As a part of the launch of the Passed Recordings Label, we decided to do a short interview with each of our artists. This time we have a short chat with Chris Hobbs, an Experimental composer living in Wales in the UK.
What inspired you to start making music?
Making music felt like it came quite naturally to me. I have memories from very early on in my journey as a guitarist of composing variation of riffs I would learn. Later, when I was exposed to more experimental music, I looked for genres that felt more and more “free”. While I admired avant-garde classical and jazz, I felt there was too great an emphasis on justifying the content of compositions using compositional systems, theory & extrapolation/reference to previous works. I began composing Acousmatic/Electroacoustic music while at university and felt a kinship to the workflow of creating a unique sound object and then instinctively responding to it. I feel like this compositional style is still at the core of who I am today and it continues to influence my works in all the styles I compose in.
How do you make your music?
My music begins as recordings I make – I use either vocals/instruments or field recordings. I use a relatively narrow selection of gear: a Zoom H4n & an SM57 for microphones and an acoustic guitar, acoustic bass and vocals. I tend to focus on a few very small sections of a field recording or a small selection of instrumental recordings. I then alter these electronically using software, primarily Pure Data. I arrange the final piece in Cubase.
Anything I compose on the guitar comes from a relaxed process of picking up the instrument frequently, but only playing for short intervals. I find a lot of inspiration in using alternate tunings. I’ll record anything that captures my interest on my phone before sitting down and really focussing on how to make a full piece out of it.
How would you describe the kind of music you make?
My electronic music tends to be mysterious, with at least one section focussed on a drone. I don’t aim for any specific feelings or musical structures, but build my piece around specific interesting sounds or moments. In doing this the overall structure of the piece tends to unfold organically.
While I plan to keep writing electronic music, in the future I also hope to release some of the songs I’ve been writing. I’ve always valued earnest song writing and it’s taken me many years to feel able to express that in my lyrics, avoiding cliché themes or uninspired couplets. I’m excited to get to the point where I can share some of these as I like to think my versatility is one of my stronger attributes as a creator.
How would you like your music to affect others?
When I have composed recently, my primary concern has been writing music that is true to myself. I guess my hope is that my listeners can in some way experience that earnestness. I’d be honoured if my pieces could have meaning to others and I think music can evoke connections that are profound and unique.
