Interviews with James Asher

Interview with Ambient Visions (part 2 / 2)

AV: Tell me about your involvement in World music and could you give us a definition of just what constitutes World music to you?

JA: Well World Music like the term New Age carries all sorts of different meanings and connotations. I'd always much enjoyed different material musically from a broad range of sources. My own first entry into the area was my album "Globalarium". It was decidely an attempt to mix and intermingle different cultures without boundaries. I'm aware that some people feel cultures should be kept intact, and given respect and encouragement to preserve their uniqueness. At the time of "Globalarium" the Gulf War was happening, and there was a lot of very dark energy around it, especially in terms of the greed it reflected, and the political manipulations around it. There was a sense of being suffocated by the murkiness of it all. It made one hanker for fresh air and a sense of integration.

My view of world music is pretty much like the same thinking that goes into cooking. You can combine spices with various degrees of success but in the end your sense of taste tells you whether they blend. Music is of course in some senses glorious as a universal language, and has the marvellous ability to transcend barriers. But it can be easier to enjoy the ethnic elements within the music if they are fused with accessible and instant grooves.

This to me is an expansion of the process, not by any means a dilution.

AV: Could you give me an idea of what space music is and why is that another major area that you are drawn to musically?

JA: Space music is music that helps build a space for you to be within. I've already referred to "The Great Wheel" as my starter in this. "Dance of the Light" is also one of my own favourite albums. It was originally composed to accompany meditations from Aura-Soma, but I felt the music stood well in its own right too. It's an area I still love and will be doing more in this style when the the timing is appropiate. You can tell the value of this kind of music from the quality of the response and feedback you get. It's great to feel you helped someone achieve a sense of warmth and peace, and in the face of current life achieving that is no mean feat.

AV: Is there a mindset that you have to be in as you work with the various types of music that you do? Is there anything that you do to create that mindset within yourself before starting work on a new project?

JA: Energy and enthusiasm are the keys. The hexagram in I Ching that talks about this - number 16 - does this much more eloquently than I could.

There has been much written about the process of composing and its mystical aspects. Most composers have various routines which they adopt really out of practical need to achieve a flowthrough, but inevitably there is a jumping off point where something extraordinary happens that you can't define. The point where you leave the framework of order and structure, and magic happens. Unfortunately there's never an easy thread to take you back to the same point in the labyrinth, and you can only follow your best instincts in the hope of further alchemical transformations.

AV: Tell me about your project Feet in Soil? What does the title mean to you and how is that expressed in the music that you chose for this project?

JA: "Feet in the Soil" was a phrase that came up when I was discussing the music on the album with Rory who played didge on it, and also designed the original image for the cover. He was at the time graphic designer for Aura-Soma. He was given a djembe as a birthday present and we thought it would be fun to try it out in the studio. Mike Booth who runs Aura-Soma heard what we'd done and loved it. He suggested we create an album of an upbeat nature, drawing on the resources of people associated with the Aura-Soma family. It was recorded during an amazing heatwave that lasted for ten weeks. Unusual for the UK -more known for its endless grey and rainy days. Something of this energy made its way into the music.

"Feet in the Soil" means it's a joy to be earthed, and that grounding is as much part of the spiritual process as the more esoteric and airy aspects. Vicky Wall said "it's no good being heavenly if you're of no earthly use".

As an album it's been used in a variety of contexts, including workshops about motivation and the like, and somehow the original energy that went in does translate to the listener.

It's recently been fun to complete the sequel which went out very recently, and to re-explore the same philosophy with the sounds and possibilities that are around now.

AV: Since you brought it up, "Feet in the Soil 2" has only recently been released here in the U.S., could you tell us why you decided to revisit the "Feet in the Soil" idea from the earlier release of the same name?

JA: "Feet in the Soil" has met with a broad and positive response. I thought it would be interesting to re-explore the underlying theme again in the light of how things are now - five years later. In fact though they both relate to the theme of earthiness, the music is quite different in many ways. The drums are different - I didn't own any of the current ones during the previous recording.

