DAMIAN CATERA
"I like to create a sound space where the listener's subjectivity can take over."
questions by tom saivon; may - july 2002
BEGINNINGS & CON-DEMEK ERA
When have you startedyour musical career and what was the initial impulse?
I usually like to tellpeople that my music career started when I was 4 years old. My motherbought me a reel to reel tape recorder for my birthday. I punched holesin the microphone and liked the sounds that it made when the batteriesran low on power. I guess you could say that my initial impulse to abusesound started there. Then, when I was turned on to the music of FrankZappa a few years later, I had a good idea of what I wanted to do.
From where have emerged your artistic tactics & creative forces?What kind of background has affected Damian Catera´s work?
Pretty much, I was introducedto music at a young age....piano lessons, guitar lessons and tromboneas well. Pretty boring stuff, I know. Then came a music class that Iwas in as a youngster...the long haired hippy teacher played the firstZappa/ Mothers album for us and it completely blew my mind. Here wasall this shitty pop music that we heard on the radio, and there wasZappa, doing something way different. It made me curious to seek outother strange forms of
music.
I should also mentionthat I was born and raised in Utica, New York which is a post industrialhell- hole, a town filled with empty factories and crime. I was intoducedto drugs and crime at a very young age. The only activities we had whenI was a teenager was taking lots of drugs and making weird music. Meand my friends would go down to this sewage tunnel with a portable taperecorder, we would destroy things , make alot of noise and record ouractivites.This would certainly influence the way that I developed.
Please, tell us moreabout Con-Demek, about the beginning and another personnels involved...
Was there any mission/ message behind Con Demek´s creative output?
After I went to universityand studied political science, I became a political activist workingagainst various nasty US foreign and domestic policy practices. I becameinterested in anarchist theory, developed a disdain for most beliefsystems , both political and religious, and was looking for a way toexpress my discontent in a creative way.
ConDemek was formedin 1985 as a result of these interests. The name is an abbreviationfor "Contemporary DeMechanization" . It reflected my theorythat most human suffering was caused by very rigididly conservativepolitical and religious belief systems. Demek was a reaction to thepolitical climate of the times which was very conservative and militaristic.
The group was originallya duo, myself and a guy named Thomas Rella. We made our first album,Disgorging Elements(1987) with this lineup and performed at least 20times between '85-88.
Due to artistic differences,Tom left in 1988, thats when I brought in my 2 college/ activist friendsSteve Lombardi (electronics) and Jay Mentes (percussion) to form whatwould be considered the "classic" ConDemek lineup. This lineupwas responsible for the albums Dogmama (1989-RRR-USA) and Happy Ordeal(1994 Fourth Dimension-UK).
With this second lineup,we performed fewer shows but did support Merzbow in 1990, as well asCopShootCop in 1991.
We concentrated moreon the studio and more on surveillance and pranks, however. For Dogmama,we created a piece called "Downstairs" where we made covertrecordings of our donwstairs neighbors beating their kids. For HappyOrdeal, we went into catholic confession booths and made covert recordingsof fucked up confessions made to priests. The idea was to expose hypocracy.
The final ConDemek lineupcame along in 1996. This is when my ex girlfriend Roxanne Benedettocame aboard contributing guitar and vocals. Our only recorded outputwas the Technological Shackjob album which came out on Tesco in 1997.For this album, we made prank phonecalls to christian advice lines...exposingtheir hypocracy as well. This lineup went to Paris in 1996 to performat the Experiences Festival, and also toured the US in 1998, openingup for Otomo Yoshiide and the EX. our final performance was at the KnittingFactory in NYC in November of 1998.
What were your influencesin that period - SPK, TG, Neubauten?
Early on in ConDemek,we were very interested in and influenced by SPK, TG and Neubauten.but we were also interested in things like Sonic Youth, Pink Floyd andexperimental composers like John Cage and Edgard Varese.
How it happened to have Technological Shack Job published on Tesco?Was Happy Ordeal released under the same label? (released 1997)
When I was in parisduring the summer of 1995, I did an interview with a French noise publication.The publishers told me that Tesco was very interested in ConDemek. Imust admit, I never had heard of the label at that time. About a yearand a half later they contacted me via email and we decided to workwith them.
How many shows had you performed throughout your history with Con-Demek,or in general?
