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██ ▒ Artist : Radio Massacre International ░ █░ ▓███
██ ░ Album : Galactic Furnace ░ ▓▒ ▓███
██▄▄ Genre : Electronic ░ ▓ ▓███
███▓ Source : CD ░ ▒ ▓███
███▓ Label : Cuneiform Records ░ ▓███
███▓ Cat. Number : Rune 537/538 ▓███
███▓ Street Date : 2024-10-25 ▓███
███▓ Rip Date : 2026-01-01 ▓███
███▓ Encoder : LAME 64bits version 3.100 (http://lame.sf.net) -V0 ▓███
███▓ Quality : 250kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo ▓███
███▓ Tracks : 3 ▓███
███▓ Playtime : 02:00:18 (227.MB) ▓███
███▓ URL : http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/galactic-fu ▓███
███▓ ▓███
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███▓ Disc 1 / 2 ▓███
███▓ -------- ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ 01 Galactic Furnace Part 1 23:59 ▓███
███▓ 02 Galactic Furnace Part 2 36:00 ▓███
███▓ ▓███
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███▓ Disc 2 / 2 ▓███
███▓ -------- ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ 01 Galactic Furnace Part 3 60:19 ▓███
███▓ ▓███
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███▓ 120:18min ▓███
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███▓ I am not sure just how many albums have been released by the trio ▓███
███▓ of Steve Dinsdale (keyboards, electronics, drums), Duncan Goddard ▓███
███▓ (keyboards, electronics, bass), and Gary Houghton (guitar, ▓███
███▓ keyboards) since they started playing together as 16-year old ▓███
███▓ students, but it must be approaching 30, of which this is their ▓███
███▓ fourth collaboration with Cuneiform. Their music is largely ▓███
███▓ improvised and performed live, without overdubs, gathering shape ▓███
███▓ via post recording editing, and this was recorded over the course ▓███
███▓ of a week, in the middle of summer, in North Yorkshire. They were ▓███
███▓ lent a cottage which had plenty of natural light and air and ▓███
███▓ positioned a live microphone outside on the decking to capture ▓███
███▓ sound, pointing towards woodland and countryside. ▓███
███▓ It is strange to think of a natural ambience being involved, as ▓███
███▓ this is an album which seems very technical and clean, almost as if ▓███
███▓ it had been created in a laboratory. There are only three ▓███
███▓ instrumental tracks across this double CD, with playing times of 24 ▓███
███▓ minutes, 36 minutes and 60 so this is not for the fainthearted (my ▓███
███▓ version also includes a radio edit of the second track, cut all the ▓███
███▓ way back to 9). This is music which has been hugely influenced by ▓███
███▓ Tangerine Dream and is all about creating an atmosphere and ▓███
███▓ bringing the listener deep inside their world. It is not something ▓███
███▓ to be played in the background but instead is to be listened to ▓███
███▓ solely on headphones when there is the time to focus on this and ▓███
███▓ nothing else that is going on in the world. Having this as a ▓███
███▓ physical product will be of high interest to fans of the band, ▓███
███▓ given they release so much music as downloads only, but I suggest ▓███
███▓ that those who are new to RMI take a trek to Bandcamp and listen to ▓███
███▓ this prior to purchase as it will not be to everyone's tastes. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ --- ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Radio Massacre International, the UK-based instrumental trio, has ▓███
███▓ built a unique reputation for their intense electronic ▓███
███▓ improvisations laced with the heavy, cosmic influence of space ▓███
███▓ rock. ▓███
███▓ Over the years, theyÆve developed their own style, blending ▓███
███▓ hypnotic atmospheres with bursts of intense, improvised energy. ▓███
███▓ Their latest album, æGalactic Furnace,Æ out via Cuneiform Records, ▓███
███▓ stays true to their legacy of sonic exploration while offering a ▓███
███▓ glimpse into where they stand creatively today. From the meticulous ▓███
███▓ layers of synthesizers to the intricate, rhythmically driven ▓███
███▓ passages, æGalactic FurnaceÆ is a stunning example of 21st-century ▓███
███▓ cosmic vision. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ As the band puts it, ôÆGalactic FurnaceÆ was made over the course ▓███
███▓ of a week, in the middle of summer, in beautiful North Yorkshire. ▓███
███▓ We inhabited a cottage space which was very kindly loaned to us by ▓███
███▓ a good friend and unlike many recording environments, it was ▓███
███▓ extremely pleasant with plenty of natural light and air. As is our ▓███
███▓ wont, we always keep a live microphone somewhere in the mix and ▓███
███▓ this one was outside on the decking pointing towards woodland and ▓███
███▓ good old Yorkshire countryside. This album is unique, you could ▓███
███▓ say, because it was recorded in this certain space which we know ▓███
███▓ will not be available to us again (it now belongs to someone else, ▓███
███▓ we didnÆt trash it or anything).ö ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Could you describe the initial creative spark that brought the ▓███
███▓ three of you together as teenagers, and how your chemistry evolved ▓███
███▓ into the distinctive trio format of Radio Massacre International in ▓███
███▓ 1993? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary Houghton: IÆm not sure what the initial spark was, but we were ▓███
