FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

The Nature of Electricity: An Interview with Sean McBride of Martial Canterel

McBride talks Kevin Shields, oboes, analog gear in a digital age, and making your identity through your music versus making your music through an identity.

It's 4PM on a Sunday on Graham Avenue in Williamsburg Brooklyn and my interview was just cut off by a tableful of yelling clergymen. Clearly, it's someone's birthday as the celebration is massive and involves tons of delicious looking Italian food. Regardless, I've never thought I'd be cut off of a music interview by the voice of god himself. And definitely not this close to Christmas.

I'm interviewing Sean McBride of Martial Canterel and one half of Xeno & Oaklander, who could have chosen any coffee house, bar, or trendy spot in all of Brooklyn but instead chose this traditional Italian restaurant in the very Italian part of North Brooklyn. When I arrive, he's already sitting with legs-crossed in a peach-colored sweater and sipping on some drink that mixes a shot of Sambuca with an espresso. He asks if I want one, I concur, and he orders it in Italian. We exchange some pleasantries, somehow get into a mutual love for the Brian Eno/Harold Budd record The Pearl and then get to discussing his new album Gyors, Lassù out now on DAIS. Here's how the rest of our conversation went:

Advertisement

NOISEY: So I'm noticing your incredible Italian….
Sean McBride: Well, my girlfriend lives out there and I spend probably 2/5 of the year out there. As long as I can.

Clearly you do your fair share of touring overseas. I know that touring Europe is much easier, the distance between cities and just the culture of hospitality is much more amenable to the touring musician.
Regarding urban density, definitely, with the exception of maybe Russia, western Europe is about half the size of the US and you have many more large cities versus the US; you have maybe New York, Boston, Chicago, LA, San Francisco. And dinners and accommodations are usually arranged for you ahead of time, or at the very least thought out and well prepared. So at the end of the night you're rarely if ever asking your fans for a floor to sleep. I remember once during a Xeno & Oaklander tour with Led Er Est, we played Brighton and slept at the promoters house. IT was really cold so we had to take the curtains off of the windows to use as blankets.

And of course you got home to the place at 2AM and the sun was shining bright at 7AM. Ha. It seems like you're always moving between touring/recording cycles with Xeno & Oaklander and the Martial Canterel material. How do you mentally separate the two? What makes a Martial Canterel song versus an X&O track?
I'd say that more of my deeper experimentation takes place more with Martial Canterel versus X&O where I see the music needing more of a counterpoint, which comes from Liz's additions vocally or otherwise. Martial Canterel will always be a bit easier, because it is wholly my creation, there is no negotiation or discussion, it's all me. Although both projects clearly are "me," Martial Canterel is probably closer personally to what I do on a musical and technical standpoint. That said, there are definitely times where I am creating on my own and I hear something that I think might be better suited for X&O. I'd say certain processes or a certain timbres, kinds of writing definitely comes out of me that are more strictly in the X&O vein. Both develop rather easily though, once a release date is decided upon, either I or we have no problem focusing and putting together songs. Its very quick and fluid.

Advertisement

I recently watched a video of you creating synthesized music in your studio and as a child of software and synth patches and emulators, your reliance on analog gear really struck me as fascinating, especially considering the finicky nature and the inability to get it fixed easily. It struck a chord with me especially in light of a conversation I had with Buzz from the Melvins about his move toward more affordable solid state amps versus the traditional tube amps, primarily due to the fact that they are less likely to break, etc. That said, do you tour with more modern gear?
I totally understand Buzz's argument of the practical over the precious, but everything that I tour with is what's called CV/Gate gear, which in my case is basically 2 cases of modular. It is much lighter and smaller than the gear of yesteryear, but capable of much of the same tones and abilities as the gear I have at home. So I usually tour with around two and a half racks of gear all of which is patched in the same way as some of my classic synths like the Serge Modular, Arp 2600, or Arp Odyssey, and many more. It's not heavy, becoming more and more affordable, very practical, and it's popularity makes it very easy to replace.

