On May 12, Raven Chacon will perform with two longtime collaborators at the KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art. His first set features Laura Ortman, a Brooklyn based composer and musician, who brings her Apache roots to masterful performances on violin, Apache violin, piano, electric guitar, and keyboards. In the second set, Raven will perform together with William Fowler Collins, a composer and performer of dark minimalist and drone music, as Mesa Ritual. The improvised sets of both duos span amplified string noise, low frequency electronics that shake the architecture, layered field recordings played at a whisper and towering, clashing walls of static texture.
FACTS:
1.) I believe in infinity (William)
2.) The law of ‘easy come/easy go’ over karma (Raven)
3.) _____________________(Laura)
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
WILLIAM FOWLER COLLINS: The experience of living.
LAURA ORTMAN: The physical contact with my instrument is completely absorbing. I love to see the dust of the rosin come out of the violin bow, the mashing down of my fingertip on top of the strings no matter how hard or soft i press, i like the way my ear gets to hug the sounds and vibrations and holding a super strong piece of carved wood is out of this world~-i think this all definitely informs my sounds i like to make.
RAVEN CHACON: Other collaborators to fill in the gaps.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
RAVEN: I was 9 years old and a friend of my parents offered to give my sister and I free piano lessons, so I learned from there but I really wanted to learn the tenor sax. Eventually I figured out how to play bass guitar, but never had adequate instruments.
LAURA:I was into performance and installation art and got completely fascinated with making my own soundtracks for the environments I was trying to create, ultimately dropping all the arty stuff and kept on up with making my own music recordings. This transfer was happening when i moved to NYC in 1997.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
WILLIAM:
Eliane Radigue – Trilogie De La Mort
Black Sabbath – Sabotage
Ram Narayan – Rāg Shankara / Rāg Mala In Jogia
RAVEN:
Buffy St. Marie – Illuminations
Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Kool Keith – Dr. Dooom
Maryanne Amacher – Sound Characters
Morbid Saint – Spectrum of Death
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
LAURA: One of my first trips to berlin was on tour with New York’s Stars Like Fleas and playing at Berlin’s Tacheles and all of our luggage was ransacked during our set and afterwards seeing our suitcases, purses and all splayed everywhere was super scary. Only to realize later on that the crazies only stole two bottles of Jagermeister. Such a solid vivid memory. And our berlin hosts made us hot ginger potato soup that night to comfort us. So sweet.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
WILLIAM: The sky
LAURA: My favorite place in NYC is my bed and also the sidewalks when they have sparklies in them. You never know where theyre gonna strike!
RAVEN: My studio or friends studios.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
LAURA: I just might be a mother.
RAVEN: silent movies.
7. What was the last record/music you bought?
WILLIAM: Carla dal Forno – You Know What It’s Like
LAURA: Its been a while but i bought Tanya Tagaq’s new album and went to put it on my turntable and the motor blew right then. I went to two places to get it fixed finally. I also bought the new Algis Kysys/Norman Westberg/Lynn wright record, but they said later on that it was a damaged run and they’re gonna get me a replacement one. Bad record luck for me going on lately. Blegghghgh!! Haha!
RAVEN: The newest/last Father Murphy album.
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
LAURA: I’ve been dreaming of a trio with C. Spencer Yeh and Samara Lubelski. And of course a duo with Tanya Tagaq! I love playing with Raven Chacon of course. And Ryan Sawyer, too!
RAVEN: Buffy St. Marie
WILLIAM: Eliane Radigue.
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
LAURA: Playing a duo with Tony Conrad in long island city years ago at Martha Colburn’s house party was one of the craziest impromptu highlights of my life. As a spectator i thoroughly enjoyed Okkyung Lee’s show at Brooklyn’s music hall of Williamsburg last year opening for Swans. It was truly entrancing.
RAVEN: A tequila-fueled set 12 years ago with Bob Bellerue as our duo KILT at the House Of Tinnitus in Denton Texas, or some of the shows with by thrash metal band Tenderizor that we have played in Albuquerque.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
WILLIAM: Technology is important for recording, mixing, editing, and sharing.
LAURA: Technology….as in the cassette 4-track? I’m a junkie. I also love mixing my home recordings very much on the very buddy audacity program to make them digital. I can barely use it well, but I like to make it work. These two ways of recording are all i have ever known. I record my solo albums with the expertise of the great Martin Bisi.
11. Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career/art?
LAURA: Yes,I have two sisters and one brother. Its rare for us to talk about my work but i think they like it because they know its a true passion of mine and helps me to see the world inside and out. I love them very much.
WILLIAM: Yes. I don’t know how they feel about it.
RAVEN: I have younger 2 sisters and they are artists also and they appreciate that I have been the test rat, as far as an art career goes.
Raven Chacon, Laura Ortman & William Fowler Collins will perform at KINDL Center for Contemporary Art on Saturday, 12th May 2018. Entrance is free.
https://youtu.be/Px_RtqZI4Bw
