ZERO TIMES EVERYTHING – Sound Of Music And Experimentation!

1. You have a new album called “Sound of Music”, what was the inspiration behind it? 

We know a lot of extremely talented musicians and when we finished our first album we thought of the idea to invite some of them to lend their talents to the making of this record. We had no idea where this would lead but we felt it was a journey worth making. Two notes Richard taped to his synthesizer were “beware of moderation” (although, of course, there are times for moderation) and “the obvious road is almost always a fool’s road.” A number of those invited were avant garde New York musicians with strong personalities which meant we had to allow for their input to stretch what Zero Times Everything music actually is; perhaps even redefining it. We also had to trust the music and follow where it would lead. The raison d’être for the double album, in general, is the ability to take chances and not reflexively edit something for length; to allow the material to “breathe”. Hence, the journey ended with a double album. 

2. Your sound has a lot of cinematic and Sound Design atmospheres, what type of hardware/software synths did you use for the recordings?

Richard has a collection of digital and analog synths ranging from the Arturia Minibrute, Korg Minilogue, Korg MS20, an assortment of IPad synths controlled by an Arturia Keylab61, an amplified slinky, a homemade xylophone made from metal bars (which is featured on “Lux Aeterna”) and a Gibson Les Paul. For vocals he often uses a strange little karaoke machine that pitch shifts his voice and is used at kid’s birthday parties that he dug up somewhere.

Pietro plays a Les Paul processed in Logic amp simulators and effects in real time via a laptop and foot controller.

Tony plays a custom built guitar by Brian Nelson in Seattle. He makes use of Gig Performer software to run his effects. This gives him all the amp sims and effects on his computer, with a tremendous amount of control over routing and all parameters. He uses a SoftStep 2 Controller and many other pedal controllers, connected by AudioFront boxes. And he uses MidiGuitar 2 by JamOrigin, which is a remarkable audio-to-midi software that allows him to play virtual instruments with his guitar without a special pickup and with essentially no latency or tracking errors.

The CD was recorded into Digital Performer and mixed and mastered in DP as well. In mixing Tony used a ton of processing, but not on everything. As well as the standard sorts of things like compressors, EQs, etc – many different types – he used specialty effects from companies like Glitch Machines, Melda, Plugin Alliance, Ina-GRM, United Plugins, Zynaptiq, and a myriad of other smaller players who make interesting sound-mangling software.

3. How do you balance the final audio result between the electronic sounds and rock music?

With our ears! And by feel! ZXE operates on the principle that there are no rules, that anything we want to bring to the band is open for exploration, and anywhere we want to take a piece of music is open to exploration. We all like a lot of different music from different times and places, some we have in common and some uniquely ours, and the same goes with our specialties.

On a practical level, regarding audio balancing, it’s a process of carving out space for each element (except when we want them to overlap), in the frequency spectrum, spatially, dynamically, and temporally – there are lots of ways to approach this. Tone, who mixes our work, likes to blend things together so that the listener is not sure where one sound ends and another begins, this can be done in a number of ways. At the same time, one wants all the sounds to be audible. And to sound good, and not be annoying.

With the amount of frequency-rich sources we use, and the amount of processing that’s thrown in, it’s easy to get very messy, muddy, and saturated. Tony is grateful to have Richard and Pietro’s help, listening and making suggestions.

4. How does the Pythagorean theory of musica universalis inspire your music creation?

The title “Sound Of Music” references the Pythagorean theory of musica universalis or the “music of the spheres” wherein Pythagoreas states that if objects in motion create sound then the planets forever in motion must forever produce sound. This theory has been totally discredited but the notion of the sound of a harmonious planetary-solar-system is the touchstone for the title of the album. We think of this as the foundation of music itself. If there were a harmonious universe then, creatively thinking, where is the balance? Where is the disharmony? The disharmony, present within the record itself, is the dangerous existence of black holes and white holes within this planetary harmony. The gravity of black holes is so strong that once it pulls matter within it nothing, even light, can get out. On the opposite extreme, a white hole in space is a hypothetical region that cannot be entered from the outside, although matter and light can escape from it. Side one is titled “Black Hole” and side two “White Hole.” If the theory is that the movement of the stars is harmonious then these holes in space create danger within that harmoniousness. Or, looked at in a different way, if the entirety of the solar system is harmonious and it contains black and white holes then these holes comprise part of the harmony itself. Hence, there is danger within harmony. 

