Alka interview: The magnitude weighs heavy
Alka (Photo by Vince Clarke)
(Interview by János Janurik) It’s been nearly five years since the amazing artist behind the intriguing name Alka – discovered by the fantastic Vince Clarke and given the opportunity to release his music – last came out with a new album. I’ll always remember when, during a spontaneous meeting in the summer of 2017, Vince told me about his future release plans and mentioned a “crazy guy, a librarian from Philadelphia,” whose album would soon appear on the VeryRecords label.
Alka ended up releasing two remarkable albums, and then there was silence for several years. About a month ago, though, I heard the most wonderful news about him from Mat Smith, head of Mortality Tables, who – like Vince – has been helping non-mainstream electronic music find its audience for a long time. Mat told me that Mortality Tables had taken Alka under its wing and would be releasing the next installment of the artist’s trilogy, which he described as “deep and searching electronics” that “reflect back the parlous state of the world.” That immediately caught my attention, and I got in touch with Bryan Michael (aka Alka).
Here’s our exchange, inspired by the amazing album The Magnitude Weighs Heavy, available in digital and CD formats from 25 September onwards .
Alka interview: “Utilise the Chaos”
SL: Jhonn Balance, who was responsible for Coil’s dark, experimental electronic sound collages, sums up the album’s basic premise in a line that appears in one of the songs: “utilise the chaos.” Coil and the British avant-garde – noise, industrial and experimental music – shaped the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, who in turn influenced Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. But how did all this filter into Alka’s music? Why did you choose the words of Jhonn Balance, who died in tragic circumstances, as your guiding principle?
Alka: I was reared on a diet that consisted of a lot of college radio, mainly Drexel’s WKDU 91.7, which would later become my alma mater where I studied library science and where I first discovered Coil’s music.
I guess I’ve always been attracted to artists and bands that were unafraid of experimenting and those that defied troublesome genre prisons.
Coil was such a band – experimental club music in one moment, beautiful droning ambience with spoken-word poetry in another. I loved their early adoption of cutting-edge technology such as their use of Fairlight and E-mu samplers in their first couple releases and beyond.
On Thee Individual Visions of Jhonn, the use of Balance’s voice pulled from an old interview was just something that happened while working on a mixdown of a track many moons ago. I shared it with Sleazy, who was alive at the time, and he gave me his blessing to use it. Unfortunately it sat unused until this album was taking shape.
Balance’s words serve as a theme of embracing times of struggle as an alchemical process of attaining change and finding a way through.
SL: Although your music may seem chaotic at first – especially to those unaccustomed to Alka’s sound – it is only so to the extent that the world around us is chaotic. Yet there is also an underlying sense of searching for inner peace. Am I right?
Alka: I think that’s true. A former collaborator of mine always said I brought a light that cuts through regarding music production. My studio has been named Angels Den for as long as I can remember and there’s definitely angelic presences within all music. An Attempt to Conjure Quiet is not merely a track name in this regard.
SL: As the release date approaches, you’ve also unveiled a teaser clip. You worked with UXRA – producer, singer and video artist – and your collaborator Erika Tsuchiya on it. Why did you choose the track “Folding Skies,” which is roughly halfway through the album, as the preview? UXRA, known for her powerful glitch-effect video art presented in performances and Twitch shows, also produced, edited and directed the music video for Textbeak and Searmanas’s “Gravity Well,” for which you created a remix. Did she join your creative team through that collaboration?
Alka: I think there’s something immediate about that track – it’s a pop song in disguise. Of course my take on pop happens to include haunting meandering chords and Novachord samples. The video is sort of half visualizer/half video – Uxra, who I connected with through DJ Textbeak, got us started using some video footage Erika had sent her and then I put it through the ringer of rhythmic effects and psychedelic washes.
SL: Your new album is, on one hand, IDM electronica and, on the other, a collection of artronica (or perhaps occultronica), steeped in esoteric references. It explores the elements – from the joy of fruitful artistic collaboration to the end of all things. Mat Smith aptly described the new material as displaying the full range of human emotions in response to the realities foreshadowed in the trilogy’s earlier albums and focusing on endings. How do you see all this?
