Interview ~ Frore + Shane Morris + Aperus
SOUND REFLECTIONS brings together artists and musicians to discuss their history, work and creative process. The interview format draws from a mutual set of questions and invites artists to follow up with their own questions to learn more about each other. By sharing the spotlight, we aspire to connect more fully, broaden the audience and hopefully increase the positive karma in the world.
Frore is the ambient music project of Paul Casper, a musician hailing from southeastern Virginia, in the USA. "Frore is music that evokes a dark, thoughtful and primitive atmosphere for reflection and/or dreaming. I think it’s music that connects with 'something', but I’ve yet to figure out what that is..."
Shane Morris is a percussionist, synthesist, and composer of ambient electronic music. Inspired by nature, patterns, and systems, he shapes ethereal realms, polyrhythmic grooves, and tribal soundscapes using a variety of acoustic and electronic instruments, processing, hardware and software.
Aperus (aka Brian McWilliams) is an ambient, electronic musician and photographer living in the high desert of northern New Mexico. With each recording, he explores new themes and possibilities, combining analog atmospheres, field recordings, electronic experimentalism and photographic artifacts to create unique audiovisual documents.
Q. Do you have any memories or feelings about the first time you really noticed music or sound in general?
Frore: My absolute first memory of sound is of a box fan my parents kept running in their closet, with the door cracked at night while they slept. I loved to sleep on the floor in their room to hear it. I’ve never thought about that before. I guess I’ve always loved drones.
My mother and both my sisters played the piano. I took piano lessons for a year but never wanted to practice, so I quit. It was the same thing when I tried guitar lessons. I never practiced and never progressed, so I quit. But, I kept playing guitar (poorly) and eventually acquired an effects unit and a four track. After a while of working and saving, I bought a Boss Dr5. There was a local guitar store that would have a big 50% off sale every year. But it was first come first serve, so I got permission from my parents and waited in line outside the store for 12 hours at night. I thought the DR5 would just make drums, I had no idea it had synths and samples and a sequencer on it... or what a sequencer was.
It blew my mind! Suddenly, my poor musicianship wasn’t as big of a handicap and never got bored like before. I would just explore things going in to delays on while recording on high speed with the four track and then playing it back on low... nothing ground breaking, but at 16 years old, it felt like entering this crazy self-made world. Around this time, I was getting in to industrial music, but I also had a friend let me borrow a CD called: Plug-In and Turn On 2 from the ambient label: Instinct. My older sister had also told me about the Hearts of Space radio show. From then on, my musical interests went in the directions of Industrial and Ambient.
Shane: I first began to pay attention to sound more seriously when I was kid in my early years growing up on our farm. With an absence of other kids to play with, I bonded with our farm animals and pets quite a bit. I wanted to be able to communicate with animals so I began to imitate the sounds from each animal as a way to speak with them. One by one I would learn their sounds. Dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, goats, squirrels, and birds. I extended this attention to sound into my play worlds growing up imitating scifi and action films, which I think had a bit to do later on with my interests in electronics, sampling, and field recording.
In regards to music, I grew up listening to Memphis rock n' roll in my single digits. Loved that stuff and it solidified my love of music. But it was punk rock and the punk ethos that really encouraged me to try to play music myself. I had tried to get into school band a couple times, but was denied both times for lack of prior piano training. So punk gave me an avenue into playing music. Once I became a musician, I began to notice and hear music much differently and I'm still exploring that to this day.
Aperus: My parents sent me to Catholic school for 7th grade and we had a very progressive teacher who organized a choir performance using songs that were popular on the radio. Mrs. Gabriel arranged our vocals in four part harmony and played acoustic guitar. Her assistant played bass and one of the students played drums. It was the first time I had ever been close to a live drum kit and I still remember how it felt when the sound of the drums hit my body. It was like a gust of wind blowing through me. In that moment I understood the power of sound. We also had a music class where we were taught to play the flutophone, a very simple plastic wind instrument. Even though the instrument didn't sound that great I loved the class. Like Paul, I also took guitar lessons and wanted to learn to play badly, but it wasn't as easy as I had hoped, so I eventually put the guitar in the closet and quit.
Q. When did ambient / experimental music first catch your ear and what were some of the artists that first caught your attention?