███▓ all into improvised music and the concept of just plugging in and ▓███
███▓ seeing what came out. We also used to hang out in the same pub and ▓███
███▓ spent many nights staring up at the skies on the way back from the ▓███
███▓ pub. Those skies were black and full of stars, really quite ▓███
███▓ awesome. I live in a big city now, and the skies just arenÆt the ▓███
███▓ same because of light pollution. I am sure they were inspirational ▓███
███▓ to us. This was back in the late Æ70s and early Æ80s. When we ▓███
███▓ reconvened in 1993, it was like weÆd never stopped. The very first ▓███
███▓ thing we recorded was a 60-minute piece, which has since been ▓███
███▓ released on Bandcamp. And it sounds so fresh! ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan Goddard: As I recall, Steve and I had been asked to join a ▓███
███▓ space-rock band led from the drum kit by one Mark Spybey, whoÆs had ▓███
███▓ quite an interesting career himself! We were later joined in this ▓███
███▓ band by Gary, who was just starting on the guitar. One big impetus ▓███
███▓ for us to begin writing and later recording our own compositions ▓███
███▓ was dissatisfaction with the output (quality and quantity) from our ▓███
███▓ favorite bands. Steve described a lot of the electronic music of ▓███
███▓ the time as ôcomplacent,ö while we definitely all felt that there ▓███
███▓ were areas being left unexplored in the space between heavy rock ▓███
███▓ and electronica. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ In a break from this band, the three of us gathered at my house and ▓███
███▓ made our first baby steps with a borrowed Revox; this became DAS 1 ▓███
███▓ and was recorded between 23/12/79 and 2/1/80. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ So weÆre a Æ70s bandùjust! ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Various thingsùlife!ùseparated us until late 1993, when Steve was ▓███
███▓ able to visit the collection of synths and whatnot that I had ▓███
███▓ accumulated in the years between. We quickly got into an almost ▓███
███▓ telepathic state again, and after a few sessions, we met with Gary ▓███
███▓ and announced that we had started recording again. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ ôWhen do I get to do my bits?ö he said. And so we were again a ▓███
███▓ trio. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve Dinsdale: Duncan had been experimenting with electronics and ▓███
███▓ tape recorders at home, and this led to us both meeting Mark Spybey ▓███
███▓ (Dead Voices On Air) when we were 16 and starting a space-rock band ▓███
███▓ together with the aid of a Roland SH-1000 synthesizer borrowed from ▓███
███▓ the college we were attending in Northeast England. We met Gary ▓███
███▓ around this time through a friend of MarkÆs, and he joined the band ▓███
███▓ too. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Away from the noisy band practices in our local church hall, ▓███
███▓ Duncan, Gary, and I began experimenting with the synthesizer in ▓███
███▓ DuncanÆs studio, with tape echo, overdubbing, etc. The results of ▓███
███▓ this can be heard on DAS 1, which was a cassette released in 1980 ▓███
███▓ on David ElliottÆs Neumusik/YHR label. Over the following years, ▓███
███▓ DAS made many recordings with a variety of people, all centered ▓███
███▓ around DuncanÆs studioùenough for 12 albumsÆ worth. We have ▓███
███▓ released several of these on Bandcamp, including DAS 1. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ By 1993, weÆd all had a lot more life experience (and, in some ▓███
███▓ cases, record business experienceà I was holding down a day job and ▓███
███▓ playing in indie bands), and all the while, Duncan had been slowly ▓███
███▓ accumulating keyboards, composing his own stuff, and putting ▓███
███▓ together a recording environment. Duncan and I were, at the time, ▓███
███▓ living only a few miles from each other in London, and when IÆd had ▓███
███▓ enough of the indie world, the time was right to start exploring ▓███
███▓ different possibilities. We were thrilled with the early results we ▓███
███▓ achieved, improvising straight to tape, and it was the logical next ▓███
███▓ step to invite Gary to come down and contribute. This was an ▓███
███▓ immediate success, and the very first piece we recorded (Drown) is ▓███
███▓ now on Bandcamp for all to hear. We recorded two further pieces the ▓███
███▓ same day (Diabolica and Upstairs Downstairs), and we were on our ▓███
███▓ way. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary lived 250 miles away in Manchester, so he couldnÆt always join ▓███
███▓ us, but those first few years, when Duncan and I lived so close, ▓███
███▓ meant that we could have day jobs but still have time to record in ▓███
███▓ the evening. It was a wonderful burst of creativity. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ The name ôRadio Massacre Internationalö carries a sense of ▓███
███▓ provocation and intrigue. What was the origin of the name? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: All three of us, at some point in 1983, had felt the need ▓███
███▓ for some sort of cathartic releaseùby way of an almost unmusical ▓███
███▓ noiseùaway from the restrictions and conventions of normal band ▓███
███▓ activity. We plugged a Casio and a Moog straight into a cassette ▓███
