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like that. Post-rave, UK stuff. White Car is a
solo recording project that is based around
taking these genres of electronic dance music
that are very specific to the context of where
they came from, and then morphing it into my
songwriting and bringing these movements of
electronic dance music closer to singer-songwriter
territory. It’s not club music, but it very
much uses all the ideas from past eras of club
music to kind of start its foundation. And then
my solo recordings is experimental electronic
music, much more abstract and working with
ideas of texture and sound. White Car is more
of a cultural party fun project whereas my solo
stuff is made with modular synthesisers so far
so it’s much more about picking up sounds and
then trying to make them happen.
In a very broad sense, your music tilts
towards the dark side, which might seem odd
for someone who comes from California…
There’s a lot of darkness in California.
There’s no short answer really. It’s not a personal
extension of ’my’ darkness. I think that
the darkness you hear in the music is the story
that it tells, more than who I am.
What story does it tell then?
It’s the story of humanity, human beings.
Ignorance, oppression. America is kind of in a
state right now where people are worried. It’s not
a full-on depression, but there’s definitely a sense
of darkness in the country right now with being
at war for 10 years and the economy going under.
Some people live in darkness and some people
in light. I think that the stories I’m drawn to in
terms of those I want to tell as a songwriter tend
to be stories about darkness because it’s hard to
learn from happiness. A lot of people say you
learn more from your mistakes, and this is kind
of the same thing. You profit more from being
with darkness. I’m not depressed, but I’m introverted
and I do have a pessimistic look. I don’t
really look at people and have faith in them,
and I think that comes out in my music. But I
wouldn’t say dark, it’s such an overused word. It’s
more paranoid, multi-faceted in its darkness. In
the same way a Cronenberg or a Lynch movie is
dark - you’re more intrigued by its darkness than
turned off by it. There’s humour to it. And I think
darkness is funny. My sense of humour is very
black and very dark and I think that bands that
take themselves very seriously in how depressed
and how dark they are? That to me is fun…
Coming back to White Car, when did you
start recording as a unit? The first songs,
the first EPs….
The first release was the White Car EP
that came out in February 2010 on Rainbow
Body Records, a Chicago label run by a guy
called Chris Sloan and I had met the guys from
Music
the band Gatekeeper, and we had really connected.
I started hanging out with them more,
playing with their gear, they were playing me a
lot of music I hadn’t heard before. I got really
inspired by a lot of it. And that was how White
Car came about. We played our first show in
June 2009, together with Gatekeeper.
ˆ
White Car is […] based
around taking these genres
of electronic dance music
that are very specific to the
context of where they came
from […] bringing these
movements of electronic
dance music closer to
singer-songwriter territory
ˇ
You write most of the band’s songs right?
I do yes. Orion (the other half of White
Car) helps with the visual side of things, he plays
electronic percussions. He is an editor, which is
more helpful than anything else at this point in
time with where we’re at with music-making.
I’d say that in the last 10 years the most innovative
instrument has been laptops and computers
and being able to make better recordings
in your house. Everyone’s a solo artist now, no
one’s in a band anymore. That’s why there’s so
much music now. But everyone’s recording themselves
and half these people don’t have anyone
in there helping them make their music. That’s
what Orion does, he’s an editor. He comes in and
listens to it and says “I like this part, I don’t like
this part, this makes me think of this, this makes
me think of that. We kind of understand each
other’s language so well that I kind of understand
where he’s coming from with all these ideas.
You’re working on your new LP at the
moment. It was supposed to be out in August
right?
It was supposed to be out in September.
It’s gone through a few different versions, it’s
a work-in-progress. Working on the music by
myself mostly, there’s a sense of isolation to it.
It’s hard to gage when its done. But right now,
the release is set for late February 2012.
How important do you think Chicago’s
past underground scene was in shaping
your current sound?
I don’t think that this music is only discoverable
in Chicago, but being there, being in
proximity to it and being in proximity to people
who hold it really close to them made me revere
it more. There are a lot of people there who are
really interested in the history of Chicago and
Chicago music and are interested in making
sure that people hear a lot of the older records.
So, just in terms of a physical thing, you can go
and find good Chicago house records in almost
any record stores, which may not be the case
somewhere like California or Ohio.
Can you describe your recording space? Is
it mad scientist type lab or clean-cut minimalist
studio?
Oh I’m pretty organised. But, you know,
there are a few cables flying around. I’m at a
stage where I’ve been using a lot of the same
stuff for three years now, and I’m trying to
switch it out. But I’m in the process of also being
broke, so I’m trying to figure out how to build a
better studio for nothing. But it’s pretty clean:
three or four keyboards, synthesisers, a couple
of drum machines, some processors, a computer
and some racks. It’s like, you know, a small
room’s worth.
What’s behind the name White Car?
It’s literally a reference from a Cabaret
Voltaire song. There’s a song on the last record
Code called White Car. The song is about
wealth and extravagance and the darkness of
having money, which has always been interesting
to me. I guess I resonated with that song.
And the image of a white car always fascinated
me, there was some mystery to it, some
pre-conceived notions about it. The image of
a white car is very creepy to most people, it’s
always associated to kidnapping, or human
trafficking. Plus you have to have money to
keep it clean…
If you were guest editing our white album’s
music special which icon would you want
to interview?
There’s a good Chinese band called White.
I would look into them because it’s very interesting
to think of China’s underground scene.
I think they’re from Beijing or Hong Kong.
Last one: what’s your plan tomorrow?
I have to paint a house. White….
White Car’s forthcoming album ’Everyday Grace’ is out on
Hippos in Tanks in February 2012.
white-car.net
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