PolarVoidX Interview with Vinnie Grist for the Old Wave New Wave Show, Phonic FM 16 September 2023 Listen to the show here: Old Wave New Wave Show
Dark Equilibrium Album Release Sept 23 on the Solstice on all streaming platforms and Bandcamp
I was lucky to be invited onto the Old Wave New Wave show on Phonic FM hosted by Vinnie Grist, and a lovely experience was too.
Vinnie sent me some great questions before the show about my music and related topics. The answers are below and you can listen to the show on Mixcloud, link above. Also tune in to the show every fortnight on Phonic FM at noon, guaranteed a great listen.
Tell us a bit about PolarVoidX – how would you describe PolarVoidX’s music to others and how did the project get started?
PVX started September 2019, Ghost Hands my band had split, so I had to find a way of having other instruments to play along with. I’d always wanted an analog synth, I I’d toyed with the Wasp in the 1980s in a band called Bermuda Triangle, (needless to say they disappeared without trace). I could have used a computer DAW, but instead opted for analog, so I could really learn about synthesis. I chose the Korg Minilogue XD. As it happens my learning curve was very steep, but covid gave me a bit more time. I’ve always been absolutely fascinated with synths and electronic sound manipulation. But not on a computer as I find that tedious. Up until recent years synths we’re hugely expensive, thankfully now that’s not so much the case.
Where did the name PolarVoidX come from?
Whilst I was looking for a name, I was looking at a book of Polaroids by Taschen that a friend gave me, coincidentally the first image on the page I opened was of the polar ice shelf collapsing. Polaroid, polar void. I was reminded of a scientist saying we had ten years to the tipping point for the planet. Hence the X for ten. it was a play on words. Sadly, by my reckoning that gives us 4 years.
The album Dark Equilibrium has a very dark sound, what was your inspiration behind the album
?
I love dark sounding music, I listen to a lot, so I’m thrilled that comes across on the album. The inspiration was mostly about the long dark period that the planet and humanity is going through right now. The rise of populism, the limitation of protest, poverty, and above all the ignorance of the climate emergency and what it’s already doing to people around the globe, combine that with the threat of war and pandemics, you’ve got the perfect environment for a dark album. There’s also a whole lot of personal reflection, which I think everyone feels at certain stages in their life. And some quirky sound experiments.
The name of the album came from Daryl, my friend, he described Solstice für Letze Generation as the sound of dark equilibrium, which I loved. So he takes credit for the name. You can read full explanations of the tracks by track elsewhere on this blog
It’s an Instrumental album, did you find it easy to convey the themes/commentary you wanted to through instrumentals?
Not easy at all, I’m dyslexic, but I love words and even more so images, describing things in sound was a real challenge. I’m in absolute awe of people like Eno, Hannah Peel, Johann Johannsen, Hildur Gudnadottir, Helene Vogelsinger, people who can convey an atmosphere and paint pictures with sound.
All the tunes are like mini films in my head, so I’m basically making the soundtrack to each one. I’m not a massive fan of rigid traditional song structure, even in guitar bands my songs never went verse chorus verse chorus etc. This is why I love Bowie’s Low album, side two so much. sometimes I don’t know how to end my songs, so preparing for performance was a bit challenging in that sense. I note that Bowie’s instrumentals often just peter out.
You write on your blog that you're fascinated by the concept of hauntology, could you give a bit of an explanation of what hauntology is and why it fascinates you and acted as a source of inspiration?
So hauntology, ‘Hauntology is a range of ideas referring to the return or persistence of elements from the social or cultural past, as in the manner of a ghost. The term is a neologism first introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1993 book Specters of Marx.’ (Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauntology_(music) )
I read a lot of Mark Fischer’s writings in lockdown he writes a lot about futures that were predicted but never happened. If you grew up in the seventies, like me, then you believed the world would really look like BLADE RUNNER now and we’d all be in flying cars. When I was making the tune futures, it occurred to me that at any given moment there are an infinite number of possible futures available to you. That blew my mind! That small choices and decisions could completely change your life, and yet it seems we have so little control.
I also studied cultural theory for my MA which had a profound impact on how I see the world. Coincidentally, Mark Fisher interviews John Foxx in his book ‘Ghosts of my Life’, I was reflecting on life as a series of small films, then I read this interview, and John Foxx describes it perfectly, it was a spooky moment for me, like hearing my own thoughts played back to me. Tiny Colour Movies is fantastic. Both the concept and the music. Oddly, as I was reading about it and JF’s connection with Harold Budd, Maryanne Hobbes played The White Arcades, by Harold Budd on BBC6! Spooky once again!!
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/mark-fishers-k-punk-and-the-futures-that-have-never-arrived
What’s your writing process/how do you go about writing tracks?
Haha, usually I get an idea when I’m reading, looking at art, or most inconveniently when I’m in the shower. I think about the feel and pace of the track and what I’m trying to convey, then I put myself in the scene in my head and see what follows. I have a grasshopper mind, so I have to get things down as a musical note as quickly as possible. Sometimes I’m intrigued by images or numbers, like Si’s Mystery Water Meter, I literally programmed the sequence of numbers on the image, thanks Si.
