Austrian Cultural Forum NYC

MOVING SOUNDS FESTIVAL 2009

This September, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, the Argento New Music Project, the Music Information Center Austria, and Le Poisson Rouge teamed up to present the Moving Sounds Festival 2009. For three days, nine events gave the New York public a taste of the latest trends in music.

Performances in the festival included a mix of acoustic and electro-acoustic music, with interactive compositions and performances, improvisations, pre-recorded soundtracks, DJs, remix performances, electronica, and turntablism. Elements of musical and cultural theory and criticism figured prominently, not only in these performances but also in the symposium and panel discussions. Among other highlights, the festival featured U.S. and world premieres of pieces by Beat Furrer, Bernhard Lang, and Sam Pluta.

Interview with DORIAN CONCEPT
by Julia Huber

JH: How and when did you get into music and music production?

DC: I consciously began listening to music at the age of 14. Back then I was mainly into underground hip hop from Ruckus Records. Two years later I discovered electronic music through the Austrian compilation Vienna Scientists, and it was then when I started producing, got interested in sampling, and learned how to use synthesizers. The last couple of years, from 17 to 24 now, it’s been a more focused journey on making as much music as possible.

JH: Oliver Thomas Johnson aka Dorian Concept – what’s the story behind your English surname and your pseudonym?

DC: The anecdote behind “Johnson,” my last name, is that my father, who is from Minnesota, came to Vienna to study. He met my mom, an Austrian, and wound up staying. I was born and raised in Vienna and also have lived there my whole life. That’s why there’s a Mr. Johnson in Austria.

The story behind my stage name goes back to a kind of musical concept that I was into when I was younger. The “Dorian scale,” a musical scale, was the first thing I improvised on when I was about 16 years old. When I recorded myself playing the piano I simply named the audio file “Dorian Concept,” and ever since then stuck to that name as a constant reminder of where I come from musically.

JH: What does the process of your music making look like? Is there a certain melody you have in mind and that you start off with, or a chord you play around with? What kind of instruments do you use?

DC: My music making is always a pretty fluid process; I mostly start off with something rhythmic, a bit indie or some basic drums, and then I shape the chords around it. I often also start a track with a loop. Then I take these sounds, improvise on them with my synthesizers and keyboard and just let my music develop from there. Musically the equipment that I’m working with consists of a machine drum, two synthesizers, the MicroKorg and the Alesis Micron, and a field recorder. The field recorder is the tool that I probably use the most right now for sampling awkward sounding children’s keyboards or field recordings out in nature.

JH: Speaking of melodies, Gustav Mahler for instance used certain tunes, like folk tunes, to build on and then completely changed them around. Do you use certain melodies as a sort of “archeological find,” as a building block, like an architect?

DC: I always try to find melodies that stick with you even though they are as awkward as they could possibly be. The challenge for me is to find the weirdest possible, but still “pop”-sounding melodies and then build on those.

JH: Who influenced and influences you most in your music making?

DC: My earliest influences are definitely in sample-based hip hop, from musicians like DJ Hi-Tek, who had incredibly interesting funk breaks or jazz sampled tunes. Other inspirations lie in the electronica stuff from the mid- to late nineties that came out on different labels, like Widerstand (9:44) or Ninja Tune Records. Besides that I’ve always been a fan of experimental, soundscapy music, like Oval, who has consistently played an important rule in my music making. I also went back in time to older music like modal and free jazz, as well as many Coltrane tunes.

JH: Are you more enthusiastic about the studio/experimental sessions or the live experience?

DC: It depends, but if I had to choose what to do for the rest of my life, I’d definitely pick making music in a studio. Personally, I think it’s very important to just find time, sit in front of my computer and work on something new. Playing live is something I really do for the people and in that sense, it’s extremely valuable for me. But where the music itself is concerned, I prefer working on it at home, and taking my time to put together the right sounds. I would never want to miss out on playing live though.

JH: Do you consider yourself a primarily a songwriter, a song artist, or simply a keyboard player?