Also the new expanded track capability, and the addition of the groove-box family in the studio has broadened my frames of reference.

Also to anyone with a creative sensibility five years is quite along time -so though it might be hard for me to define exactly, I'm aware of having moved on as an individual. It would be scary if I hadn't!

AV: When you do a CD that is derived in part from a previous CD is there a danger of duplicating ideas instead of exploring new ones? How do you keep this from happening?

JA: Really it's mostly only the title which is the common element. It would be highly unlikely if I were to tread the same paths again because part of my whole mechanism and way of working is that of being propelled by what feels genuinely fresh. Musical ideas and their evolution are like organic entities.

They're born out of enthusiasm and there's a supporting energy that carries them through to completion. This is why it can be a mistake to leave an idea incomplete for too long. Sometimes you lose the sense of what it was about, and your personal relationship with the idea can become too distant. Much like leaving a plant unwatered for too long.

It's also interesting when someone else takes up your previous work and takes it further. Like the Chemical Brothers taking my track Asian Workshop from an album made in 1980, and developing it into "The Sunshine Underground" from the last album. It was a nice surprise that this was the number one album in the shops here when I returned from my last American visit. Equally how the DJ's expanded "Tigers of the Raj" in the remix album "Tigers of the Remix" was a revelation too.

Going back to "Feet in the Soil 2", Rory playing didgeridoo is a common theme, as is the singing by Mike Booth. But otherwise the other musicians and overall feel seem quite fresh and different.

AV: Do you have any plans to explore the soundscapes that are possible by using 5.1 surround sound technology? When composing music for this kind of platform what do you have to consider that isn't considered when recording a regular stereo release?

JA: Surround sound is a really fun idea, and I'm really looking forward to it. There are several things that need to happen first to really bring it to life.

A common standard needs to be firmly established - how many speakers are we going to settle for - 5,6,7 or maybe 8? It's primarily driven by movies and their needs - hence the weighting towards the centre speaker for dialogue etc.

Obviously music doesn't necessarily have the same needs or aptitudes. Then in terms of software we are just seeing the beginnings of programs specifically written for this medium. Like reverb programs intentionally drawing the most intriguing perspectives out of this framework.

Potentially there are some amazing capabilities by having such a large audio environment within which to work. I look forward to starting work in this new medium - probably in the next two years or so. By this time there will probaly be instruments that have outputs in surround.

AV: You have made several visits to the States over the last few years. What do you enjoy about these visist?

JA: There is an infectious enthusiasm in the States which has a great charging effect. Compared to the English who are quite a stayed and withdrawn people, Americans are very outgoing. This makes for a lot of fun, as expecially there isn't a sense of needing to waiting ages to get to know new people, and lively exchanges come about swiftly. Sometimes living on a small island like the UK, you forget how your reality differs from the rest of the world. There are loads of very talented people in the UK, but it's also the champion ground for eccentricity in many ways. We can also be just plain stuffy. One of the other main things that always strikes me too on American visits is how on the case the concept of commercial service is. Like the ingrained awareness that if you can't provide folk with what they need someone else can and will. We could use a load more of that spirit here.

AV: Tell me about your involvement in drum circles and what kind of fulfillment that brings to you musically and spiritually?

JA: This area is fairly fresh to me, so I'll be able to talk much knowledgably about it in a while. However what has struck me so far is what a wonderful base for communication the drumcircle offers. It's not about everyone needing to be skilled, and virtuosos needing to shine within it. It's about having fun and the energy and feeling created by sharing that experience. I can see why it's been such a great tool for breaking down barriers between different groups and levels within corporations. I can see why it has helped tense situations like the Peace Process in Ireland.

Communities have often become quite disparate affairs with all kinds of factors that alienate individuals and groups from each other. When you see someone as masterfully playful as Arthur Hull facilitating a drumcircle, you can see very quickly what a great tool for unity this can be, and how active shared fun of this kind rapidly builds invaluable bridges. A good analogy in fact for how the world might benefit from approaching life.

Musically it can also yield good things. This is what I'll be exploring.

