ANDREW LILES – Experimenting with the Idiopathic Renaissance

1. Which was your original mission upon deciding to compose music?

Like most people when they started making music I was a teenager, so there was no mission or message for the world. I was fumbling in the dark. My original mission was to become a rock god. I’m probably still fumbling in the dark, I’m definitely not a rock god. Everyday is a learning process. There is no message, no grand plan. I just want to make original and interesting music for myself and my listeners. Many of my releases are deeply theorised or reference my own life and the wider world, but I don’t tend to advertise that.

2. What type of music gear do you use for your recordings and live recordings?

Guitars: Jackson RR7, Gibson Explorer, Epiphone Les Paul, Gibson Flying V, BC Rich Warlock, Tanglewood Warload, Danelectro ’59 12 string, Kimbara 12 string, Tokai Thunderbird.

Hardware: Violin, Mandolin, Banjo, Saxophone, Cymbals, Gongs, Alesis Sample Pad Pro, DOD guitar pedals, HX Stomp, Numark NDX 400, Korg Controller. SH101, Sirius, prepared piano, 4 track tape recorder, various radios.

Software: Korg, Adobe Audition, Arutria, Kontakt, East West, Urgitone, UVI, Reaper, Bias FX, Amplitude.

3. IDIOPATHIC RENAISSANCE is your latest music album, which was the influence behind its recording?

I have a fascination for antiquated and obsolete recording devices and formats. This recording is based on Polyphon discs.

A Polyphon is a disc-playing music box, a mechanical device first manufactured by the Polyphon Musikwerke. I also have a fondness for tinkling chiming sounds – the Polyphon tinkles with a special charm.

4. Does the dark atmosphere of the album IDIOPATHIC RENAISSANCE reflect your feelings during the recordings?

I don’t think it is especially dark. I guess my music is abstract in its design and tone, which could be interpreted as ‘dark’. That said, I am not about to make a happy-go-lucky love song.

5. Which is the meaning behind the title IDIOPATHIC RENAISSANCE?

I had an idiopathic allergy some years ago. It was pretty bad, anaphylactic shock and hives all over my body. I had it for about 2 years then it went. It disappeared for about 7 years, but returned briefly in early 2021 when I was making this recording. So that’s where the title comes from, it was idiopathic and a return. Thankfully it has gone again now. 

6. How did you manage to create the strange percussion sounds in your album?

It is probably a technique I have developed using ideas of hocketing – which, if mixed right, gives the sounds a unique degree of separation. This stuff just flows out of me using techniques and tricks I have developed over the last 35 years, I never really remember how I construct sounds, it’s a flow of consciousness. So in short, it’s a culmination of practice, luck and technique. I wouldn’t be able to give you a specific tool or VST or plugin that I used, as I use many, sometimes all at once and I generally never ever use a preset sound.

7. Have you ever thought of any lyrics that would represent each track of this album?

No. I tend to create instrumental music. When I do use voices it is narration and generally in a language I don’t understand. I see voices and singing as sound palettes rather than lyrics or poetry with a message. Even songs I have known all my life I still don’t know the words. I focus on the overall sonic design rather than what anyone has to say.

8. How did you decide to collaborate with Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ)?

I’m a BIG fan of Rotting Christ and Sakis and I were in touch through a mutual friend, and from that initial contact it just evolved. I appear on his new solo album narrating. So I think there is some mutual respect for one another’s art. Hopefully we will continue working together in many different capacities.

9. Do you prefer working as a remixer or as a musician and how each role changes your perspective about music?

I approach all elements of making music the same way, I try to create the best thing I can. Most of my remixes contain little or none of the original recording and are primarily my compositions anyway. So it’s kind of like making my own song.

10. What about your next music plans?

COMING IN 2022 / 24

2022

APRIL: CULTURAL STUDIES MODULE 1. (DL + LATHE CUT + CD-R)

JUNE: MORAL NIHILIST PART FIVE (SALVATION DELUSION) (DL + LATHE CUT + CD-R)

SEPT: CULTURAL STUDIES MODULE 2. (DL + LATHE CUT + CD-R)

NOV: MORAL NIHILIST PART SIX (NEITHER DOES NOR DOES NOT REAPPEAR) (DL + LATHE CUT + CD-R)

TBD: OBJECT FAILURE (LP)

2023

FEB: CULTURAL STUDIES MODULE 3. (DL + LATHE CUT + CD-R)

MARCH: MONOCHROMATIC – VOL. 10 (CD-R AND SIGNED BUSINESS CARD)

MARCH: MONOCHROMATIC – VOL. 11 (CD-R AND SIGNED BUSINESS CARD)

MARCH: MONOCHROMATIC – VOL. 12 (CD-R AND SIGNED BUSINESS CARD)

Monochromatic Vol. 10, 11 and 12 will be released simultaneously. Vol. 12 will complete the monochromatic series of releases.

MAY: MORAL NIHILIST PART SEVEN (CD-R AND LATHE CUT)

JULY: MORAL NIHILIST PART EIGHT (CD-R AND LATHE CUT)

Moral Nihilist Part Eight will complete the Moral Nihilist series of releases.

SEPT: INCOMMENSURABLE MAGNITUDES II (ВЕЧНОЕ ВОЗВРАЩЕНИЕ) – (DL + 24 CD-R BOX SET)

NOV: WITHOUT WISDOM (DL + LATHE CUT + CD-R)

2024

FEB: THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF DIGITAL FEUDALISM (DL + LATHE CUT + CD-R)

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www.AndrewLiles.com
andrew@andrewliles.com