███▓ deckùno effectsùand got things out of our system. Not much of this ▓███
███▓ racket is listenable now, but we remember it fondlyà the dumb drum ▓███
███▓ box in the Casio, the circuit-bent Moog Prodigy, the fizzing ▓███
███▓ distortion. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ One day, Steve assembled a load of this stuff onto a cassette and ▓███
███▓ presented us each with a copy. The name was already in place. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ By the end of 1989, Steve and I were both in Londonùstill a few ▓███
███▓ years away from properly restarting the bandùbut we had recorded a ▓███
███▓ few things already. On the very edge of 1989 changing into 1990 (a ▓███
███▓ nice bit of symmetry), we decided to use the ôRadio Massacre ▓███
███▓ Internationalö name for anything and everything we did thereafter. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: Back when we still lived at home at our parentsÆ houses, ▓███
███▓ occasionally Duncan and I would hang out at my place for a change ▓███
███▓ of scenery. I had next to nothing by way of technical gearùjust a ▓███
███▓ couple of keyboards and a cassette deck. For amusement, we would ▓███
███▓ plug a keyboard each into the ╝ö jack sockets on the front of the ▓███
███▓ deck and just make a very abstract and unappealing noise, with no ▓███
███▓ effects or anything. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ One day, when I was listening back to a cassette we had just ▓███
███▓ recorded in this way, the name just came to me to differentiate ▓███
███▓ this noise from what we were seriously taking time over in DAS. ▓███
███▓ This was 1983. It was ten years later that we were looking for a ▓███
███▓ more interesting name than DAS, and ôRadio Massacre Internationalö ▓███
███▓ seemed to really fit the bill. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Would love it if you could talk about the initial beginnings with ▓███
███▓ the formation of DAS and how that evolvedà ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: As mentioned earlier, the three of us peeled away from the ▓███
███▓ band we were all in, feeling that the band rehearsal environment ▓███
███▓ wasnÆt really letting us develop any writing or arranging skills. ▓███
███▓ We had also begun to have ideas for orchestrating our sound that ▓███
███▓ werenÆt possible with one synth and one guitarist. I played ▓███
███▓ engineer, for the most part, and only added synth or electronics by ▓███
███▓ way of overdubs; mostly, Steve and Gary would work out the parts ▓███
███▓ and how they were to be layered, though I would keep reminding them ▓███
███▓ of the technical constraints. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We were recording straight to two-channel 1/4" tape, and adding ▓███
███▓ layers each time was a constant struggle against hiss, dropouts, ▓███
███▓ and so onùespecially as we were kids and didnÆt have a lot of money ▓███
███▓ for fresh tape. So there would be discussions about which parts ▓███
███▓ needed to go down first and how to balance everything to leave ▓███
███▓ sonic space for the subsequent layers, with great care not to bury ▓███
███▓ the first layer in either more parts or tape noise. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ The equipment was basic, but we got the most out of it that we ▓███
███▓ could, learning about levels, mic placement, syncopation of tape ▓███
███▓ delays, and so on. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We went our separate ways on leaving college at 18, having missed ▓███
███▓ out on a record deal because we couldnÆt go to meet with them ▓███
███▓ (school the next day!), and really, that was it until 1989. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: As I said previously, we were somewhat keen to see what we ▓███
███▓ could squeeze out of the Roland SH1000 in a more controlled ▓███
███▓ environment, and each term break, we would convene at DuncanÆs in ▓███
███▓ his attic room and see what happened. Sometimes, there would be ▓███
███▓ other friends involvedùDuncan was the only absolute constant, the ▓███
███▓ Joe Meek of Teesside, working miracles with a UHER, a Ferrograph, ▓███
███▓ and a cassette deck or two. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We usually made a piece each day until we had an album. There are ▓███
███▓ 12 such albums recorded over the early to mid-Æ80s. WeÆre very ▓███
███▓ proud of the fact that we began our first album in December 1979 ▓███
███▓ and therefore qualify as a real Æ70s bandùif only by a hairÆs ▓███
███▓ breadth. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ How did the ôBerlin Schoolö sound of Tangerine Dream and Klaus ▓███
███▓ Schulze shape your early explorations, and how have those ▓███
███▓ influences evolved or been deconstructed in your work over the ▓███
███▓ decades? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary: It didnÆt have much of an impact on me. I was more into ▓███
███▓ Hawkwind than the Berlin School. And Here & Now. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: We always used to tell people, ôIf a band uses two guitars, ▓███
███▓ bass, and drums, do they automatically write songs like The Beatles ▓███
███▓ or The Yardbirds?ö So it is with this Berlin School labelùwe use ▓███
███▓ synths, sequencers, a Mellotron, a guitarà but our background, our ▓███
