Interview with Banabila published in FLUID journal (March 2006)
I'm interested in the atmosphere
Michel Banabila was born in 1961 in Amsterdam. He started out as a traditional keyboard player. Today, he primarily uses the rich samples of sounds from the surroundings, or ones taken from all other possible sources. He processes them and often combines them with live instruments. However, he does so without a high-tech studio filled with futuristic equipment. It’s replaced by his own imagination and sensitivity. He has completed many projects, often involving other fields of art, such as cinema, theater, and dance performances. The most famous Banabila release is the 3-CD series "VoizNoize". Its first two parts bring a kind of funky samplodelic, often corresponding to the sounds of Ninja Tune, and the last one is closer to the aesthetics of new jazz. The 2-CD series "Spherics", which oscillates around ambient, the most spilled, spatial IDM productions, as well as post-industrial breaths, also went through an echo.
"Live Mix" is a two-disc release, recording the performance of Michel Banabila and Monoscope (Michał Fiedorowicz) responsible for the visual setting of the sounds he generates from the MPM Ambient festival in Gorlice. The first CD features a concert of the Dutch musician, the second one features visuals by a native video artist. The album has just hit the market. Therefore, it is worth presenting the activities of Michel Banabila.
When did you get into music? What about your first experiences in the field of working with sound?
My adventure with music started early, I don't remember exactly when. We had some instruments at home when I was young. I've always been drawn to music. Later, when I lived in Amsterdam, there was a studio next door. I was delighted with the possibilities it offered, with all the sounds that could be generated from this equipment. There were so many surprises in it. I felt like a little boy in a big toy store (laughs). Then I made the first recordings. Back then, I couldn't afford the studio, so I mostly played keyboards at various jams around the city. But I didn't really like playing with other musicians, and I didn't feel like a very good instrumentalist either. I remember having such fantasies back then - I imagined that I could record all sounds of the surroundings, voices, or individual tracks from old albums and upload them to each key of the keyboard, be able to play tiny particles with these samples, and process them. I was really delighted to learn about the samplers that made it all possible some time later. My first sampler was the Roland s-10, then I used the Ensoniq ASR 10 for years, I still have it and although it is a bit archaic, it still suits me. In general, my studio is rather small and simple. The ability to record everything on my computer allows me to work at home, which gives me a lot of freedom. But of course I do a lot of field recording, sometimes sessions with other musicians - not everything can be done on a computer. I have been releasing an album since then, but I live mainly by making music for film or theater (I love cinema and I am always looking for opportunities to create film music). I like concept work and I love collaborating with people representing other fields of art. They often give me inspiration or an idea that I wouldn't have thought of myself.
In your work you use collages made of rolling sounds. This method is derived from Pierre Shaeffer, then it was used by the creators of industrial, broadly understood techno, hip-hop and even pop. Have Shaeffer and the tradition of academic concrete music been your direct source of inspiration?
I must admit that I had the opportunity to listen to Shaeffer only recently and I think that these are beautiful sounds. You know, when I think about music, I don't ask myself questions like "what kind of melody would fit here" or "what kind of bass line to put there". I don't think in such categories. I'm more interested in the atmosphere ... I like to think about the places I've been, the different situations that have stuck in my memory and I wonder what sounds to use to paint this picture. Everything can be useful - not only instruments, but the sounds of the surroundings, various objects, found items, toys, tracks from old records or movies. I don't impose any restrictions on myself. Recently I recorded a track with Iraqi violinist Salar Asid, in which I used my bicycle as the main sound source. Brian Eno's “On Land” inspired me to go in this direction.
Brian Eno seems to be a very important character for you.
Yes, he is an amazing artist! He is a great inspiration to me and to many of my musician friends. I have a lot of his records. I am very curious about his new video installation - "Million Paintings"
What do you think about Eno's definition of ambient music? Do you think any of your productions can be included in it?
Music that could be listened to at home with the window open, so that it harmonizes beautifully with the sounds coming from outside - this is what ambient means to me. I have never made a 100% ambient album, only a few songs, mainly ones from the "Spherics" series could fit that definition. One of the most spontaneous, charming and humorous ambient albums is "Astra" by my friend from St. Petresburg - Valery Alakhova from Novi Compositori. Great album!
Which other musicians / artists are key to you?
Difficult question. There are so many outstanding artists on this planet. Key? I love the music of characters such as: Nino Rota, Tom Waits, Alain Bashung, Jon Hassel, Brian Eno, Fela Kuti, The Orb, Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble, Eric Dolphy, Milton Nascimento, Nico, Coil, Jan Jelinek, Anouar Brahem, Troitsa, Steve Reich, Michael Brook, Rabih Abou Khalil, Robert Wyatt, Suzan Deihim, Morton Feldman, Asmahan, Lou Reed, Abdullah Ibrahim, Mouse on Mars, Goran Bregovich, Abdel Halim Hafez, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Erik Satie, The Clash, John Cage, Thelounius Monk, Paul Hindemith, Leonard Cohen, Scanner, Erkan Ogur, Marc Ribot, and many others .... Movies: Hiroshi Teshigahara, Wim Wenders, Spike Lee, Alfred Hitchcock, Coen brothers, Federico Fellinni, Lars von Trier and others. There is no point in dragging it, there are so many ...
