The Ephemeral City And now, here’s The Changes by Peter with... Dickenson A trilogy of stories about Second Swimmer an England of the future, when people hate ma- An Equal Reaction chines and lead primitive Fourier lives. In the first book, The Through The Honey- devil's children, twelve- comb Window year-old Nicola finds her- self abandoned and wan- Reservoir Dreams ...The...The WeathermongerWeathermonger dering in an England Figures In The Snow where everyone has sud- Southern England, denly developed a horror Slipstream Fiction Or, like the changeable Brit- I think most people will teau Twins, Pixies and Throw- sively about Geogaddi, we cess to my Dad’s LP collec- March 2018… ish weather, can the first know you from Redpoint, or ing Muses. Then the should try to make some- tion growing up so, through- and hatred of machines. In Infinite Mirror A warm, sun-drenched work- beautiful signs of warmth Bright Pylon, but tell us a shoegaze scene happened thing instead. out the ‘70s, records would Heartsease, four children Ready Brek Kid day in early Spring gives way and optimism be deceptive little about your background right on my doorstep. I just periodically appear. The help a person knowledge- What were your earliest to a cold, crisp, starlit night, and short lived? Do they offer musically. bought a guitar that I could- first that I can clearly recol- able about machines es- Dekatron Memories memories involving music? The same commuters that mere respite from the relent- n’t really play and a new fx lect buying was a tape of cape punishment as a I’ve played in bands since I Oregon Water optimistically swapped coats less and inevitable march pedal every month. My earliest clear memory is Ultravox - Vienna, with a rec- witch. In the final book, for shirts, suddenly scurry for was at school. Usually as a A Memory Of For- towards a much colder, dark- of listening to Bowie’s Space ord token from Boots in Wo- The Weathermonger, peo- cover. The evening news drummer or guitarist but a It wasn’t until I heard Orbital, getting er place and time? Are sick Oddity while looking at a king. I still have the tape… ple recreate the Middle mentions that the daffodils lot of the music I first con- Aphex Twin, Autechre and a times still ahead? Sunday colour magazine cen- Ages by destroying ma- that broke the surface days nected with was electronic. little later Boards of Canada This project seems to have tre spread diagram of the chines and subjecting any- earlier may have been duped. My dad had some Tangerine that I started exploring elec- had a pretty long gestation – Released to There is a snow storm com- One thing be- Apollo/Soyuz link-up. That one found with a machine Dream records tronic music again. The urge there are tracks on your the world ing. A ‘beast from the east’, if comes appar- would make it Summer 1975. or with knowledge of ma- to actually make this kind of Bandcamp page from 6 or 7 and a tape of chines to death, while oth- June 2018 the hyperbole is to be be- ent. As I huddle ‘Sometimes Do you recall what the first Kraftwerk’s music only came about after I years ago. What kept you?!? lieved. against the cold, ers try to find the cause of it’s hard to let met Andy (the other half of record your bought was? Radio-Activity, Sometimes it’s hard to let wishing I’d cho- the sudden change in civi- and I was fasci- Redpoint) and we decided I was fortunate to have ac- Elsewhere, the world watch- sen somewhere something something go. lization. nated by them. rather than just talk obses- es as North Korea first sends that sold a de- go.’ The Changes on TV an envoy to its neighbours in That led, natu- cent cup of tea, Who are Twoism Records? the south to celebrate the or at least had doors or win- rally, to a love of synth-pop Winter Olympics, then appar- dows that hadn’t been kicked which was blossoming at Twoism Records is an independent record ‘You can do all sorts of things with music. You ently offers nuclear disarma- into a dystopian wet dream, that time. Although one of label, based around (although not exclu- can listen to it once, twice, or as many times as ment and talks. In North the person I’m waiting to my school friends had a sive to) contributors from Twoism.org you like. You can do it by yourself or with America, the young find its meet has his own take on our home-made synthesiser, it forum. We passionately pro- voice and maybe – just may- friends. You can give your favorite possible ephemeral future. never crossed my mind to be – begin to affect change in mote artists who demonstrate music as a present. Perhaps you’ll be the wake of yet another hor- But as we’ll learn, even this actually do anything with it. I they understand our ethos. given