Frore: The first was a trip to the planetarium in school. I grew up in the suburbs, but it was the last neighborhood, before you hit the rural areas. So here was the Chesapeake Planetarium, with a model of R2D2 in the lobby and then the other room has this amazing music coming from somewhere and there is this whole immersive world, completely self-contained. It was awesome. All the other kids asked questions about the planets, I asked "what is this music?”
When I was around 16 I was deep into NIN along with all those Instinct Ambient releases, plus, the "Last Rites" album from Skinny Puppy / "Evil Off" from Front 242. Sometimes on Sunday night I would stay up to midnight listening to Hearts of Space on the radio. I just had no idea how any of this stuff was made and I was hooked on it.
Shane: In 1988 or so, I was in a CD mail club and I read about Tangerine Dream. I love psychedelic music of all kinds and the review said TD was all about that. So I took a chance and bought "Phaedra" and it had an enormous impact on me. "Phaedra" opened the door to electronic music for me. Deep electronic music. Prior to that I had listened to New Order, Chicago House music mix tapes, and industrial music. But, "Phaedra" was a whole new level of depth through synthesizers that I had not known before. I found Roach, Rich, Obmana, Stearns, and others a few years later through Hearts of Space played locally on my college radio station beginning around 1992. The tribal ambient stuff immediately got my attention at the time as a student of percussion traditions from around the world.
I've loved instrumental music since I was very young. Before discovering ambient electronic music, I was tuned in to the ECM label, acoustic jazz, new age, classical, and Indian classical music. With my burning interest in "world" and instrumental music in the 90s, tribal ambient and space music were easy to gravitate to.
Aperus: I discovered Brian Eno's "On Land" at a local general store in small-town Alpena, Michigan while I was in high school. I had heard of Brian Eno but didn't know his music and was drawn to the title and cover art. This album struck me in such a deep way that it's hard to describe. The textures, the natural sounds, the variation in moods absolutely captivated me. The song "Lantern Marsh" is still one of the most haunting instrumental tracks I've heard and there are very few albums that sound better to my ears.
Maybe four or five years later, I came to ambient again through New Wave. I discovered Japan (the band) in my early 20's, followed Jansen/Barbieri and Sylvian's work and fell in love with most of their output, especially Sylvian's "Gone to Earth". The instrumental half of that album is an amazing achievement in my opinion. I was also a huge fan of Peter Gabriel's "Music from the Last Temptation of Christ" and "Birdy". John Phipps, my partner in Remanence worked at a record store during that time and floated me albums by In The Nursery, Lustmord, Robert Rich, Steve Roach, Rapoon, Vidna Obmana, This Mortal Coil and SPK amongst others. At first I was a little afraid of these artist's darker edges but eventually I wanted to explore all shades of ambient and not just the nicer tones.
Q. What is your most prized album(s) in your collection? Care to share a photo?
Frore: Steve Roach "On This Planet".
Man, I used to listen to that in my room and just read the liner notes over and over again, trying to figure out what Udus were or Pre-Columbian Flutes.
Temps Perdu? "Earth Story". It’s just good... It’s so good.
Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana "Cavern of Sirens". After hearing "The Gathering (Excerpt)" from the Projekt sampler "Beneath the Icy Flow 4", I went to the record store and asked them to order "Well of Souls". They ordered "Cavern of Sirens" instead. That was my first Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana album. Every single time I play it and it starts with the Tibetan Chant, I feel like I’ve come home.
Shane: I suppose my most prized albums would be Robert Johnson's "King of the Delta Blues" and Jelly Roll Morton's "King of New Orleans Jazz" on vinyl. I collect vinyl not because I think it sounds good, but for the albums that were only released on vinyl. I have several early jazz records that mean a lot to me.
As far as CD's, probably my signed copy of Steve Roach's "Arc of Passion" is a big one. Stunning album!
Aperus: Brian Eno "On Land" - As described above, this was my first introduction to ambient music and first environmental ambient album I'd heard. This album still strongly influences my thinking. It's probably one of the reasons I considered making "Weather Anomalies" because this album showed how powerful combining environmental recordings with music can be.
