Cloudland Canyon is an experimental rock/psychedelic rock band originally from New York, USA. It was formed in 2002 by Kip Uhlhorn and Simon Wojan (a German citizen). After several years of long distance collaboration (and recording sessions held in the US and Germany, the first Cloudland Canyon release, Requiems Der Natur, 2002-2004 was released by Tee Pee in 2006 and was largely a collection of older works and experiments. Cloudland Canyon quickly set about releasing a number of other releases and touring that same year, most notably a single track collaboration 12”/LP entitled Exterminating Angel with Chicago musician Lichens in 2007 on Holy Mountain. While past recordings on Holy Mountain and Kranky flirted with drone and krautrock modes, An Arabesque, their third LP released in 2016 skews in a more rhythmic direction, with shades of naive disco and new age. This particular set of songs benefits from having been heavily road-tested over the last two years, resulting in greater distillation and focus.
Facts
( only one of these is true.)
1: I play golf almost every day.
2: I have a four year old son.
3: I have a pet snake named Fievel Mousekewitz.
Questions
What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
Honestly probably environment/surroundings. I get really inspired by people, especially when they are doing things that they are really passionate about, whether music/art related or not. Failing all that; YouTube.
How and when did you get into making music?
Probably when i was about 15, I think. I was probably into the idea of it long before that. When I was super little I think I exclusively listened to the Good Morning Vietnam soundtrack or the Stand By Me soundtrack.
What are your 5 favorite albums of all time?
I really like Funhouse by the Stooges. I like Endless Summer by Fennesz.
What do you associate with Berlin?
…free association: Spaetzl. Da Dapo. Cloudy. Bunkers. Simon Wojan. Kreuzberg.
What’s your favorite place in your town?
I’m not sure I have a good answer for this currently. When I lived in Brooklyn I really loved sitting by the east river, in this tiny park off Grand St. I recently went to the Griffith Park observatory. That shit was pretty awesome. If I lived in Malibu, then I would probably say Malibu.
If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Probably try to write books. I would love to do comedy writing.
Do most people say “invent it?” My money is on “invent it.”
What was the last record you bought?
When I was in L.A. last week I bought Leech’s 12″ with “Winehouse” on it that 100% Silk released. Oh and I found a copy of Different Class by Pulp. I bought the Torch of the Mystics reissue and Jodorowsky’s Dune soundtrack somewhere along the way also.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Probably my son, Jack. It’s been really interesting to see what music he reacts to and how he reacts to it. A lot of head bobbing. It’s cool that he reacts completely self-consciouslessly – not sure if that’s a word or not.
What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
With CC I feel like every show is better than the last. It took a while to figure it out, but now every show is basically destruction. In a good way. IMO. I recently saw my friend Josh play on NYE in LA and that was amazing. He plays under the name Anzano.
How important is technology to your creative process?
I like YouTube a lot. Does that count? I guess I just think of all tools (whether electronic or not) as technology. Lately I am super into using the internet as source material as much as possible. I am always attempting to remove me or the ego or whatever, from the creative process. I like anything that’s generative or arbitrary. The Bass Bot I have also will self generate patterns which you can then morph into other patterns by pressing a button.
Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career?
hmmm…..I honestly have no idea how my brothers feel about music I make. They seem occasionally interested.
Our favourite: Aureliua | An Arabesque | Mothlight Part 2
Link: Soundcloud | Facebook