music as a present yourself. rific high school shooting. can leave us wrong footed. can thank him for getting me The Changes is a British Twoism Records stands Music you’ve never heard of and CD, digital down- Unthinkable just days earlier. into Depeche Mode and children's science fiction An occluded front could be apart from the electronic music wouldn’t otherwise have come load and Special OMD though. television serial filmed in on its way. Brace yourself and scene, continuing the spirit of across. You can talk about music dur- Collector’s Edition 1973 and first broadcast in batten down the hatches. In my teens it was all about the Hexagon Sun Collective. ing the day in the record shop and at Cassette (Limited Are constants changing? 1975 by the BBC. It was The Weathermonger is on his guitars. I became a bit of a home or at clubs in the evenings. numbers only Perhaps. To paraphrase our peers.. directed by John Prowse way… 4AD obsessive thanks to Coc- Music is culture. And culture is life.’ incl. rare remix and is based on the trilogy by ADecentMan) Words and images by John Dinsdale © Twoism Records 2018 When Redpoint went on hiatus I wasn’t sure how to go about writing anything with- out a partner to bounce ideas off, and it took a little while to recognise how I want- ed to sound. I played live a couple of times back then, with a mixture of tunes It’s quite a weird experience - playing pulled from around 10 years of recording, and that helped define what I did and did- something you’ve made to a bunch of n’t want to do. An early version of Fourier came out of those gigs. relative strangers. There were also a couple of tracks on the One On Twoism compilations as Bright Pylon. One of those, ‘Winterslows’, was the jumping off point for writing the tracks that make up ‘The Ephemeral City’.

The bulk of the album was written between the middle of 2012 and early 2013. That was around the time my mother fell ill. After she died in May 2013 I barely wrote or recorded anything for a year. I think ‘Figures in the Snow’ is the only track that I completed in that time.

It was only when preparing a ver- sion of the album to play for some friends in Summer 2014 that I worked on it again.

It’s difficult for me the separate the record from my own relation- ship to it and specifically how it I’d tried to weave all these shortwave re- the reaction to it gave me the confidence is what you hear during ‘Honeycomb links back to my mum. Listening cordings into it and I realised it was just un- to (eventually) finish the thing. It still Window’. The other thing I knew when I to it was an anchor in difficult necessary decoration. It didn’t add any- hadn’t crossed my mind to release it to woke up was what my artist name times. I didn’t intend to write it thing and I took them out again straight anyone other than a handful of friends should change to. for her but that’s how it turned afterwards. It also ended with this relatively though. The album is getting a special collector’s out, although I know she would upbeat track that felt like a throwback to You took some field recordings at Win- edition cassette release too. Considering berate me for making it too mel- French Curves and didn’t suit the mood of spit I believe? Tell us about those. How we all first heard it on tape, that’s pretty ancholy. the album at all. That had to go. In its place were those incorporated? cool. How do you think the choice of came a more reflective closer and in time a As you’ve alluded to, some us media fits with the album? couple more tracks that helped balance the Yeah. I woke up early, around were lucky enough to hear an middle of the album a bit better. dawn. Everyone else was still crashed out I grew up with vinyl and tape. My first early version of The Ephemeral asleep. The waves breaking against the recordings were done on an old Fostex City way back in 2014. How has It got a pretty favorable response even cliffs sounded amazing, so I tried record- portastudio in my childhood bedroom. I the album changed since then? back then as I recall, how did that feel? ing them from different locations around wish I still had that thing. Part of me It’s quite a weird experience - play- The main thing I felt was relief. I was in half the quarry. Eventually I wandered down would love to record direct to tape but I ing something you’ve made to a a mind not to play it at all. You don’t want to the water’s edge and sat there a while know it doesn’t suit my protracted re- bunch of relative strangers. It to be the one to fuck up the great evening with my field recorder. When I listened cording process, where tracks can take definitely makes you listen to it in everyone’s having. I’m sure DJs must