Vidna Obmana "River of Appearance" - For me, this is the middle point of Vidna's journey and one of the pinacles in his highly regarded discography. Here, his ideas leading up to "The Trilogy" are fully crystalized. And it's the first version on Projekt that's closest to my heart. The artwork complements the music. The images and colors are slightly abstracted. Song titles such as "The Angelic Appearance", "Ephemeral Vision", "A Scenic Fall", and "The Solitary Circle" read like poetry for the art and music. He uses piano, percussion, reverb and synths to great affect. On this album, Vidna Obmana created a parallel world of the imagination and invited us into a floating ephemeral soundscape where everything is resonant.
Rapoon "Fires of the Borderlands" - When I first bought this album, I listened to it a few times and set it aside. It has a dark, melancholic, remote quality to it that kind of spooked me. Many years later I listened to it again and fell in love with it. Rapoon is the solo project of Robin Story, previously of the singular noise/art collective Zoviet France. I followed Rapoon across many of his solo records back to the Zoviet France albums I could find and afford (out of print and expensive). If you investigate, you'll see that Robin has created his own audio/visual language and I deeply respect and admire his work. He also paints and creates the cover art for most of his albums. He's an artist operating on his own frequency. His work inspires me to be fearless in finding my own path.
David Sylvian "Gone to Earth" - Gone to Earth is a double album released in 1986 by Japan frontman David Sylvian. The first side contains a sophisticated blend of electronic, jazz, ambient, and art rock with vocals. Side two is an instrumental album of equally high caliber relying on keyboards, guitar, piano, sampled dialogue and washes of ambience. It's a truly amazing work that likely offers something for anyone interested in the instumental / ambient music genre. Listening to it again, I'm amazed at the interplay between the instruments and the melodic lines. Simply beautiful jaw dropping work.
Q. What are your thoughts about collaborating vs working solo? Do you prefer one over the other?
Shane: I love both. I don't prefer one to the other. Just different ways to create with different results. I do a lot of collaborations with people. Frore, Mystified, Disturbed Earth, and many others in the past. I love the possibilities and the new ideas that come from collaborating with others. It's great to explore the synergy between two or more people and discover what combining the best of your abilities together with the best of another's abilities to see what can be created. I always learn things and I'm open to learning more when I collaborate with someone. It's all an ongoing learning process. Collaborating has it's social aspect as well. It's just fun to work with other people and not be only in your own head. But, I love working solo too. It's wonderful to explore and challenge yourself on many different levels of a musical creation to make something you have never done before. Both approaches, collab and solo are like a yin/yang in my musical world. I love both and it's nice for me to have a balance of both. Same with live and studio. Which right now, my live sector is out of balance but hopefully to be restored soon.
Aperus: I've done both. I've worked collaboratively first with Remanence over a number of EP's and albums, then with James Johnson on "Ecotone". Then of course I've worked solo over a handful of releases as Aperus. Honestly, I think I like being the boss a little better than collaborating but I do enjoy working with other people and receiving musical ideas and feedback on my albums. Collaborating can be great if both people operate as equals and have different areas of expertise. It can pull you in new directions, places you'd never go on your own. Also if someone has a business mind or sense for artwork it can help a great deal because those things are extremely difficult to do on your own. Collaborations can also make you crazy, especially if it's difficult to agree on a purpose, method, direction, or if you need to have endless discussions about something little like a detail of a song. Working solo gives me more freedom but hopefully you have enough energy and ideas to create something on your own. I think that's why getting input for a solo album can be valuable. Too much of just 'you' can get a little too homogeneous. Another voice can pull you in a new direction, but you still get to make the executive decisions.
Q. Do you have any favorite pieces of equipment, software or plugins?
Frore: For software it’s Ableton Live. I remember when I first tried Ableton Live 4. (2005 maybe?) I had some sounds going half speed and octave down from what I was playing and something else stretched twice as long as the original recording and it actually sounded good. I had made something that i didn’t hate. I remember thinking, this software is for me. I still use today.
For hardware, it’s pretty much everything I use now. I don’t keep things around too long if they’re not working out. (Also, I sold a bit of hardware to get into modular.)
I have a Radikal Technologies Accelerator. Before Covid was used all the time but, it’s currently under my bed as I've no room currently since I’m working from home too. I pull it out when I can. It’s an amazing synth and I love the pad patches I get out of it. Warm or glassy I just love the way it sounds. There’s something about the filters I love too. It’s all DSP based, but can still sound so full and warm. That synth kind of turned me in to a Radikal Technologies fanboy. I even went out and got the RT451 filter and EFFEXX RT1701 effects modules for my modular. They are giant beasts that take up a lot of space in the rig, but what can I say... I’m a fan. Maybe in the future, if I get more space I can their Swarm Oscillator too.
