Katherine Young and Chris Schlarb
Creative musicians swap stories on how their experiences in the music industry have shaped their careers today
By Venus Zine Staff
Published: September 23rd, 2008 | 12:50pm
Composer and bassoonist Katherine Young was born in the South and currently lives in Connecticut where she has worked with Anthony Braxton, Ron Kuivila, and Alvin Lucier in pursuit of her Master’s in composition at Wesleyan University. She graduated with bassoon performance and comparative literature degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory in 2003. Comfortable in extremes, Katherine is a rare musician who posseses both the discipline and whimsy to perform in folk, free jazz, and chamber ensembles. In 2005, she received a City of Chicago CAAP grant to study composition with Stacy Garrop.
SIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR KATHERINE YOUNG by Chris Schlarb
Is an artist's worst enemy the thought that she deserves something more than the act of creation? A career? Praise?
Well, I wouldn't say that desire for praise or a career is the *worst* enemy of an artist. In some ways, this impulse falls under the rubric of wanting your music to resonate with others - - those who might offer you career-y things, as well as folks who just like your work. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting people to be excited about your music. Most of us need feedback, positive and critical. Though of course, creating work only for egotistical reasons is not healthy and rarely produces good results.
I remember reading an interview in Musician magazine with Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis, where Marsalis dismissed Funkadelic as being unlearned music. Herbie rebuked him and admitted that in some ways education stifled his own creativity. Do you ever find that creativity and education or theory are at odds or do they, in fact, challenge one another?
I think that learning is always a good thing. Without having read this article, it seems like Marsalis could have a very narrow idea of "learned," one with problematic undertones. Seems to me that most artists doing interesting, creative, challenging work are always in a process of education, often self-education. Theory, education and creativity certainly can and do challenge and enrich each other. Each artist has to strike her own balance.
Have you ever played/performed your music for your family (parents/siblings, etc.)? If so, how do they respond?
Several times! My immediate family is incredibly supportive. I think they get more excited about seeing live performances than listening to recordings, which makes sense. They are really open and always listen hard and generally have insightful comments. Even my deaf 98-year-old grandfather asks me in a deep southern accent, "Katie, are you learning to write music?"
As a musician and improviser, you have worked in chamber, free jazz and rock/pop settings. How important is it for you to jump from one construct to another? Is that a product of a certain environment or rather, being open to opportunity?
It's definitely important to me to work in different areas -- there's something to be learned from every musical experience. And certainly at this stage of the game, I want to have as many experiences as I can because I feel like there's so much I have to learn. I am generally open to the things that come along -- and lots of strange things do if you're up for it!
Especially in the fields of classical and modern composition, how important is the continuum of both learning and teaching music? Both to tutor and to be tutored?
I've actually never taught composition before, but it seems like with most things, you learn things really well when you teach them. And you're a better teacher if you're learning. But I think a lot of the most important things about your music you have to teach yourself.
If I remember correctly, you and I met in the summer of 2004 when we both performed at the 3030 in Chicago. I'm curious what this distant process of collaboration has been like with you contributing to Twilight & Ghost Stories. Were you at all uneasy about sending your bassoon recording to me for inclusion in the piece? Did you have any expectations?
Yes, I think that's when we met. And no - - I wasn't worried about sending you my music - - I was happy to. I wasn't sure what (or frankly if anything) would come of it, so I didn't really have any hardcore expectations. But I was excited to have my music recontextualized and become part of something new, beyond what I had conceived.
—
A deeply personal piece of music that chronicled the dissolution and restoration of his family life, Chris Schlarb's Twilight & Ghost Stories was released in late 2007 after almost five years of work. The album included collaborations with over 40 musicians, including Sufjan Stevens, Dave Longstreth (of Dirty Projectors), Liz Janes, and Katherine Young. Schlarb is also one half of the group I Heart Lung, who are releasing their first full length album, Interoceans, with Asthmatic Kitty Records in September 2008.
SIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CHRIS SCHLARB by Katherine Young
How does running a record label inform your process as you create your own music?
For a long time, it felt like my own creativity was in hibernation. For about six years I was doing a lot of producing and engineering for other artists and many of my own ideas were assimilated into the projects and albums of others. Running Sounds Are Active also took up a lot of time and left me with very little left in the tank. Last year, I endeavored to focus more on my own music and my own projects. So far, I have no complaints.
It seems like you often work collaboratively - - even your solo record Twilight and Ghost Stories was a collaboration of sorts, a sort of remix or a curatorial process. How important is collaboration to you? Why?
There is something inside of me that rejoices when I hear or see artists working together. This is especially true when they come from such different disciplines. An early inspiration was a beautiful song called "Memories" by Material from their album One Down. Some of the musicians who played on that song were free jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, bassist Bill Laswell, guitarist Fred Frith and Whitney Houston on vocals. That kind of thing was very inspiring to me at an early age.
I remember in high school studying my scales and working on my guitar playing and then inviting rappers and drummers over to the house and we all brought different things to the table. Something new happened for all of us. As an artist it is easy to get caught up in the familiar. Not that I don't enjoy working on music alone though. There are new things to be found in there as well.
How much of a role do conceptions of genre play in your understanding of music - - both your own, that which you produce, and that which you listen to? Do you think genre is a useful / interesting / productive way in which to think about music?
I think genre is a rule. Depending on how it is approached It can be both the proverbial blessing and curse. I love rules though. As long as I keep the right perspective, genre can be very useful. As a producer and engineer it helps tremendously. Some musicians are most comfortable within established constructs. It is considerably more risky to when you start thinking about amalgamating Afro-Cuban percussion with Bach as Golijov did with La Pasión según San Marcos.
What has been a recent, important creative / musical learning experience for you?
My good friend Andrew Pompey graduated with a degree in music a few years ago and has been teaching at a school in L.A. for a while. We traveled up to San Francisco and back together for a Twilight & Ghost Stories performance there a few weeks back and got into addressing some of my theoretical deficiencies. We also happened to buy a beautiful Deagan marimba while we were up there and by the time we got back to Long Beach I was handed a copy of Tonal Harmony by Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne.
For a number of years, I have recoiled at the idea of learning too much music theory. My fear was that it would stunt my creativity rather than enhance it. I told Andrew that my caveat was that I didn't want to learn anything that would alter the way I would normally think about music. He, rightfully, challenged me and more lessons are forthcoming.
How many instruments do you play? How important is instrumentation to your compositional process?
I don't play nearly the number of instruments that I hear in my head. Perhaps that is another reason for the amount of collaboration. I still remember the first time I heard "Within You, Without You" by the Beatles. Hearing that charged me! It put me on a quest, and eventually lead me to play the instrument. As usual, my main instruments are 6- and 12- string acoustic and electric guitars, but I also play kalimba, piano, tabla, clarinet and now, marimba.
Interoceans seems like a record that could be performed in some version live. In contrast, Twilight and Ghost Stories is very much of a studio album. Is this an accurate distinction? How do you think about making records vs. live performance? Do you have any plans to perform Twilight and Ghost Stories live somehow or pull together some concerts involving the people who're on the album (hint hint)?
So far, there have been three live performances of Twilight & Ghost Stories. The first one was at the Next To Last Festival in Athens, Georgia in December of 2007. My only condition for performing the piece was the creation of a small lighting box that I could use to mimic the interpolations that took place on the original album. The goal is not to recreate the CD version of Twilight & Ghost Stories but rather to inhabit the same kind of space where musicians are finding themselves in unexpected contexts. I have been extremely happy about the live Twilight shows thus far and just returned from a fantastic performance in Austin, Texas.
That having been said, I think many ideas have a kind of built in shelf life. I hope to assemble groups of musicians for Twilight & Ghost Stories performances in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. After that, I think it should be time to move on to the next thing.
—
Issue #35
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more