Richard Dart Interview
Q: Let’s talk about what inspired you to make instrumental music. Can you tell me a little bit about what your influences were in the making of dry the monkey's eye?
A: Listening back to the songs I can hear some of my influences definitely. For example, there is a taped string sound on “Aaah” that reminds me of the Beatles. I hear things that make me think Radiohead, Pink Floyd, New Order, The Smiths and even Kraftwerk. This is all stuff I love so it’s unsurprising that it would inform my music I guess.
Brian Jonestown Massacre made an album for an imaginary French film which I came across a couple of weeks ago and at the time of making the album I definitely had the feeling that it could be some sort of movie soundtrack or even backing tracks for an old school rapper.
I am not much of a singer so the idea of vocals never really came up which is basically why the music is instrumental. I may sing in the future if I can find a way of making it work and sound ok but it is not a priority. A lot of the music I listen to is instrumental and in many ways I find it more enjoyable.
Q: As far as I know all the sounds are carved out by you alone. Can you talk about this process?
A: With dry the monkey’s eye I would usually just sit in front of my keyboard and play around with chords and melodic ideas until something suggested itself. I might come across a chord sequence I like and then add things to it like a bass line or a melody over the top and just add and add until something starts to take shape. I might then add a bit of guitar if it suits the song. I occasionally find that I have too much going on and have to strip it back as well. I had no idea each time what I would come out with when going in. On a couple of tracks I started out with the slide guitar – I think “Aaah” and “Nothing Doing” were like that but generally I find it easier to come up with ideas on the keyboard and adorn with slide if required.
Q: What tools are currently in your arsenal? Do you plan on expanding your palette for your upcoming releases?
A: My mainstay is a Korg Kronos and I have a slide guitar which I have been putting through a multi effects pedal - Zoom G1X. I recently upgraded to a Roland ME80 pedal and have gotten a new slide guitar for Christmas and as you can imagine I am very excited to try it out. I use an Acid music DAW mainly just for rendering to MP3 and Flac although I do sometimes add EQ, compression and other effects in the DAW. The Kronos also has many DAW functions, including EQ and comp so I find I am using the Acid less and less. I also have a Tascam DP 03 but I don’t use it that much these days as the Korg meets most of my needs. I have no plans to buy anything else in the near future although I do quite like the idea of “Spectral Layers” when the budget allows.
Q: Your latest release Ambient Sun was released a mere month after dry the monkey's eye. Were these songs part of the same session?
A: Dry the monkey’s eye was done over a four-month period, doing maybe one track a week give or take. I started on Ambient Sun straight after finishing that and it came together really quickly. I was on vacation in October so I had a lot of free time.
Q: How does the music differ on Ambient Sun from dry the monkey's eye?
A: I am a big fan of ambient music by the likes of Brian Eno and Harold Budd and I wanted to make something more in that direction. It is sonically very different. The first album was rock and pop with some ambient textures whereas Ambient Sun is more full on ambient. It uses a lot of layered synths, strings and keyboards. There are almost no bass lines, and drums only appear on three tracks. It’s not a particularly unique idea but the question came to me one day – “If I were a lake how would I sound as a piece of music?” and that really started the ball rolling. I would start off with a title such as “Lake” or “Sky” or “Sand” and make a piece of music that could in some way, however tenuously, be construed as that entity expressing itself musically. Having a title in mind seemed to help generate ideas much more quickly than my former method of just noodling about. Have a title and then noodle – that’s my new approach. Anyway, I am very pleased with the album. I think it has beauty and warmth but please judge for yourself.
Q: 2017 is around the corner. What are your plans in the New Year and do you plan on playing live?
A: At this stage, I am not that proficient as a player so I am not planning on any live performances but in the future who knows. I plan to start a new album of ambient music in 2017. In fact, I already have titles for my next four albums – I don’t know how many I will do in a year though.
Q: Let’s talk about what inspired you to make instrumental music. Can you tell me a little bit about what your influences were in the making of dry the monkey's eye?
A: Listening back to the songs I can hear some of my influences definitely. For example, there is a taped string sound on “Aaah” that reminds me of the Beatles. I hear things that make me think Radiohead, Pink Floyd, New Order, The Smiths and even Kraftwerk. This is all stuff I love so it’s unsurprising that it would inform my music I guess.
Brian Jonestown Massacre made an album for an imaginary French film which I came across a couple of weeks ago and at the time of making the album I definitely had the feeling that it could be some sort of movie soundtrack or even backing tracks for an old school rapper.
I am not much of a singer so the idea of vocals never really came up which is basically why the music is instrumental. I may sing in the future if I can find a way of making it work and sound ok but it is not a priority. A lot of the music I listen to is instrumental and in many ways I find it more enjoyable.
Q: As far as I know all the sounds are carved out by you alone. Can you talk about this process?
A: With dry the monkey’s eye I would usually just sit in front of my keyboard and play around with chords and melodic ideas until something suggested itself. I might come across a chord sequence I like and then add things to it like a bass line or a melody over the top and just add and add until something starts to take shape. I might then add a bit of guitar if it suits the song. I occasionally find that I have too much going on and have to strip it back as well. I had no idea each time what I would come out with when going in. On a couple of tracks I started out with the slide guitar – I think “Aaah” and “Nothing Doing” were like that but generally I find it easier to come up with ideas on the keyboard and adorn with slide if required.
Q: What tools are currently in your arsenal? Do you plan on expanding your palette for your upcoming releases?
A: My mainstay is a Korg Kronos and I have a slide guitar which I have been putting through a multi effects pedal - Zoom G1X. I recently upgraded to a Roland ME80 pedal and have gotten a new slide guitar for Christmas and as you can imagine I am very excited to try it out. I use an Acid music DAW mainly just for rendering to MP3 and Flac although I do sometimes add EQ, compression and other effects in the DAW. The Kronos also has many DAW functions, including EQ and comp so I find I am using the Acid less and less. I also have a Tascam DP 03 but I don’t use it that much these days as the Korg meets most of my needs. I have no plans to buy anything else in the near future although I do quite like the idea of “Spectral Layers” when the budget allows.
Q: Your latest release Ambient Sun was released a mere month after dry the monkey's eye. Were these songs part of the same session?
A: Dry the monkey’s eye was done over a four-month period, doing maybe one track a week give or take. I started on Ambient Sun straight after finishing that and it came together really quickly. I was on vacation in October so I had a lot of free time.
Q: How does the music differ on Ambient Sun from dry the monkey's eye?
A: I am a big fan of ambient music by the likes of Brian Eno and Harold Budd and I wanted to make something more in that direction. It is sonically very different. The first album was rock and pop with some ambient textures whereas Ambient Sun is more full on ambient. It uses a lot of layered synths, strings and keyboards. There are almost no bass lines, and drums only appear on three tracks. It’s not a particularly unique idea but the question came to me one day – “If I were a lake how would I sound as a piece of music?” and that really started the ball rolling. I would start off with a title such as “Lake” or “Sky” or “Sand” and make a piece of music that could in some way, however tenuously, be construed as that entity expressing itself musically. Having a title in mind seemed to help generate ideas much more quickly than my former method of just noodling about. Have a title and then noodle – that’s my new approach. Anyway, I am very pleased with the album. I think it has beauty and warmth but please judge for yourself.
Q: 2017 is around the corner. What are your plans in the New Year and do you plan on playing live?
A: At this stage, I am not that proficient as a player so I am not planning on any live performances but in the future who knows. I plan to start a new album of ambient music in 2017. In fact, I already have titles for my next four albums – I don’t know how many I will do in a year though.