The other new love of mine is the Waldorf Iridium. It’s glorious. It does so much, and it goes so deep. Wavetables, VA synthesis, Sampling, Granular, FM... It really is a sound designers dream. I’mjust scratching the surface with it.
Shane: My homemade lap steel has been a daily favorite for some time now. With ebow and efx pedals, it becomes a wild drone creature that is so tactile. I absolutely love feeling the strings vibrate in my fingers. Very fun. I've just been playing for two years now. I also built a multi-instrument I call the Electro-Acoustic Sound Box which is a string and percussion instrument with dual outputs.
As far as synthesizers, I mostly work with soft synths and vst's. I love the old Alchemy vst which I still use quite a bit. Eventide Blackhole reverb is always a pleasure to work with. I'm also having fun with the Arturia Microfreak in my live rig.
Aperus: I dearly love my DSI / Oberheim OB6 because its filter sounds so good and I can almost always get sounds that fit what I'm working on. Recently I picked up the Soma Lyra-8, an eight voice analog synth that can go from subtle to total mayhem. I have to point out it's from Russia whenever I mention it. Voices can be fed back into themselves and through a primitive delay and distortion section. There are no presets, you can't save your work and it's almost impossible to duplicate a sound once you get it going. I used it all over "Weather Anomalies", it sounds organic, cyclic and a little off kilter. It kind of sounds and behaves like the weather, so it was perfect.
I've also taken a liking to guitar pedals as a way to color sounds, tracks and mixes. My favorites include the Strymon Volante tape delay, the Electro Harmonix Frequency Analyzer which does great metallic sounding ring modulation. Both of these were used all over Weather Anomalies. I also like the Zoom MS-70CDR which is filled with reverbs, delays, filters, panners, amps, etc. It's like having a rack-mount effects unit stuffed into a tiny pedal.
As a process, I've moved back to recording on a mixer after relying on the computer and sequencer to complete songs on previous albums. I feel like this keeps ideas fresh and inspires me to work more quickly and intuitively. Every time I approach a song on a mixer, I'll mix it differently depending on how I feel. With a computer, the song plays back the same way you saved it the last time. In short, things with tactile interfaces really inspire me. The mouse on the computer does not.
For software, I work in Ableton Live. I'll set up tracks, sound beds and loops and run everything out through a mixer. I do love plugins. My favorites are from Waves, FabFilter, Klevgrand, Izotope, Eventide, PSP, Softube, Soundtoys and TAL.
Q. Is there any recent gear that's inspired you or any gear you regret selling?
Shane: I have been really stoked on acquiring and working with the Boss RC505 loopstation for live music. The five independent loop tracks with unlimited time allows me for the first time to actually do some drum-heavy solo tribal ambient in a live real-time setting. I've been looping for years, but the 505 really gives me the ability to do the amount of layers without worries of time constraints like I've not had before. So I have been buying a few things to complete my live rig in the last year or so, as I've been mostly oriented to studio work for the last dedade nearly.
Aperus: The Soma Lyra 8 (from Russia) is such a strange box and one you need to approach with a completely different mindset. You can almost always get material out of it as long as you have the recorder running to sample from later. I love it. Pedals inspire me. There are so many companies making beautiful and creative effects in this format. I think it's probably like modular with its addictive qualities but maybe less expensive. As soon as you buy a new pedal, it's not too long before you discover another amazing pedal that you just gotta have. I'm also quite fond of cassette tape. I like committing and recording one sound to cassette and running that back into a mix. You'll never get it in sync up so it adds a random element to the mix. And once you record a sound, you're stuck with it so it forces you to make decisions.
I regret having to sell my Juno 106. I had it for over 25 years, it was the first synth I learned to program, it made beautiful pads or strange sounds if you knew how to push it. It started to break down and very few people know how to fix them. If you don't live near a major city, repairs are costly because of shipping. I sold it last year and am still looking for another synth that's as easy and rewarding to work with to fill the void.