DC: The last thing I consider myself is a keyboard player. It was never important for me to flaunt a certain skill that people think I have mastered. I always found it more valuable to use the things that I’ve learned and incorporate them into my sound. Personally, I see myself as a composer and producer. I’m on a steady journey to find my own mixture of music that I really enjoy.

JH: Which term would you say describes you better: “Komponist” (composer) or “Klangkünstler” (sound artist)?

DC: I’d pick composer, because the term “Komponist” refers to someone who creates music, meaning he takes enough time to sit down and put together the right sounds. For me “Komponist” shows more musical interest and additionally it also sounds better. Hearing “Klangkünstler” makes me think of someone who is rather arranging installations than creating music.

JH: You just released your debut album When Planets Explode. How was the experience compared to other productions?

DC: Knowing that this album is going to reach a larger audience than all my previous work, I decided to make the album as colorful as possible. I was working with many different sounds and tempi, but still tried to keep it all together and have one golden thread throughout the whole album. I wanted to include all the different things that I do, from slower, soundscapy, stuff to really hectic and sometimes pretty weird sound combinations. With the next album I will probably try to keep it more on a certain tempo and just play around more with the sounds.

JH: You’ve been getting more and more international attention in the music world lately. You even went on tour to Australia and China. How did that happen?

DC: That was made possible through a good friend, who was also at the Red Bull Music Academy last year and who invited me over to Australia for the St. Jerome's Laneway Festival. From there, I went to China to play some gigs in Shanghai for a week.

JH: How was the experience of playing in China?

DC: It was exciting and very interesting to see how people reacted to my music. They were really into it, one half of the people enjoyed the music and were dancing as if there wasn’t even a performer in the club and the other half really paid attention and watched what I was doing very closely. It was a nice trip. People really liked my music, even though you could see that some were also surprised because it was the first time they were exposed to that kind of music when they heard me playing.

JH: How did the success of releasing a debut album and going on tour to Australia and China influence you?

DC: I try to let myself not become too influenced by my success, but one thing that I’ve definitely noticed is the fact that as soon as you reach certain things you’ve always dreamed of, the excitement, the mystique tends to get lost. Getting on an airplane and flying somewhere for gigs for the first couple of times is incredibly exciting. However, if you do it on a weekly basis, it feels more and more normal, which is good on one hand, because it’s definitely the best way I can imagine spending my time, but you also have to be very careful not to lose your enthusiasm. I’m definitely not on the verge of losing my excitement, but I think it’s important to remind myself that I have this rare opportunity to travel, play gigs and have people enjoy listening to my music. I just try to remain aware of that.

JH: Going back to travelling - of all the cities you’ve played in, what is your favorite so far?

DC: That’s hard to answer, but I really enjoyed playing in Vilnius and Greece. The more you go to the east of Europe and sometimes also the south, people’s appreciation for music changes a lot. In London for instance, people have so much good music coming through that they take it for granted when someone plays a gig there. In cities that normally don’t have a lot of international musicians, audiences are very appreciative. When I played in Vilnius they decorated the whole club and gave the event a theme.

JH: What kind of music do you like to dance to?

DC: Anything that’s somehow funky and has enough variation and groove to keep me going.

JH: Daft Punk or Kraftwerk?

DC: Daft Punk. Kraftwerk is more interesting when I stay home and do something on my computer.

JH: You have a track title called “Her Marshmallow Secret.” What do you prefer, marshmallows or cookies?

DC: Definitely cookies!

Austria Meets New York
In tough times the jazz metropolis still attracts Austrian musicians – maybe more than ever

by Denise Riedlinger

New York in the summer. Brutal heat alternates with tropical downpours. During these relatively quiet weeks in the eternally sizzling city, I set out to find that rare breed of Austrian musicians who wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than here, the center of jazz, despite unpaid gigs, noise, and a shortage of living space.