███▓ behavior, our personalitiesùtotally different. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ A surface reading might put someone in mind of a certain period of ▓███
███▓ TDÆs output, in the same way that (in the Æ60s) you might have ▓███
███▓ heard someoneÆs dad saying of The Beatles, ôAll these guitar bands ▓███
███▓ sound the same! Get that bloody racket turned down!ö ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We believe that there is a definite character to our output that ▓███
███▓ makes it instantly identifiable amongst the mass of BS-type music ▓███
███▓ that people are making. Central to that is the long relationship ▓███
███▓ weÆve had, both musically and socially, which has engendered a ▓███
███▓ near-telepathy in our largely improvised performances and ▓███
███▓ recordings. This is critical to our music and should not be ▓███
███▓ underestimated. If you are making artùexpressing emotions or ideas ▓███
███▓ via your instrumentsùand there are other people engaged in the ▓███
███▓ exact same piece of art at the exact same time, youÆd better be on ▓███
███▓ very good terms with them, or it wonÆt work. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ I have watched improvisational duos, trios, quartetsà in the ▓███
███▓ studio, on stage, and I despair at the poor ergonomics of their ▓███
███▓ setups, the lack of eye contactà ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ So when Steve (or anyone else) refers to our music as ôorganic,ö ▓███
███▓ this is what they mean. It is a conversationùthree mates whoÆve ▓███
███▓ known each other a lifetime, looking at the stars or the sea and ▓███
███▓ pondering the mysteries of life. This is not the case with most of ▓███
███▓ the music, improvised or otherwise, that one hearsùespecially in ▓███
███▓ the world of electronic music, where it seems to be more important ▓███
███▓ to have a ton of equipment than to have anything to say with it. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: It is without question, of course, that we were influenced ▓███
███▓ greatly by these pioneers, especially the classic Tangerine Dream ▓███
███▓ line-up of Froese, Franke, and Baumann. Ricochet remains one of the ▓███
███▓ few perfect, unique albums in any genre, without a doubt. This was ▓███
███▓ the music that taught us a new way of listening, and ultimately, as ▓███
███▓ a young person, the first instinct is to imitate your heroes (ask ▓███
███▓ The Beatles!). ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ The problem initially was, of course, that we werenÆt sitting in a ▓███
███▓ studio packed with Moogs, Mellotrons, and VCS3s, nor could we have ▓███
███▓ even dreamed of such a situation, but we made the best of what we ▓███
███▓ had. I used to play sequences manually because we didnÆt have a ▓███
███▓ sequencer, and Duncan would come up with ingenious ways of making ▓███
███▓ new and interesting noises! Gary came to it with a rock guitaristÆs ▓███
███▓ sensibilityùhe wasnÆt really a fan of the Berlin stuff and still ▓███
███▓ isnÆtùbut we all agreed on Hawkwind and Steve Hillage as primary ▓███
███▓ influences too. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We soldiered on with various sequencing solutions, and Duncan ▓███
███▓ recorded a lot of solo material featuring written parts, but what ▓███
███▓ we wanted was a way of step sequencing that we could play on the ▓███
███▓ flyà and thatÆs what you really should do with a step ▓███
███▓ sequencerùplay it! DonÆt just let it churn out the same thing. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ By 1993, we were still waiting for the missing part of the puzzle, ▓███
███▓ and it arrived in the shape of the Doepfer MAQ sequencer. Up until ▓███
███▓ then, everything had to be painstakingly pre-programmed note for ▓███
███▓ noteùand whereÆs the fun in that? Now we could set this thing ▓███
███▓ running and create amazing sequences out of nowhere (see Scudùthe ▓███
███▓ very first thing we did with the MAQ). The skill in sequencing, of ▓███
███▓ course, is knowing when youÆve got a good one, or what steps you ▓███
███▓ need to change in order to make it a good one. You need a special ▓███
███▓ ear for this kind of thing, which is not something that people ▓███
███▓ acknowledge. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Now, what comes into play at this point is that, age-wise, by 1993 ▓███
███▓ we are 30ùweÆre not 16-year-olds anymore. So, finally having these ▓███
███▓ tools at our disposal, the desire is to explore our own territory ▓███
███▓ rather than emulate our heroes. It remains, of course, a way of ▓███
███▓ making music that can never fully escape its influences, but as ▓███
███▓ weÆve always insisted, our firm belief is that you can always tell ▓███
███▓ when itÆs RMI in a blindfold test. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Improvisation is central to your music. How did you initially ▓███
███▓ approach this as a trio, and has your methodology or philosophy ▓███
███▓ around improvisation changed over the years? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary: Gary: The approach is still essentially the same, though we ▓███
███▓ have experimented with more arranged stuff at times, for example, ▓███
███▓ on æRain Falls in GreyÆ (æRFIGÆ). ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: I donÆt have a great recollection of there being a decisive ▓███
