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Music & Misc.
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| This is Electronica's sort of news and other goodies page, always check back here for the latest stuff...... |
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| Feb.25,99'-posted the interview with electronic music's digital master "Ghost in the Machine" |
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| Feb.26,99'-look here next week for an exclusive interview with the electronic group Moondawg. |
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| I recently interviewed Mark Hlobil of Ghost in the Machine and things in the music business have been going pretty smoothly for him. Here's what he had to say: |
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| Electronica (EA): First off, I would just like to congratulate you on your new album, Liquid Dreams. |
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| Ghost in the Machine (GM): Thank you, Liquid Dreams was about a year long project. It explores differentstyles of electronica, from Ambient, to Eurodance, DreamHouse and even NewAge. The goal of the album was to introduce myself to electronica, as I had basically been playing rock and heavy-metal for the past 8 years. All of my previous influences can be heard on the album. |
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| EA: Although i havent heard the whole thing, the songs on MP3.com were extremely impressive. Much credit to all the work that must have been put into to it. About Ghost in the Machine, who all is in the group, (how did yall hook up)? |
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| GM: Ghost in the Machine consists of one person (Mark Hlobil) who handles every aspect of the music, composition, recording, mastering and production. As of late, I have been collaborating with Michael W. Gilboe, producer of Jumalatar and some vocalists that he works with to add other dimensions to the music. |
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| EA: Im sure everybody wants to know, how did you start making music, was it something you've always wanted to do? |
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| GM: I've always enjoyed playing music, but writing was something that was quite a challenge for me early on. I had to listen to a lot of other influences to be able to put together the pieces of each style and make something coherent out of it. Im talking a vast amount of influences here, everything from The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Santana, Live, Pearl Jam, Faith no More, Metallica, Megadeth, Alice n Chains, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Brandy and Monica, Robert Miles, The Crystal Method, Sash!, 2 Unlimited, Enigma, Bach, Mozart, John Williams, James Horner, Danny Elfman, Beethoven, KC and the Sunshine Band, the list goes on and on. Ive always wanted to write music for radio or commercials, film anything that music can be used for. Currently I've been working with ChoiceEnterprises, a web design company that specializes in MacroMedia Flash websites, doing some music loops for their flash presentations. |
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| EA: How did u end up putting your music on the net? Whats your stand point on trying to stop making MP3's downloadable? (Are you worried that someone might try and rip your songs off) |
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| GM: About a year ago I came across a website that was just starting out. It went by the name of Mp3.com. There were about 15 bands in total when I joined. I realized, hey, this is a great low-cost method of distribution for me, so I began looking for other sites of a similar nature. I have taken precautions to ensure that my musical works are properly copywritten. "The power of a musician is not in his past works, but in his ability to create works." I think a famous internet musician by the name of Master-Zap said that. |
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| EA: The first track I listened to on Liquid Dreams was "Dreaming of a Better World", and it was FANTASTIC.....absolutely brilliant!!!! The song was very well put together, and reminded me something that Robert Miles or Orbital would have produced. The strings in this song were unreal. What inspired you to write this one? How long did it take to make...? |
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| GM: Heh, funny that you mention that one. That song is exactly one week old. Actually, it isn't on Liquid Dreams, but will be released on an EP that I am currently working on. I'll include some remixes of Liquid Dreams tracks, with maybe one newer song and Dreaming of a Better World. The song is a product of strong inspiration. I started, wrote and finished it in about 3 days. Im also thinkning about including a vocal version of Dreaming, with some vocals and lyrics written by one of Gilboe's singers. She calls the track Echoes of Yesterday and it uses the music from Dreaming. When it is finished it should be reminiscent of One and One by Robert Miles on Dreamland. Robert Miles is one of my largest influences, and you'll hear it in a lot of my work, especially in piano sequences. |
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| EA: When you do write your songs, do you improvise some parts or do you sit down and write down the sheet music for the whole thing.....? |
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| GM: My studio (If I can call my limited equipment setup that) is entirely midi based. When I write something, I play it note for note on my synths. If things need to be edited I can do that too, but I like the live, more spontaneous sound that you get when you play things instead of program them. Ill try to get some sort of theme that I can carry throughout the song. Sometimes I start with a melody, sometimes a bassline, sometimes a chord progression. Once I have a basic idea, I just fill in the harmonies and rhythms with something that I think is appropriate depending on mood, and groove. |
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| EA: So what is it like to be doing this (making music), you must get tired sometime of it. What exactly is a typical day for Ghost in the Machine? |
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| GM: Heh, a typical day for Ghost in the Machine involves school, since I'm currently pursuing a major in business. When I have any free time available, I'll sit down and try to put some ideas into the sequencer, kind of like a musical sketch pad. When I have more time available, like on the weekends, and after I have a few good ideas gathered, Ill spend four or five hours working on segments of music that I created earlier in the week trying to make something out of them. That is basically my creative process. |
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| EA: Before we finish here...just a few more questions...could you please tell the internet surfers a little about your new album, "Liquid Dreams"? |
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| GM: Liquid Dreams is available for $9.99 through Mp3.com athttp://db.mp3.com/Visitor/order.php3?cd_id=290It contains 11 tracks of music, 5 of which are available at Mp3.com for free. It is about 51 minutes long. More info about the album can be found athttp://listen.to/ghostmachine. |
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| EA: For all the new and upcoming electronic artists, what would u say is the basic equipment needed to start making electronic music, do u have any advice on how to succeed? ...I know you made Liquid Dreams with only an Alesis QS6 synthesizer and some sound software, anything else, though? |
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| GM: A lot of musical knowledge and experience went into the creation of Liquid Dreams, but at the same time during the writing of it, I was gaining new ideas and experience. I think of the whole album as a learning process for me, a tool of musical self-improvement. As for other beginning electronic artists, I think that all you really need a strong awareness of the styles used in electronica, know the differences of all the subgenres. Get educated.. Listen to all types of music because ideas can come from anywhere at anytime. As for equipment, I started with one keyboard and a computer, but I know of a lot of people who use only software to create music. It all really comes down to the creative desire within you. If you have the desire, the rest will fall into place when you are ready. |
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| Ghost in the Machine.......... |
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