Alka: We had already been working with Vince Clarke on this release when VeryRecords went on hiatus. Meanwhile other inter- and intra-personal conflicts and challenges presented themselves within the Alka ’unit’ and the project was delayed indefinitely. Working with Vince’s mate Mat and his absolutely amazing Mortality Tables was a logical step that helped see the album to cathartic fruition. The album is very much an almost subconscious response to everything happening on both a micro and macro level.
SL: As a long-time Depeche Mode fan, “Unravel” is one of my favourite songs. In fact, it could easily be the intro to one of their concerts. What do you think of their music?
Alka: I’m glad you picked up on that. The core of that song was made on an E-mu Emulator II sampler from 1984, the same keyboards Depeche Mode used in the studio with Gareth Jones and on tour. Needless to say Depeche Mode has had a huge impact on my life and musical production – absolutely brilliant chaps.
I still have my World Violation tour ticket stub from the Spectrum in Philly.
SL: “Enchante” continues the slightly ethereal theme, which then gives way to the metallic “Creeps.” This is followed by the dignified and dreamlike “An Attempt to Conjure Quiet,” somewhat reminiscent of Vangelis, and which could easily be one of those meditative YouTube videos designed to calm the mind. For me, these are all highlights of the album. What are yours?
Alka: Thank you for saying. If I had to choose a personal highlight it would be Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka. This trilogy of a track within a trilogy of albums represents the Trismegistus of Alka at the time. The track represents a perfect collaboration of three separate entities joined as one in equal parts. It plumbs the depth of madness before soaring to great cosmic heights.
SL: “Pillar” once again showcases Kraftwerk-style angular, minimalist electronic music, made mystical by Erika Tsuchiya’s Japanese spoken interludes, somewhat similar to “Dentaku.” Another track with a similar structure, albeit in a slightly more accessible package, is “Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka,” which transports us virtually to the Orion Nebula. I think we are both members of a generation for whom synthesiser-generated music, a longing for outer space, and the idea of Japan as the ultimate technological wonder were intertwined. Was this the inspiration for these tracks?
Alka: I grew up in a unique time in America – looking back my childhood was immersed in Japanese pop culture: mecha anime, video games, handheld games, toys, tokusatsu TV and later Japanese synths. It all had a tremendous influence on me, but I’m never one to wear my influences on my sleeve so to speak. When I began collaborating with Erika, her natural expression via her cultural connection was simply an organic weaving into the music.
SL: “Whatever Will Become” reminded me of the theme tune for Stranger Things. Are you a fan of that series? Speaking of movie soundtracks, are there any that you particularly like?
Alka: A happy accident I suppose… I just REALLY love arps. If I could, my music would be 100% arpeggiator haha. Stranger Things was fun although not even sure I made it past the first series haha. Not a big movie soundtrack aficionado but I have to say after all these years, Watership Down’s soundtrack still emotionally affects me.
SL: The closing track on the album is a classic synth-pop song that could have been written by Vince Clarke.
Although it is not being released by him but by Mortality Tables, have you shown him the new material?
If so, what did he think?
Alka: Vince was involved in the early formation of the album acting as a producer of sorts. He felt the material was some of my strongest to date. When his label went on hiatus I had to rethink everything and had the occasional thought of packing it all in. With the support of Mortality Tables I was able to restructure the album and it all gradually fell into place. The Magnitude Weighs Heavy is about endings and serves as a natural finale to the trilogy of albums started under Vince’s purview.
Sticking with this theme, let’s return to the original idea – Jhonn Balance’s quote. Accept chaos, because within it lies the variability of existence. Our lives are like grains of shifting sand; we must accept that things often have to end before they can get better.
Alka’s new album The Magnitude Weighs Heavy is available from Mortality Tables from 25 September on.
I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.
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