███▓ moment regarding the approach to a new piece of music. Often, there ▓███
███▓ would be the bare bones of an arrangement or an idea, and the ▓███
███▓ structure would emerge as we tried out different sonic strategies. ▓███
███▓ Sometimes weÆre empty-handed at the start, and something just ▓███
███▓ coalesces out of the fog in the room. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Personally, as the chief engineer of all this, one of my roles is ▓███
███▓ to periodically visit the ergonomics, arrange new gadgets, and ▓███
███▓ create new patches that I think will serve our common purpose. ▓███
███▓ This, too, feeds into whether weÆre completely improvising, working ▓███
███▓ around a pre-arranged structure, or (and yes, weÆve done this a few ▓███
███▓ times too!) playing something almost exactly ôlike it is on the ▓███
███▓ album.ö ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ But ultimately, in our band, we are not there to play the hits. We ▓███
███▓ are not there, in fact, at all to please the audience. People ▓███
███▓ struggle with this conceptà we have never seen the justification in ▓███
███▓ any sort of artistic compromise: if we donÆt like it, itÆs out. If ▓███
███▓ we do like it, itÆs in. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Soà when we started using the drums (because we wanted to), there ▓███
███▓ were a few raised eyebrows among the purists. We donÆt pay any ▓███
███▓ attention to this kind of thingùwe just do what we want. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: Improvisation is where the magic happensùthe things you ▓███
███▓ couldnÆt have pre-planned. It is the combination of three people ▓███
███▓ that makes the music so much more interesting than that of solo ▓███
███▓ artists in the genre, because the other two do not know what the ▓███
███▓ individual is going to do, so there is always the element of ▓███
███▓ surprise. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Initially, as a trio, Gary fitted right into the new way of working ▓███
███▓ because we all picked up on our previous experience making music ▓███
███▓ together, and he was not intimidated by all the electronics. We ▓███
███▓ hooked him into it all so that he could create loops that were in ▓███
███▓ sync with what we were doing. It was surprisingly easy, if IÆm ▓███
███▓ honestùonly easy because weÆd spent a lot of time imagining when we ▓███
███▓ might have the capability to work this way. It was more like a ▓███
███▓ feeling of, ôHere we are at last!ö ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ I donÆt believe the methodology has changed significantly, only ▓███
███▓ that perhaps we have become more daring. My favorite parts of our ▓███
███▓ music are when it sometimes goes down to almost silence. There is a ▓███
███▓ magic, a confident beauty in those moments. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Philosophically, itÆs like a state of grace where the conscious ▓███
███▓ mind only plays a part. If you can leave thought out of it and ▓███
███▓ contribute in the moment, you can sometimes surprise yourself with ▓███
███▓ what you play. The ultimate is when you are listening back to a ▓███
███▓ piece youÆve made, and everyone is so integrated that it isnÆt ▓███
███▓ always obvious who is doing what. That, to me, is successful ▓███
███▓ improvisation. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ From the Jodrell Bank observatory to the cottage in North Yorkshire ▓███
███▓ where æGalactic FurnaceÆ was created, physical spaces seem to play ▓███
███▓ a vital role in your music. How does the environment influence your ▓███
███▓ compositions and recordings? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary: I am not sureà but it does! ItÆs like the fourth member of ▓███
███▓ the band. When I listen to our stuff, I am always taken right back ▓███
███▓ to the recording environment, whether it was in London, Stockport, ▓███
███▓ or Castleton. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: Very much so. But the environment can be wildly different, ▓███
███▓ alien to us (e.g. a radio station in LA, a cabin in the back garden ▓███
███▓ of a friendÆs house in Yorkshire, a pub in North London on a bill ▓███
███▓ with several mid-Æ90s Britpop bands), and somehow we make it our ▓███
███▓ own. I guess once we are set up and happy with our sounds, ▓███
███▓ eyelines, bottles of water, bananasà we can turn any space into an ▓███
███▓ R.M.I. space. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: One thing that becomes immediately apparent when listening ▓███
███▓ to our recorded history is that there is an indefinable but ▓███
███▓ identifiable difference between music we have made with and without ▓███
███▓ an audience, although each has its merits. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We are very lucky to have performed in some wonderful spaces and ▓███
███▓ venues, including churches, planetariums, and a few really decent ▓███
███▓ concert halls. Ultimately, though, it comes down to the feedback ▓███
███▓ loop between what youÆre playing and how well you can hear what you ▓███
███▓ and everyone else is playingùand the studio will always be best for ▓███
███▓ that because volume is easier to control. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Having said that, there is a magic in looking at an amazing light ▓███