5. Have you studied any Greek philosophy towards composing your new album?

Any use of ancient or classical ideas, philosophy, are only used to ignite our imaginations. We are not scholars, far from it, but classical ideas of celestial harmony allow us to think of music as more than simple sounds coming from an instrument. The description from Plato in the myth of Er of eight Sirens astride orbits all singing a singular note creating a celestial harmony along with the daughters of Necessity, the three fates singing to this celestial harmony; Lachesis singing of the past, Clotho the present, and Atropos the future presents a wealth and abundance for our imaginations. But we have no interest in simply illustrating ideas. The utilization of classical Greek ideas of a harmonious universe along with the contemporary theory of white and black holes is a powerful source of inspiration for us to draw from but not to illustrate.

6. How did you think the term Zero Times as a band name?

Richard came up with it. He is no mathematician but his belief is that math, at a certain point, becomes a rich combination of art and philosophy. For instance, infinity is not a number but a concept and brings about pointed questions. What is infinity minus one? It’s still infinite. In fact, Infinity Minus One was a possible band name. He’s also intrigued by the idea of zero. Although zero is considered a number it indicates the absence of a number and if you multiply any number by zero the answer is zero. If that is true then what is zero times infinity? Zero? Undefined? In fact, Zero Times Infinity was also a candidate for the band name. But Richard wanted to step away from pure mathematics and “materialize” the idea of infinity so he changed the word infinity to everything – meaning everything you can think of. Therefore, if you multiply zero times everything are we left with……..nothing?

7. During the first years of the band you began to get invites to play in galleries. How different is the feeling of playing in a gallery than a normal live venue?

First of all it is generally way more intimate. That’s one nice thing about being “in the box,” we can get all our sounds without needing to be tremendously loud (though we all love to be tremendously loud too, don’t get us wrong!). Our approach to performing in galleries was to bring a strong visual component to our live show. To that purpose Richard makes video art specifically for each song that is performed. Additionally the band has worked with Optipus which is a multi-member visual group headed by Bradley Eros that utilizes multiple projectors. An example of this taken from a live performance at a club/bar called Bowery Electric in downtown New York City can be viewed on our Media Page on our website zerotimeseverything.com. We took this gallery approach to all our venues. We feel that having a strong visual approach brings the focus of attention toward the stage rather than the drink in one’s hand. Richard’s projections are an integral part of the ZXE live experience whether at a gallery or concert-oriented venue, so the focus is not on our stage presence as such, which is a nice relief. We try to make our entrances and exits a bit more dramatic, nothing too startling but not just a band shambling onto the stage. ZXE is not a bar band, so our “normal” live venue is generally a place where people are there specifically to hear music.

8. “Sound Of Music” will be the equivalent to a triple album on vinyl, as you have produced roughly 120 minutes of music on two CDs. Why did you decide to release it as a one album and not keep half of the material for your next album?

An album is a journey. “Sound Of Music” is the journey and is a necessarily long road, full of hazard, without short cuts. To break this whole into separate parts and release them as separate entities at different times, although practical for the listening public, would destroy the journey. And by the time one gets to the end of the double album they can certainly say that they were on a journey. 

9. Do you have any plans for touring?

We are to perform in Massachusetts in the United States at the end of August but there are presently no plans to tour although I imagine we will certainly do some shows in New York City in the autumn. Perhaps we may film one and present it online.

10. What about your next music plans?

The general consensus is to make a “rock” record, much shorter in length to “Sound Of Music.” One of the reasons we did a version of Brian Eno’s classic track “Third Uncle” is to prove that we could “rock-out” with the best of the rockers out in the world. We are often perceived as a heavy, intellectual band, and rightfully so, but maybe it is time to try to change that perception.

Information: ZERO TIMES EVERYTHING