Andrew Telling makes films. He also makes music. He scores his films with his own soundtracks and manages the enviable feat of pulling both off really well. Oh, and he edits them himself too. His work mainly centres around artist profiles, following and documenting them while they do what they do, and presenting a unique window into their craft.
With his latest film ‘Black Herds Of The Rain’ released today (as of writing this), I asked Andrew a few questions about his work, his approach and his thoughts on the topic at hand. Here is how the conversation played out.
TJ Cowgill, founder and creative director of Actual Pain, has taken his interest in the Occult and mixed it with humor and unique artist abilities to conceive some of the coolest hats, t-shirts, and even Polos available on the Internet. While the brand may be an online only, word-of-mouth (that’s right, no advertising) streetwear clothing line, this niche company has become a cult favorite on both the West and East coasts since its 2006 inception.
James Penycate is not is a hard working and dedicated businessman who has an undying love for sound. A friend of mine for years, he has proven to be one of the most passionate humans I know, and absolutely lusts after the unique. After working with some of our favorites (i.e Best Coast, Gold Panda, Darwin Deez) his personal PR brand grew to be undeniable and unstoppable.
Julian Koster is the ringleader of the half-human, half-machine imagination-fueled group called The Music Tapes. Over a decade ago he was an integral member of Neutral Milk Hotel and today he still embodies the undying spirit of the Elephant 6 collective. But all of this is just a subsidiary of an increasingly rare and purist attitude towards the making and sharing of music. He spends more time on the road than in any permanent home, a necessary evil to fulfill his creative addiction. Julian is an alchemist of illusion and invention, drawing from his wide palette of instrumentation to invite listeners to his sonic habitat, foreign but warming.
In recent years, Julian established a tradition of embarking on a caroling tour around Christmastime. He, along with a revolving cast of characters, will visit homes that are willing to play host to this unconventional group of carolers. Julian took time to talk to me amidst his initial travels for this year’s edition of the caroling route.
Dent May is difficult to categorize. For one thing, with his poppy sound and cuddly lyrics, he’s arguably the most accessible musician signed to Paw Tracks right now. For another, he’s a tried and true country boy, but he lived in New York City, but his sound is so beach-y it sounds straight out of SoCal. To clear this up, May took some time out of his rather confusing life to talk to Artist Advocacy about the country, the city, the summer, and swine flu.
Canadian musician Tonetta is the savior of lo-fi music. Free from the irony associated with chillwave and shitgaze, he crafts poetically course tunes using whatever equipment is available, with lyrics like the raunchiest passages of a William S. Burroughs novel. He has been recording these songs for nearly three decades, and only recently released his first album, 777, on Black Tent Press. I had the honor of speaking to him over the phone about his music, his videos, and his life.
Tame Impala will take you on a journey. ‘What kind of journey?’ you may ask. A saga that starts in the subconscious, travels through the psyche, says what’s up to Freud, funnels into the bloodstream, and courses through your veins with densely textured and infectious riffs. The Perth quartet’s deep-groove psychedelic sounds have caught the attention of many over the past few weeks, as they trek along their first US tour in support of their debut album, Innerspeaker. I spoke with the band’s singer/guitarist/mastermind Kevin Parker on a day off during the group’s jaunt of dates opening for MGMT.
Noel Sinclair Boyt is a visual artist, skateboarder, and a great friend. When we first met, Noel was visiting Boston during the reign of Coliseum. We didn’t get to hang around for too long, but we have been in touch for many years. I knew Noel first for his skating–the kind of creative style you can see in his video parts are easily reflective of the personality in his artistic pieces. All things considered, anything Noel’s involved in creating is worth checking out.
Niamh Corcoran’s music strikes me as something is something special for the Dublin underground music scene. Her half-dreamscape, half-electronic sounds are so chillingly awesome that I really wish she was instead here in the US. Though relatively unknown in these parts, Niamh has been playing plenty of great shows and certainly has a lot on her mind. I hope her solo endeavor Angkorwat is able to permeate foreign boundaries and put people everywhere into an infectious daze. Take a listen to her jams and thoughts here and you’ll get why I’m such a fan.
In 2008, Have A Nice Life released their monstrously bleak double album Deathconsciousness. This record set the standard for what can be accomplished by a couple of guys doing it all themselves. Tying together elements of shoegaze, drone, post-punk, and black metal, Deathconsciousness is a soul crushing experience. Tim Macuga and Dan Barrett were kind enough to answer some questions about this album and their other projects.