Photo by Lindsay Hart

CD REVIEWS
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Vasovagal 3"CDr - DEAD ANGEL

"This wee li'l three-inch cd-r is the work of Sarah Lipstate, who shapes two-to-three minute bursts of noise from voice, theremin, field recordings, banjo (?!?!), and effects. The effects are the most obvious -- there's plenty of processed electronic frippery on the seven tracks here -- but the sound is less about all-out carnage and destruction than it is about stacking up blocks of sound and texture that work well together. The strategies she employs on this disc are far removed from the usual blinding wall-of-death power electronics one might expect from the artwork and the label; this is more like glitch electronica fed through heavy reverb abuse. The tracks generally have a bedrock, core noise going on, over which other sounds drift in and out (or occasionally just bulldoze through). Some tracks like "Shok" may make you think your cd player is on the fritz, though. I like the use of field recordings to add ambience and quiet moments amid the crunchy bursts of antimusic and noisy earhurt. Watch out for the sixth track "Langis," however -- that one is WAY beyond out of control, and about twice as loud as the rest of the disc. Swell experiments in sonic abstraction and (at times) pure ass-quaking noise hell. Limited to thirty copies."

Untitled 3xCD Box set - DEAD ANGEL

"Talk about your cases of major sensory overload.... This is one of the most elaborate packages I've ever seen, with three cds, each attached to a stiff paper rectangle with art on one side and liner notes on the other, contained in a 5x6 box bound with a gorgeous red paper band festooned with gold ink. (The swank artwork appears courtesy of four of the set's players -- Shaun Flynn (WZT Hearts), Christopher White (Magicicada), Matthew Reis (Teeth Collection), and Jason Zeh.) And then there's the tracks -- 55 of them, to be exact, by the likes of Noveller, Gerritt, Thurston Moore, Burning Star Core, Oblong Box, Dead Machines, The Cherry Point, Darsombra, Hum of the Druid, Destructo Swarmbots, Sword Heaven, Guilty Connector, Panicsville, and a whole bunch of others from the not-so-well-known to the totally obscure. (Look here for a complete listing, plus a handful of MP3s to whet your appetite.) If you ever needed an opportunity to wade through more than three hours of experimental, noise-laden sonic disembowelment, this is it, dig?

Given the vast stylistic differences between all the various artists, it's no surprise that there's a wide variety of sounds represented here -- everything from pure white noise to glitch electronica, disturbed power electronics, mutant cut 'n paste collages, and just about anything you can think of that's founded on a noise-addled launch pad -- but the advantage of having such a project curated by labels immersed in the field is a high degree of quality control. Unlike most various-artist compilations, there's a distinct shortage of filler here -- most, if not all, of the material here is pure prime meat, whole-grain noise goodness. The wild diversity of artists on hand also makes it possible to keep things from growing static, and one of the best things about this box set is the sequencing; rather than grouping like-minded artists into blocks of sound that might grow tiring, the tracks are aligned in such a fashion that one noise style flows into another (and sometimes those shifts are dramatic indeed), which helps to keep things fresh despite an intimidating running length. Another useful byproduct of the sheer volume of participants is that the tracks are all relatively short (most are under the five-minute mark), which keeps the artists focused (well, theoretically), and prevents the discs from bogging down.

Each disc has a slightly different feel -- the first disc is heavy on the white noise / sputtering sounds / glitch tip, while the second disc leans more toward drone / ambient / kitchen-sink and heavy reverb pieces, and the third disc favors pieces built around heavy repetition. Within those nebulous constraints, though, there's plenty of variety and unexpected surprises on each disc, and the quality level is phenomenal, with some of the best and most unusual tracks coming at times from the most obscure artists. Given that the entire package sells for less than twenty bucks, and is almost certainly a one-time deal that is unlikely to be repressed when it eventually sells out, you'd be a fool not to glom onto this pronto if you're familiar with more than a handful of the artists or looking for a great way to sample a lot of them at once, or just plain into weird mutant sounds. It's an astounding release on every level, and one of the best various-artists compilations you'll ever hope to hear."

Women Take Back the Noise 3xCD Box set - Connexion Bizarre

"Women Take Back The Noise" is a massive three CD compilation of female noise artists in today's music. With noise music having always been a primarily male-dominated genre of music one might be surprised that such a massive collection of female artists could be gathered in such a way. However, after three years of work from Ninah Pixie it all came together. The discs are divided into three main themes and are recommended to be played in order.