AV: Tell me a little about your work with Madeleine Doherty on the "Colours of Trance" CD. What do the colors represent and how does it all fit in with trance?

JA: This project was instigated by Mike from Aura-Soma. He suggested Madeleine and I get together. We initially met for a weekend and had a lot of fun. Madeleine is a wonderful musician and has a great sense of humour. She also has her own very original slant on matters mystical. I call her Radio FairyFingers! So a little later we met to create The "Colours of Trance" project. We had some guidelines from Mike as to aspects of the colours he wanted to be brought out, and he also expressed a desire for it to have elements of contemporary dance music. Obviously harp is not the first instrument you'd think of in a dance context, but Madeleine loves rhythmic material, and the music just seemed to follow its own course. There is quite a range of moods and styles within it, and the contrast between the space anthem quality of Emerald and the full-on stomp of Coral is pronounced, for example. But then you'd expect music that covers the differing parts of the spectrum to offer a wide range. Aura-Soma has a whole interpretation and approach to the significance of colour.

For anyone interested they have a good website at www.aura-soma.net. Trance as a concept covers a lot of ground. Gabrielle Roth's understanding and treatment of this area is one I much admire, but I also know it can be a term applied to much more gentle music. It's like what I mentioned before about the point at which the mind is encouraged to shift gear and move on elsewhere.

Trance is about pathways to gaining access to the deeper and more instinctive pathways of the self, and transcending the over restrictive sets of programming and control that block up our psychic arteries.

AV: What was your first exposure to what is now called the internet and did you have any idea at the time of just how this might impact your music in coming years?

JA: My first entry into cyberlife was about five years ago. I had no idea what would develop specifically from this new medium, but clearly anything that has such broad global connectivity at its base had to become something potent and extraordinary. I still feel there is a very long way to go with all of its workings. Despite its huge growth over the past while, many people feel quite threatened by it, probably through just not understanding. The upside is how freely available anybody can gain more information about a subject that concerns them. The downside is by the linking of databases it will be very easy to feel very vulnerable as to how much personal stuff is known about all of us and our habits and likes/dislikes. The concept of real privacy becomes increasingly a vacuous idea.

AV: Does the internet allow you to have a closer relationship with your fans and the world in general?

JA: The internet opens up all kinds of connections, and of course it's becoming a significant way for people to discover music they like. Internet radio is still in its infancy but I can see that developing strongly. One of the key differences here in the UK is our local telephone call charges are not free, and if you're aware you're paying to be on the net all the time, it certainly curtails your patience and enthusiasm for general browsing. Just at the start of this year I got my ADSL connection. This means access at 576 kbps instead of 56. So quite a dramatic change and even sites with larger graphic are greatly quicker. This is done on a flat fee basis, so it's a lot less inhibiting in feeling free to browse at length. I've enjoyed getting the website up and since its beginning in March of last year it's seeing some steady growth. But a website is like anything else totally subject to the needs of marketing. It is a pleasingly broad concept that you can present what you have to a global audience and that they can respond.

AV: What should we be looking for from you in terms of new releases over the next year or so?

JA: It's hard to know exactly what will transpire from a process where you are trying to maintain contact with the organically fresh parts of your own creativity and receptivity. Looking at the projects I've already done, I think it's clear that this is not a formula driven or predictable path.

I'm hoping something constructive will come out of my interaction with the drumcircle stuff and congenial contact with Arthur Hull, though I'm not going to pre-empt what form this may finally take. Staying in the moment with these kind of projects is the key to being genuinely receptive to what's on offer. I've also intimated my desire to return to more space music - surround sound intended space music? Sounds fun.

AV: To close out this interview, do you have any thoughts that you would like to share with your fans or last comments about anything in particular?

JA: My website will always carry news of new releases etc., and it's actually the only place of which I'm aware that carries all ten of my commercial albums for sale. It also has my e-mail address, and I'm always happy to receive mail. The address is www.james-asher.co.uk. I'm fascinated by the web, and feel sure it has many quantum jumps to make in the next short while. Once the bandwidth increases it will be phenomenal what will transpire.

This article was reproduced with permission from Ambient Visions.