TEXT: JUKKA HERVA, PICS: KAISA KUNELIUS & JUKKA HERVA
I bought a 4-track cassette recorder two years ago. That's when I really
started to record a lot. I had been using the name 'Barry Andrews' for a few
years before that, I made a few crappy christmas albums for my friends. At
that time I recorded very seldom and only using computer. I never got
really excited about it. I took the name because it sounded like some cheesy
soul singer, later I found out that some guy called Barry Andrews was a
member of King Crimson for some time in the late 70s.
We played also one gig maybe five years ago as 'Barry Andrews Band' at Kirjastorokki. We had really nice costumes and the concert was really fun: my friend Ville (Puiset Heilat) who was dressed as a bear and played drums had a leather jacket under his costume and sweat ran on his face.
I played a long and noisy guitar solo and other members of the band carried me out of stage. The best part was when the gnome and bear danced a waltz. I have played four gigs on my own. The first went quite bad because I tried to do everything live: use sampler, sing, play bass, chords and melodies, use all the effects. Since then I've made the backgrounds ready and only
played melodies and sang.
Sorry, I got carried away. Barry Andrewsin Disko is really about doing
something on my own. I play in several bands (Riukupastori!, Avaruuskaiut,
Vindi Karlos, Aikuinen nainen) and it's sort of therapy to make all
decisions on my own. Most of my tunes are a sort of 'sound structures' that don't have a much other meaning than music. It's mostly just music, nothing more. Of
course It's always a little bit different when there are some lyrics.
'Lampaita' is about insomnia, 'Pam Pam' about self-pity. Sometimes it's
mainly about how words sound:
“Be-bob-a-lula-a-lula-shaka-boom-be-bob-till-you-drop-boom-shaka-boom-boom-boom...”.
Rauhantorjuntaliitto is a small indie label ran by few of my friends. They
released my first record Boom Boom vol. 1 last autumn. It was only a cdr,
but I'm quite happy with that. It will be released also as a cassette and
hopefully someday on vinyl. Lately I've been little fed up with this whole
'barrything'. I have composed only for my bands and will concentrate on
them more. I have got a plenty of music ready. I'll finish them when I feel
like it. One album might consist of spoken word and a sort of traditional,
simple romantic pieces. I have also tons of electronical and experimental
that I'll maybe release some day.
Here's some of the gear I use. I didn't use any guitars or acoustic
instruments on this one:
Casio MT-70
This is my favourite organ. I have used it maybe for ten years. I borrowed
one from my cousins. My aunt had bought it in the eighties. Unfortunately
they wanted it back maybe a year ago. Luckily I found a new one from Ebay
for a quite cheap price. It's not maybe that great, but I have got used to
it.
DOD Delay 585 Performer
My friend sold this to me when he moved to Sweden and got rid of his
belongings. I think I really use this too much. 'Performer' has nothing in
common with typical delay pedals. It oscillates easily and sound is really
distorted. You really have to learn how to use it. This can be heard on
most of my recordings.
Yamaha VS-200
This is some sort of a 'sampler synth'. You can sample something from
microphone and then play with it. The samples are on really low bitrate.
also:
Fostex X-18H-4-track cassette recorder
Eko Tiger 61
Roland SP-404
Drumcomputer MFB-502
Zoom GFX-707 and some other effects
Cassette deck
Reel tape machine
Guitars
Some toy organs
RECORDING
30.03.2009
This song started when playing with my drumcomputer. I made a simple pulsating beat. I wanted to develop an idea that I recorded a some while ago in which two organ tracks overlapped each other. It makes the harmony little bit weird because just when the chord or harmony begins to clear itdisappears. This makes the harmony sort of fragile and all the time evolving.
Lately I have been listening to Bo Hansson, The Raincoats and also piano music by Erik Satie and Béla Bartók.
As usually I made the basic tracks with the 4-track casette recorder. First I recorded the drummachine through SP-404 and DOD performer (strange analog delay). I put in a little ring modulator from Sampler and some delay and oscillations from delay. I often improvise the structure while recording.
This was how I did this.
The organ tracks are overlapping. This reminds me of one demotape
which I made maybe a year ago. Organs sound quite same as in the original.
I used my favourite organ, Casio MT-70, a cheap homeorgan from the
eighties. I filtered and delayed it with my crappy Zoom GFX-707.
The organ harmony is the theme of this song. The Chords are something like:
Dm - Cm/D - F#dim/D - Gm/D - F/D - A+/D. The main idea is the contrast
between the static bass and the dissonance of the chords.
I also recorded bass which doubles the drum rhythm. Bass stays in D pedal
point during the whole song. Bass sound was also from MT-70. I boosted the
bass a little bit with my Zoom.
In the evening my back was quite sore because I don't remember to keep my
posture while recording. We listened to the song with my girlfriend. I
trust in her opinions and luckily she liked it. Sometimes she also sings
on my songs. Sometimes I need her help for finishing the lyrics. When
listening to the recording I wondered if I had put too heavy effects on
drum track.
31.03.2009
I improvised some chord strumming with keyboard and got an idea how to
continue. First I recorded the 4-track to computer and mixed it right. This
isn't really a big job, but it's really depressing if the mixing turns out
to be bad when I begin to add new tracks on the computer. I use a basic
multitrack programme. Usually I only add some reverb or eq with computer.
I really dislike making music with computers. I know it's just a tool, but
I'd rather not see how the tracks actually look. Maybe I'll someday buy a
hard disk recorder.
01.04.2009
I recorded some organs that I practiced yesterday. I played them with my
Casio and overdrive and reverb. It's a sort of sound I like to use quite
often.
02.04.2009
In the evening I recorded some dizzy synths with my Yamaha VS-200.
I also sampled some laughter on it also because it sounded so cold and harsh.
22.04.2009
I listened to the song and was quite happy with it though it's not the
best song I've made. I sampled a hectic drumloop from some cheap latin
classic-record. It's heard in the end. I use sampling occasionally when
recording. When sampling tunes sometimes come out really easily. I like to
sample from some cheap records that I usually get from flea markets.
I also mixed and mastered it. As often in my songs there's some tape
noise and hiss in the background. I'm not sure if it's a good or band
thing. If I put this on some record I'll ask someone to master it
properly.
12.05.2009
I had to master it again to get it brighter.
I had problems with naming this tune. 'Nykyaika' means 'Modern Times'. It
reminds me of the Chaplin classic. There might even be some connection as
I tried to laugh at my tune which turned out to be quite 'modern' and
cold.
It's a sunny day. Hope you like it!
Barry Andrewsin Disko - Nykyaika
mp3 - 256kbps
click the player to hear the song
www.myspace.com/barryandrewsindisko
my record and some other interesting releases are available at:
www.myspace.com/rauhantorjuntaliitto
