Man Made Hill is Randy Gagne’s solo mission to the outer limits of interplanetary funk. This leather-clad cosmonaut has been hotwired to projects as diverse as Disguises, Cave Dudes, and Claudio, but it’s his one-man disco prison that sends the largest charge through Toronto’s energy grid. Next month he’s set to drop three(!) new albums, so we caught up for a chat.Man Made Hill - Puzzle Answers 02 - Kool CopsMan Made HIll - "Sports Craft"I understand Man Made Hill sightings date back to 2004. How did it all begin?
Back when I lived in Cambridge, Ontario, I played in this punk band called Red Track Pants, and that was kind of the only thing I did. To tell you the truth, I just got sick of depending on other people to get my musical rocks off. We didn’t jam too much and I wanted to play every day, so I started this thing in my basement to keep myself occupied. It became my little place to cloister myself away and stay busy experimenting.What’s Cambridge like?There’s not a lot going on there. It wasn’t tough to grow up, but it was tricky to cut my teeth. It’s a fair-sized city with over 100,000 people, but there’s not really a big scene or anything. It was mainly bro-punk bands back then, so it was easy to weird people out.How would you define bro-punk? Like jock-punk?Yeah, jock-punk. Skate-punk. Blink 182 punk.What made Red Track Pants stand out?Well, we weren’t very proficient at our instruments, for one thing. We just wanted to make noise. There wasn’t anyone doing that, and we were just angsty people with a good sense of humour. I was 14, and it was basically just no chops shredding, or anti-soloing as we called it. One of our biggest influences was that Nirvana secret song “Endless, Nameless” where they just make guitar noise. That was a big jumping-off point and it made us realize you don’t have to know how to play songs, just shred.Man Made Hill – “Cardboard Ditch”I listened to your Neck Test cassette from 2006 and was surprised to hear so much sampled dialogue and barely any beats. When did you decide to start shaking booties?
I was always really into disco and rap, but I never had a means to do it. I started going in that direction when I got my hands on a synth and a drum machine. That tape has one or two funky jams built from samples that are that booty shakin’ sound in its infancy.On top of playing with groups liked Disguises, Toddler Body and Cave Dudes, I heard you jammed with the legendaryNihilist Spasm Band. What was that like?
Disguises went to down to London to play a Nihilist Spasm Monday, and they just grabbed me. They didn’t even ask, but their drummer wasn’t there and my drums were there, so I just pounded the shit out of them. It’s always inspiring to see those noise grandfathers not giving a shit and just making a racket. Pure impulse. It was like going back to my roots.I also understand you were the one who discovered the long, lost Denim Reptile recordings. What do you know about that mysterious group?
As far as I can tell, it was fuelled by a lot of domestic Canadian beer. The master tapes were found in a bottle of stubbies. It’s pretty mysterious, but I think they were just blue-collar dudes who wanted their own piece, so they set up with a shitty tape recorder and a case of beer just to see what they could do. I need to do a basement forage and maybe harvest some more crust.Man Made Hill – “Swamp Tan”My sources tell me you have three new tapes coming out in June. Can you share any details on the different releases?
It’s mostly music I recorded in 2010 and 2011. Each one has a different mood, but they’re fairly similar in the format of three-minute songs. There’s Intercourses, which I finished first and the Orange Milk dudes are doing. It’s probably the most pro of the bunch because I mixed it and mastered it with Brandon Hocura. It was pretty laborious going through it track for track. That one is pretty special, and I think there are some gems on there. It came from a dark place in my life, so I was pouring a lot of those feelings into the songs. Then there’s Tassel Hazards that Hobo Cult is putting out. That one is a little more rough ‘n’ ready. 20 quick songs or something like that. I remember mixing it all in one night. It came from a weird grey zone where I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just made an album. That one’s a bit more experimental. Then there’s Poetry Competition that Medusa Editions is putting out, which I feel is a synthesis of the other two. Most of the songs are under two minutes, and I wanted to approach it like each song was more of a sketch, and each one could be by a different artist.So it’s kind of like a schizophrenic variety show?
I feel like my stuff has always been a bit schizo, because I’m always so restless and do it on a daily basis. I try to have a large variety of content, form and style, but I’m always using a similar sound palette. I’m trying to wrangle as many different feelings from a restricted set-up. It always has those hard snares and those bass lines, and repetition is very important to me. I’ve always believed that a song can just have one idea. It doesn’t need a climax or a million different parts. I like to seduce people with a repetitive groove until it’s about to become annoying. Then I sabotage it.Last time we spoke you mentioned an aerobics video. Have you put any more thought into that?