feel back to the recordings I knew I wanted to months or even years to get to a point a completely different way. this anxiety all the time! More importantly, weave them into one of the tracks, which where I’m happy with them. Although I use a few distressed Is there any new Redpoint material on the horizon at all? You also quote JG Ballard’s High can hear very specific nods to songs I know. There are at synth sounds, I rarely use tape Rise in your liner notes. Can you We have a fair few half-finished tunes and ideas. The big- least two bits of Cocteau Twins buried in there and a bass effects or artificial ageing when tell us something about the reason gest problem we have is simply getting together. Andy is line that wanted to sound like Washed Out. recording. I like how any tape arte- for that? establishing himself as a novelist, which has its own de- A lot of the unfinished tracks littering my hard drive facts you hear are from the media mands, and I work full-time. I would love for us to do Well, J.G. Ballard is probably my sound a lot more like Boards of Canada, but that’s often itself and life always sounds better more Redpoint but I also recognise that a lot of it came favourite author. He used to live the reason I left them unfinished. with a bit of hiss in the background. from us being at a particular point in our lives when we less than a mile from my house, in a Anyone who’s visited your studio will know it’s full of How do you see this release as had a fair amount of free time, lived closer to each other quiet Shepperton street. I found it some pretty cool hardware. Any favourites? Any secret different from the work as part of and were relatively free of responsibilities. inspiring that such an imaginative weapons?? Redpoint, Bright Pylon, or even and transgressive mind could flour- French Curves? What position does ish in such an unassuming suburban The one synth that’s on almost every track is my this take on your musical sofa as it I sense that he saw the city location. I sense that he saw the Prophet’08. It probably is my favourite, or at least the one were? and suburbia for what it really city and suburbia for what it really that I compose everything on. I try to give everything in was. The difference being that he the studio a chance to prove itself. For immediacy and joy Well, the biggest difference be- embraced and documented the of programming it’s difficult to beat the Jupiter 6. Sounds tween this and Redpoint or French madness that I want to retreat great too, although it arrived too late to make it onto any Curves is that this is just me work- from. of these tracks. ing alone. Both Redpoint and French Curves were Andy and my- People will likely make compari- If there’s a secret weapon it's an old Yamaha An1x. It’s all self collaborating, which makes for sons with Boards of Canada of over ‘Infinite Mirror’ and ‘Oregon Water’. a very different dynamic - more ar- course, but in one of the first com- What’s your view on the hardware vs software debate guments but also a whole lot more ments I heard, it reminded the lis- when it comes to electronica? I’m assuming you didn’t energy and momentum. tener of Vangelis? What influences exactly go to town with VSTs on this one? are you aware of? Stylistically, I think this is closer to There’s probably a little more soft synth on there than Redpoint but the process is closer I can definitely hear the Vangelis you imagine. Certainly there’s one key sound that I pro- to French Curves, which was our The difference being that he thing, or at least the influence of grammed on the Prophet V a long while back that makes How does it influence your sound? first attempt to use hardware embraced and documented the watching Blade Runner too many an appearance. I’ve never been able to quite replicate it Actually, I tend to play everything from the keyboard, but pretty inac- synths rather than build everything madness that I want to times. I love those searing lead with hardware. curately! I usually try to keep the organic timing as played and adjust in Reason. With hindsight, I think retreat from. sounds and cavernous reverbs. To I don’t enjoy programming soft synths that much but the bad notes. I keep trying to work with step sequencers for melo- with French Curves we got a bit be honest, beyond the BR sound- there’s little to choose between the best of them and dy but it never feels quite right. Drum machines are another mat- carried away with arpeggiators and track I’ve not heard that much hardware when it comes to sound. I’ve ter… hung up on making something Vangelis! been playing with Repro-1 recently and more uptempo than Redpoint. The Tell us a little about The Weathermonger – you took the