I've probably performedover 100 times since 1985 including 2 tours of the US, 2 trips to Europeand a performance in Cuba in 2000.
HARSHHOUSE
When has been yourlabel HarshHouse established? How many releases are out so far on thislabel?
The HarshHouse was originallythe name of my recording studio which I started in 1987. In 1998, Idecided to start releasing recordings under this name. My friend andformer ConDemek collaborator Steve Lombardi first used the term as acommentary on my brutal and cynical sense of humor. The name stuck.
Since 1998, I have released5 full length cds, 1 video and one downloadable MP3 release:
HH010-Damian CateraPROCESS, OBJECT INTUITION
HH009-Skyline NOISEOTICA
HHOO8-Skyline BARK
HH007-KK Null + Damian Catera FREAKOUTMODULATION
HH006-Damian Catera dECOMPOSITION
HHV01-CHAOS CHRONICLES
HHMP31-SKYLINE LIVE IN NYC
What kind of formats do you release?
Mainly cds but i would like to do somevinyl and DVDs
How many releases have been out with your participation?
I participate inall of the harsh housereleases .
Where do you see the difference between releasing stuff on own labelin comparison to releasing on "independent majors"?
On the positive, I havecomplete control over how things sound and look. On the negative: lessdistribution.
Where are distributed HarshHouse products - are they available internationally?What´s the coverage so far? Do you use also another labels distributingchannels, mailorders?
ConDemek releases canbe found in the RRR, Tesco and Adverse Effects catalogues. My solo releasescand be found in Adverse Effects as well as EMF, and Flipped Out.
COLLABORATIONS
Please, tell us moreabout your side-projects - like Skyline, your cooperation with famousJapan noiseartist _ guitarrorist KK Null etc.
Skyline is a projectthat I was recruited into about 5 years ago. Basically it is a revisionistversion of electronica/ techno etc., that is essentially improvisationalin nature. WE find most music of this type boring an predictable andseek to improve upon it. It's a very fun project involving three verygood friends of mine. I play guitar and also play a large role in theproduction and engineering with my good friend JB.
I had the opportunity to tour part of the US with KK Null back in 1999.I was always a big fan of Zeni Geva, they were one of my favorite bandsfor a long time. Kazuyuki and I got along very well, we traveled togetherfor three weeks and did a few collaborative improvisations and evena live radio broadcast in Chicago. Often I would sample and manipulatehis "nullsonic" sounds We have similar tastes in music andreally worked well together.
About a year after thetour we decided to collaborate on a cd because we weren't really happywith the quality of the recordings from the tour. Null sent me a DATtape of sounds, which I started to work with. That is how FEAKOUT MODULATIONcame along.
Another personelwhom do you collaborate with? Any collaboration planned?
Lee Ranaldo of SonicYouth contributed to a piece on the last ConDemek album. I also haveperformed with Acclimate.
As far as palns forother collaborations:
Nothing planned in theimmediate future , although Schloss Tegal and I were thinking of doingsomething together. There's this Czech band Skrol that I'd love to playwith...
Can you tell us moreabout the process how the music is brought to life during such collaborations?Changing masters with tracks, or common work in the studio?
Both of these collaborationsare usually done in an assembled fashion. tapes are exchanged betweenthe participants.
NEW YORK CITY
What do you thinkabout NY musical scene? Whom do you like or pay respect?
The New York music scene,like much of the music world, has changed alot in the last 15+ years.New York is not immune to trends , and in many ways it follows ratherthan leads, these days.
I still enjoy the workof Sonic Youth. They have alot of interesting side projects that performnow and then in the area. Lee Ranaldo has one called Text Of Light wherehe works with drummer William Hooker and turntabilist Chrisitan Marclay.Elliot Sharp has also been inspirational.
Is there any communityyou feel to be a part of?
I don't really fit intoany community in NYC. Things are very compartmentalized and my workdoesn't neatly fit into any one genre.
New York is sort ofalienating in a way. No one really goes out of there way to help meout, but I've gotten used to that. Although I live around here, andperform fairly regularly at the Knitting Factory, I still keep in mindthat it is just one city among many.
During recent yearsthings have gotten better and there are more grass roots venues, especiallyin Williamsburg, Brooklyn. That is good to see, but I know that thesethings, by their very nature, do not last very long.