The change in gear has influenced the way that I play and certain elements of my performance, but for the most part it's very similar gear but with less hassle and much the same sounds and capabilities. Some things are sacrificed, but as a whole its much the same and the new gear just presents different challenges as regards synthesis and tones. For instance, I don't use filters in my music much anymore, and most of my sounds are made via Frequency Modulation which is basically modulating sine waves with one another.

Advertisement

As I get older though, Im less interested in gear so much as my abilities to play and manipulate it. A guitar player has a certain type of ergonomics through his hands that he is used to, and in much the same way I am used to playing gear in this way that I have learned over the years. Its just more natural for me.

With this new record out on Dais, Gyors, Lassù, did you have any sort of predilection of what you wanted to do with it?
Absolutely. There were hints of it in some of my past work, but I really wanted to maximize this FM synthesis especially as it applies to rendering wall of noise guitar timbres. I loved a bunch of records when I was younger that produced this oblivion, wet dream, wall of bliss sounds like Ride - Nowhere or the early My Bloody Valentine EPs and even bands that are camped more in the minimal electronic scenes like Modern Art - that sort of chorus-y, shimmer-y jingle jangle.

So at the risk of sounding primitive here, this is your shoegaze record in a sense?
Yeah, but its not like I was looking to ape any of those sounds, just approach them in my own way. Liquify some of the arpeggios that I use, open them up, add crunch and hiss to them. It was interesting to get to a place where I could return to some of those sounds using synthesis - almost nostalgically, but not in like an over identificatory way. Im not looking to be Kevin Shields with a synthesizer. There is a certain density on those records that I recall and it was interesting to arrive back to those using synthesis.

Advertisement

One thing that I am very interested is the fact that the more we approach the perfect technology of recording, distribution, and synthesis of music, the more its almost like there is a counter-culture to subvert that. The resurgence of cassettes. You are adding back hiss to your music…
Well to be fair it's not like there is some hiss and I am adding it. The hiss is a consequence of two oscillators modulating each other that produces the hiss.

But it's a desired effect…

Yes. At the same time, just the tiny turn of the fine tube knob and that hiss becomes a glassy ocarina or an oboe sound. But to get back to your main point… I think there is definitely a beauty in imperfection. For instance, all of the X&O / Martial Canterel instrumental stuff is recorded live. Im never debating "should I be leaning more in a Front 242 direction on this track" or something similar. It's more of a punk ethos thing where the track is the track and it's always going to be imperfect… that's sort of the beauty of the live performance. And the same sort of thing happens with analog synthesis.. you'll never get the same sound twice. There is always something different. I think as things become more automated and "perfect" they become more disembodied.

So vocals separately, but all in one take?
Yes. It actually has to be done that way. We don't use any sort of software sequencers or anything like that so it all has to be done in one take… that's the nature of electricity. You'll have a solitary pulse that is multiplied and sent out to all the various envelopes. So if a mistake is made, you start over. There is always going to be a mistake, and there are certain ways around that but for the most part, that's how it's done.

It's fascinating to think about, especially in light of the way that most people punch-in and record their three seconds in pro-tools, and do it to infinity until it sounds perfect. I wanted to ask… there is an element of pop music in your compositions, do you take any inspiration from current pop music?
So much of what I do hear is overwhelmingly burdened in identity. And that so often interferes with it's own musicianship or musicality that it's inescapable. It just seems so mired in its own identity that the music takes second place to perception. Logos are bigger than the records themself.

The difference between making your identity through your music and making your music through an identity. I definitely agree to an extent, and many of my favorite musicians have always lived in their own ecosystem. Speaking of which, what does your 2015 look like?
In February through April I'll be out on a Martial Canterel tour, record with Xeno & Oaklander in May, June doing production for Xeno, spend July and August in Italy, and then head out on the road with Xeno & Oaklander. I'd love to try and fit in South America if possible. We've had several offers over the years, but I think we may look into this now.