Before I was a guitarist I was a drummer. Drums I think early Autechre is as much an it’s incredible. Hearing Amber the Weathermonger is me doing what are my first instrument and the only one I can name from Peter Dickenson’s book right? influence on me as BoC. Hearing feels natural again. I choose mostly hardware synths be- first time was some really play without thinking (insert drummer joke It was one of a trilogy of books that were partially adapted Amber the first time was some- cause they’re fun to use. Doing every- thing of a eureka here). Being a rhythm guitarist just followed on I think of Bright Pylon as being the into the BBC children’s series ‘The Changes’ in the thing of a eureka moment, especial- thing in-the-box is a little too close to naturally from that. temporary placeholder name be- 1970s. The idea of a Britain where technology and electrici- ly as I’d only bought it for the cov- moment, especially work for me but ultimately it’s what you fore I settled on The Weathermon- ty was something to be feared and physically repulsed by er. I can hear Plaid as an influence What next for The Weathermonger project? I do with the tools you have, however as I’d only bought it ger. both fascinated and terrified me as a child. One of the on one track in particular, and an- see new tracks appearing on your Bandcamp humble, that matters. Some of my fa- main characters in the books is referred to as a Weather- other one came out of me trying for the cover. page fairly recently? Is this an on-going entity? vourite records have been made with monger - someone who can influence and control the ele- (with limited success) to sound like It’s definitely ongoing. My glacial workrate just a single synth and a drum machine. ments. I love the idea of that. Kuedo. means I never quite know when I’ll get more tracks finished. There You also play live in a band, as a guitarist, but am I right I also like how The Weathermonger sounds slightly enig- There are lots of odd moments, are a few in the can already. Maybe an EP’s-worth? in thinking you don’t technically play keyboards? Do you matic, like The Caretaker or The Head Technician. most of them accidental, where I I’m also working on a more ambient project with a local artist. She’s see that as a hindrance or an advantage? When we first discussed the art for the We setup in the communica- tions room, surrounded by album, you politely rejected my first tions room, surrounded by sketches as too dark. You’re forgiven old telex machines and old telex machines and (I’ll just use them in 20 years for the reis- mannquins. sue) but you seemed to have a definite theme and feel in mind for this one – Aesthetically speaking.. We think these people already get what we’re about naturally. can you tell us more about what you They’ve already gravitated towards us for a reason. We fit together. were going for? ..with Twoism Records founder Robin Temming, also What is the ethos / mission statement of Twoism Records? known as Aesthetics and Grim On Mbient.. Well, as you know, my placeholder album The talent pool within the electronic genre has never grown faster cover was a painting by Simon than today. But within that huge genre many different styles have Stalenhag, picturing a boy playing beside Why have you decided to launch Twoism Records? emerged, like IDM, Ambient and Downtempo for example. a lake with only the rusting hulks of abandoned technology for company. If Since we started in 2004, Twoism.org has become the It seems to us that these styles are becoming more and more niche, commissioned me to write a soundtrack The place was amazing. Full of cold-war there’s a unifying theme to the album it’s haven for likeminded people, drawn together by a mutu- increasingly isolated to the point where they became genres in their to a new series of paintings and in return eeriness and faintly macabre. We cheeki- of the city slowly stealing away our hu- al fascination with Boards of Canada. As well as sharing own right. While many of the musicians in the Twoism community she’s agreed to paint me a potential rec- ly recorded some of the ambience of the manity and a desire, or even a need, to thoughts, swapping information and having fun, several are inspired by Boards of Canada and some initially mimicked their ord cover. place while we were there, which crept get away from it to something and some- people began posting their own music. We noticed more style, there’s now new genre appearing within this. Artists who call into our track ‘Q-Met’. We kept discuss- Any chance of some live shows? where more honest and natural. It and more music producers, many of whom went on to Twoism.org home won’t always sound like BoC necessarily, but