Craig Huxtable (Landscape Body Machine) and Chris Peterson (Decree, Left Spine Down, Damage Control, FLA…)…
Craig Huxtable (Landscape Body Machine) and Chris Peterson (Decree, Left Spine Down, Damage Control, FLA…) started a common project Öhm and released a self-titled debut album in 2013. They renamed their project into OHMelectronic and are now back on track with this new and again self-titled album released by Artoffact Records. The songs are moving from sophisticated and intelligent EBM pieces to heavy, industrial power tracks. This is what Chris and Craig have to reveal about their work. (Picture credits @heybadgood)
(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: From Öhm to OHMelectronic six years have passed, the name has
changed, but the taste for electronic music seems to be intact. How do you
perceive the evolution from your first album towards the new one and why did
you have to change the name?
Chris: We went from a more exploratory
approach on the first record, to a more focused vision on the new one. We both
have wide and varied tastes in music, but with this project it is indeed very
electronics focused and we’re both very passionate about that type of approach
and sound. We wanted some more bite on this album, and to have less clutter so
to speak, so it came together the way it did with that in mind. We also learned
a fair bit from our live performances, and wrote new material that would help
round out our live set and put some more energy into it.
Craig: Chris and I will always try to
do something different every record and it comes from a place of wanting to
please ourselves as much as the listening audience. I don’t want to put out
music that I feel has already been done, there’s not much of a point to that.
We discussed a heavier album and then it evolved from there.
The name change felt natural and was
something we felt necessary from a branding perspective. The more unique the
name, the easier to find… and the name OHM was getting harder to distinguish
from other entities using the name.
Q: You both are into music for numerous years now and have been involved
with different projects. What brings OHMelectronic you maybe didn’t find into
other projects and tell us a bit more about the sound you’d in mind for this
project?
Chris: We compliment each other’s skill
sets and have a working relationship based on mutual respect. Further to that,
as with many other collaborations I take part in, we make each other better
artists by learning from each other. When that stops happening you need to move
on, but with Craig there is a long road ahead of us with much growth and music
to be done. My time in FLA really helped me sharpen my skill-set as an
electronic composer, but I stopped growing in that environment, however I
really wanted to keep working on synth based music. Working with Craig, we both
agreed this is very much a synth obsessed project for us and it fills a void
that we see both in our music collections and our collaborations.
Craig: I’ve spent most of my career as
a solo artist with periodic collaborations, which is funny, because working
alone is not my preference. It’s very hard to find people that you get on with
and can work well with and that is OHMelectronic’s greatest strength. At the
core is our bond and when you care about people and respect them your working
relationship benefits. We both know what it’s like to work with difficult
people and so it’s a relief that we meet in the middle on everything really.
Q: How did the writing of the new album happened, what has been the
focal point and what makes the chemistry between both of you?
Chris: We don’t get to be in the same
room as much as we’d like thanks to Craig living in Victoria and me being in
Vancouver still. When we are, we’ve
become very efficient at writing and recording with very limited time. On one
day we had a few hours to record vocals for 4 songs I think it was, at our
friend Tom Slug’s studio space before Craig had to run off to catch the ferry
back to Victoria. It was a crazy session considering we had to discuss what we
wanted to capture and in one case even transplanting lyrics from one track onto
another song… there was no rehearsing for him in that case, just us sorting out
the timing and tone right there and then, hitting record, and that’s that.
Other times like this featured me setting up some patches and such for him to
bash out some keys for me, and again more than one song idea and in quick time.
Besides those fun moments, the rest is sending files back and forth and lots of
discussions about the direction things are going as I develop and produce the
finished track. I suppose the simple way to see it is that Craig is a very good
songwriter and musician, and I’m the guy that obsesses with the production and
sounds, but as I’ve mentioned before we learn from each other and those
distinctions get blurred as occasionally I add some melodic elements, or
Craig’s ever improving production values make using what he sends me easier and
I can spend less time cleaning things up or swapping things out.
Craig: The chemistry is born out of
wanting to make good music with no bullshit attached (laughs). Don’t get me
wrong, Chris and I will disagree on parts and sometimes even whole songs, but
we respect each other and put the music first. The best idea wins, no whining,
and then we move on. I’ve been in creative situations where people refuse to
back down because ‘it’s their guitar part’ or whatever and that’s when a good
song can turn to shit because you’re not doing what’s best for the art itself.
As soon as you start serving your own ego, it’s done. We truly enjoy working
face to face in the studio and I believe that’s when the real magic happens
between us creatively.
Q: There clearly is a duality running through this album; some songs are
driven by sophisticated EBM influences while other songs are more into a kind
of hardcore industrial style. How do you explain this sonic schizophrenia?
Chris: We are the sum of our influences
added on to our original stories and perspectives. What category you find it in
is of little concern to me. I guess some people would find my music collection
very confusing, it’s all over the place.
With OHMelelctronic we love a good dance track, but also enjoy a
blistering heavy as fuck ass kicker or an atmospheric piece, etc. Considering
how far technology has come along, electronic music can be so many things, just
don’t expect us to bust out the guitars 😉 We’ve both been doing this for a
while now and have so many different influences, that I’m sure we will continue
to confuse anyone wanting to say it’s one specific thing. I like that.
Craig: At no point during the record
were we consciously trying to go this way or that way other than going for a
heavier sound and simpler song writing ideas. Is it a good song? Did I make you
sad? Mad? Introspective?
I think your perception of this record
and how it sounds depends on where you come from. You may hear variety where
others may say the songs are too similar in their approach. We are trying to
carve out a new niche in a sound we’ve both been a part of for a long time and
I like the challenge of finding a new twist on something you’ve done before. I
would rather make people upset by trying something new rather than make a
cookie cutter EBM record.
Q: The clip of “Uppercut” is quite interesting; it has something
retro-like, reminding me a bit of the 80s. Is it more a kind of message or a
critical perception of the world we’re living in? And what have been the other
sources of inspiration for the lyrical content?
Craig: The thing with “Uppercut” is the
lyrical themes are timeless really. Religion where it intersects with power and
money has been going on for thousands of years. My lyrics may appear topical,
but I’m inspired as much by history as I am the present. I think things are
pretty bad in world politics today but then again I thought they were pretty
bad in the 80’s too… the more things change the more they stay the same I
suppose.
Behind all of the topical lyrics is my
own personal themes that I am working through. My first marriage was long,
manipulative and abusive so I find when I listen back to songs like “With” or
“Disarmed” I’m still working some of those things out.
Q: I noticed you’ll play the next Infest-festival (UK), which is an
opportunity to see you on stage in Europe. How does OHMelectronic on stage
looks like and how do you transpose the original song edits into live
versions?
Chris: For now we’re not really getting
into changing the arrangements in any significant way as we are doing limited
time slots that don’t allow for adding extra verses/choruses and such. We both
have keyboard setups, and hope to have a live drummer down the road as well,
but as it is right now, we have to keep things very streamlined to be able to
travel for these shows. I like to keep busy up there and always engaged, as
does Craig. Both of us really enjoy performing and our setups let us add a lot
of feel to the tracks and add new elements. The keyboards get a good workout,
and much like my home studio, it’s a small setup but I get a lot out of it. If
you want to see the traveling fetish circus with all the bells whips and
whistles, featuring a bunch of people doing shit in costumes or on stilts,
that’s not us 😉 If you want to see two
guys that love what they’re doing, playing their asses off, come see us and be
sure to say hi.
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