IN CONVERSATION: OUR UNSEEN GUEST
Our Unseen Guest’s dream-like narratives and ethereal vocals, float effortlessly over the insistent metallic rhythms and minimal tempos of his modular synth.
For his TONN debut, Jeff Deane from Our Unseen Guest spoke to Mary McIntyre about his musical influences, the power of the photographic image and the ideas behind his superb cassette album ‘View From A Window’ on TONN Recordings.
MARY: You are based in Ohio. How do you find the music scene there? Is it very active in terms of synth-based music?
JEFF: I would say that Cleveland is a lot more active with synth-based music than other cities, and a lot of the shows I went to there around 2018 - 2019, were mostly industrial or experimental. A number of great venues there, closed in the last few years sadly. There are still a decent number of venues active in Columbus, where you can see some unique artists, but synth based music always seems to come out of nowhere and then disappear again over the years, without a consistent scene that I know of.
MARY: Has being based in the US shaped your music in any way? Or do you look to other places, like Europe or beyond, as being more relevant to your music?
JEFF: I think the environment and attitude of the US has definitely shaped my music in terms of living here and going to shows at punk houses and being exposed to the DIY attitude towards everything, but I never felt like I really belonged in punk culture.
American music like, Sonic Youth, led me to European music like Neu!, Amon Düül II, Can and so on. So I became completely enamoured by 70s German music throughout my 20s and onward. I still go back and learn things from Can that I try in my music now. I have visited Germany a number of times and have a strong to connection it.
MARY: Can you tell us something more about your early musical discoveries?
JEFF: The earliest musical discovery for me, like many people probably, was the Beatles. I was really attached to ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ when I was very young and can remember thinking that was the perfect song. I remember years later, when I got my first car, I found ‘Loveless’ by My Bloody Valentine at a used CD store. That was the only CD I had in my car for a while and it definitely influenced how I approach music and sing.
Also, during that period, I listened to Air constantly. I didn’t know much about synths at the time, so I would always wonder how they made the gliding lead sounds. In a way, not knowing how they made those sounds, made their music seem more magical to me... Joy Division also ended up being very formative for me, because I had just started playing guitar in a band in High School, and I couldn’t strum guitar in the traditional up / down way, so I learned by how Bernard Sumner played, that you could just quickly strum down instead. I also remember my friend first playing them for me in High School, when we would drink our terrible cheap vodka and it's funny to remember how completely alien it sounded to me at the time. I remember at first I thought, "why is he singing like this?" and then it quickly grew on me. Their cover art is an example of why art is such an integral part of albums, I almost view it in the same way as a monument.
MARY: It’s funny you mention those album covers, as I came across Joy Division and Bauhaus from discovering their albums in record stores in Belfast when I was at school, at the time those records were first released. In those pre-internet days, I used to come across music by word of mouth, or through music press, but more often just by chance discoveries. So, I bought those records with no idea what they sounded like, but their album covers intrigued me. When I got the records home and played them, my love affair with Joy Division and Bauhaus began. I think it was largely down to those album covers that I came to have such an awareness of the impact that visuals can have in music production. It’s certainly something I’ve been very conscious of since, on my work on the label.
JEFF: There is an unmistakable look to TONN and the strong visual quality definitely attracted me to the label, because it showcases the visual art alongside the music, instead of the visual aspect being a secondary component. It also seems very in line with the more minimal synth focused world of music, in a way that isn’t trying to mimic the late 70s or 80s aesthetics, but still stands the synth apart from other electronic music.
MARY: It’s encouraging to hear your impression of TONN’s visual aesthetic. I’m interested to hear more about your interest in the visual side of your own music. For your TONN debut album cover, you’ve chosen a photograph by Belfast based photographer David Copeland. What was it specifically that drew you to that image, that seemed to resonate with your music?
“I used to always look at the curtains early in the morning, as the sunlight started to show through them, and in my child’s mind I used to think that was God.”
JEFF: This may sound a little esoteric, but this picture of a window partially concealed by curtains, reminded me so much of when I was a child, because I used to always look at the curtains at my great grandparents' house early in the morning, as the sunlight started to show through them, and in my child’s mind I used to think that was God. I'm not sure exactly what my logic was for that, but this image of David’s really evoked that, because the curtains look similar. I think this image also resonates with my music, as I really like the idea of having an album cover that captures such an internal and isolated feeling. That maybe seems counter-intuitive, as album covers are often grandiose. But I liked the idea of using this quieter image.
The Wordless Exchange © Mary McIntyre 2010
MARY: Interesting to hear of this early memory and a growing awareness as a young child of the window representing the idea of something beyond it. Images of windows for me always present the potential, or suggestion, of seeing something in the mind’s eye that goes outside the boundaries of the picture frame, beyond what’s depicted in the image itself. It’s something that I’ve explored a lot in my own photography.