The first disc, "Orgonauta" represents the more dream-inducing and ambient side of experimental noise. Aedria Hughes "Moment of Truth" is a (mostly) high frequency drone piece that comes off to me as sounding a bit like "classical" drone composers (maybe Tony Conrad) mixed with the likes of many modern drone sculptors such as Andrew Liles or the Hafler Trio. The pre-recorded source sounds are droned out and messed with on the computer, most sounding nothing like the original sources. The sounds form different textures that are weaved in and out of each other, with rather nice results. Another highlight for me was "Plastic Footsteps" by Dark Muse. As the track name implies, footstep sounds are very prominent. Along with the other stuff going on it's really not too hard to imagine this track as the sort of soundtrack when a person is walking down a dark hall being pursued by some fiendish being. Really, the entire disc manages to keep a very nice overall theme, which doesn't seem like an easy task considering it is a compilation. One thing I love about "Orgonauta" is the bulk of it isn't the type of Ambient music drift off to. It's more a kind that creates a very dark atmosphere that I'm sure if certain people were to listen to it at night they'd be on edge with each creak of the floor and unexplained sound outside their window.

Next, when I popped in "Scheherazade", I knew I was in for a treat when I saw the name Cosey Fanni Tutti on the list. Some of these tracks have an ambience feeling similar to the disc before. However, what I think keeps them different is what I suppose I could lazily call "glitchy" electronics, which are prevalent in many of the tracks. "Casio Flammeus" by Rotwangsrobot reminds me of a set of malfunctioning electronics being destroyed as they're run through effect processors. For some reason, it almost reminds me of a malfunctioning version Faust track that I cannot remember the name of...I suppose I'll get back to the earlier mentioned Cosey Fanni Tutti's contribution, "Wired". Prominent noisy guitar (that sounds very Throbbing Gristle to my ears) with electronics and programmed drums make for a very nice combination. Again, the theme of the disc is followed through with the rest of the tracks that further down the road of glitchy electronics, with each artist contributing something worthwhile.

Finally we have "Vociferous", which is supposed to be the noisiest of the 3 discs. Since this is meant to be the noisiest, I was very relieved that it wasn't chalk full of tracks blasting feedback with no direction or thought put into them. Tracks like "Signal" by Noveller, are quite harsh indeed but have direction and enough going on to keep them from being a wall of meaningless static. Insect Deli's contribution "Cracked mandible" reminds me of some sort of noise-IDM hybrid, my only complaint with it being that it is so short (less than a minute!).

When all is said and done, we have a very strong collection of work by female Noise artists. If this is only a sample of what women are currently offering this scene, I think that the men who lazily blast feedback in the name of art have something to be truly scared of! This is a solid collection with a wide array of music, highly recommended for anyone with taste for something experimental or out of the norm. Another thing that needs to be pointed out about this release is the attached "Noise Cookie" which has an output jack and is a little circuit-bent device you can make some of your own noise with!  

LIVE REVIEWS
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After the Jump Fest 2008 - CMJ Staff Blog

Parts And Labor guitarist, Sarah Lipstate, performed this Saturday with her solo project Noveller at the After The Jump Festival in Brooklyn. It’s been said that there are no new sounds to be made using a guitar, this certainly didn’t stop Lipstate from trying. Aided by numerous pedals at her disposal, she certainly stretches the limits on what a guitar can do.

After the Jump Fest 2008 - Pop Tarts Suck Toasted

Some of you may recognize Noveller from her work as a new member in Parts & Labor, but as a solo artist she stands pretty tall as well! Her work with a double necked guitar on a stand is remarkable. She produces such a cool sound that it's tough to walk away from, but unfortunately I had to and my time with her was far too short!!!

Sonic Circuits 2007 - Intangible Arts

Noveller's sound seemed entirely generated from a double-necked guitar fed into a bank of pedals and signal processors. Tones were created by plucking, bowing, and e-bowing, and built upon by live-looping and further processing. The dynamics were gorgeous and full and huge, sweeping from delicate to full-on Godzilla-strength. Hers was easily my favorite performance of the Sept 8 gig.

