Issue 47 / August 2014

8
Bido Lito! August 2014
AfternAut
Words: Jonny Davis / restrelaxrecords.co.uk
Photography: Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk
Back in 2012, you would have been hard pushed to not be
greeted with the tantalising prospect of an AFTERNAUT show as
you scoured the monthly music listings. Having found his way
onto any number of weird and wonderful bills, Adam Rowley
became the go-to guy if your gig needed the aural essence of space
travel in a delicious electronic package. Performing alongside the
likes of Oneohtrix Point Never, Walls and BEAK> allowed him to
develop his trademark blend of melancholy soundscapes and
galactic beats, and reach a sympathetic audience in the process.
Fast forward to the present and you’ll notice that an alarming
amount of time has passed since the last Afternaut performance.
However, far from slacking off, Rowley has been holed up in his
bunker, toiling, experimenting and quickly developing a wideeyed
obsession with his new baby – a modular synth. And you
know what? He’s created a monster.
Built from the ground up with his bare hands, this beautiful
beast of knobs, switches and wires has been the subject of night
after night of soldering and audio experimentation to create
something with a life of its own. “At first I just had one oscillator,”
begins Rowley giddily. “But that one oscillator made the most
incredible sound, and I was hooked!” Through a mix of extended
improvisation and delicate honing, this collaboration between
man and machine has spat out a ferocious, fiery collection of
tracks going by the name of Transmission. Rowley describes the
release as a “collaborative project, the direction of which has
been dictated by the modular”. It’s certainly a brave decision
to cede a certain level of control to an unknown quantity, but
it’s often these black hole explorations that produce the most
interesting results. “It's a very different experience writing music
on a modular. You have to be much more inquisitive. Generally,
the typical sound modulars make is very chaotic and random.”
Fortunately his experience as an artist has provided a base from
which to build that recognisable Afternaut sound. “When you
make music you are constantly choosing options. As long as you
are making those decisions for yourself then the finished music
bidolito.co.uk
will have your personality embedded within it.”
The six songs on Transmission are no doubt a bold leap
forward for Afternaut. Although his spacey atmospherics remain
a continuing aspect of the sound, the wild parameters set by the
untameable modular synth kick the music into uncharted waters.
Rowley is still the pilot at the helm, but has turbo-charged his
rocket. The result is a spectacular canvas of cacophony and
crescendo that not only fills your headspace on a private
headphone listen, but begs to be jet-propelled to a liquorloosened
live audience.
The mechanical chaos of the noise-machine has opened up
new doors and Rowley’s inquisitive nature has allowed him
to utilise to the maximum each and every squelch and clang
that the modular churns out. “I've got recordings of hard drives
and phones buzzing and popping which I used for a lot of the
percussive elements. I've even got a dodgy patch cable [attached
to the modular] that crackles and stutters.”
A Sound Designer for Sony by day, his obsession with all things
audio helps in developing a signature aesthetic. Whether he’s
out in the field capturing sound effects for the next PS4 game
or painstakingly piecing together the results in the office, the
bleed between business and pleasure is abundantly clear. This
all-encompassing passion for audio also enabled him to relate
easily to the work of the early-20th Century intrepid inventor
and engineer Nikola Tesla, who was a pioneer in radio wave
communication, and was for a time obsessed with the science
of transmitting messages over long distances. Tesla’s insatiable
appetite for discovery is evidently a source of fascination for
Rowley: “I noticed that when you crank the output signal of the
modular you can start to hear all sorts of weird things going on.
Presumably these are the same noises that Nikola Tesla mistook
for Martian communications.”
The idea of interplanetary communication is explored further
with the retro-futurist visuals of the accompanying artwork,
designed with the help of Kitsune Studio in Liverpool. “The plan
was to use visual distortion to push the theme of ‘transmission’.
I looked at tape and tube TV bleed effects as well as glitch art. I
approached Kitsune because I knew they had a lot of experience
with web and user interface design and they produce really
beautiful work. I wanted something highly designed and crisp
but also quite glitchy and other-worldly.” It’s testament to the
overarching concept of Transmission that the words “highly
designed”, “crisp”, “glitch” and “other-worldly” could very easily be
attached to the music.
Added weight is given to the project with the inclusion of remixes
by Wired To Follow and Rosko John, giving the work a fresh angle
whilst maintaining the philosophy of experimentation. “Wired To
Follow write really conceptual and powerful music so I couldn’t
wait to see what they did with their remix,” explains Rowley. “They
actually surpassed my expectations. They used recordings taken
from the astronomical clock in Prague, which really adds another
layer to the concept. I did a remix of Rosko John’s track Tactical
Light earlier this year and I had been looking forward to him
remixing something of mine. He really did me proud!”
With Transmission finally out into the world, Rowley is itching
to give the new material an airing. “The new show is a lot more
energetic than anything I’ve done before and it takes those epic
sections of my new tracks and pushes them further. I’m actually
really excited about it.” Back with a big bang, the future looks
bright and beautiful in the world of Afternaut. The music is
being received positively and, with the delicious prospect of live
dates and a new show imminent, the buzz around the project
is snowballing. It won’t be long until we begin to see a muchwelcomed
return of that Afternaut-packed listings page.
From that daring leap into the unknown world of modular
synthesis to the high polish and exquisite execution of the
finished product, Rowley has showcased his credentials as
an artist and composer with that rare blend of courage and
conviction. From concept to delivery, Transmission is a fascinating
tale of discovery and an ode to the joys of experimentation and
hard graft. A triumphant work that sends out a signal to the world
and beyond.
afternaut.com
Transmission is out now – available to buy from afternaut.
bandcamp.com.