Namlook Interview Answers - February 2006

Here are the answers from Pete Namlook to the final 15 most voted for questions as decided by the 2350.org FAX mailing list members.

I want to thank all who voted, Peter for taking the time to answer the questions, Dave @ FAX-Label USA (www.ear-rational.com) for helping us out, and Martin Jones for proposing the idea.

Listed in order of popularity, with the most popular questions first:

1. What has been your most challenging project (whether collaboration or individual work) and why?
   
   All of the Sultan releases...the combination and composition of and to complex rhythms (partly 20 live recorded percussion instruments at a time) has its own laws that need total concentration and dedication. Highest discipline in work and deepest respect for the Osman culture is the minimum that one should be able to offer, while working in this field. All the rhythms have been recorded one after the other with a simple click in the ear of Burhan. Building the composition with these brilliant elements of Burhan is most demanding. It is macrocomposing the hundreds of microcompositions of Burhan without "namlookizing" it too much to keep up the oriental spirit that I love.
   
   
2. What musical influence(s) have inspired you and your music and its direction over the years.
   
   All and everything that I listened to since my childhood.. there are environmental sounds that inspired me as well as compositions of Morricone, Jobim, Chopin, Debussy, Schoenberg, Bach, Thomas Tallis, Eberhard Weber, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lyle Mays, Kraan, Passport, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Santana, The Nice, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Walter Carlos, etc.
   
   
3. Do you have any current favourite electronic (and non-electronic) artists?
   
   All the musicians that are on the FAX and associated labels. There are always new talents that I like to listen to like Stefan Biermann.
   
   
4. What do you think of doing a 5.1 channel surround sound DVD-audio release? Do you think the 5.1 would add to or detract from your music?
   
   It would give my music the space that it needs to unfold its full potential. To get ready I recommend using a modern (does not have to be an expensive) DVD-Player or a CD player which is capable of playing back DTS material (i.e., has digital out) and a receiver which is capable of decoding DTS...soon ;-) See www.dts.com for technical reference.
   
   
5. What are your three favourite releases on the entire Fax Label?
   
   If you have more than one child, first tell me the name of your favourite child, please...then I will answer this question.
   
   
6. Have you released almost everything you've ever recorded, or have you got tons of unreleased stuff lying around?
   
   All crap is trashed...all the good stuff has been released. Perhaps I will do some music for my daughter Fabia to release after my death. I found the way Hitchcock held back some great films this way very intriguing...a secret heritage ;-))
   
   
7. A number of FAX releases will have a magical, usually ambient, moment where the sounds meld into something perfect which causes "brain tingle", for lack of a better term, in the listener. When creating the music, are these moments readily apparent to you as well? Are they purposefully created or something that just happens, or is it something that is not discernable until later when listening to the end product?
   
   As I compose with a big impact of emotional intuition, these moments of total perfection and beauty are the aim. But on the other hand it always depends on the listener to let these perfect moments happen. Of course, after all these years of composition and production experience you know how to touch and be touched.
   
   This is why I do not want to dive into superficial music and supply "happy easy listening pearls" that don't ever make the slightest attempt to touch one's soul.
   
   
8. How do you think you have "evolved musically" since you began recording?
   
   I learned to let go...
   
   
9. Do you ever listen to your own stuff?
   
   Rarely. I know it inside out, so why listen to it?
   
   
10. Describe the usual collaboration methodology. For example, how are ideas / sounds / music passed back and forth? How many times are they passed back and forth until completion?
    
    There are as many ways to work with each other as there are different artists, but if there is material being passed my way, this is a one-way street--there is no back and forth. I use it and finish the production on my own. Everyone who works with me trusts me one hundred percent. With David Moufang aka Move D it is completely different. We work "live" together and record what we do. As we are both jazz-experienced and have a deep connection on a high inspirational level to compose stuff in the microsecond it is being played, it is far beyond "just improvisation". This intense spirit of collaboration is present on all the Move D - Namlook CDs.
    
    
11. Who would you most like to work with?
    
    I would have loved to work with Oskar Sala. There are some others that are on my mind but I am very supersitious when it comes to talking about unfinished ideas and potential collaborations.
    
    
12. What are your three favourite sublabel releases?
    
    See [the question "What are your three favourite releases on the entire FAX label" above].
    
    
13. Do you foresee yourself ever "retiring" from music making, or will you go on as long as you can? Can the Fax label survive without you releasing material?
    
    As long as I feel inspired I will go on...Oskar Sala is a big example for me.
    
    
14. What led to your decision to release Compilation 5 and the 'Rare Vinyl Mixes' tracks as iTunes exclusives? Do you foresee more iTunes-exclusive releases in the future?
    
    Yes...I love this platform, I love Apple and their products and I will do more exclusives for Apple in the near future. I fully support the whole idea as a consumer and content provider. This platform is a big, innovative and important step in every direction.
    
    
15. How come the release schedule of Fax has quieted down in recent years? Particularly the sublabel, as I'd have thought as the label got more well known it'd be easier to find candidates for sublabel releases than around 1994/5, when there were loads despite the label being relatively new. Is this indicative of a drop-off in the standard of electronica?
    
    I guess for great electronica there is always a time, but I concentrate more on my collaborations/solo work and only a few sublabel-releases. Also, please consider Rather Interesting as a sublabel as well as the recent Source releases which have not received the attention that I assumed they had the chance to.