Earlier this year Aidan Baker and Dorian Williamson released their mildly eponymous debut collaboration Adoran. A two track album lasting just around an hour, it covers landscapes and depths and everything between. After a very elongated period of time (on my part) I was able to trade some emails with both guys to ask them about the album, music in their lives and the state of the industry amongst other things. Have a gander below; enjoy what they had to say.
(((o))): How did Adoran come about? Have you two known each other for some time now and been waiting to work together?
Dorian: I guess I've known Aidan since around 2006. My former band Holoscene played a few shows in Toronto with Nadja and Arc. In conversation we soon discovered that we both like a lot of the same music and have quite similar tastes, especially with regards to very extreme and heavy music. He expressed an interest in playing drums, so we got together at my music space and Adoran was born. We recorded the entire session. Aidan edited it into a more cohesive whole, and it's ultimately going to be coming out on Beta Lactam Ring Records as part of their Drone Compendium series.
(((o))): How do you guys separate your other projects from Adoran, to give it its own voice so to speak?
Dorian: For me Adoran is a chance to totally improvise, and just let it form. It's more about noticing when something is happening that sounds good to us and building upon that momentum. We really don't intellectualize about it because by its nature it's very primal. It's also a chance to play in a more aggressive and brutal way; very long pieces that are a big physical commitment to unleash. Heavy build ups of tension and release.
(((o))): Being that there is a distance between you two (I believe Aidan is in Europe and Dorian in Canada) how was this album written? Did you take advantage of modern technology? Or did you two meet a few times and put it together from "jamming"? (Jamming is such an odd word to me. I don't know why.)
Dorian: Yes Aidan is in Berlin and I'm outside Toronto. We are very open to the idea of using file sharing over the web, but at this point all the recordings we've made have been live off the floor. Again, it's not really something we even discuss ahead of time. Maybe a bit of talk about tone, or general direction, but that's about it.
(((o))): Aside from musical influences, have there been any books or movies that influence your music? Adoran is two tracks that total about an hour, yet they don't "drag". The songs have peaks and momentum like novels I've read and movies I've watch.
Dorian: There is kind of a narrative in there, in that you're listening to us go on a journey for the first time. I've always thought of our music in a very visual way, partly because it's instrumental and therefore abstract. Your mind creates these images and stories to go along with the music, and is free to create something on its own. The listener imbues it with his or her own very personal and subjective meaning.
(((o))): You mention that yourself and Aidan share similar tastes in extreme and heavy music. Now, obviously I’m not trying to find out what inspired the Adoran record musically, but what bands did you have in common?
Aidan: Swans and Godflesh are definitely two bands we both love and have been influences on us. Also bands like Halo, Scorn, and James Plotkin's various projects (OLD, Khanate, etc.), so his mastering of the album really felt appropriate to us. We also share an interest in shoegaze and slowcore like My Bloody Valentine and Codeine, which influence I think manifests in the spacier and occasionally delicate side of our music. And here are a few albums I've been listening to recently: Boris - Flood, Rollins Band - Hard Volume, Hoover - The Lurid Traversal Of Route 7, Swervedriver - Mezcal Head.
Dorian: Yeah we're pretty clearly on the same page musically when it comes to bands that have had an impact. The darker side of post-punk, and the early space music of electronic bands like Tangerine Dream, specifically Atem and Zeit era, have definitely influenced my bass playing, although I'm likely a lot more aware of it than the listener.
Lately I've been listening to Theologian - Finding Comfort in Overwhelming Negativity, Author and Punisher - Ursus Americanus, Menace Ruine - Alight in Ashes, Visions -Summoning the Void and Sigur Ros - Valtari.
(((o))): You say that you and Aidan didn't speak too much about the actual music direction beforehand, yet it all flows so well. Have you two played together before at all? Or do you two connect on that musical level?
Aidan: The few Adoran sessions we have done have been quite spontaneous and largely non-verbal — we basically just play and let the sound lead us. Not all of what comes out is great, of course, but there were only minor edits on the material which is on our debut. Most of the post-production work we did was on mixing and mastering of the raw tracks, which were recorded entirely live off the floor.