JEFF: I really like this idea that you mention of an image suggesting there is more to be seen outside of the frame. I definitely get that from the image we’ve selected for my album cover. It’s kind of hard to put into words, but I also noticed that with your photography, that a lot of the time it's almost like your way of framing things creates an unseen version of the reality, like you create the subjects you photograph, instead of the objects existing on their own, in their seemingly inert or lifeless manner. There’s an almost afterlife atmosphere, or what I imagine the afterlife would be like. Serene, but there’s something haunting going on that I can’t pinpoint but can recognise.
MARY: That's a great phrase, 'an unseen version of the reality'. You have a good insight into the ways photography can function. I have often thought of my photography as a process of constructing an image, rather than passively recording what’s already there.
JEFF: Do you use analogue or digital cameras, or both? There is also an almost a ‘painting’ like appearance to your photographs, I want to say it's like a sheen that you get from paintings, but I don't understand the technical side of photography.
“Light is the transformative element, not just in photography, but also in how we experience places and time, moments in life.”
MARY: I use analogue photography - a large medium format Pentax camera and transparency film. Painting is a big influence on my work, even more so than photography. I’m very interested in composition and also in achieving a painterly quality and richness in my imagery, so colour and texture are also very important to my work, just as they would be to a painter. But I think the capturing of light is the main thing my work focuses on. The play of light, and how it’s depicted in my photography, is the thing that really creates the sense of atmosphere. Light is the transformative element, not just in photography, but also in how we experience places and time, moments in life. I would say that's what music and light have in common. To me, they both feel like materials that have substance, that we can use creatively. They have the ability to affect the viewer, or listener's mood and perception.
JEFF: What you said about light and sound, I can really relate to. Particularly what you said about capturing light as being the primary motivation, because I feel like in sound, I'm always trying to capture a feeling or ‘gem’ of something, instead of forcing it to happen. It reminds me of what David Lynch said about catching ideas like fish, rather than trying to make them happen and then expanding on those ideas. It's interesting to hear your thoughts on your work and then look at it with these thoughts in mind. It makes me think of how light guides us on how to perceive the reality around us, not just in a literal sense. So maybe before art, light and sound guided us to safety, and now we know how to guide light and sound to create our own worlds. It's also interesting you say that, because I've always viewed sound as a visual thing, in the same way as light, as I'm sure you can relate, where there are gradients and pigments of sound. I remember the microtonal composer, Delores Catherino, using a colour coding system to differentiate between the smaller pitch divisions, instead of referring to them traditionally. It seems like music is breaking out of the two colour halftone key constraints. What we are talking about is making me think of that Bowie song, ‘Sound and Vision’, and even more so, considering the lyrics are also about interior spaces.
I also understand what you say about the viewer’s response. When I visited your artist website, I felt that there is a lot of emotion conveyed through your work, that quickly translates to people outside of the art world, like me. There is a very serene and haunting feeling to your photography and the abandoned civil structures seem like they echo the idealism and potential of another time, almost like you're witnessing another dimension quietly taking place still. It seems very personal and external, alien at the same time, and makes me think about how civilisation feels so unfamiliar, even though we are born in the middle of it. I don't think I've seen photography that really brings out the emotion of spaces and abandoned structures like this.
MARY: I understand what you mean. I’ve always felt that the location, or subject that I'm photographing, is only a small part of the motivation, or outcome of my photography. In the act of photographing, I’ve always felt as if I'm attempting to capture a particular atmosphere in a place, and that in itself, intangible as it may be, is the real subject of my photography. But of course, the tangible aspect of the physical subject is what makes the atmosphere in a location evident.
JEFF: What you’re describing resonates with me. I think I know what you mean in terms of capturing a resonance with your art. From what you're saying, it's almost like a halo of impression, or synthesis of the viewer and the subject, and you as the photographer are distilling the correct angle, lighting that caused the original impression you had of it. I still have no idea how visual artists capture translatable, or even universal feelings inside of images. It’s really like magic to me. But I see what you mean about the subject you're photographing, or its objectivity not being the most important aspect. When you refer to capturing an atmosphere, is it more of an emotional impression, a resonance you get, or is it the rarity of the environment that interests you? It seems almost transcendent to me.
“I have to be struck by that sense of resonance, in order to feel a connection with the subject, that motivates me to photograph it.”
MARY: It’s primarily bound up with the way a space, or place will have a resonance for me. I have to be struck by that sense of resonance, in order to feel a connection with the subject, that motivates me to photograph it. But the conditions for that in my practice also have to be right, not just with the location itself, but also in my own approach, whether or not I‘m receptive to it. It all has to come together in a particular moment. Perhaps that’s not so different a process to making music?
JEFF: Yes, I think there are many cross overs and correlations between the two processes. How you choose to use analogue film for instance. I think light captured on analogue film and sound waves captured onto analogue tape, are closer to reality, in that they are directly sourced from light and sound as an etching, instead of the light and sound being interpreted with binary code. So it seems more similar to human memory. Although I guess memory is an organic interpretation. So maybe I mean that the non-digital interpretation feels like it has more life in it, while digital takes care of the distribution of these analogue interpretations.