Goodbye Blue Monday show 9-21-07 - Impose Magazine

New York needs venues like Goodbye Blue Monday. From the street, with Bushwick traffic streaking by and the Broadway J-line rumbling overhead, the place doesn’t look that remarkable, but stepping inside is a little like wandering out of the desert into the cave of wonders. The main space seems to be a living room, library, and curiosity shop, with records and books spilling and cascading down from shelves around displays of antique cameras and long dead virtual pets. A couple internet-equipped computers and a bar run along one wall (serving up cans of cheap Ballantine and PBR out of a fridge along with an assorted coffee-shop fare), while the rest of the space is given over to a comfortable assortment of benches, easy chairs, and crowded end-tables. Above the stage at the back, monolithic painted words intone “FLOTSAM JETSAM”, which seems as good an explanation for the place as any. Below, a hall winds away past poster-size blow-ups of risque pulp covers of another era to the back “garden,” which seems to be a workshop for the construction of eerie automatons and composited furniture.

Most important for our purposes (though there is already plenty to recommend the place) is the free live music every night of the week, typically four acts starting at 9:00 and finishing up a little after midnight. But this is no open-mic night. What’s remarkable about Goodbye Blue Monday is the esoteric nature of the acts they pull in. Despite the shows all being free, they don’t seem to have any problem filling their slots well. I’ve been three times and have yet to see any acoustic guitar-weilding singer-song-writer types, or even any cookie cutter rock bands. In the past, I’ve encountered some pretty decent DIY electronica and dub, as well as an eerie string-and-noise quintet. Last Friday, I was there for an electro-pop group called Nosebleed Island, down from Vermont and with recommendations from a friend up there, but I fortunately arrived early enough to catch two of the other bands, neither of which I’d recognized on the bill, but both of which I turned out to know of indirectly. The evening as a whole made me realize that all those other unrecognized names of upcoming GBM bookings are just potential promise.

Noveller (pronounced like “novella” with an -er) turned out to be the solo noise project of Sarah Lipstate whose other band, the ambient ensemble Sands, I’d run across (and been intrigued by) in other billings in the past. Solo, Lipstate creates rich fields of static and noise via two EBows on a double-necked guitar resting flat on a keyboard stand. This is run through a variety of effects boxes allowing her to reshape her raw sounds at will, tweaking, splintering, and smoothing out again. Not your average coffee house act.

Next up came Paranoid Critical Condition, an impressive no-wave two-piece consisting of drummer Libby Fab and guitarist Reg Bloor, perhaps better known for her work with guitar-symphony composer Glenn Branca (to whom she is married). Seething with treble, technically formidable, and crashingly dissonant, Paranoid Critical Condition was another of those acts that create far more of a racket than would seem possible for a two piece. Their instrumentals weren’t exactly easy to listen to, but the precise writing and execution stood out. A friend favorably likened their rapid riffing to surf rock, a comparison I can understand, if not entirely endorse.

The pairing of Paranoid and Noveller may not have been entirely random: Noveller’s Lipstate played in a recent Branca piece for 100 guitars. But if those two acts made sense together, headliners Nosebleed Island (who I’d been tipped off to only a week before) were something of an about-face: cute, catchy electro-pop about pizza, vampires, and beating up Nazis. There was a shambling noisiness to their drum and key loops and shouted choruses that traced a thin line back to the others, but this was designed more to be fun and amusing (and it was) than technically rigorous. Apparently, back in Vermont they play live with a cardboard robot and Dracula, but sadly these two key members were absent Friday: the robot was run over while shooting a recent video, and it was apparently way past Dracula’s bedtime.

INTERVIEWS
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After the Jump Festival Interview

Sarah Lipstate is one busy girl. Between working with Parts & Labor, making short films, pplaying as a member of Rhys Chatham's guitar army, and doing her own solo thing as Noveller, but luckily Sarah has found the time to be part of After the Jump Fest and to sit down for a quick chat about her music and various projects!

PTST: How long have you performed under the moniker of Noveller? Where did the name stem from?

Noveller: I started Noveller in 2005 when I heard about the Women Take Back the Noise compilation that Ninah Pixie from Big City Orchestrae was putting together. At the time, I was playing in an experimental duo called One Umbrella where I used the alias Novella. Since my duo partner was male, I decided to record a solo piece to submit for the compilation and modified the Novella alias to Noveller. For the record, I pronounce it 'no-vell-er' with the emphasis on the 'vell,' not 'nah-vell-er,' as in a person who writes novels.

PTST: You recently released your new album, This Heat Will Melt the Earth, in cassette form, what made you decide on a cassette release? Have people been begging you for a CD or vinyl form of the record?