“New York is very intense. You constantly have to give your all.” Singer and composer Maria Neckam knows what it means to trade Europe’s down comforters for New York’s hard mattresses. There’s no rest in this city of 10 million inhabitants. Everything is turning, everything is in motion. Sounds, people, skyscrapers, cars racing at each other, racing right through you. Keeping a clear head here and not losing sight of the goal is part of everyday survival. Neckam, who after graduating from the Manhattan School of Music found a home in the artist community of Brooklyn, has become a permanent fixture in established New York venues like 55 Bar and Rockwood Music Hall. She presents her jazz-inspired compositions with a young, highly talented band. “I still find it inspiring here, even though lots of good jazz is coming from Europe as well now. But you have to keep a constant presence, otherwise people forget about you.”

Singer Elisabeth Lohninger, who left Linz, Austria, in 1994 to continue her studies at the New School, experienced a New York that at the time was still colored by the innovative 80s and the wild 70s. Emigration. Back then, it meant sporadic phone calls with parents, slowly dissipating friendships, and the courage to step into the unknown without looking back. Together with partner Walter Fischbacher, Lohninger performed at clubs that have since closed: Bradley’s, Village Gate, Arlene’s Grocery. For ten years she lived on the Lower East Side and finally moved out when nothing was left of the emblematic blend of Jewish mom-and-pop shops, artists, cheap secondhand shops, and warehouse parties and the area had become a hipster hangout. Lohninger, film composer, solo artist, studio operator, and singer in the band Trionada, doesn’t have to prove anything anymore. But New York hasn’t been easy for anyone yet. “We owe it to President Bush that it’s nearly impossible to get a green card these days or find work without a visa,” she says.

Still, you pretty much always had to get your hands dirty to live here. Guitarist Wolfgang Schalk had to earn a living as a driver in the beginning. The battle for a green card took years. “There is a jazz community in many different countries, but New York offers a level that you can’t easily find anywhere else.” He ultimately found his place in the top league of jazz cats. Michael Brecker plays on his US debut The Second Third Man. In the meantime, Schalk has ended up in Los Angeles. “My heart is still in New York, but my body is in West Hollywood.” His new album, Wanted, recorded with his exceptionally dynamic, swinging trio, received plenty of accolades from the press. “I’m a workaholic. And I filter out all the negative crap. Otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

I caught up with Hans Glawischnig on the fly. The popular sideman was just back from a European tour with saxophonist Miguel Zenon and was about to head to Mexico. “New York gives you opportunities. It’s often happened to me that I suddenly get a phone call and find myself standing on stage with amazing musicians that same evening.” Chick Corea played on his debut CD Panorama. It’s a very New York phenomenon that even truly successful musicians play for free. To make money you have to tour Europe. Even though Glawischnig is still driven to reach a higher level, the situation is starting to lose its luster for him. “In Manhattan there are only a handful of clubs left where you can listen to real jazz: The Stone, Small’s, Village Vanguard, and 55 Bar.”

Trumpeter and composer Franz Hackl lives with his family in Harlem, one of the last affordable neighborhoods for musicians in Manhattan. The curator of the Outreach Jazz Festival in Schwaz, Tyrol, has found a creative pool of musicians here without ever breaking his ties to Austria. “I came here and I thought, I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Whether performing with his brass trio B3, and whether it’s funk, rap, contemporary music, or straight ahead jazz, the city offers him a never-ending stream of ideas and projects.

Abundance is a word that really fits this city. Taxis, restaurants, artists – there’s more here than you can digest. For percussionist Hari Ganglberger this abundance led to a long search for his sound. Taking jazz as his starting point, Ganglberger, an Upper Austrian who came to New York in 1999, has now arrived at different sounds. Just back from a celebrated gig in Tokyo’s Warehouse 702 with electropop performer Kap10 Kurt, he glides into the realm of pop with folk revival band Magdyn Osh. He doesn’t hesitate to share his opinion that present-day Manhattan has become nothing more than a stomping ground for tourists. Is it worth it for young jazz musicians to come here anymore? “If you want to climb the mountain, you still have to head upwards. I got access to sounds, to different people here, different situations. Back home I couldn’t imagine what the scene was like, where music comes from, why it is the way it is. A band like Television wouldn’t have interested me before I came to New York. And then once I was here everything totally made sense and was fantastic.”