One of the best episodes. It is no surprise, I am fan of passionate and even stubborn noise manifestos, hah.. People who feel noise is *too important* to be just... well, what it is. That there must be conscious decision for advancing it.
There is countless pointers what I would have liked to ask him elaborate or consider.
As example, when having some leaning to "fine arts" as he says, and mentions that any art movement would have simply ceased to exist long long ago, and moved to something else. While noise keep churning seemingly same. I would think that is not flaw of noise, but STRENGTH of noise! Let's say you pile up bunch of former decades avantgarde artists and someone is there "I'll have exhibition of black square paintings" or "let's do installation of BLM signs". Just about everybody would sigh: come on man! Large number of examples could be given of something what was DONE. It carries no more value for further work. There is nothing more left to be done of certain things, but for next pure harsh noise thing, those are being done and enthusiastically listened, precisely because it has not lost its vitality. Not even after decades! There is so much more to be done. It is still reinventing itself, but not only in form of art movements that have pathological need of "new", that they can't see that the seek for "new" became pretty damn OLD.
Like the point of thinking conscious noise making as solution for progression of noise? What the hell!? I think it was already 15 years ago, when RAW SHEER LO-FI NOISE appreciation emerged precisely out of RESPONSE for that cerebral, composed, thought-out noise. I mean, you got all advanced, composed, intentional noise, refined sound, edited, "album worthy stuff"... and as response to that, you'd have people looking for emotion and feel, the obscurity and so on, which was meant not as backwards movement, but as vital progress opposed to cerebral noise.
In interview is advocated that it is good that author writing novel, could benefit from reading few books. I fully agree. Nevertheless, I am thinking that "new conscious and composed noise making" happened long ago and has been happening all these years. Like you think noise of 1985, and there ain't Purgist or Pain Jerk there. You think of 90's noise, and there ain't Umpio or Jaakko Vanhala there. You think of 2005 harsh noise, and most of those groups sound vastly different. It is not like you'd be listening Cherry Point, thinking "this is like Texas mid 90's!". Cut Up harsh noise is example how we have heard things now that could have not been made 20 years ago. I think a lot of new innovations done with cerebral noise has been less about technology, more about almost spiritual connection with sound?
I mean, I do smirk a little bit when conversation of one artist building "e-bow" comes in question and example of taking noise further, while I think most of people I know, already in 2005, when seeing someone pull out ebow, would be like "come on man!!!" Almost like how OLD time stretch became. One month it is like unheard thing, and next thing it's like autotune in pop music.
When talking of noise, that is more conscious, having direction, but then he does mention that he is not talking about repetition. Not talking about industrial, since industrial has been already done. It does make me think what it really is in industrial that is done? (One could perhaps remind of amusing remark, that back in the day, it used to be said, if you started a power violence band, it wasn't power violence. THE original power violence was something else. People staring power violence bands were already something else.) Perhaps same could be applied to industrial. The stuff I, or we may describe now as industrial, ain't the TG, SPK, stuff. It is simply small hint to lineage where it (partially) comes from. It may not be rehashing the same. It is barely return to anything. As when you look at the original industrial era, pretty much nobody admits they are part of it, nor feel they were in it. Most artists have musically or aesthetically almost nothing in common. But there is something, some underlying quality. Just like the talk about AMOK books. You can't really describe the world where guys who browse AMOK catalogue live, to guys of 2020.
Doing industrial noise in 2020 is absolutely different from originators, in same ways as artists of that era may have been different from each other. In that sense, if you make leap from TG to John Duncan and next leap, the 3rd name you mention could be.... H.Ö.H. Regardless does artists feel, intend or like it being mentioned together. If you'd put out older John Duncan tape out now, it would probably not sound "old"? It is most likely that 2015 power electronics CD would sound ancient next to that, hah.
H.Ö.H. is curious as example, since that sound could have been made in... late 60's? But compared to noise of 2020, is it regression or progression? It certainly sounds nothing like vast majority of noise of any decade.
I do find it interesting that CYESS AFXZS makes the remark about the danger of noise becoming like free jazz. New free jazz sounding the same, as the old free jazz. Despite all freedom there, the idea what constitutes as free jazz, is what it is. I can surely see that, but I also think I may come from different time and location. I never associated "noise = harsh noise". Noise where I come from, you could have Aube, Small Cruel Party and Macronympha - all together. Listening Aube now sound FUTURISTIC. Listening SCP now, and it sounds like you can't tell what decade it comes from, what country it comes from, always able to surprise. Do we qualify it as noise? Certainly not as harsh noise. Back in the day, noise seemed to be the stuff, what noise labels distributed. A lot of it may not be noisy enough now, to qualify as noise.
In other words, I absolutely liked CYESS AFXZS episode, but as opposed to moving forward - I would advocated moving in general. As he described that everything must evolved, everything must go forward, but in reality there barely is such rule. A lot of mutations dies, a lot of new ways lead nowhere. We may easily take step backwards, see what is strong and vital, what is worth preserving and recycling that will eventually reveal something. Just like the 2005 harsh noise era where many seemed to praise going back to mid 90's crunch, but actually making something entirely new.