███▓ show going on against a backdrop of stained-glass windows, which ▓███
███▓ makes the music merely a significant part of a larger event. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Your albums are distilled from live, improvised sessions. What ▓███
███▓ criteria or instincts guide your editing process to transform ▓███
███▓ spontaneous creations into cohesive works? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary: This is very much Steve and DuncanÆs department! Essentially, ▓███
███▓ they distill the piece down into a final form. I have no idea how ▓███
███▓ they do it! ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: We have some unwritten rules about this. Steve has been ▓███
███▓ responsible for the majority of the editing, though I have also ▓███
███▓ done quite a bit, and a lot of the time, itÆs a collaborative ▓███
███▓ process, which occasionally leads us into a nightmare of version ▓███
███▓ control, especially when the recordings have been done multitrack. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ When we started out in the current incarnation, we recorded ▓███
███▓ directly to an open-reel machine (a Revox PR99 Mk1) or to DAT; this ▓███
███▓ tended to dictate the length of the piece, though typically an hour ▓███
███▓ was about the maximum weÆd play anyway, before one piece (and, by ▓███
███▓ extension, one set of musical ideas) was thoroughly mined. ▓███
███▓ Afterwards, we would edit this as much or as little as needed, the ▓███
███▓ main criteria being to keep the narrative arc coherent (and in the ▓███
███▓ same order it was created and recorded) while removing any wasted ▓███
███▓ time along with any technical issuesùbum notes, other electronic ▓███
███▓ glitches. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ ItÆs not an easy process to describe, but if youÆve had to edit ▓███
███▓ text or have been involved in making a movie, it will make more ▓███
███▓ sense to think of the overall structure as having its own purpose, ▓███
███▓ its own life, and allowing that to be the guide. Some of our pieces ▓███
███▓ resisted every attempt to shorten them, while others seemed to ▓███
███▓ present themselves as chapters of a larger story. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Examples of the former: æStartide,Æ æBurned & Frozen;Æ and of the ▓███
███▓ latter: æGod of Electricity,Æ æMaelstrom.Æ The new album has ▓███
███▓ elements of both. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: Looking at a new, unedited piece (and I must have done ▓███
███▓ hundreds by now) usually follows the same process. IÆll make a few ▓███
███▓ notes with timings and do what I call a ômacro edit.ö The piece ▓███
███▓ might be an hour long, but the last 20 minutes might be tedious, ▓███
███▓ repetitive, or overlong. Or a piece might be hovering around at the ▓███
███▓ start before it shapes itself into something good, or it might lose ▓███
███▓ its way in the middle. I make these macro edits first and ditch the ▓███
███▓ stuff we can afford to lose completely. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Then IÆll take whatÆs left and look at it in more detail, first ▓███
███▓ removing bum notes, technical mishaps, and, again, sections that ▓███
███▓ just maybe go on too long. ItÆs normally the sequences you have to ▓███
███▓ be wary of outstaying their welcome. IÆll get a first edit, which ▓███
███▓ will give a new perspective, and it might be good to go, but there ▓███
███▓ will usually be a few further cuts here and there just to tighten ▓███
███▓ it all up while retaining the spontaneous aspects. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Interestingly, across the board, there is an average success rate ▓███
███▓ of about 66û70% per piece. We were lucky enough to be in at the ▓███
███▓ early stages of digital editing (I had access to the early SADiE ▓███
███▓ software in the Æ90s) and have been able to use it very much to our ▓███
███▓ advantage on virtually everything weÆve done, certainly since 1996. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ YouÆve long embraced vintage instruments like the Mellotron. How do ▓███
███▓ these tools shape your sound? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: IÆm not sure that they do. TheyÆre a part of our sound, for ▓███
███▓ sure. Going back to that earlier metaphor, I think there will have ▓███
███▓ been times when George Harrison was inspired to try something out ▓███
███▓ for the lads by having been given an early model 12-string ▓███
███▓ Rickenbacker, but I think those songs wouldÆve been written anyway. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We started out with one Roland synth, but it could easily have been ▓███
███▓ an ARP or a Moog. Chance led me to the Mellotron, and while we made ▓███
███▓ a thing of it for a while, we quickly got tired of it being the ▓███
███▓ center of attention. I like the quality of the sounds that we get ▓███
███▓ from it, but sound design is only a small part of a much bigger ▓███
███▓ picture for us. WeÆve never schlepped a huge wall of modular synths ▓███
███▓ or paid much attention to any sort of arms race in this context. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ IÆve gone shopping mainly for things that will give us a lot of ▓███
