I'm a fan of his sparse, slowly evolving musical compositions. My dad was a fan of his skateboarding style in early 90s. It doesn't matter what medium Duane Pitre's working in; the product always leaves an impression. I recently had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his music. You can read his answers below.
You've been on top of the music scene since your days as a skater (Dinosaur Jr.
Songs in both the "Footage" and "Memory Screen" videos).
Did skating have any sort of influence on the minimalist/avant-garde musical
compositions you've been turning out lately? If not, then what was this
impetus?
I don’t feel skating has had a direct
influence on my work of the last 8 years or so, like you’ve said, my
“minimalist/avant-garde composition years,” but indirectly, for sure.
Skateboarding fostered the same kind of thinking that led me to where I am
today. But to put it in a short and clunky way…Dinosaur led to My Bloody
Valentine, which led to Brian Eno, which led to La Monte Young, which opened me
up to the world of ‘odd’ music within academia. It was a lineage.
All of the releases of yours that I've listened to share a droning sense of
tranquility, yet, under scrutiny, I think that each has an aura that's quite
unique. Would you agree? What sort of experience do you set out to create with
an album?
I’m happy you see them that way, each of them
being unique that is. This is something I’m conscious of and strive for…that’s
not to say that if a new piece of music ends up having a lot in common with an
older piece that I’ll trash it…what is most important to me is if the new piece
can, well, “stand on it’s own two feet” if you will.
For each album, as it’s been so far as least,
I have something new I want to explore…whether that be a new tuning (I work in
a tuning system called ‘Just Intonation’), conceptual themes such as fictional
narratives, new instruments to delve into, etc. So it changes from record to
record. But like I’ve mentioned, I hope to create something new, in relation to
the body of my work.
You've come out with two cassettes so far, one on NNA Tapes and one on Sonic
Meditations. I cover a lot of tapes of Half-Gifts, how do you personally feel
about them as a medium?
Three actually, another very limited (to 20
copies I believe) cassette on a French label called Atthletic Duddes too. The
label was intended to be a short-lived project I believe, and went from
2008-2009. You can download the track on the tape for from here: http://www.atelierciseaux.com/ad/
Cassette tapes as a “new” medium…well, it
makes the music (on it) harder to access, in a general way. There are ups and
downs to this in my opinion. It embodies a certain duality…one which my verdict
is split on, if you will. I’m a vinyl lover, but of course making LPs is very
expensive, and it’s certainly not accessible to all artists, not even close.
Tapes allow such access to just about anyone. So there is more of a random
element too, maybe there is more exploring that one can do in the tape world,
because of factors such as affordability and accessibility. And with tapes,
it’s similar to the ritual of actively listening to an LP…whereas with mp3s and
such, it’s on shuffle (or the like) and it’s a passive experience.
What sort of composers/bands have an affect on your sound? John Cage and Philip
Glass seem to be the most evident. Any that might seem surprising?
Though I understand what you’re saying, Cage
hasn’t influenced my actual sound so much, but he has been an influence on how
I would end up organizing my music, and my process. His theories were much
looser and free though, I’ve more restrictions and rules in my pieces. Glass,
not so much, I’d say more so Steve Reich, though I can’t place where and how
his influence made it into my work. In recent years I’ve allowed some influences
of my deeper past, to mingle with ones of the last 8 years or so, which is
about the time I starting studying modern composition and such. This was also
the same time I learned of La Monte Young, whose work/sound has had a big
influence on my work, though more so in the music I was creating during what I
jokingly call my “music university” years (2005-2008) in NYC. I put it like
this because I did not go to music school, I’ve studied everything on my own.
These (serious) studies started in 2005, a year or so after I quit playing in
bands, which was how I cut my teeth playing music.
But I’ve taken in influences from a wide range
of music: from Indonesian Gamalen, to Led Zeppelin, to John Coltrane, to
Industrial Music, to Terry Riley, to Metal, to The Smiths, and many others. It
isn’t always obvious, once such influences are “melted down” into one of my
works, but I prefer it that way.
From looking at some notes on your website, I see that there's a lot to do with
prime numbers and other mathematical concepts. Tell me a little about that.
Like I’ve mentioned above, I work in a tuning
system called ‘Just Intonation.’ It can be quite “heady” stuff to talk about,
so if anyone’s interested there’s some info on the Internet for sure. But put
simply (as I can) it utilizes whole number ratios to calculate the pitch
relationships within a given tuning. It is a tuning system aligned with the
harmonic series, or in other words, nature. As far as the mention of prime
numbers goes; when the whole number ratios are simplified, they will consist of
at least one prime, or compound prime, number.
There is a term used within the Just
Intonation world that illustrates what prime numbers are used in a tuning (the
higher the prime number, the more “far out” the tuning). One could say, for
example, “the tuning used in [insert composition title] is 11-Limit.” This
means the tuning used in said composition uses ratios with prime numbers no
higher than then number 11; it limits the prime number usage to 11.
What sort of performance do you find the most satisfying, live or in a studio?
I enjoy both, for sure. But if I had to pick
it’d be ‘studio.’ The act of creating something, watching/hearing it grow and
progress…the act of making something is the most rewarding to me.
What sort of non-musical things interest you?
Various world religions, in a historical sense
and what they mean to humanity. Geography. Traveling. The Languages and foods
of the world. Nature, especially trees (the superior sculptures IMO). Quiet.
Kindness. And much more…
Any plans for future releases?
Indeed. I’ve a new album, the follow-up to last year’s Feel Free, titled Bridges, which comes out this month (June 2013) on LP & CD. The
end of summer will see the release of a new collaboration LP between Eleh and
myself, called PITRELEH…and in September we’ll have our world premier live
performance in NYC. Then in October, a live recording of a sextet performance
of Feel Free, recording last June in
London at Café OTO, will be released on LP & CD. Important Records will
release all of these 2013 albums.
I’d just like to add that it’s fantastic to see someone of
your age approaching this kind of music, from this angle…journalistically that
is. I met someone in France, when I played the countryside in Arras, about your
age doing similar things….DJing on a radio station and doing interviews and
such….and now I know that wasn’t an isolated incident…it’s a movement maybe?
It’s rad!
Find out more at: http://www.duanepitre.com/