Flowers For Bodysnatchers is a solo-project set up in 2011 by Australian artist Duncan Ritchie….
Flowers
For Bodysnatchers is a solo-project set up in 2011 by Australian artist Duncan
Ritchie. The rather weird name of the project is actually the combination of
two Radiohead song titles, which Duncan Ritchie explains as ‘when I was
starting the project up I was listening to a lot of Radiohead and, as I was
writing down ideas on how I wanted the project name to come across to people I
found I had subconsciously written down two song titles and combined them
together. I had also watched the film “Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers” at the
time and, it all seemed rather fortuitous so I stuck with it’. Next to several
self-released (digital) productions, Flowers For Bodysnatchers also achieved
four official full length albums all released by Cryo Chamber. His latest opus
“Alive With Scars” became a very personal one, which also is a poignant
exposure of dark-ambient- and cinematographic music mixed with neo-classic
arrangements.
Q: You clearly are a prolific
artist so where does this creativity come from and what are your main sources
of inspiration?
Duncan:
I don’t believe creativity ‘comes’ from anywhere in particular. Everyone is
creative just to different extents. If I’m not doing something creative
virtually all the time I’d go mad and I don’t just mean musically. I’m creating
ideas even when I’m relaxing. Just letting my mind wander and seeing what it
finds. I’m inspired a lot by my surroundings, I love hiking especially at night
when others wouldn’t. The idea of being alone in the woods and the feeling of
being isolated in such a large expanse is inspiring. You can get the same
feeling in large cities like Tokyo where I use to live. Being alone in a sea of
millions of people.
Q: Your work is always based
upon a conceptual theme. Are there some particular criteria to chose a concept
and do you handle a specific procedure to transpose the themes into
sound?
Duncan:
My work always centers around people, the tales they have and the way they
interact with their environment. In turn the building block for all my music is
field recording that environment, whether or not it’s obvious in the finished
track depends on the evolution of the track as it’s produced.
Q: Your new album “Alive With
Scars” definitely sounds like your most personal and intimate work to date and
that’s for sure because of the concept dealing about a terrible disease:
multiple sclerosis. What do you want to tell about it?
Duncan:
A few years ago I was myself diagnosed with MS and at the time was informed I
had most likely had early onset MS for some years before that. So as of now
I’ve had the disease for at least 10 years. My music is a great way to express
the feelings I’ve had associated with the disease but, doing an album based on
my personal experiences with MS was a tough decision.
Q: Music just like any other
artistic exposure can often become a kind of cure and/or therapy. I guess it’s
not that different for you so what does music really mean to you?
Duncan:
With any form of artist expression I think the therapeutic effect comes from
losing track of time. One moment it’s early morning the next you look out your
window and it’s dark again. Getting so lost and involved in your creativity
makes all the meaningless troubles in your life that shouldn’t have any effect
on you in the first place just vanish. And music is very important in my life
but, it’s not everything.
Q: There always has been a
kind of neo-classic touch mixed with the darker-ambient and cinematic side of
your work. Can you give us more details about your sound approach and the way
of working?
Duncan:
I find that building tracks on field recording inspires the piano movements or
string arrangements that appear in some tracks. The field recording helps
maintain the atmosphere of the original environment it was recorded in and, the
often melancholic neo-classical arrangements mimic that atmosphere. It gets me
into that headspace I need to compose and, that works also for the darker
electronic and industrial pieces.
Q: Most of the artists from
the Cryo Chamber roster are often working together on different kinds of albums
and conceptual releases, but it seems you’re less involved with these
productions. How come and what do you think about these kind of productions?
Duncan:
It’s great that everyone’s so close at Cryo Chamber and working on
collaborative pieces and helping each other out. I do a little work with other
artists on the label (and off label) but not much. I appear on all but one of
the Lovecraft series of albums and did one album “Locus Arcadia” with three
others a few years ago. It in the end it comes down to time and for me
musically it’s spent helping film makers score short films or even lending a
hand with Hollywood big shots.
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