███▓ sonic bang-for-buck and that are compact and reliable. The ▓███
███▓ Mellotron is anything but these things, but it gave us a particular ▓███
███▓ sound back when there wasnÆt another good way to get it. I got very ▓███
███▓ good at making convincing replicas of the tapes we had for my ▓███
███▓ samplers, and this led to creating sounds from scratch using the ▓███
███▓ same techniquesùcomplex modulations and so forth. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ But I donÆt really dig into sound design like some folks doùthis ▓███
███▓ holds no appeal for us, especially when thereÆs a musical idea ▓███
███▓ waiting to be realized. Some synthists go so deeply into sound ▓███
███▓ design and patching that it seems to be an end in itself; weÆve ▓███
███▓ never been that way. For us, if it takes longer to get a good ▓███
███▓ sequencer or keyboard sound than it does to (say) make a Strat ▓███
███▓ sound like you want it to through a Marshall Plexi, then time is ▓███
███▓ being wasted. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ In short, we stick to tried-and-trusted sounds as if we were just ▓███
███▓ normal people in a normal band. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: The simple answer is that they sound better. Their quirks, ▓███
███▓ their eccentricities cannot be duplicated. In a practical sense, ▓███
███▓ they are a pain, of course, but we have used the Mellotron and, ▓███
███▓ more recently, the Rhodes, and you can tell the difference. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ We had one glorious week with the Rhodes in 2011, and it sounded ▓███
███▓ like liquid goldà then the speakers blew up, and that was it. The ▓███
███▓ cabinet it came with was the key to the sound, with adjustable ▓███
███▓ stereo tremolo, which was just beautiful. The cabinet was ▓███
███▓ irreparable, so we sadly had to dump it. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ The Mellotron was retired from road use after a sensible length of ▓███
███▓ timeùwe figured people had had their chance to see it! Ultimately, ▓███
███▓ itÆs the difference between renting a van and getting everything in ▓███
███▓ a car. In fact, our first trip to the USA was what made Duncan ▓███
███▓ rethink our technical requirements, making them small, mobile, and ▓███
███▓ intelligent, which meant ditching the big stuff. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Of course, when we got to the USA, there were people only too happy ▓███
███▓ to loan us their instruments to use, which we gratefully did. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ At the concert we just played on November 9th this year, we had ▓███
███▓ every intention of using the body of a Minimoog for sequencing, but ▓███
███▓ it packed up on the last day of rehearsals. So, using this old gear ▓███
███▓ does come with its hazards. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ In recent years, youÆve incorporated bass guitar, acoustic drums, ▓███
███▓ and even vocals in some live settings. What drove this evolution, ▓███
███▓ and how do these elements complement your electronic foundations? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary: I guess weÆve always strived to do the best we can. ItÆs that ▓███
███▓ organic thing againùthe music just goes where it wants to! ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: I probably answered some of this above. The short version ▓███
███▓ is: we do what we want. At any given moment, what we each hear in ▓███
███▓ our heads is what we strive to get out of the speakers and into the ▓███
███▓ air. ThereÆs no strategy beyond doing what we want to do. We seldom ▓███
███▓ discuss it. A conversation might go like, ôWill there be drums on ▓███
███▓ this?ö ôYeahà thatÆs an ideaàö And then out comes the bass too. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: What drove this evolution is that, as a core trio, Gary, ▓███
███▓ Duncan, and I are a guitar, bass, and drums outfit. We were jamming ▓███
███▓ together and with others on these instruments when we were 18 and ▓███
███▓ have always kept them up. Duncan is a huge bass enthusiast, and I ▓███
███▓ still regard drums as my main instrument. In rehearsal sessions for ▓███
███▓ electronic shows, weÆd find ourselves jamming with bass and drums ▓███
███▓ for a bit of light reliefùbecause we so rarely get the chance. It ▓███
███▓ seemed logical to start incorporating these elements into our own ▓███
███▓ music. They are literally different strings to our bow, as it were, ▓███
███▓ and we donÆt see them as mutually exclusive with electronics. You ▓███
███▓ have to use everything at your disposal, and even in an electronic ▓███
███▓ context, weÆve always seen ourselves as rock musicians. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ YouÆve described your work as ôorganic music.ö Could you expand on ▓███
███▓ this concept and how it informs your creative approach compared to ▓███
███▓ the more clinical aspects of electronic music production? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary: Our music reflects how we were feeling at the time and the ▓███
███▓ environment we were in. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: I think I may have covered this earlierùtelepathy and a ▓███
███▓ sense of telling a story or describing an emotion, a state of mind. ▓███