Frore: To fund the Accelerator, I sold a Dave Smith Mono Evolver (no regrets) and an Elektron Machinedrum. I really miss that Machinedrum, like a lot... like a lot, a lot. I’m glad I did it to get the Accelerator! I just wish I could have kept the Machinedrum. Did I mention I miss it a lot?
Q. What do you feel is needed to get into a creative space?
Frore: It’s different for a lot of people... a creative space physically can require incense, a quiet spot to gather your thoughts...
But, I’ve never taken that approach. I don’t have inspiring scenery outside my window- just an alleyway behind some townhouses and lots of trashcans. I’m in a jet fly zone. F-18 Tomcats fly over me all day long. Sometimes they shake the house. I once had a great space to create in, but that’s currently gone, so I’m now crammed between my side table and a corner. I can stretch out my arms and touch everything around me. I’m not meaning to sound ungrateful, I have a roof over my head, a full belly (too full most of the time). I have some great gear to explore with too. But I think what I’m trying to say is: If I waited for to be inspired, I’d never get there.
To get in to a creative space, I have to force it. It’s work. It’s hearing the TV on too loud in one part of the house and jets fly by and then you still go: "Well, let’s make some shit”. Sometimes it feels like it’s fighting everything around you in the world. Every honking horn, every mean troll online, all the news on TV, my own self-doubt, anxiety and depression. It's demanding the act of creation. It can be really hard and tiresome sometimes to get those gates to open. But once you do and things start coming together and this sonic world of your own creation starts coming to life, it can be so amazing.
Aperus: Like Paul said, I require incense. Actually, I need to be in a certain mental space for it. By that I mean, you're not worrying about bills, appointments, obligations, etc. Second, it's good to feel inspired by something you saw, heard, experienced or want to explore. I feel more grounded and inspired if I've spent time out in the desert, forest or mountains. Third, habit. Creating can become a habit if you make time for it on a regular basis. Even if I only have an hour once every couple of days, that's still enough time to explore and reinforce a positive habit. Lastly, a calm emotional inner space. I find it hard to create when I'm upset, distracted or angry. When I feel calm, my energy flows more freely.
Shane: Before parenting, I would say I had a thing about working when I was most inspired. Drop what I'm doing and start digging in kinda thing. But now as a parent, I can't afford those kind of time luxuries. But the good news is this has also evaporated any illusions about what is needed to be creative as well. At this point, I would say I really just need a semi-quiet space without distractions and I'm good to work. Coffee or tea is an added bonus. Even if I'm having reservations getting started, it only takes a couple minutes and I'm into the zone.
Q. How important is it to you to have a creative outlet?
Shane: Apparently, it's pretty important to me because I just keep coming back to it. Joking, but yes it is fairly important. I've found that I am fine to go without being creative for a time, but at some point I will fell as though their is a void there. So I am always drawn back to it. If I was not able to play music any longer, I would switch to spending more time on visual arts, painting, photography, digital arts or physical arts, like skateboarding. Things I've been doing for most of my life now, which will sometimes rotate with my free time.
Aperus: Incredibly important. Honestly, I need creativity as a way to process the energies of my life, to interpret the scenery around me, the things I've experienced and channel that energy into a creative outlet. It gives my life meaning and a focal point. If I did not have music and photography as an outlet I'm pretty sure I'd be depressed with my life and lose a connection with myself. Having a creative outlet is vital to understanding myself, my place in society, in nature and in relation to the world.
Frore: You know, the other day I was wondering if I would be a happier person, if I wasn’t always trying to make music. None of the hours learning new gear, getting mad at myself for not understanding something, thinking about why I don’t like my last mix, comparing myself to others, wondering if I’m ‘good enough’, wondering what to do next? Like what if I just didn’t do anything ‘artistic’? Would I be happier?
But then I remember the excitement of getting a good groove going, hearing a song come together, exploring the world through sound, and I realize that this is really the only way it could be for me. I can’t imagine a world where I’m not making sounds and music. And I’m thankful. And I think what other way could it be?
Q. Do you have any idea where you're headed next?
Aperus: I'm currently working on the final mixing stages for two collaborative projects. Both still need mastering and artwork. One is a Remanence project that I've been trying to complete for many, many years and it requires a great deal of emotional fortitude and audio archaeology. I've just completed mixes for 1/3 of it these past couple of weeks. The other is more current with an artist I like with a completely different set of methods and goals. I have two Aperus projects in mind that I hope to begin at some point soon. Both have interesting angles and concepts inspired by the landscape and vibe of New Mexico. One, I've already accumulated a ton of photography for.
