Hands To / Jeph Jerman

[impulse manslaughter]

Toured Europe w/ Tim Barnes about 6 months ago.. They did a great performance.

[Johann]

Is the Special Interest Jeph Jerman interview anywhere online? I felt I came across it before but I must've been dreaming. Would love to read it.

Best
Johann

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Is the Special Interest Jeph Jerman interview anywhere online? I felt I came across it before but I must've been dreaming. Would love to read it.

Best
Johann

Probably not. Should start to post old content online.. Have to see how it is best to do. Probably one interview at the time to site where not so much happens...

[thetenthousandthings]

I would also love to read this interview, thank you.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

https://special-interests.net/main/2019/02/17/jeph-jerman-hands-to-interview/

original interview appears with a lot without caps on. I recall it was some style choice...

[Johann]

https://special-interests.net/main/2019/02/17/jeph-jerman-hands-to-interview/

original interview appears with a lot without caps on. I recall it was some style choice...

Thank you!

[ashraf]

Thanks for the link! Jeph is always a great interview. I would love to reread his interview in Muckraker from '95. It was my first exposure to him as a curious teen and the jewels dropped are heavy!

[dust]

thanks for posting the interview

[Eloy]

The Finger'd Remove

"Filmed and edited by Mexico City filmmaker Patrick Danse during No Idea 2016 in Austin, Texas, The Finger'd Remove is a collection of visual soundscapes featuring experimentalists Jeph Jerman and Tim Barnes."

https://youtu.be/svNU3WCHgBs

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Very good, could have been easily half longer. Or more.

[impulse manslaughter]

Thanks for posting. Nice to see some Jerman recording action.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Video can be quite different method of documenting how experimental sounds are made. Even merely saying "I use metal junk" can mean so many things. Almost from tin can shaker box, to location recordings with some huge object and anything between. If someone would say they used "wood" and "branches" on recordings, it would be kind of obvious, but that they would bring very specific dry little tree in car, drag it on street, hard surfaces where dry wood, all the little sticks etc, acts quite unlike many other kinds of "wood".

In a way, anyone who has been recording experimental acoustic sounds, most likely did a lot of things where action barely looks what you would associate with for example power electronics. Still results can be strange and a bit more "what is this?", "how was this done" -category. In a way, it's great seeing Jeph doing some source sounds, but perhaps it is that it visually/ aesthetically also belongs to art he does? If we'd see some cold anonymous death-industrial project driving bike with some junk metal dragging behind it... would it be neat or give amusing element to tracks that formerly didn't appear fun at all?

[Eloy]

There is an upcoming book called: Listen: Jeph Jerman in Conversation with Aram Yardumian

"This oral autobiography of the underground experimentalist also serves as a history of the 1980s tape and electronic music scene in the US

Since 1980, Jeph Jerman (born 1959)―sound artist, field recordist, percussionist and visual artist―has released over 200 sound works, under his own name, under the moniker Hands To and with countless collaborators, improvising with natural found objects, crude homebuilt devices, tape machines and occasionally traditional instruments. He now makes his home in Cottonwood, Arizona.
This book-length interview traces Jerman's life and work, from his earliest sound experiments, free rock and jazz units, and postal collaborations, to his more recent work with decaying matter and landscape. Illustrated with previously unpublished photos, this highly readable conversation also sketches the 1980s American home-taping and electronic music scenes in which Jerman was a key figure, convening a community of anti-luminaries such as G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, Eric Lunde, Mark Schomburg, Tim Barnes, Dave Knott and Dan Burke. Listen also includes a selection of Jerman's visual art."

[Zeno Marx]

For as much as I've heard from Hands To and Jerman, I know almost nothing about Blowhole.  When I heard them, after falling hard for Hands To, I wasn't ready for free jazz.  As I expanded into jazz in the past several years, I forgot about Blowhole.  I've been surprised to find little of them, even on youtube.  There are a few things, but considering the Blowhole catalogue, it's not great.  Maybe I'm not the only one who has forgotten about them?  As I was listening to Guerilla Jazz, I was picking up on Black Flag references, particularly in the guitar and bass, or whatever those things are that he's playing.  The track "Limited Resources" is a good example, but I heard it earlier in the album too.  Jerman is experimenting more on the drums than Black Flag did, but for much of the rest of it, The Process of Weeding Out comes to mind.  Is this common with Blowhole?  Has Jerman ever mentioned Black Flag in an interview?  Is it all coincidence, and I'm making personal, false associations?

[FreakAnimalFinland]

There is an upcoming book called: Listen: Jeph Jerman in Conversation with Aram Yardumian

"This oral autobiography of the underground experimentalist also serves as a history of the 1980s tape and electronic music scene in the US

Since 1980, Jeph Jerman (born 1959)―sound artist, field recordist, percussionist and visual artist―has released over 200 sound works, under his own name, under the moniker Hands To and with countless collaborators, improvising with natural found objects, crude homebuilt devices, tape machines and occasionally traditional instruments. He now makes his home in Cottonwood, Arizona.
This book-length interview traces Jerman's life and work, from his earliest sound experiments, free rock and jazz units, and postal collaborations, to his more recent work with decaying matter and landscape. Illustrated with previously unpublished photos, this highly readable conversation also sketches the 1980s American home-taping and electronic music scenes in which Jerman was a key figure, convening a community of anti-luminaries such as G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, Eric Lunde, Mark Schomburg, Tim Barnes, Dave Knott and Dan Burke. Listen also includes a selection of Jerman's visual art."

Book looks and feels very good. Photos and lots of text. I have yet to start reading as I just got it, but looks like something that can be absolutely recommended!