MARY: I suppose those ideas have directly informed your decision to use analogue, modular synth?
JEFF: Yes, I prefer using analogue synths mainly because they're more unpredictable and organic, it feels like you get to directly interact with the power of electricity, or energy. I think this has more emotion and humanity than being able to precisely control what happens, even though I think digital is also extremely useful and can do great things. At the same time, with image and sound, I find it better for the interpretation to be done by analogue equipment and the presentation through a digital medium of the analogue interpretation still preserves the heart of the image or sound.
MARY: I like that idea, that the unpredictability of analogue equipment can bring something to your process of music making, instead of the sense of total control that people are usually looking for from their equipment. I hear this on TONN from time to time, when artists tell me that accidents have occurred, which brought something unexpected to their music. Things that initially may seem like mistakes, can open up the creative process. It's great that we’re always learning, no matter how long we’ve been working on our art, or music.
JEFF: I know what you mean, like discovering a particular function on equipment, that can achieve something new, that we’ve been wanting to be able to do for a while. Recently I came across a sort of hidden feature on my sequencer that wasn’t initially apparent, and it now allows me to write with arpeggios and add snare rolls without affecting the timing of everything else. I was immediately able to write things that I have been trying to write for a long time.
MARY: In terms of your approach to making music, are you completely self-taught?
“A lot of synth-based music sounds to me like listening to a building being constructed”
JEFF: Yes, I learned synthesis and guitar by myself, so I have no music theory or technical knowledge really, just a lot of trial and error. I have my own weird little folk system of understanding melody, chords, and rhythms. So, I imagine my notebooks would seem hilariously bizarre to anyone but me! A lot of synth-based music sounds to me like listening to a building being constructed, the audio version of a wallpaper design, like the Russolo approach to music really comes to mind, with the idea of city and environmental sounds being organised as a sound world superimposed on this one, except we can add more melody to express the human reflection on this.
MARY: I like that idea, of music making being comparable to a sculptural process of construction.
And what about your approach to your vocals? They sound quite distinctive to me, as you create a surprising contrast with the ethereal quality in your vocal, overlaid on minimal synth. It’s more usual to have harder sounding, faster paced vocals accompanying this kind of electronic music. Whereas combining synth of this tempo, with your more delicate sounding vocal, which often creates counter melodies, is quite unusual.
JEFF: Thank you for these insights about my vocals. My vocal style is perhaps lighter than one would expect to hear on minimal synth tracks. I’ve recently been trying to make my vocals more present in the music, by increasing their volume and adding more pre-delay time to the reverb. But I like the idea of slow vocals over fast music and simple, but uncommon contrasts like that. When you mention that, and counter melodies, it makes me think that one of the special things about music is combining unexpected things, that seem to be in opposition, or in contrast with each other, like a harmony of opposites. I've been trying to learn more about microtonal / polychromatic music lately, by messing with those internet keyboards. It would be great to find harmony in those unused pitch divisions as chords over this style of music.
MARY: Working with you behind the scenes towards your new album, for some time now I’ve been aware of the new direction in your music that you’re hinting at there. It’s been exciting to hear the new developments in Our Unseen Guest’s sound. What are your hopes for this new album? Does it feel distinct from the previous releases you have produced to date?
JEFF: I have a lot of past releases, some which I feel dissatisfied with, but I like the idea of being honest about my trajectory, so they represent a certain point in my music’s development. This new album does feel very distinct from those previous releases, in that I have really tried to push myself out of my comfort zone. Starting to work with TONN for the last while triggered a period of intense recording, which I think has led to a stronger distillation of the previous methods and ideas I’ve tried over time. Each new recording seems to get closer to a clearer expression of what some subconscious part of me is trying to convey, and this release feels like that part of me was able to express itself more directly.
“I have this idea of imprinting my soul into recordings, as if each recording is an offering of what I’ve seen and heard.”
I have this idea of imprinting my soul into recordings, as if each recording is an offering of what I’ve seen and heard, or like a chance to make a souvenir of everything I’ve learned from my experience as well as from artists of the past and then hopefully give this to the next artist to carry forward into time and to define for themselves. So, my hopes are mainly that what I was trying to convey is felt on some level that is useful and that people can find some form of beauty in it. For the TONN debut album, I would really like to make something graceful, that is an experience, instead of just a collection of songs. I think I might have something with these new recordings. Either that, or they’re terrible and I’m delusional! Who knows… ha ha.
At the moment, I’m in the last phase of the album production, trying to figure out which of the new recordings fit together, which is the most difficult thing for me really. But I'm starting to now make more sense of how these new songs come together as a whole.
MARY: Thank you for taking this time out to tell us more about Our Unseen Guest.
JEFF: You’re welcome. It’s been interesting and always good to be able to take some time to reflect on things. It gives me a lot to think about and helps me gain clarity on music and this world of it.
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