███▓ We talk very little before or after a sessionùmaybe a brief ▓███
███▓ discussion of the mechanics, especially if thereÆs a new gadget or ▓███
███▓ one of us has a musical idea that needs incorporating. We ▓███
███▓ absolutely never talk during a performance, either on stage or in ▓███
███▓ the studio, unless somethingÆs on fire. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: I guess organic described it best for me back then and still ▓███
███▓ does. I like to hear the evolution of a piece happen in real time ▓███
███▓ (or close to it)ùthe possibilities to explore with the sound ▓███
███▓ palette in front of you, but with no plan as to what youÆre going ▓███
███▓ to do or when youÆre going to do it. ItÆs like live-action ▓███
███▓ painting, maybe. Programming, tweaking, endless mixingùthatÆs not ▓███
███▓ something that appeals to us. Most of our early albums were ▓███
███▓ recorded straight to stereo, and thatÆs it. So the mix had better ▓███
███▓ be rightùand in 99% of cases, it was! Job done. You just have to ▓███
███▓ use your ears and be selfless in your contributions. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ The other aspect of organic I was driving at was trying to describe ▓███
███▓ the joy of music that evolves like nature doesùat a slow pace, not ▓███
███▓ always apparent what has changed, yet always moving along somehow. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Your music often evokes vast, otherworldly landscapes, as with ▓███
███▓ æGalactic FurnaceÆ and its ôturbulent cosmic fire.ö What draws you ▓███
███▓ to these themes? ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Gary: I take you back to those night skies in our youth! ItÆs ▓███
███▓ inspiring stuff, and the inspiration lasts a lifetime. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: An aversion to whiny, self-absorbed singer-songwriter ▓███
███▓ trash! ôKnow thy place in the grand scheme of things.ö DonÆt know ▓███
███▓ really. We do landscapes, not portraits, I guess would be the trite ▓███
███▓ answer. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Steve: I guess the need within us as humans to express something ▓███
███▓ bigger than ourselves or to acknowledge our place in the universe. ▓███
███▓ ThatÆs the feeling I get from it. ItÆs our way of saying that we ▓███
███▓ appreciate where we are in time and acknowledging the vastness of ▓███
███▓ space. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ From your homage to Syd Barrett in æRain Falls in GreyÆ to your ▓███
███▓ collaborations with Damo Suzuki, tell us more about these ▓███
███▓ recordings. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Duncan: We have a number of favorite artists in common, though ▓███
███▓ there is probably less overlap in our musical tastes than people ▓███
███▓ might think. Damo Suzuki & the work of Can, for example, were on ▓███
███▓ the periphery of GaryÆs tastes, but when the call came, we knew ▓███
███▓ what to do. Not our normal schtick, but also not a dumb Can ▓███
███▓ replication like some of DamoÆs other pickup bands. In fact, this ▓███
███▓ was one of the occasions where our need to serve our own purposes ▓███
███▓ coincided with the requirements of the day, which were to be ▓███
███▓ recognizably R.M.I. but to support whatever Sprechgesang Damo came ▓███
███▓ up with on the night. I think we pulled it off. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ As for Sydà we had convened at the studio with, as it turned out, ▓███
███▓ the drums & bass, as well as all of the electronic doodads. Then we ▓███
███▓ got news that heÆd died, and some sort of spell was cast over the ▓███
███▓ proceedings, with the loose ideas & structures weÆd brought to the ▓███
███▓ studio suddenly taking on a new purpose: to honor the man whose ▓███
███▓ brief career kickstarted the entire ôcontemplative improvisationö ▓███
███▓ approach to music, and space rock in particular. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Over beers, we noted that ôNo Syd: no Hawkwind, no Hillage, no ▓███
███▓ Gongàö and by extension, an effect on the musical landscape of ▓███
███▓ later years tooùwould we have had Sonic Youth or Television without ▓███
███▓ æAstronomy DomineÆ? Perhaps, perhaps not. But we turned these ▓███
███▓ reflections into a sort of tribute, again without trying to ▓███
███▓ replicate anything but bring our own musical stylings to the ▓███
███▓ effort. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ So, for me, I wasnÆt about to start playing bass like Roger Waters ▓███
███▓ necessarily, but like I would have done had I been in the presence ▓███
███▓ of Barrett himself. There were nods on the album to the early Floyd ▓███
███▓ sound, of course, but we also tried to suggest that ôif it hadnÆt ▓███
███▓ been for Syd, we probably wouldnÆt have hadàö stuff like glissando ▓███
███▓ guitar, or that terrifying tremolo racket at the start of the one ▓███
███▓ piece thatÆs explicit in referencing him. ▓███
███▓ ▓███
███▓ Read more: ▓███
███▓ https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2025/03/radio-massacre-internati ▓███
███▓ onal-interview-new-album-galactic-furnace.html ▓███
███▓ ▓███
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███▓ "LOVE AND RESPECT YOUR FRIENDS AND LET YOUR ENEMIES DIE!!!" ▓███
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