In another life I’d have studied composition so I could score the music from my head. As it is I carry a notebook or use my phone notes for ideas on the fly. I love museums and art galleries. As a hint of what’s coming next, I spent a whole, very weird, afternoon with Egyptian mummies recently! Eerie!
I’m also very interested in the seasons of the year as experienced by pagans, the changes in the light, times of the year etc. it’s amazing to imagine that people have experienced those things in the same way as we do since humanity existed. That’s fascinating to me. When I was writing Solstice Für Letze Generation, I imagined watching the sun rise on the last solstice, it’s a very sobering image.
Also, I find periods of change in history are resonant with me, moments at which we have faced great crises in different parts of the world, revolution, financial crashes, poverty and famine, and now climate emergency. These things must not be ignored.
You record your music at home? What’s your home set up?
I use four main synths, Novation Mono Station, Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Modwave, Korg MicroKorg XL+ and an Arturia Drumbrute Impact, drum machine. I also have a few other synths and sequencers, like the Roland under my bed, but I like to play and record ‘Live’, so I can’t play them all at the same time. In some respects this limitation is good, otherwise I’d spend all the time tinkering. I also use an iPad for effects patches such as voices, explosions etc. I’d like to find a more intuitive way of doing this, but for now the iPad works.
I mix the recordings using a Zoom L12 mixer, this means I don’t have to turn on a computer to mix and record, because it has a record each track to an SD card function.
Most times I record just one or two takes, ironically, I had to relearn them to play them live. As a result I’ve got way better at documenting what I’m doing.
I only use a Digital Audio Workstation DAW on the mac for final mix down, panning etc. I find computers and all the notifications and complexity a total distraction from creating sounds.
The tracks on Dark Equilibrium were mastered professionally by Antony at RedRedPaw. He’s a genius and has worked with a lot of famous people. Coincidentally, at the same time he was mastering the epic Vangelis tribute for charity, which includes one of my tracks, Futures.
You've been in other bands in the past, what’s different about working on this as a solo project and also playing live?
I love playing in bands, and playing live, and collaborating with others, and I really want to do that again before too long. Playing solo is fun but has it’s limitations, when PolarVoidX played at the Phoenix, my pal Daryl was my co-pilot, because I literally couldn’t easily trigger and play all of the instruments at the same time. It’s a bit more complex to reproduce things live, that’s why I try to simplify things when recording. I recall that David Byrne said that it took nine or more musicians to reproduce Remain in Light live.
To be honest the fewer people I play live with, the more terrifying I find it is, but also rewarding too. I quite liked Creep Show, PVA and Fever Ray for their live set up, enough people and performance to keep the music interesting.
Influences
Which bands have influenced the PolarvoidX sound?
Oh my, I’d love to nail this, but I just listen to so much music of all genres new and old, in fact I actively seek out music I haven’t heard before. Hence going to Rewire Festival, among others. That was an eye opener. so much fabulous experience.
Most of the people whose music I really admire have some form of classical training or background, but I also love it when people experiment, cut up tracks, use real life sounds and field recordings, this requires infinite patience. I have done a little bit, on Aviator for instance. But it takes courage and patience to be Delia Derbyshire.
I also love when musicians play very unusual electronic instruments, or traditional instruments, combined with electronics.
I literally fall in love with different musicians, bands, and tracks every day. Some stay with me of course, like Bowie and Eno etc, but I’m a musical gadfly. I’m often intrigued and influenced by soundtrack or incidental music for film or TV, particularly when it isn’t recorded anywhere, just used for the programme.
This week I listened to Lankum (and bought tickets to see them in Bristol), also Jockstrap, Agnes Obel, Alto Arc, Heilung, Ziur, and an album of Real raw Rockabilly. as well as Phillip Glass and a Doom Folk playlist, plus Helene Vogelsinger on YouTube. If I had time I’d share more of what I’m listening with everyone.
This being the old wave/new wave show – what part did post punk/new wave play in forming your style?
Wow, yes, post punk/new wave, like many people I think it gave me permission to have a go at a time when working class kids didn’t really have a musical education, or access to decent instruments, and also allowed a very broad church of music to emerge in a short period of time. Luckily I played bass initially, as synths were astronomically expensive, in the tens of thousands. When I started playing. People like Bowie, Eno, Pete Murphy, John Foxx, Siouxsie, Midge Ure, but also Hendrix, John McGeoch, and some proggers were very cool, they gave you encouragement to express yourself. But they could also afford instruments that were out of my reach.
Who are some of the recent bands acts you are listening to/excited by
Alto Arc, Fever Ray, Lankum, Jockstrap, PVA, Creep Show, Kaelen Mikla, Ziur, and lots of dark doom folk from Scandinavia, like Heilung and Wardruna also some fabulous new classical stuff on the BBC Proms, and prog guitar, like Animals as Leaders. I caught Heathen Apostles live at the Cavern recently, and was very struck by their performance, they are musically superb, but they also act and dress the part, which I love to see. I’m drawn to anything with an element of performance, or some compositional component that goes beyond the usual band structure. Take Lankum for example, they use 30 or more instruments and experiment for hours to get a song or an idea. I’d love to see Laibach and Animals as Leaders live. I’m very intrigued by Goth festivals After reading John Robb’s excellent book.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a good grunge thrash, or metal gig, so I’ll be at the Phoenix Tonight for Freak by Wire.