Shane: Not really, which is a big part of the fun for me. But, Paul and I have finished our follow up to "Horizon" already and it is submitted to Spotted Peccary for review. It is similar in approach to "Horizon", but a bit darker, more earthly oriented. We will be getting started on the collaborative process again soon. But, no ideas of where we are headed just yet. In my solo projects, I have a couple things I've been working on for a while that are near completion. One is tribal ambient, the other darker. I hope to wrap them up over the winter and spring.
Frore: Shane and I just released "Horizon" with Spotted Peccary in September. I recently designed some sounds and played some synths on Byron Metcalf's newest album: Rhythms of Remembering. I also have a solo Frore album called "Biome", coming out on Spotted Pecarry next year. On top of that, Shane and I have already written our next album together, that we're calling "Ochre".
Personally, I’ve been exploring more fractal rhythms and more abstract ideas of “tribal” beats. Building more patches using the Iridium for upcoming work and finally, my hope in 2022 is that I’ll be able to make better videos than of just me, holding a phone up to my gear.
Q. Do you have any questions you want to ask each other?
Aperus: How important are visuals and artwork to your projects? I thought the artwork for "Horizon" was quite nice with a blend of past and future imagery as well as images from both of your studios.
Shane: Thanks, Brian! We were both immediately enamored with Daniel Pipitone's artwork for "Horizon" upon first site. Visual art is so important to every release. We are so lucky to work with Daniel and Spotted Peccary for our albums. He has done a fantastic job with all of our releases catching the vibe and spirit of what we are doing musically. When collaborating with people, I always leave an open space with out much expectations. When you work with people dedicated to high quality work, then there is already trust and confidence in that whatever it is, it will turn out good.
Frore: Aperus, your CD packaging is always top notch, featuring multiple photos or different art prints. How important is it to have these visual companions paired with your music?
Aperus: Thank you! I always feel that my artwork is pretty good but could be better. When I first started, I wanted to get involved with music partly because of the amazing visuals that accompanied albums I loved by This Mortal Coil, Lonely is An Eyesore, Dead Can Dance, Sleeps With the Fishes, David Sylvian, Zoviet France, Rapoon and visual artists such as Russell Mills and Antoni Tapies. Artwork was not just slapped on an album as an afterthought, it was part of the concept and experience of the album. It elevated the music and created a world in which you could enter with all of your senses. I've never forgotten this feeling and if you look online, many of these albums are out of print and sought after because they are beautiful pieces of art. But, let's keep in mind these albums were created by a label and usually by more than one person. There's very few people who can do all of these things well by themselves. To do all these things takes a lot of talent. So, I'm usually a little disappointed in my skills with various things such as mastering, photography, typography, packaging, etc. I think I did pretty well with "Weather Anomalies" and "Archaic Signal" but my work is still not at the level of the masters or at the level I'd like to achieve. But realistically, I know this is not possible in my lifetime and I've come to accept that.
Shane: Aperus, you often post pictures of your desert hikes on social media. How much does your environment play into your music? Does your art inspire the music? Does your music inspire the art? Or are they both inspiring each other as you go?
Aperus: Environment plays a vital role in the artwork now where before it was more remote or fleeting. Since moving to New Mexico, I feel plugged in at an energetic level to history, geography, culture - the sights, sounds and layers of the area. Literally, album titles, song titles, entire concepts appear in my head almost like a mirage as I explore petroglyph sites, ruins, volcanoes, the desert, canyons and mountains. Even the graffiti here resonated with me on a deep level and I've photographed waves of it over the course of a year. As you saw with "Weather Anomalies", the ongoing paintings that are the New Mexico sky look like sound analogies with various colors and moods that I really wanted to explore. I probably had over a thousand photos of skies, clouds, weather and sunsets to comb through matching images with music. They do feed into each other. I hung weather photos on my wall for a year prior to making "Weather Anomalies". I did that with petroglyph photos for "Archaic Signal" as well. The music then encouraged me to go out and take more photos seeking different moods. Right now I have a set of "cosmic" graffiti photos on a different wall, filling my thoughts on a daily basis for an upcoming Aperus project. Some of it looks like sacred rock art from another time or dimension.
