MRed - where are you from?
Dan Godlovitch - I don't think of myself as from any one place, but I've lived in Alberta, New Zealand, Ontario, and now Victoria. For the last couple of years now I've started to think that I'd be happy to be from this part of the world.
and what animals and elements do you rep?
I'm very literal when it comes to the spiritual side of my life, and I've found that the experiences I've had are very personal, and basically impossible to explain with words. Sometimes music can get close, but I would just say that I am a human and I am in this world, and that my spiritual experiences come from that.
what's your take on the (underground music) scene in victoria?
There are a lot of amazing artists for a town its size, people doing really cool stuff, so on that level it's exciting. I do sometimes wish I could put on some really out-there shows and get more than a handful of people out, but I think there aren't many places in the world where that's not true.
for those unfamiliar, what is cloud sounds? any exciting future plans with cloud sounds coming up?
Cloudsounds is this night/collective I've been running for the last year and a bit. Right now it's me, Olav and Corpus. I started the night as a way to get more live electronic performances going on in town, trying to support local artists who we really respect (people like Tomas Jirku, Vincent Parker, the Chapel Sound crew, Souns.. plus lots we haven't worked with yet), who are doing cool things that are off the beaten path.
i know you're working on developing some software synths and that it's all pretty top secret. anything you CAN say about that tho?
I've been helping Madrona Labs develop their new softsynth called Kaivo - Randy did a demo at Decibel, and put up a video so I think I can say a little bit about it. Kaivo synthesizes sound by actually calculating the motion of a string or a drumhead using the physics equations that describe it. In the past people have just used this technique to try and copy sound of acoustic instruments as closely as they could, but it's hard to beat a real violin, or piano, so to some extent who cares. What's going on in Kaivo is basically what I've wanted to do since I got into synthesis. It's the idea of a synth that sounds like acoustic or electric instruments that couldn't exist in the physical world. Like a prepared piano where all of the rattles and things you've put on the strings are constantly changing size, or a flute that is changing its shape while you play it.
about the EP for low indigo.. why the name '2010'?
2010 was a pretty bad time for me. My partner had a mishap at the dentist which caused some serious nerve damage, basically like her nervous system was shorting itself out and she was in constant extreme pain. We didn't really know what was going on and it kept getting worse. In that time, when I did get a chance to go out, I would go to these bass shows and I wouldn't be wanting a party or a joyous experience. I would want the feeling of just forgetting myself for a few hours. The songs on 2010 are basically what I wanted to hear at that time when I went out. Obviously it's not friday night club music. It's a very slow, underwater sound in my mind - the feeling of being sublimated by sound pressure. 2010 is from that. Maybe there's a bit of hope in the music too, but it's a lonely hope. [The epilogue of the story is that my partner has recovered thanks to her unbelievable will & discipline, plus yoga and a kind of acupuncture called IMS]
and what gear did you use to make '2010'?
music your listening to now?
Haxan Cloak and Young Echo have been slow burners for me this year. I seem to have those on a lot. I've also started to really get into the 'Teklife' series (Rashad, Spinn, Traxman etc.) - there's a different vibe to it than the records these guys put out on UK labels. Really excited about Rashad's record for Hyperdub too. Also Autre Ne Veut and Jai Paul. Those records are the fucking jams. And the new Laurel Halo - she is the best - one of the most interesting producers working now.
films you'd recommend?
The films that really stick with me are the slow ones with lots of silence in them: 'Solaris' always amazes me. The US version is ok, but you can't go up against Tarkovsky's version, it's unstoppable. 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives' was really something too - it's a film about an old man who is dying of liver failure. He's not angry about it or fighting or anything. It's about his last days in the countryside. For him, the world of the spirits is much closer to the material world, and the boundaries between the two are much more permeable, and it's this chronicle of his trip from one place to the other. Actually, now that I think about it, those two films are a lot closer than I'd really thought about before. Hrm.
what's exciting you the most these days?
Making cool instruments, being part of the music projects and scene I'm in, getting to a place where I don't have a "job" and "music" separated. Everything's finally aligning.
what inspires you to make music?
For me, music can be this direct way to express a feeling - it isn't about capturing something else, it is it's own thing, and if you do it right, it's this direct line into your head like nothing else. I've spent so much of my life focused on sound that it's just a way to manifest things that I'm thinking or feeling. On a less abstract tip, nothing is more inspiring for making music than seeing amazing performances. I spent half my time at New Forms this year wishing there were two of me so I could stay at the show and bear witness and also run off to the studio with a head full of ideas.
