From Carter N. Tracy Sent Tue, Oct 27th 1998, 14:35
From Carter N. Tracy Sent Tue, Oct 27th 1998, 14:35
Hi,
here is a draft of the article on Richard Coleman Devine I just finished
writing for Creative Loafing. Please forward me any feedback :)
-carter
Pioneering Sound
Roswell, GA: home to miles of strip malls, shopping centers and
sub-division after sub-division of perfectly manicured lawns. It could be
the heart of mainstream America. Yet among all the sameness, resides
Richard Coleman Devine, 22-year-old experimental sound composer and
electronic music producer. Devine's unique style of production combines
clanky technical noise and grungy distortion with smooth ambient melodies
layered over electro-inspired beats. Last spring, the release of his
self-titled 12" EP on Schematic Records out of Miami won him worldwide
recognition as one of America's up and coming intelligent dance music
producers. =20
As we sit in the studio room of Devine's parents' spacious home, Richard
Devine begins the tale of how he got started.=20
"If you really want to be good at it, you have to do it for a while,
that's 50% of it. I started making music like this when I was 15. The
other 50% is talent."=20
He plays me new piece he's been working on, a remix for the German duo
Funkstorung. It is cacophonous, sounding more like my modem than music,
but still maintains the eccentric funk that has become Devine's signature
style. Behind the hard-edged tech-noise is the remnant of a steady dance
beat. Perfect if R2D2 were ever to take his chances on the dance floor.
"I have always like music that is different, music that pushes the
envelope of what we understand to be music and forges ahead into new
directions."=20
Devine's interest in music started when he was 7 and his mother signed him
up for classical piano lessons. He studied for 10 years through which he
developed a deep understanding of the composition of complex music. =20
"Classical music is the foundation of what I do today. I also played
guitar and bass for three years, playing mostly jazz & classical and I
learned to play drums over the past few years."
In his early adolescence, the gang he skateboarded with influenced his
tastes in music. =20
"Half the skaters I hung out with listened to punk and the other half,
hip-hop. I started listening to more hip-hop; Eric B. & Rakim, Del the
Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, but I liked elements of both. From there, I
searched for a mergence of the rough sound of punk music and the electronic
element of hip-hop. When I discovered industrial music it really blew me
away. I started listening to a lot of Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly,
SPK, Coil, Front 242 and Meat Beat Manifesto. Around '90-'91 I was a big
Meat Beat fan. I'm sure everyone was. I bought the Mindstream Remixes CD
with an Aphex Twin remix on it. That remix changed my life. That was the
beginning. His music was so technologically advanced that it took me to
different places. I couldn't associate normal emotions with it. It
sounded alien and futuristic. You couldn't put it in a specific category.
I felt like I wasn't listening to music made by a human person, but
completely based around a machine."=20
Devine started collecting equipment to produce his own music, mainly
analog keyboards and a Roland TR 909 to sequence sounds. Later he bought
a modular synthesizer.=20
"With that, I made the crossover from traditional keyboards to complex
sound design. I tried to be as creative as possible. I've even had loads
of machines built for me by a tech wizard named Tim who works for EMS. He
has built me some wicked shit over the years."=20
He gestures to an ensemble of analogue keyboards with odd-looking knobs
and panels stacked in the corner of the room. =20
"The reason a lot of the electronic music you hear sounds the same is
because people are using the same equipment. Every piece of equipment has
certain limitations. If there are any limitations on my music, I want them
to be in my mind, not in my equipment."
For a long time, despite his effort and advances in his production
techniques, Devine found no outlet to release the music he was making. The
few record labels that were releasing intelligent dance music were all
overseas.=20
"No one in the US was doing idm. I wanted a domestic label I could grow
with."
Finally, when Devine was 19, he sent a bunch of tracks to the Chicago
hardcore label Drop Bass Network. Shortly after that came his first
official release, a 12" EP called Six Sixty-Six.
"They released the one that sounded most like hardcore. Even though I
produced it, it wasn't the best representation of the music I was making.
Around the same time, I was commissioned to do track for Tommie Sunshine's
label Xylophone Jones, which was to be a split release with Chris Brann of
Wamdue Project. This was an acid house track using a Roland 303
synthesizer and again was not really representational of the music I wanted
to release. In the mean time, over in England, Black Dog Project and
Autechre were pioneering the music I was doing. I just didn't have the
means to put it out." =20
Woody McBride, head of Chicago's infamous techno label, Communique, heard
the Xylophone Jones release and approached Devine about releasing some
techno tracks. =20
"Techno was an avenue I'd wanted to try out. I had never before attempt
to produce any, and I knew very little about it, but I came up with four
tracks and sent them to him. He called me right away and said he loved
them. He asked me if I had anymore so I came up with four more tracks. He
loved those too and again asked me if I had more. I sent him another four
tracks. The whole record took me a total of two weeks to produce and he
released it as a triple 12", the first triple pack Communiqu=E9's ever
released."=20
The record on Communiqu=E9 did well and helped Devine get his name out. He
started getting gigs, both to play live and to DJ. Taking his set on the
road, he played at parties in the Midwest, the West Coast, Canada, and,
once in a blue moon, at home in Atlanta. His live sets took him abroad to
Germany and other parts of Europe.=20
In early 1997, Devine learned of a new label called Schematic, based out
of Miami. Schematic was run by Josh Kay and Romulo del Castillo, who had
been Soul Oddity, recording artists on the major label imprint,
Astralwerks, whom Devine had admired for a long time. He promptly got in
touch with them and discovered that their tastes and ideas about music were
right in line with his. Devine's self-titled debut on Schematic sold out
within a few weeks. Now, Devine is officially part of the Schematic label,
taking care of most of their mastering and production in his studio as well
as helping them with promotion. He is also rapidly making up for lost
time by becoming on of the most prolific IDM producers this side of that
Atlantic. This December brings a full-length CD and 12" single on
Schematic, an EP coming out on another American IDM label called Chocolate
Industries, a remix of the New York hip-hop group Flatbush on Ninja Tune,
and a single on the German label Musik au Strom. =20
While he jots down a list of the equipment he's currently using, he puts
the Cocteau Twins' Four-Calendar Caf=E9 on the CD player for me.
"Just listen to those harmonies. The production on this album is amazing.
Sometimes I listen to this while I drive. I have to clench the steering
wheel to hold back the tears." For a moment I am touched by the sentiment,
then he puts on another CD. This time the music is abrasive noise
interspersed with samples from late 1940's jazz and blues vocalists. There
is no trace of formal composition or a repetitive pattern. He tells me it
is by Japanese producer called Bisk and is impressed when I say it sounds
influenced by Merzbow.
"Computers have been a big area for me lately. The last two records I
produced were all created in the computer. I'm really getting into
computer code and digital signal processing which is a non-traditional way
of making music." As if any of this music can be called traditional to
begin with, I think to myself, gazing out the window at the perfect green
lawn.
......................................................................>
Clock Wise Records 1611 Marlbrook Drive NE
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Atlanta, GA 30307
http://www.clockwiserecords.com 404.371.3401
ICQ 21005793