Noveller: A local tape label called Baked Tapes approached me about doing a cassette release after seeing me perform at The Place in Brooklyn. I thought it sounded like fun so I agreed to do it. All of my self-released recorded output thus far has been on 3" cds, so the people who follow and buy my music are used to non-standard formats from me. I'd love to put something out on vinyl in the future though.

PTST: Parts & Labor recently added you as a guitarist, were you a fan of the band before joining them or was it a totally random thing?

Noveller: I used to play Parts & Labor on my college radio show back in 2003. I really liked their debut record Groundswell when it came out and the split CD they did with Tyondai Braxton. So yeah, I was definitely aware of them early on and even saw them play 2 or 3 times in Austin while I was in school there. My old band actually played at the same house party show as them in 2003 during SXSW. When Jesse, a mutual friend of ours who plays in When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, suggested that the guys get in touch with me about playing guitar for them, I was definitely flattered.

PTST: What is it like to perform as a member of one of Rhys Chatham's guitar ensembles?

Noveller: Playing with Rhys was so much fun. When I was asked to be a member of his guitar army for the Table of the Elements festival date in Atlanta, I was beyond excited. I love his intensity in how he communicates with his performers. He says, "Just watch my eyes," and once you lock in with him you totally commune. Hopefully, I will play with him again in August for the NYC performance of "A Crimson Grail" for 200 guitars.

PTST: Your music tends to be a bit on the noisier side, do you wear ear plugs when you're on stage? Do you think your fans should wear ear plugs when they see you perform?

Noveller: I definitely wear earplugs when I'm playing with a band. With Parts & Labor it's a must. For my solo shows, I feel like there's a really wide dynamic range and I like to be able to hear everything, especially the quiet sections, so I tend to skip the earplugs. However, I recommend that audience members have them on hand for when I noise out.

PTST: How do your parents react to your music? Do they come out and support you?

Noveller: My parents are completely supportive of all my creative endeavors. They listen to my recordings and come to shows when they can. My parents and sister live in Louisiana, where I grew up, and have driven to Texas several times for Parts & Labor shows. My sister even wore her Parts & Labor t-shirt. Even if they don't understand the kind of music that I'm making, they are always supportive and proud of me. My Dad tells people that my music is like the sonic equivalent to abstract art, which sounds pretty awesome to me. I feel very lucky.

PTST: With all of these collaborations going on how do you find time to keep working and performing your solo stuff? It must get a bit draining at times no?

Noveller: It can be hard to make time for sleep, so finding time to work on Noveller stuff is pretty difficult, especially as of late. It's awesome when I get invitations to do a release or play a show, because it really motivates me to make the time to work on my own music.

PTST: The past couple of years your films have been shown at SXSW, which do you like doing more making music or making films? Does working in both mediums ever blend together?

Noveller: Unfortunately, I've been neglecting my film work lately in favor of working of music projects. I don't prefer one over the other, it just has happened that there's been a ton of music opportunities for me since I moved here. When I do make films, I usually compose the soundtrack, or work it around a Noveller recording. I really enjoy the interplay between the visuals I make and my music. The intimacy between the two mediums really excites me.

PTST: We already know you're playing After the Jump Fest, but do you have any other plans for the summer (tour, recording, film making, etc.)?

Noveller: I'm going to be touring Europe with Parts & Labor in July and we're also playing Siren Fest at Coney Island. The Rhys show is happening in August. I also have a couple of Noveller releases in the works. One is a CD/ zine project that Divorce Records in Halifax, Nova Scotia is releasing. I'm also going to be working on a collaboration with Duane Pitre, and possibly a few other interesting projects!

PTST: Are there any other bands you're looking forward to seeing at After the Jump Fest?

Noveller: Being that it's a totally solid lineup, I'm pretty much looking forward to the whole event. I'm definitely excited to see Health again, and I'm looking forward to Cursillistas and Monotract's sets on the noise stage.

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In Steroscope - Austin Chronicle

Sarah Lipstate's songs – and shorts – of innocence and experiments
BY SHAWN BADGLEY

A week from now, next Friday, March 16, Sarah Lipstate will wrap up her workday as a graphics producer at Manhattan's Tim McGarvey Broadcast Animation studio, grab her bags, and find a ride to the airport in time to catch a 7pm flight that will take her to Austin. It's here where her experimental short will show and her experimental band will showcase as part of South by Southwest's Film and Music Festivals, only months after Cinematexas awarded her its Diamond in the Rough Cut prize in October and her Chromascapes video installation debuted at First Night in January.