Aperus: Frore, how did you choose your name and what does it mean? I like your chosen name quite a bit and think that it suits your music quite well.
Frore: If I had it to do over again I might have picked a name that rolled off the tongue easier. "Frore" looked cool on paper. Then I heard someone try and say it and I was like, well damn... I always have to explain Frore as "roar" with an "F". At the time, I was too scared to go under my real name Paul Casper. I feel like the moniker gives you a nice place to hide. And, I didn't want to release music under my real name because there's already a guy who plays music as Paul Casper. He plays banjos at county fairs. Ironically, I just finished up a bunch of remixes for the industrial rock band Heretics In The Lab, in which I used my real name. As far as the meaning, "Frore" is old English for "bitterly cold" or "frozen". What about the name "Aperus"?
Aperus: It's derived from the French word "aperçus" which looks cool but I'd never be able to pronounce it so I chose a variation and went with "Aperus". It means "to perceive with a glance" or "to appear". I think we followed the European model by choosing an alter ego much like Vidna Obmana or Oophoi. In America, artists often stick with their given names even if they're not great. Though there's nothing wrong with "Shane Morris". With my name, I didn't want to release music under "Brian McWilliams"... leprechauns with their pot of gold, Irish New Age overtones and all that. I did think about dropping the "Mc" off my last name, but there's already a Brian Williams - aka Lustmord.
Shane: I can add to this from the other side of the coin. I was in two bands before they were discovered to have the same name as another band. One was forced to change under legal threat. So, when I began doing solo ambient music I did consider a moniker for a while as it's a good way to describe your music. But I ended up going with my own name because I didn't want to have to deal with another name change down the road. After all it's my name right? No one can make me change that. Well that was true, however there is also a Shane Morris in the UK that is a DJ that people will sometimes confuse me for him. So I periodically get messages sent to my facebook account for the DJ. Kinda funny, but certainly not as bad as having to change my name.
Aperus: Shane and Frore, you had the chance to work with some of your heroes on "Horizon". What was it like listening to their contributions and then blending them into your work?
Shane: It was a little bit surreal working with Mark, Dirk, and Byron because I have listened to their music both individually and collaboratively with others for many years. When we began working on "Horizon", I originally asked Byron to see if we could collaborate on a percussion heavy track for the album. The track with Byron went so well it inspired us to extend the invitation to Dirk and Mark, whom we both regard in high esteem both for their compositions and playing. When we started getting the sounds from everyone, it was really exciting. I remember thinking how we needed to live up to their caliber of musicality after hearing the tracks they sent us. So, I think that gave us an extra push to get things right and dialed in. The track, "Agape" with Mark Seelig on bansuri flute brought out a new approach and dynamic in regards to my udu playing on that track. I wanted to elude to the great percussions and music of India in my playing and complement Mark's flute, without straying too far from our tribal ambient zone as well. It was a fun challenge.
Frore: Surreal. Just completely surreal. It was a real honor.
Aperus: Frore, you bought and worked with the mythic Fujara (Slovakian wind instrument) on this release. Do you have a background with wind instruments and how difficult was it to play and record?
Frore: The fujara isn’t too hard to play, but then I don’t particularly play it all that well. My fujara is PVC one I bought off the internet years ago. Now you can find people making wooden ones on Etsy. The mic I use with it is just a cheap headset mic I found one day. I snapped the mic from the ear pieces and wrapped rubber bands around it. It’s a great mic? No. Should I do better? Yes, yes, I should.
I first heard the instrument played by Vidna Obmana on his album Tremor. I remember thinking “Good God what is that!?” After seeing Vidna Obmana and Steve Roach play the Projekt fest followed up by The Gathering in Philadelphia (2002). I knew I had to get one. One day I hope to save up and get a nice wooden fujara. But, when Dirk Serries (Vidna Obmana) agreed to contribute to the album, I HAD to throw in some fujara. How could I not?
Aperus: Shane, you frequently post videos of instruments and gadgets that you've built (which I enjoy a lot by the way). How much do your hand built instruments find their way into your recordings and into "Horizon"?