Dorian: Aidan was so busy when he came back to Canada that we didn't have time to talk, just record 🙂
(((o))): Do you think there will be any chance of Adoran playing live? Even just a few shows? I feel your music would go well pretty much at any type of extreme music event. It's light enough for some, but still very heavy when it gets going.
Aidan: We have yet to play live but we have been discussing some tour dates in Europe to support of the album. Living in different cities on different continents is an obstacle, of course, but hopefully it will come together.
Dorian: Because Adoran is completely live and improvised, I think it'd go over well in a live context. It's a chance for both of us the channel a different side of our playing.
(((o))): With the music industry obviously in the state it is, I’m assuming there isn’t a lot of monetary gain to be made with this album. So I imagine that this album is highly personal for you, would you say that’s accurate?
Aidan: As much as people talk about the death of the music industry, I think the way it's been changing has made things better for most artists — it's forcing artists to take greater control of their work and promoting a more DIY, grassroots music industry that's more about personal expression and less about parasitic major label practices and the cult of celebrity. Maybe it means musicians have to work that much harder, but there's also the opportunity to see greater results on a more immediate, personal level. I'm sure you've read Steve Albini's rant on major labels, and even though he wrote that in the early 90s, it's still relevant in many aspects.
My musical career has definitely benefited from the digital age, which has greatly increased the accessibility of underground and experimental music. Of course, there are issues with the digital medium — particularly the 'cheapening' or 'disposability' of music in the mp3 format. The vinyl resurgence is definitely an attempt to counter that, which is good, but it does seem to be approaching a saturation point that's becoming less about the music and more about another way to milk fans and collectors. Over-saturation in general — the amount of music, the amount of people making music — is perhaps one of the biggest issues with the current music industry, as it creates over-hyped situations and doesn't promote longevity — so many bands or albums are just flashes in the pan, hyped for a moment then forgotten.
These might seem like odd statements coming from someone who's released hundreds of albums, but prolificacy is something that helped establish my career and, now that it is at least somewhat established, allows me to continue touring and performing live, which is essentially how I survive as an artist. Moreover, if you look at my releases exponentially, I may have released a lot of albums, but the actual quantity of those releases is not necessarily that many. Most of my albums are quite limited — in the early days, it was seldom more than 100 — and the limited pressing of the Adoran album is about average for most of my releases. This may sound defensive — and it is, to a certain extent, since it's an issue that often comes up for me. I wrote more about it here on my blog.
Dorian: For me Adoran is kind of a very angry and very sad reaction against that over-saturation that Aidan mentions; it's kind of a primal scream against the death of meaning. It's so hard to get something noticed and made these days, and then so hard to keep it from just melting away into nothingness over time. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the way the changes to the industry are enabling extreme musicians to make at least some money and find an audience. These are problems that aren't localized to the music industry, it everywhere in our society.
(((o))): Now that the album has been out and people have been able to hear it, are you happy with the reaction you are getting? And if so, does this have any impact on you guys recording another Adoran album in the future?
Dorian: I'm happy that the record is receiving positive feedback. It's interesting to hear the polarity in the reviews and posts. Some think it’s very extreme and heavy, others think it’s more psychedelic and listenable. But overall the reaction has been supportive and people seem to be digging it.
We're definitely going to continue to record. We have enough material for another record. Just have to find the time to mix it down. It's a bit more abstract and ambient, and less "doom".
(((o))): What does Adoran, and music in general, mean to you in your heart?
Dorian: For me music has always been a huge part of my life, both my parents are classical musicians, so I grew up surrounded by music. For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with sound, music and the way technology can be used to create new sonic events. I've been fortunate enough to connect with and collaborate with some if the most incredible experimental musicians working today, such as Aidan. Music is like an element without which I can't exist. It also keeps me sane, allowing me to channel negative things into a positive expression.
(((o))): We would like to thank Aidan and Dorian for their time, and patience, involved with this interview. Please check out Adoran, and both of their own bands, Nadja (Aidan) and Northumbria (Dorian).