"Memory Scars" will be the second film to screen at SXSW for Lipstate, who graduated from the University of Texas in December with a Radio-Television-Film degree. Things are happening for her. Next Friday, March 16, for instance, is Lipstate's birthday. She'll turn 23 in the air on her way to spend 24 hours in a city she left earlier this year for Brooklyn.
"I haven't been here very long," says Lipstate by cell phone. She's talking about New York, not the Bowery Ballroom, where's she's at the moment finding a "quiet place to talk" before a bill headlined by Grizzly Bear. "I don't know where I'll be next year. Austin has informed a lot of my stuff, but I don't really identify with any particular location. If I have to connect myself to either, I usually try and do both."

She describes her music- and movie-making in similar terms. "I like combining as much of the two as possible," she says. "I wouldn't say one is more rewarding than the other, because there are always elements of the other in each. Whenever we have performances, when I can, I like to project hand-painted slides that I've done that share what I consider to be the style of my films."
The "we" Lipstate refers to is One Umbrella, the post-rock duo she formed with Carlos Villarreal. The band pronounces its sound as one that "blurs the line between ambient beauty and chaotic noise," but I'd argue that it also stretches it out. Its appeal lies not in the fact that the line is pulled taut – One Umbrella's music is by no means what I'd describe as tight – but that the instruments all strung together in pleasing loops and varied passages give you time to interact with them on a meditative level. You assemble what you hear yourself to find your own meaning. Or, I do, at least. Of course, I barely know a guitar from a theremin, both of which Lipstate plays.

Then again, I rarely know where a filmmaker is coming from when she experiments with the short form, but I respond according to my own meager senses of technical accomplishment and artistic ambition, anyway. For her part, Lipstate composes on the side to soundtrack her shorts, which she makes with found and Super 8-shot footage she paints and otherwise distresses. Like her music – and like most other experimental films – they're open to interpretation and serve as an interactive few minutes for the imagination.

But where the music stretches lines, efforts like "Memory Scars" snip them into even more nonnarrative wicks, liable to set something afire if you provided the match: Merry-go-rounds and spinning tops split-screened, few if any focal points, random voices. Lipstate says simply that it came from a dream she had, one "always in the back of my mind," one she says she couldn't resist visualizing the only way she knew how.
"I don't expect people to get the same things from it that I get from it," she says. "Very rarely do people take away the same things from the films. It doesn't really matter to me. It just matters if they got something. My films so far have been of a personal nature. I feel like if I've captured the emotion – it's all about the visuals in an emotional context – then I get something from the film. It's a success. It feels right. It's very much a release.

"How is anyone supposed to know what I was thinking when I was making it? My film that was in South by Southwest last year was called 'Phobia.' People thought it was about being afraid of these giant fish," she laughs. "It has nothing to do with that at all, but whatever. I'm happy you're even having it. If that's what you thought, great."
To be fair, of Lipstate's three circulated shorts, "Phobia" is the second to include images of giant fish. The Lafayette, La., native shot them – "these massive koi in the murky swamp water" – herself for "Radiation in Moderation," inspired by her own brush with a health crisis. "My mom was with me," she says. "And I was like, how did I come to be in this moment? What were the things, the experiences, leading up to it? It just kind of came to me to base the film on that. I had to make it."

See, I get a kick out of this. I like that films Lipstate feels she has to make – they could be a diary or a hobby – are being shown at major festivals. Whether people actually get up and go to the Dobie to watch them is all but beside the point. Lipstate's own notions of audience are at best to be determined. She has "no expectations of anything" when it comes to her screenings as part of the Texas Shorts program at SXSW Film 07 and, like a bench player on a competitive team, "is just happy to be represented." This must be the case for many of her peers – those joining her among the Texas Shorts and those with works selected for the Reel, Experimental, Animated, and High School short tracks, as well – who are attending a festival of independent film that, like its own peers, sees an increasing level of studio and celebrity involvement every year, populated ever more largely by professional filmmakers.

"I don't know what I would consider myself professionally, but I make stuff all the time," Lipstate says. "I like doing my little one-person experimental film productions. I don't expect to make a living off of doing that. And I don't really intend on pursuing something bigger or maybe more lucrative as far as that goes. But, if I believe in what I'm doing, I feel completely confident in putting my work out there. I think it's ridiculous when people don't think that they can be a part of something when they have these preconceived notions. Who cares if it's a student film or if it's an experimental thing that people won't like? Don't portray it as some shitty thing you made. Say, 'This is my work. I'm a filmmaker.'"

