"I believe music is for the moment," said notorious artistic tramp Lucas Abela regarding his little interest in music recording (Cyclic Defrost www.cyclicdefrost.com). It explains why so many people have heard about him, but not so many know his music. A ctive since 1992, Lucas has given a lot of amazing performances (this I quote after press reviews) employing many machineries and objects dangerous to his health. Loud, intensive, bloody and. brief! Seeing is believing. Personally, I only know Lucas's music from A Kombi's "Music to Drive-by," whose main sound source is his van's engine. Not modified sound engine (it's hard to believe there's no post-production manipulation to this material). The album has some really fine sound textures and an intriguing story behind it. Another way to get his (latest) music are .mp3 or .wav samples available on-line. Try to get some, or go to Lucas's gig if he happens to perform somewhere near your place!
Lucas, you're about to start another world tour next year. How do you manage to play so extensively without a record label's support?
Last year I received some funding to do this Turntablist Festival Tournament in L os Angeles. I used that money and added a little more of my own to buy a round world ticket and take advantage of the opportunity. I booked as many shows as possible, 93 in all spanning 17 countries, making enough dosh along the way to survive, and of course I was fed, given alcohol and never had to pay for a hotel which makes international travel not so expensive. The tour coming up is financed by the Liverpool Biennial who have asked me to curate the opening party this September 17th, 18th (dualplover.com/liverpool.html) which is a dream come true. Originally I wanted to take 17 Australians over to England with me but they bulked at the cost, but I 've managed to take curse of dialect along for the ride.
Someone once said that Phill Niblock's
music needs to be experienced live. No record could give real vibes
of his music. The same is true for you - lots of gigs, and not many
records in your CV...
Don't know about Phill, I've never heard his stuff; I'm doing a show with him
at LEM in Barcelona soon so I 'll hear if you're right. I personally stopped
releasing my material after 1997's Plover Brand album. I put that record out
before my first overseas tour as I thought I needed an album to tour with,
since I've rethought my position on this and have concluded that I'm not a
recording artist but a live actionist whose music doesn' t translate to CD
that well. It 's important that you experience the music with me live and loud.
Why anyone would go home and put on a recording of what I do on stage is beyond
me, so I won't give them that choice. People keep suggesting that I release
a DVD but it's simply not a concern right now, right now I just want to perform
as much as possible, maybe when it 's over and the dust settles I may put something
together retrospectively.
How much blood of yours will be shed then? And why sheets of glass, engines,
rings, and razorblades if there's such safe equipment like paper bags, beer
cans, boxes with sand ;-))? Is it all about dynamics/loudness of hardware?
Nothing is safe especially when used by me - if I performed with a
paper bag I 'll get a paper cut. I must admit I do like bleeding the
red colour, it's so amazing! But it's not why I choose to play volatile
instruments like glass, motors and swords. Glass is probably the best
substance I 've discovered for making noise, it has such great resonant
qualities and matched with the visual performance angle it gives makes
a perfect instrument. It's the only thing I 've ever used or seen used
that can produce such a variety of emotions in an audience, as has
been described to me time after time all over the world, first laughter
when I spit lube onto the glass and start making stupid faces and farty
noises, then fear sets in as I nick my finger or the edge of my lips
and blood appears, excitement follows as I start going mental then
finally adulation at the crescendo as the glass shatters over my head.
By this time I 'm very high which essentially is why I perform, it's
a rush thing.
Is it because of the injuries you do yourself, that your performances are so short?
It's certainly not due to any injuries. When I play I don't feel a thing, so pain is no factor in my set's duration, it 's a performance aesthetic for me. I simply hate long-winded performances and would probably get bored with what I did if I was an audience member and it went on any longer than it does.
If records aren't as important to you as playing live, what circumstances have to occur to prompt you to record and edit your stuff?
None really since 1997. When we recorded my bridge instrument at Big Jesus B urger studio for the album I mentioned earlier, was the only time I 've recorded in a studio properly. Since then only one track has been released of my live material and that was recorded by the promoters of the show which is how most my stuff gets recorded these days - when someone bothers to press record on a minidisc or video camera in the audience before I go on. I don 't bother to organise any documentation of myself.
If I'm not wrong, all your records have come out under different monikers - A Kombi, Volvox, Justice Yeldham and the Dynamic Ribbon Device (did I miss any?). What style would a record under your name be?
Firstly, Volvox is not me but 3 legends from Melbourne. I personally have released three albums, A Kombi - "Music to Drive By", Peeled Hearts Paste - "P lover Brand" and DJ Smallcock - "Yinyue". The Php album is the only one that represents my live work, the others being a documentation of my old van 's malfunctioning stereo (A Kombi) and improvised tape collage (DJ Smallcock)
Could you characterize in a nutshell your record output?
All 3 albums are random improvisational compositions using wildly different techniques but still hold together as a body of work. Although aurally worlds apart, I think you can sense the same brain behind all three.
What about the recent collaborations? Were these a help from a friend or serious projects?
I rarely collaborate as essentially I 'm most comfortable with being a solo performer. I haven't got the ears for it to be honest. I 've done some in the past but with a few exceptions find the process hollow especially when you're pitted against somebody in a live situation and told to jam, I hate that.
Checking out Dual Plover's roster I got an
impression it's aimed to become a haven for all sorts of sound freaks.
What exactly do you find attractive about them?
I like music that is not only experimental or interestingly conceived but also entertaining, and then as a label I want to release music like this that I could imagine putting on during my day, not shit boring experimental crap that archivists buy and never play.
While we're at it: how do you find the recent condition of the Australian scene?
It's great down here, I like it a lot. We have some extremely talented people and I think Sydney has a world class scene if you're talking about practitioners on the ground and not the amount of shows happening. The hardest thing for Australian musicians is the distances here not just to the rest of the world but even city to city. It 's 1000 km to Melbourne from Sydney with pretty much nothing in between where a new music practitioner can play (besides the Wagga Wagga Unsound Festival) which I think makes it hard for us to get experience playing to new audiences which I think is extremely important when fostering a live show.
Besides making and releasing music, you're involved in manufacturing CDs...
I started a consolidated CD press in 1997, initially to help bring down the inhibitive costs of releasing music, especially the unprofitable kind I wanted to produce. I got a few labels together: Jerker, Sigma and others and used that buying power to get the prices down a little. At first it was completely non profit venture, just me organising the pressings for my friends, but the word spread worldwide! As I bought in more and more business to the factory, they kept dropping the prices so now it's extremely cheap for me to produce discs no matter how uncommercial.
What are your plans for the near future besides the tour?
When I get back from Europe I 'm planning to tour more of Australia, hopefully play in parts of the country I haven 't been to before like Tasmania, South and Western Australia. Then next year I 'm planning a big trip to New Zealand, South and North America and parts of Asia. Once that 's done I think I'll retire from touring as I can't do this kind of music forever my face won't forgive me.
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