this winter i answered a questionnaire for a book on LivePa that seems to be on hold till 2014, so i'm gonna post parts of the interview weekly on this blog so it was not all for nothing :)
part 1
Profile Questions
What’s your name and what Live PA acts are you involved in?
Muzik 4 Machines is my main alias and project since 1991
I've been in a one off band for a college band contest with 3 live PA guys, 2 singers, guitar, bass in 1999
I've been part of the Urbanauts 2.0 electronic show in 2000-2001.
I've been in a one off act we called TB&DJ.ool (me being TB and my violin playing friend being DJ.ool) but it was only for corporate gigs and science festivals.
I also was in a rock band (Cobaye Molotov) from 2002-2005 where I played guitars (mostly stomp boxes and fx) and computer (electro drums, synths, etc.)
How long has each act been around, what type of music do you play under that name?
I started to call myself Muzik 4 Machines around 1998, but I started composing in 1991 or so, but in the days it was a guitar, a TR 707 and a Tascam 4 track (I later got a DX21 (to make baselines and organs) that I still have to this day.)
The name came from the fact that as I was uploading music on mp3.com (the original one) I was pretty sure no human would want to listen to it and that only machines could like it, hence Music for Machines (which had to change spelling when I stupidly forgot to renew my domain name and it got snagged by a talentless hack using my name to this day.)
In the mid 90's I got my first computer and it changed my life as a budget music maker, I could compose a whole backing track to my guitar playing; guitar which soon took a corner of my room to be played less and less, and the "backing" tracks being more and more self contained electronic tracks, but in these days, there was no real way to do a live gig with only a computer, you still needed thousands of dollars of synths, sequencers, fx and mixers to perform it live, so it stayed mostly studio based until...
In 1999 I got a Roland MC505 and started performing at school gigs and contests, then I added a Roland EF303 fx/synth and got recruited by the Urbanauts 2.0 for their techno gigs, we played in bars and raves with the 505 and 303, a couple rack samplers, Nord, an1x, a 01/v mixer and sometimes even a live bass player.
I then started a rock band with a couple friends, but I carried my Live PA background, always having a laptop playing synths and additional electronic stuff while I played guitar through 2 pedal boards and a Kaoss pad, while still tweaking the computer output live.
When we disbanded around 2005, I looked at all that gear I had purchased over the years and that all ended up in my spare bedroom and decided to re ignite M4M, picking most of the gear I still use today from the pile and assembling it into the rig I have now (some of those pieces I had for 10 years already, bought in an era when nobody cared about synths in the 90's)
I then moved city to Quebec city and tried to gig as much as possible and that's also when I started to broadcast performances and making tutorial videos.
Where are you geographically located?
Quebec City, Canada
Where have you had the opportunity to play live? Feel free to highlight your main gigs, all countries, and a link to your gig resume (if you have one).
Bars in the Drummondville area (some pics, no audio or video)
Bars and festivals in Montreal
Here's a performance with a violinist for the TB&DJ.ool project at a science festival where we played and were letting people touch the kaoss gear to improvise with us
Video: http://www.youtube.com/eurekazik
And here's one with the Urbanauts
Audio: http://soundcloud.com/muzik-4-machines/live-jinxi-7-mars-2001-muzik-4-machines-live-jinxi-7-mars-2001
Bars and festivals in Quebec
Video: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2DF7E80AFB8037B2&feature=view_all most of them unrecorded or even darker than this one
Audio: http://soundcloud.com/muzik-4-machines/muzik-4-machines-live-06-oct-4th-2008
400th anniversary of Quebec city outdoor gig
Video: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL216679C1BEDC5160&feature=view_all
Audio: http://soundcloud.com/muzik-4-machines/muzik-4-machines-live-sept-4th-2008
Sometimes I go out with only a couple Kaoss pads an improvise it all
Video: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPN06FuVufkCnhFxxxgVkZirLcd_sh0Jr&feature=view_all
What are a few releases you can highlight for us that are live recordings (either audio or video)?
I played an 8 hour long set
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhRIMK8VuGQ
Here's my 1st try at Tetris (which became quite popular even without Tetris in the name)
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li-sHzN54tg it's also on the live album "Music for Machines by Machines" on iTunes ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/music-for-machines-by-machines/id325375462 )
I released a 8 live albums in the last 5 years, all on iTunes, amazon and every major online music store except beatport (that i only use for studio works)
https://itunes.apple.com/artist/muzik-4-machines/id325375467
What do you call yourself? Live PA Artist, Live Remixer, Controllerist, etc.
When asked I say live electronic music performance, cause live PA won't ring a bell to the people asking anyway, then they say, ha you are a DJ, and I reply that no, I compose the music the DJ would play live on the stage, not playing someone else's tracks.
What do you call Live PA in your area of the world? Any local colloquialisms / abbreviations used?
Live set, live act, live performance.
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