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In Conversation with Noveller - Setting Sun UK

A little background:

As can be seen recently with
‘Setting Sun’ – there has been
quite a influx of new interviews
which has appeared almost out
of nowhere on my books.

As normal with ‘Setting Sun’
This has included sweet indie
Acoustic pop (Out of the Gray),
First rate non dance electronical
Dance (Hex) and now showing
The more harsher realms, Noveller
Which is certainly an nod towards
The more experimental sounds
Of acts interviewed in the past
Like Bela Emerson, Same Actor
Music for One, August Stars etc
Expect Noveller is probably
One of the wildest yet, but
Strangely enough probably
The most chilled in a warped
Way.

Comprising of Sarah from Texas
(USA), who also performs
under the name of One
Umbrella with Carlos,
Noveller’s music is like my
Own music ‘Distance’
Creating sound-scapes which
Tunnel into from one side
Of your unconscious thoughts
To the other side and then
Back again with tracks like
‘Nerves’ which are among
the most unsettling pieces of
ambience I have ever heard,
which is probably the reason
why I cannot praise this too
much.

Special thanks to Sarah for
the interview – I am looking
forward already to the
One Umbrella interview.

Cheers

AEN


Setting Sun:

What’s happening at the moment and how are tricks?

Noveller:

At the moment, I’m working on finishing up my film degree at The University of Texas at Austin. My boyfriend Carlos and I have also been working on a full-length release for our band One Umbrella. One thing that just came up that I am really excited about is playing in Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Army at the upcoming Table of the Elements Festival No. 4 in Atlanta. One Umbrella will also be performing at the festival, so I have a lot to look forward to.


Setting Sun:

Although I have been speaking to you for a bit, as I always say there are people who clearly wouldn’t have heard of you, so can you get us the goss – how
Noveller got going or as I like to say who fired the starting pistol etc?



Noveller:

I recorded my first piece as Noveller in 2005 when I heard about the Women Take Back The Noise compilation that the girls of Big City Orchestra were assembling. I had been experimenting with harsher sounds and feedback manipulation in my time away from One Umbrella, so I saw the compilation as a great opportunity to form my solo identity and start recording. I submitted more solo tracks to various other noise compilations and then I was offered to do a 3” cdr release on a local noise label called Green-Ox Sound. After I released Vasovagal, people started taking interest in the project, so it has really developed from a side project into a true focus for me.


Setting Sun:

In relation to Noveller what have proved your
inspirations and what are you listening to at the moment?

Noveller:

A big inspiration for Noveller has come from watching some of the noise artists that One Umbrella has performed with play live. There are some great local noise artists, such as Aunt’s Analog, Ferveur Noire, and Skillful Means, whose live shows have really impacted me. Probably my favorite noise show I’ve seen though was AODL’s performance in Salt Lake City. One Umbrella played with him in 2004, and his interaction with his pedals was absolutely amazing. Lately, I’ve been listening to Rhys Chatham’s Die Donnergotter, Magicicada’s Everyone Is Everyone, and I recently bought the Loren Conners box set that came out on Family Vineyard. There is also this new local experimental artist who records under the name Dharmendra who has two amazing records out that I’ve been loving.


Setting Sun:

Do you play concerts / gigs? How do these compare to your studio recordings or if not how you plan your concerts?

Noveller:

It seems that every Noveller gig that I’ve been invited to play thus far has been cancelled for varying reasons. People have broken limbs, gotten banned from clubs and things of that sort. It may happen when the time is right I suppose.


Setting Sun:

I see also you are involved with a interesting
radio station - http://concepts problems.blogspot.com
- Can you tell us a little bit more about this and where this started from etc?

Noveller:

“Concepts & Problems” is the name of the experimental music specialty show that I host on KVRX, the college radio station of the University of Texas at Austin. I’ve been DJing at KVRX since 2003, and finally got the opportunity to do this specialty show in the summer of 2005. Carlos joins me on the show almost every week. We showcase local, national, and international experimental/ ambient/ IDM/ noise artists. We try to cover a wide range of material, from musique concrete and 20th century composers to new experimental and noise releases. The show airs Mondays from 11pm-Midnight (central) on 91.7FM locally and is available for streaming at www.kvrx.org. I archive my playlists at the show’s blog: http://concepts-problems.blogspot.com, and I’m always looking for new material to play. I find out about a lot of amazing music thanks to the show and people sending in their records.