Your most famous releases are two series: "VoizNoiz" and "Spherics". What is their idea based on, what connects the albums?
"VoizNoiz" is a series of 3 CDs, on which I wanted to experiment with fragments of various texts, processing them electronically, or by placing small fragments in a context other than the original one. I was concentrating more on the timbre, the timbre of the voice, than the meaning of the words. Then I invited musicians to improvise on the basis of this material. After the first part, I decided that I like this method of work very much and that there is still a lot to discover in this field. You can think of these albums as an implementation of a certain concept, but even without it, I think they work great. We hope you can feel a bit of humor in them as well, which I wanted to infuse into them. In a way, it's an alternative approach to the songs that I would like to record, but I can't write the lyrics. So I have to resort to such methods. I was very pleasantly surprised by the positive reactions to these albums. The third part was recorded with trumpeter Eric Vloeimans and we won the 2003 Dutch Edison Jazz Award for it. The discs from the "Spherics" series were made primarily for the Amsterdam Boudisque label. They wanted me to make an album with longer pieces, strictly electronic. I decided that it is worth taking up the challenge, I like it when people give me such assignments. The albums "Spherics 1" and "Spherics 2" were mainly made using the Novation K-station synthesizer.
The albums you make show a wide range of interests. What things influenced your creativity at different stages of your activity?
I think the influences came more from the situations I have experienced, my experiences, the places I have been, or the people I have met, than from the albums I listened to. I used to make different music. But I got bored with "clean" sounds, I started to be attracted to more organic sounds, maybe even lo-fi, at the same time more diverse in terms of climate and emotion. In fact, my work could be divided into two parts - on the one hand, things were created, let's call them "serious", "professional", and on the other - those that I did for some friend. The latter ones were sometimes quite humorous, making them feel totally free and act very spontaneously. At some point I realized that they are more successful, more interesting, more inspiring. I think I always make better music when I create with a specific person in mind …
How has your technique evolved? How has your way of working changed and what does it look like today (in a broad sense - the use of instruments, sample sources, software)?
I don't have any specific method. I like to work with my musician friends who represent very different environments, such as: jazz, punk, electronics, even classical music. I often use electronics in an unconventional way, trying out everything that could be useful to me. I use Logic Pro for recording. As I mentioned before, I take sounds from all possible sources, sometimes I also play melodies, harmonies, percussion instruments.
From what you said, I understand that your voice experiments are not about any message, do you treat your voice purely instrumentally?
There is no message in it. I'm just fascinated by what you can do with your voice besides singing. The album with many interesting experiments with voice (not necessarily electronically modulated) is "Verbati" by Bob Ostertag (with Phil Minton). In my opinion, it's a brilliant thing. Another album I love for the way I use my voice is "Zumbi" by Nana Vasconcelos - I had it on vinyl, but it's lost and I can't find it on CD. There are many undiscovered areas in this field, and with today's technical possibilities, a lot can be done. Sometimes some magic occurs when I combine different textual fragments from completely different sources. Besides, like I said, it's a smart solution if you can't write lyrics (laughs)
Some parts of "VoizNoiz" sound like a modernized version of "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" by Brian Eno and David Byrne in my opinion. See any similarities?
Well, My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts had a lot of firepower, wow! And in my opinion it still sounds fresh - it's a fantastic album, it is still among my top leaders ...
... and it was established 25 years ago. What Eno and Byrne had been working on for months now could probably be done in a matter of days. So I will ask - what is the role of technology in your music, how does it determine it?
I will not agree that what Eno and Byrne had achieved could be done in a few days today. It's a perfect mix of organic, acoustic playing and creative use of electronics. Having a fast computer and software doesn't mean you have good ideas. I deliberately mix things I did on my computer with things I did otherwise. Sometimes I use software differently than it should be. When people start producing music that sounds like you can hear exactly what software was used, something is wrong.
As you mentioned yourself, you often collaborate with artists from other fields, you combine your music with other media, such as film, theater, video art. What is the role of music in each case - for example, when writing for the theater do you think of your music only as an illustration, or something more - a kind of commentary? On the other hand, when you work with visualizations - is music always primal to the image?
It depends. I get very different jobs. For example, I recently worked in South Africa on a theater project about homeless children living in the streets. I recorded what they told about their lives or their singing. I used this material in the sound installation that accompanied the performance.
Another time, I collaborated with the Dutch theater group Orkater. First, we had a few discussions about changing the image of the square in the landscape of a Dutch city - what it looks like, what is happening there, who comes there and why - because that was the theme of the play (entitled "Island"). Then I made the music - I had absolute freedom. There was something magical about watching actors improvise to my music ...
How did your collaboration with Monoscope begin? Will you continue it?
My friend Zenial introduced us in Krakow. I like the way Monoscope improvises "here and now" - it reacts immediately to the music and is in no rush. What I don't like about the a la MTV style is that you are attacked by 150 images per second and in the end you can't see anything anymore. Monoscope, on the other hand, allows a given image to slowly transform into another. I think he is very talented - I have seen his other work and I liked it too. We had fun at the festival in Gorlice, so we decided to do some things together. So yes, we plan to work together in the future.
Łukasz Iwasiński
