.
Musical Rooms 