Shane: Thanks, Brian! I haven't included many of my own instruments in the collaborations with Paul. But, my river cane chimes are used on "Horizon" and even have a picture of them on the inlay inside. It's a very simple instrument made of different lengths of river cane, the indiginous bamboo in the southeast which Native Americans made many instruments with. The chimes have an almost watery effect in the sound.
The stringed instruments I've made have not appeared on any releases yet and that's mostly because I've been learning how to play them after I built them. But after a few years now, I feel more confident with strings, particularly slide and the lap steel. I really enjoy playing ambient stuff on my homemade lap steel and will definitely be using it in live performances and recordings in the future.
My most recent instrument, the Electro-Acoustic Sound Box, which is my version of the Apprehension Engine by Mark Korvan, has been my most ambitious creation and I'm still exploring all the different ways I can play it. I have made a few videos showing its capabilities, but no recordings yet. It is a box with dual piezos loaded with 3 kalimbas, 3 springs, 5-string guitar, 4 rulers, music box, snare, and numerous tines. I am currently working on my first film score for a horror movie making great use of the Electro-Acoustic Sound Box for the film.
Q. Final question - Do you have any thoughts on the current state of ambient / electronic music, or the industry in general? Is it sustainable, are we headed in the right direction, can artists survive, do you wish something would change?
Frore: I’m hoping the genre will continue to grow. It’s hard to remain optimistic sometimes with all the issues with streaming. It’s often said that the heyday for ambient was in the 1990’s, and I think that may be right in some respects, but at the same time, there are more people writing ambient than ever before and more people listening too. Though the term ambient is such a broad stroke... so many sub genres with in the genre itself, I think it still has tons of mileage left in it.
Aperus: On the one hand, there is a small group of people who follow me and buy physical copies of my work and sometimes even write. I'm humbled and thankful to them - they surprise me in positive ways over and over again. On the other hand, there are so many issues working against musicians. We have digital piracy, DMCA laws that support pirates and not authors, digital streaming (and CEO's who get rich while small artists earn pennies), loss of brick and mortar record stores, tons of artists releasing material independently (a lot of it is great too!), reviewers being overwhelmed with new material, a few big outlets available and no way for small guys to get on their radar. In my opinion, the state of the music industry is not healthy and music fans have been pushed into unhealthy channels to attain their music. Creativity is truly it's own reward, but it would also be nice to reach an audience with your work. Most of the time, I feel like I'm pushing a boulder up a hill and I don't know how it gets better without systemic changes made in the musician's favor. The current structures probably work well for bigger artists, but it doesn't scale down well to smaller artists, and that's where most of us are at with ambient music.
Shane: My first thought when people ask me this question is invariably "Don't quit your dayjob", when it comes to money and ambient music. I don't know many people that make all their money through ambient music. In fact, just a few at all worldwide. Really with the dismal outlook of music sales in general, people should really be weary of any grand expectations. Approach ambient with exploration in mind, rather than money. In just the last ten years, which weren't particularly great compared to the previous ten, the drop downwards in music sales has been quite significant. Most genres can fall back on live performances, but ambient music also doesn't really bring in a lot of people for live shows. At least, not on any kind of regular basis that could pay the bills. With all that being said, I do think if you approach this music with creativity and openness to the possibilities of where the music can go, then this genre can offer people a very rewarding creative space, regardless of money.
Now, I'm not saying don't try to make money, of course we all can use money. I say just don't let that be the motivating factor in your compositions.
As far as sustainability, I think this music will be around for a long time to come as it's already been with us for over forty years. As the technologies grow, as the parameters of synthesis, sound design, and composition continue to evolve, I think this music will continue to grow because even with low sales, small turn-outs for live events, this music has no boundaries. I think that alone will always attract artists in a sustainable way. I've played rock, blues, jazz, and they all have their boxes. Ambient dissolves the box and I think that is most liberating as a composer and musician.
End of interview... follow the echo, echo, echo...
You have a lot of karmic energy at your disposal. If the music moves you, consider following these artists on Bandcamp, supporting/buying their music or sharing this interview. Thank you!
Aperus:
Aperus Bandcamp
Aperus on Instagram
Aperus Website
Remanence Bandcamp
Frore & Shane Morris:
Frore Bandcamp
Frore Website
Frore & Shane Morris Bandcamp
Shane Morris Bandcamp
Shane Morris on YouTube
Shane Morris Website
Spotted Peccary
