November 12, 2024
Nov 12, 2024
Citizen Vinyl: The band name comes from the Martin Luther King Jr. sermon of the same name — what about that spoke to you?
Curt Cloninger: The moral of the sermon is to harness your natural human instinct to lead others / be out front / be seen, and turn that instinct into a will to serve others behind the scenes. Our band can be loud and abrasive, but hopefully people come away with an experience that benefits them in some meaningful way. Jeff and I aren’t like young rockers or anything. Live, we’re both sitting down, trying to listen closely to what the other one is doing. So even thought we are technically up front, we’re also kind of behind the scenes. Also, 50% of the band is a drummer, and the name starts with “Drum.” Also, you can call the band DMI for short, which sounds cool.
What inspired the project between you and Jeff Arnal, and why use drums and synths when even your own liner notes (by Byron Coley) point out this is not a popular combination?
During covid, I fell into the bottomless hole that is modular synthesis. I sent Jeff some audio, just so he could hear what I was doing, and he added drums. It turned out to be a fruitful combination. I’m a guitar player (mostly), so I built my modular system to sound doom or shoegaze rather than “electronic.” You can make a modular synthesizer sound like anything you want, so why would you make it sound like a synthesizer? My system generates complex polyrhythms that I can’t really keep up with as a musician. But Jeff is an actually great jazz musician, so he’s able to connect with and tease out rhythms that I didn’t even know were in the system.
While you and Jeff were swapping sound files, how much input / feedback did you give each other? Was each artist allowed full creativity or were there parameters?
Each is allowed full control of his instrument. As with all improvisation, some moments turn out better than others. With longer improvisational studio takes, Jeff is good at selecting the best parts and editing out the rest. We sometimes go back and forth about mix levels, but not that much. It’s like we each had already worked through a lot of possible approaches in our individual musical practices before we met each other, so there was less left to work out. If it hadn’t sounded good to us at the beginning, we probably would have called it a worthwhile experiment and left it at that. But the collaboration keeps yielding surprising and challenging (worthwhile) results. We don’t seem to have exhausted it yet by any means.
You released an EP in June 2022 — do you have other recordings in the works?
We have recorded several live shows since the EP, and several improvisational studio sessions. I personally want our next release to be a double live vinyl only project. I have a dream! (That wouldn’t be the name of it. I’m just saying, I have a dream.)
What led to the invite to play Big Ears Festival, and will DMI appear at any other upcoming festivals?
Jeff sent some audio and some video of one of our shows to Ashley Capps (Big Ears Executive and Artistic Director), and he invited us to play. We don’t have any festivals scheduled beyond Big Ears, but we are of course open to invitations!
Learn more here.
Join Citizen Vinyl in partnership with LEAF Global Arts on Friday, October 4 through Sunday, October 6 for a Curbside Pop-Up in front of Citizen Vinyl (14 O. Henry Ave. in downtown Asheville). Noon to 5 p.m. daily. • FREE FOOD by Chef Michelle Bailey… View Article
Citizen Vinyl wouldn’t exist without musicians. We’re here because of your art. So many musicians in our community have found themselves without gigs and opportunities necessary for their livelihood. Some have lost equipment, instruments, and homes. Here are resources for those in need, as well… View Article
Asheville and all of Western North Carolina has suffered (and continues to weather) devastating effects from Hurricane Helene. The good news is that Citizen Vinyl and our staff are safe. While we’re not currently open to the public, our record pressing facility has been able… View Article