Setting Sun:

I have been listening to both of your releases,
‘Nerves and Endings-‘ and ‘Vasovagal’ a fair bit recently and speaking from personal experience, I thought the two releases completely different probably
from the fact that Nerves and Endings certainly from the track ‘Nerves’ is such a long track and the tracks on ‘Vasovagal’ are generally so much shorter –
How did the sessions vary for both of these releases as there certainly seems to be quite a difference?


Noveller:

My setup was fairly different for the recording sessions for the two releases. For Vasovagal, I focused a lot on what sounds I could produce with my pedals. I also experimented with processing a lot of different things, so the sessions were shorter and more centered around what I was using as the sound source. I processed everything from my voice to banjo to field recordings for those sessions. I distilled some of the recordings down to the elements that I felt worked the best for the track, which led to briefer, more concise pieces. For the Nerves and Endings sessions, specifically on “Nerves,” I worked with theremin and electric guitar – instruments I use frequently in One Umbrella – and ran things through my pedals to see how far I could push those familiar sounds. “Nerves” was one improvised take with no overdubs. Lately, I’ve been really into making music without overdubs or post-production processing. It’s nice when a piece actually represents what was performed live.


Setting Sun:

Carrying on from before, although I do enjoy both CD’s a fair bit, I think probably my favourite track among them seems to be ‘TIME RESONANCE’ from ‘‘Vasovagal’ – Can you tell us a little bit about the background of this track?



Noveller:

“Time Resonance” was a particulary satisfying track for me. I used a carrot peeler, an old marching snare, and a banjo to produce the raw sound and in place of a mic, I used this baby monitor contraption (borrowed from Carlos) to amplify everything. I was really happy with the way the baby monitor interpreted the sound. I thought it made the banjo sound particularly killer.


Setting Sun:

Out of interest, where did the inspiration for your name ‘Noveller’ come from out of interest?

Noveller:

It’s a variation of ‘Novella,’ my alias in One Umbrella. It’s pronounced ‘no-vell-er’ not ‘nah-vell-er,’ for the record.

Setting Sun:

What’s next for yourself – do you have any more releases / concerts planned etc?

Noveller:

I have several compilation appearances and splits in the works for Chocolate Monk, Brise Cul, and Underadar Records.

Carlos and I are planning on releasing a Noveller/Quebron (his solo project) split soon also. I’ll probably have a full-length coming out on Underadar soon as well. A fellow musician in the UK mentioned setting up some shows for me in England, so we’ll see what happens.

Setting Sun:

One last question for you to round things on a little lighter note, what would be your ideal job if you were not a rock and roll star?

Noveller:

It’d be nice to get paid for making experimental films. Haven’t figured that one out yet.

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Women Tack Back the Noise - NERO (Italy) translated by Michele Garzanti

Austin, Texas.
Her music has not anything of a dream. It shines through the depth, vivid tar color, lights by quivers and reflexes of magma cerulean. Sounds float terse: buzzes, broken weaving, scraps, gleaning. Disjointed structures, overlying, ravel into a evanescent mechanism, whirling, into a floating whirlpool and hollow waves. Obsession, rumble and then void.

“My work is really focused on sonic textures and building an environment through sound. My attitude towards film and visual art is very similar. I believe that you should be able to put a lot of yourself into the experience of enjoying a piece of music, film, etc. and that largely influences what you make of it.”

- I'd like to begin this interview talking about the years of your artistic growth. When did you decide to become an artist and what kind of way did you follow?

I bought my first electric guitar when I was 17 years old, and taught myself to play a few standard chords and to read tablature. I started becoming interested in alternate tunings early on in my playing because a lot of the music I was listening to, namely Sonic Youth, used alternate tunings in their music. In college, I tried playing with some friends in more rock-oriented bands, but nothing really came together until I met my boyfriend and bandmate in One Umbrella, Carlos (Quebron). We took a more improvisational approach to making music and I found myself becoming more free with my own approach to playing guitar. As I began building my collection of guitar pedals I became interested in my effects processors as instruments in their own right, and that’s when I started creating music as I do under the name Noveller.


- I'd like that for a while you could lead us in the world of your sound. How do your compositions conceptually born and take shape?