Absolutely, that’s my next project. I’m going to make an aerobics mega-mix and recruit a dance crew. I have a whole page of dance moves that I’ve named, so now I just need to invent them. I can also give you a quick sketch of the concept. It’s going to be called XHE: Extra High Energy. It’s a post-apocalyptic aerobics video that’s all about harvesting human sweat as a natural resource because the sun is dying. You can probably expect spandex-clad dancers and scientists swabbing them as they melt for the greater good of humanity. It’s also about the fact that the 4/4 techno beat is really oppressive. I don’t want to call it brainwashing, but everyone bends to this one will. It’s going to be a sci-fi workout.@wipeoutbeat
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Back when I lived in Cambridge, Ontario, I played in this punk band called Red Track Pants, and that was kind of the only thing I did. To tell you the truth, I just got sick of depending on other people to get my musical rocks off. We didn’t jam too much and I wanted to play every day, so I started this thing in my basement to keep myself occupied. It became my little place to cloister myself away and stay busy experimenting.What’s Cambridge like?There’s not a lot going on there. It wasn’t tough to grow up, but it was tricky to cut my teeth. It’s a fair-sized city with over 100,000 people, but there’s not really a big scene or anything. It was mainly bro-punk bands back then, so it was easy to weird people out.How would you define bro-punk? Like jock-punk?Yeah, jock-punk. Skate-punk. Blink 182 punk.What made Red Track Pants stand out?Well, we weren’t very proficient at our instruments, for one thing. We just wanted to make noise. There wasn’t anyone doing that, and we were just angsty people with a good sense of humour. I was 14, and it was basically just no chops shredding, or anti-soloing as we called it. One of our biggest influences was that Nirvana secret song “Endless, Nameless” where they just make guitar noise. That was a big jumping-off point and it made us realize you don’t have to know how to play songs, just shred.
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I was always really into disco and rap, but I never had a means to do it. I started going in that direction when I got my hands on a synth and a drum machine. That tape has one or two funky jams built from samples that are that booty shakin’ sound in its infancy.On top of playing with groups liked Disguises, Toddler Body and Cave Dudes, I heard you jammed with the legendaryNihilist Spasm Band. What was that like?
Disguises went to down to London to play a Nihilist Spasm Monday, and they just grabbed me. They didn’t even ask, but their drummer wasn’t there and my drums were there, so I just pounded the shit out of them. It’s always inspiring to see those noise grandfathers not giving a shit and just making a racket. Pure impulse. It was like going back to my roots.I also understand you were the one who discovered the long, lost Denim Reptile recordings. What do you know about that mysterious group?
As far as I can tell, it was fuelled by a lot of domestic Canadian beer. The master tapes were found in a bottle of stubbies. It’s pretty mysterious, but I think they were just blue-collar dudes who wanted their own piece, so they set up with a shitty tape recorder and a case of beer just to see what they could do. I need to do a basement forage and maybe harvest some more crust.
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It’s mostly music I recorded in 2010 and 2011. Each one has a different mood, but they’re fairly similar in the format of three-minute songs. There’s Intercourses, which I finished first and the Orange Milk dudes are doing. It’s probably the most pro of the bunch because I mixed it and mastered it with Brandon Hocura. It was pretty laborious going through it track for track. That one is pretty special, and I think there are some gems on there. It came from a dark place in my life, so I was pouring a lot of those feelings into the songs. Then there’s Tassel Hazards that Hobo Cult is putting out. That one is a little more rough ‘n’ ready. 20 quick songs or something like that. I remember mixing it all in one night. It came from a weird grey zone where I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just made an album. That one’s a bit more experimental. Then there’s Poetry Competition that Medusa Editions is putting out, which I feel is a synthesis of the other two. Most of the songs are under two minutes, and I wanted to approach it like each song was more of a sketch, and each one could be by a different artist.So it’s kind of like a schizophrenic variety show?
I feel like my stuff has always been a bit schizo, because I’m always so restless and do it on a daily basis. I try to have a large variety of content, form and style, but I’m always using a similar sound palette. I’m trying to wrangle as many different feelings from a restricted set-up. It always has those hard snares and those bass lines, and repetition is very important to me. I’ve always believed that a song can just have one idea. It doesn’t need a climax or a million different parts. I like to seduce people with a repetitive groove until it’s about to become annoying. Then I sabotage it.Last time we spoke you mentioned an aerobics video. Have you put any more thought into that?
Absolutely, that’s my next project. I’m going to make an aerobics mega-mix and recruit a dance crew. I have a whole page of dance moves that I’ve named, so now I just need to invent them. I can also give you a quick sketch of the concept. It’s going to be called XHE: Extra High Energy. It’s a post-apocalyptic aerobics video that’s all about harvesting human sweat as a natural resource because the sun is dying. You can probably expect spandex-clad dancers and scientists swabbing them as they melt for the greater good of humanity. It’s also about the fact that the 4/4 techno beat is really oppressive. I don’t want to call it brainwashing, but everyone bends to this one will. It’s going to be a sci-fi workout.@wipeoutbeat