What was the last album you bought?
This week, Alto Arc’s EP on Bandcamp, and before that, probably Fields of the Nephilim boxed set. But loads of charity shop classical, and some others.
Synths
How did you get into Synths – both listening to and playing synths
My first awareness of synths was seeing Brian Eno in Roxy Music, I thought he was so cool (LoL) and later Simple Minds and Ultravox, who I saw live early on in their career. I was very taken with the way they combined synth, guitar and vocals, which I still think is hard to do well. I love John Foxx’s music, and am going to see him later in the year, playing piano unaccompanied, which I’m very excited about. His catalogue and career is phenomenal.
I love Wagner, Bach, and many other classical composers but I can’t imagine playing with that degree of skill, but when I first heard Tangerine Dream for example I thought, my goodness it’s electronic Wagner or Bach! So maybe it’s possible. I’m massively impressed by the lengths they go to to get their sound.
Like John Robb, the first synth I laid hands on was the wasp, it was plastic and had a stick on keyboard. There were three of us, 2 wasps and me on bass, hence the Bermuda Triangle! John Robb drew a wasp synth in my History of Goth book when he signed it.
What some of the synths/equipment you use on this album?
I use the same four synths, Novation Mono Station, Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Modwave, Korg MicroKorg XL+ and an Arturia Drumbrute Impact drum machine.
I also use field recordings made on a zoom H2n recorder, and I manipulate them using the micro korg, then turn them into patches for the iPad.
What’s your favourite synth?
Difficult, I love the minilogue XD for its analogue coldness and the way the sounds are developed using a really logical analog system, but I also love the Modwave as it works in a very different way and has an unpredictable randomness.
How much of your gear did you take with you for the live show?
All four synths and the drum machine. It’s all pretty portable and we got into a good pack down set up routine during rehearsals at the awesome Tazma rehearsal studios.
Visuals
Visuals/videos were an important part of your live show, and you’ve made videos for a number of your songs – where do you get your ideas for your videos from?
I love visuals and I’m a visual thinker, so most of the tunes have a visual mini film story already in my head. I try and find images that tell the story. For Example, Dietrich’s Ghost is about a recurring nightmare, and it makes much more sense combined with visuals than as a stand alone piece of music. I personally think Aviator is the same. I probably see all music as images, although I’m not sure?
You’ve also used AI in imagery – what’s your thoughts on the potential of AI in art/music?
Yeah, I used it to make some photos into a comic, it worked really well. I think AI could be a wonderful tool, some people like Holly Herndon have used it to good effect, but I’m terrified that it will take over from some real life skills and be manipulated ruthlessly by commercial interests. We’re already seeing this sadly. It’s hard for musicians to make a living as it is.
I don’t want the day to come when AI scores a movie instead of Vangelis or Hannah Peel, I’d be really sad. Movie scores are among my favourite music of all time.
In fact because of AI I’m considering putting together a performing collective of musicians to play live (I did this before with the Lullaby Collective), this is something AI can’t replicate (YET). Like many creatives I’m looking at ways of making things that AI CANT do yet.
I was talking to a print maker recently, they were using a subtractive process that could only be done once. As a result each print was absolutely unique. I love this way of thinking. I’m thinking of applying that to musical performance. I saw a lot of that at Rewire, ‘one offs’ that will never be replicated exactly ever again.
Aviator story
What’s the story behind the aviator song?
I don’t know why exactly, but the tragic story of my uncle Terry, told to me when I was a small boy, stuck in my mind. A kind of moral warning not to behave irrationally. I have a tattoo on my arm, as part of a montage, its the aviator.
Sadly, just as with my grandfather who died between the wars, I never met uncle Terry. He tragically crashed his aircraft between the wars in a freak accident. Try as I might I’ve never found any details of the crash, or of his military service, or very sadly where he is buried. (Also strange is my grandfather’s story from the navy, but that’s for another time).
Hauntology again, the Aviator song and the video are all about that sad lost future that uncle Terry might have had, and also the sadness in forgotten graves and loved ones. Of course I never met him so I can only imagine what he’d be like (more hauntology. The full story of Aviator is in this blog elsewhere and on YouTube here
What next for Polarvoid X?
I’d love to collaborate with more people from folk and classical music worlds, as well as world musicians with traditional instruments. I’m interested in doing more cover versions, but ‘way out’ ones.
The most important thought idea is an epic one off performances, something that people will remember for a long time. Like Hanna Peel’s Fir Wave or Rival Consoles Now Is.
I’m not sure I could ever reach their level of excellence but I’d love to work with others who can. I have plenty of big ideas, but not enough time or cash.
Probably more recording, but it’s time consuming, costly and sometimes feels a little futile considering how much music is out there.
“I’m always torn between more beautiful and composed, or more experimental and challenging”
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JKB talking to Vinnie Grist for the Old Wave New Wave Show Sept 2023