All of my compositions are based in improvisation. Most of the planning takes place in configuring my set-up. Depending upon what sounds I feel like working with, I’ll choose an instrument, or feedback, or my own voice to run through my effects processors. The recording lasts until I’m satisfied with session. Sometimes I’ll do multiple takes and the composition will have several layers of tracks. Often times, I’ll take a single improvised take and arrange it into a composition that I’m satisfied with.

- Please tell us about your attitude/thinking about sound environment in usual life and concert space. Also, what are the sounds that you prefer?

I’m partial to the mechanized sounds that are a part of our everyday lives. I’d like to record every appliance in my apartment that produces sound and then play it back in its respective environment as a composition of ghost machinery. I also like listening to music in my vehicle near construction sites or when it’s raining. There is often a very natural interaction between organized sound and environmental “found sound.” You' re involved in different fields of new media arts, working for example also on video.

- What do you think about mutation and interaction between the different forms of art and technologies?

I am fascinated with the interplay between the two and like to try and bring out the artful qualities of technology in my work. I recently did a video installation where I displayed manipulated medical film imagery such as fluoroscopic x-rays and angiograms on 6 arranged televisions. I paired the imagery with an electronic soundtrack of bleeps and glitches that Carlos and I recorded when his digital video camera began malfunctioning and producing these great crazy sounds.

- What do you think about alternative/independent channels of diffusion (dvd/cd-r labels, mp3 compilations, etc.) for music and video? What do you think these new channels are bringing and meaning in contemporary music?

It definitely means more exposure for people working more on the fringes of music and film. I personally think it’s great. It is definitely enabling a power shift away from major distributors and into the hands on the musicians and filmmakers themselves. I wouldn’t be where I am today without DIY labels and cd-rs.

- What is your personal view on:
a.The internet and MP3's in general for music?
b.Soulseek and other similar file-sharing programs?

The power of the MP3 and the internet has become very apparent to me by way of sites such as myspace. I’m fairly certain that every musician who uses myspace as a way to get their music heard can attest to that power. I wouldn’t be doing this interview right now if my music wasn’t available online for people like you to listen to. As far as Soulseek and file-sharing goes, it is both a wonderful and scary thing. It is kind of a privilege and an outrage when you first discover that your own music is up on Soulseek for the world to download! I honestly believe though, that there is a strong culture of people who care about supporting the community of experimental artists and enjoy the experience of purchasing and owning the physical releases that they put out. At least, I’m one of those people.

- Could you name any recording, film, book or concert that have had a particularly profound impact upon you?

I recently had the opportunity to perform with the Glenn Branca Ensemble for Symphony No. 13: Hallucination City for 100 Guitarists, in Montclair, New Jersey. Though this was a fairly recent experince, I think its impact on me was deeply rooted in the years of me listening to Branca, No-Wave and Sonic Youth. Those people really shaped my musical perspective and it was incredible to be able to play one of Branca’s pieces for Mr. Branca himself. Seeing Einsturzende Neubauten perform live also profoundly effected me. Nels Cline performing solo on guitar was also a standout concert that expanded my sonic palette.

- What music do you listen to at home? What do you particularly like at the moment?

My taste leans more towards experimental when I’m listening to music at home. I host an experimental music specialty show on KVRX in Austin, so I receive interesting music submissions from people from all over the world. Lately, I’ve been enjoying Cheapmachines, Nadja, Double Leopards, and Kites. I also have really been enjoying the new Liars record and am highly anticipating Scott Walker’s “The Drift.”

- Apart from music, what are your cultural sources? Film directors? Writers? Other artists?

Film often stirs my creative passion. I love German Expressionism, early surrealism and avant-garde cinema. I feel an aesthetic kinship to the work of filmmakers such as Man Ray, Jean Renoir, Stan Brakhage, and Maya Deren. In contemporary cinema, I admire David Lynch’s work, and the short film work of Martha Colburn, Lori Varga, and Matt McCormick.

- What are you working on at the moment? What are your future projects?

At the moment, I’m dedicating much of my attention to completing a One Umbrella full-length record for release on San Francisco’s Tell-All Records. One Umbrella just released their contribution to Tell-All’s one-note EP series which explores the notes of the chromatic scale in detail. Our piece is in G# and is titled generative syntax feedback clarification. I recently completed a new Noveller piece which I’m releasing myself on 3” cd-r titled Nerves and Endings. It will be available for purchase through my web site and myspace. I’ve also had many invitations to release more Noveller material, so I plan to focus on that after the One Umbrella release is finished.