ing how weird it would be to play a gig bigger things, such as Com Truise, Lone, Solar Bears and I hope so. From prior experience it’s a comes partly from my feelings towards they’re probably influenced by them. We might release albums in there, so we paid them a second vis- Ciaran Byrne, becoming active. Slowly but surely huge undertaking to pull together a live London - somewhere I once loved but the future which lean heavily on BoC’s sound, but that’s not our true it. Much to our surprise they agreed to Twoism.org became a fertile breeding ground for set that doesn’t rely on a room full of now feel nothing for. aim. let us perform there later that summer. talented musicians. synths but I’ve loved the challenge be- I hope the music on the album Will Twoism Records be limited to members of Twoism.org? fore. The only rule is that it has reflects the brighter place Several interesting projects developed, and in 2007 I No, but that’s the fastest way to reach us with your music. to be without a laptop. Gigged we’re aiming towards at least mixed the first ‘One on Twoism’ compilation. That was If there’s a unifying theme to the Why have you chosen The Ephemeral City as your debut release? with an old MPC last time and as much as the city’s bleakness when Twoism Records began. Through six compilations album it’s of the city slowly stealing Simple. We really wanted our first release to be the perfect repre- that was way more fun. we’re trying to leave be- this remained our only official output. Until now... away our humanity and a desire, or sentation of the label. The Ephemeral City achieves that and so hind. As such I didn’t want the One thing I will say is that play- even a need, to get away from it to much more. ing electronic music live is so art to be too dark. There has to something and somewhere more Can I buy a copy on vinyl? much harder than just turning be some hope there too. A while back, myself and John Dinsdale (aka Mexicola) honest and natural. Not at the moment, but we hope to in the future. up with a guitar and playing in With glorious timing, a chill started brainstorming behind the scenes, looking at a conventional band… but it’s blast sweeps across the empty ways to grow the label to supporting single artist releas- Do you have other releases planned? amazing when it works out. es. By 2017 ( mere decade later!) we felt the urge to final- Yeah, there are a few in the pipeline but no word on that at this mo- We setup in the communications room, road towards us and we both instinctive- ly make it happen. Now or never? Perhaps, but you can’t ment. We take it slow ;) Redpoint were the first band to play surrounded by old telex machines and ly turn our collars up and dig our hands rush perfection either, right? Kelvedon Hatch, which has since hosted mannequins. Andy had prepared films deeper into our pockets. Whether that Can I release my record via Twoism Records? hope lives or breathes, you get the The number of independent records labels grows daily. The Delaware Road event. How did that for every track on the album. It was a Everyone can. BUT there are a lot of talented artists and several sneaking suspicion more immediate con- Why launch a record label now? come about? crazy amount of work for a one-off gig who already want to release via Twoism Records. Opening up a pro- but worth every bit of it. The audience cerns take precedent right now. I sug- Way back, Andy and I stopped at a Little Totally agree, the amount of independent record labels mo channel could lead to saturation. The artists who we think are had to walk through the rest of the bun- gest we head to the pub for a warming Chef on the A12 and they had all those is saturated already, so we needed to take a different suitable will surface on the forum. See? ker to reach us at the end, which did the whiskey and The Weathermonger just little pamphlets for local attractions at approach. We want to show the people a different path. nods as we hurry back to the car. My music doesn’t really follow the electronica / IDM mould, but I hard work of setting the mood for us. I At the risk of sounding pompous, it’s a path we truly feel the entrance. One of them was for Kel- love BOC. Can I release via you? still can’t quite believe it happened. My Figures in the snow? is the right one, but it might not always be the most ob- vedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bun- Sure. See you on the forum! one regret is not filming it all. ker. Naturally, this was exactly the kind Soon. vious one. Twoism.org is the perfect platform to start of thing we had to visit. from because it already attracts like-minded music lov- All to soon, I suspect... ers, listeners and producers.