http://www.sumutoko.com/chicago/prairie-backnumber/hoku/2009/0910/0910.htm
For those who prefer English, here is a rough translation:
Construction of Sound
I have been very interested in checking out “Private Label Musicians” in the area. Nowadays, you can pretty much get any kind of music at CD stores or on the internet, and iTunes is a great tool. But, I was ready to get something more, something like “musical endeavor” in my ears.
I found that music – Cats Cradle Robbers.
Guitar and drums… sure, you can hear them in CCR’s music. But you will also hear unusual and undiscovered instruments. “Let’s find sounds from this room today (Boiling the Ocean)”, “How about, we feature Polynesian instruments for this song? (Weftovers)” The concept for the music is created between Nick and Ed, who are also elite computer techies in their daily jobs. I was lucky enough to observe their “Saturday Morning Session” at Ed’s apartment – or Cats’ Cradle.
Nick and Ed call it “Construction” – to describe their music session.
Construction starts at Ed’s apartment. Laptop, digital audio workstation, microphones, headsets… hmm… looks like some kind of office recording studio. Next to his table, there were the ingredients for today; guitar, flute, ukulele, uliuli, iliili (rocks)… Nick, who has 30 years of music experience, starts to create music by using these instruments – amazingly, he can make a great sound with any of these so quickly. Ed, the DJ, picks up every single sound that Nick creates, without losing Nick’s passion and the instruments’ unique vibes. Mix them, delete them, add them… there was a pleasant amount of mystery as well as confidence as he worked. The whole process of construction was led passionately, yet casually. These Robbers totally robbed my attention.
Their vision for CCR is very positive and it contains unlimited possibilities of what could happen in the future. “We are helping to create a unique musical vocabulary for the 21st century by embracing and recombining multiple musical styles in a playful and genuine way. I also would like to figure out a way to bring CCR to a live audience (Nick).” “ and, have as much fun as possible! I want to keep learning more about music (Ed)”
Hoku: “Where did you get a name “Cats Cradle Robbers?”
Nick: “Cats Cradle is from child’s play. Cradle Robber is a term that has a rakish, taboo connotation with a subtext of envy. I like to play with words. It’s also an advantage that if you enter it into Google, our website is the first hit in the search results.
Hoku: “At the session, it looked like Nick is the dominant person to decide speed, instruments, and basic structure of the music – is it always that way?”
Ed; “Not really – every session is different. But Nick has to do the talking, as I have the recording tools.
Nick: “With my experiences and knowledge, I try to enforce rhythmic patterns, intonation, an so forth, while trying to give Ed enough freedom that he can express himself while mixing the sounds.
Hoku: “Any disagreement during sessions?”
Ed: “ Nope – We are not really hung up on the end product. We just like to play and have fun.”
Nick: “It does not hurt that we are both practitioners of Yoga and Eastern philosophy, which help us lay egos aside and focus on what’s important. Of course, I am sure we will have to deal with disagreements eventually, though.
Hoku: “It seems like your construction pattern was about ‘adding ingredients’ and then mixing them together. Have you ever done ‘taking away ingredients?”
Nick: “ We almost always record more samples than we use in the final tune. Later we rearrange them so that they are more separate, or take all apart and remove some of them. Case by case, really. ‘Kickin’ in Rio' is a great example.
Ed: “Somehow, though, our best stuff often happens in one take, and the pieces that we construct and reconstruct over several sessions don’t seem to have the same kid of magic.”
Hoku: “How many hours does it take to finish one song?”
Ed: “two hours… or one month and yet not done… it all depends…”
Hoku: “Tell me about guest musicians.”
Nick: “Anyone who happens to be around gets pulled into a session; gifted jazz pianist Steven Markowitz of Polyrhythmics, multiinstrumental environmentalist Joe Breskin, and the wonderfully creative Sumit Basu. Sumit joined for ‘Jack In the Bucket’ and ‘Toasting More Often’.”
Hoku: “Where can we enjoy your music?”
Nick and Ed: “Visit http/catscradlerobbers.com, please!”