Can you rememberany vivid or vital period in NYC underground, or it´s just now?
I really liked the mideighties in NY. Back then, the scene was filled with interesting andinnovative bands that were all at the peak of their creativity and freshness.This was before corporate record companies took over the alternativemucic scene. In addition to Sonic Youth, I used to come down to seeSwans, Live Skull and a host of other groups who all had a very creativetake on the medium. This was a very special
time in American music culture. Musical styles were germinated on thegrass roots level, whereas now, alot of it is dictated by the majorlabels.
Have things in theNY artistic community changed after Sept.11?
What was mostly arfisticreaction to that what happened? Were also the artists part of the "proudand bold nation" struck by the insidious enemy?
I don't know if thingsin the artistic community have changed signifificantly as a result ofSept 11. But then again, I have few links to any community in NYC.
I think that alot ofpeople were justifiably shocked in alot of ways. I read some writingsin The Wire magazine which contained reflections from various NY basedmusicians and artists. Although I share their shock and dismay, someof them see this as the end of America's so called "innocence"..whichI view as naive and not tremendously sophisticated. Artists aren't alwaysthe most politically knowledgeable people. There is nothing innocentabout the US and it's failed an dangerous foreign policies.
My own perspective,which I've shared with you in the past, is that the US government, particularlyelements withtin the current regime, is primarily responsible for whathappened on September 11. At the very least through CIA backing of themovement in Afghanistan which eventually became Al Qaeda. I also thinkthat the idea of direct involvement in the attack, on the part of certainelements in the current regime is also a very plausible possibility.All you have to do is look at the history of covert operations suchas Iran-Contra back in the eighties. There is an elite element withinthis regime which will do anything to acheive their expansionistic objectives.September 11 may very well be the culmination of a right wing/corporatecoup designed to sieze absolute control of resources and power. It isvery plausible.
DAMIAN CATERA SOLO
Since when are youplaying solo? What´s the basis of your music now, playing solo?Are there any philosophical aspects, or just SOUND?
I really started towork solo in 1998 toward the end of ConDemek's existence. There wereformal aspects of sound that I was really unable to explore within theconcept- driven creative environment of ConDemek. i also desired todo something improvisational with electronics. ConDemek was becomingto structured.
Most of my philosphicalissues are addressed in my video art. This allows me to explore formaland aesthetic aspects of sound as a soloist.
With my music, I liketo create a sound space where the listener's subjectivity can take over.There's not one thing that I'm looking to evoke. I just like to providean atmoshphere where anything can happen, perceptually. However,I don'tthing that it's all about the mind, there is an intensely physical aspectto my music , as well, which certainly interacts with the cerebral processes.
What does attractyou to playing guitar? What´s so special for you on this instrument?(You have a very special guitar, I think - can you tell us more aboutit?)
I was exposed to theguitar at a very young age. There always seemed to be a guitar and somesort of recording device, around from when I was age 5. Everything beganwith exploratory play, which seemed to continually evolve as I got older.The guitar is a very versatile tool whch lends itself to alot of applications.
The guitar that I playis a custom built original. My good friend Pete Malinoski, who is amaster wood worker and guitarist, built it. Pete tried to go into businessselling hand crafted guitars in the US. Most guitar players seem tobe into name brand recognition, so his guitars never really found amarket in the US. I took #30 (the one that I use) off of his hands fora nominal fee. I haven't played anything else since.
Can you describeyour feelings about your up-to-date sound? Another words, how wouldyou describe Damian Catera´s sound 2002? And how it´s been evolving?
I think that I've finallyfound a way to apply what I've learned over the years. I do not lettechnology dictate my ideas. If anything, my ideas form the tools thatI create to manipulate and improvise with sound.
One of the things thatI like to explore is the dialectic relationship between order and chaos.Some of the sound processing programs that I write, use random numbergenerators to control the pitch and other apsects of the sound. Butwithin these chaotic number groups, other patterns emerge that are moreorderly. It's that unresolvable tension between order and chaos thatI find very interesting. I love and
embrace unpredictability.
How do you feel comfortable with playing solo? Standing just aloneon stage, without any band - don´t you feel a lack of communicaton playingalone?
I feel very comfortableworking solo because it gives me a sense of creative autonomy whichis very important. I do not have to rely on other people and all ofthe accompanying interpersonal bullshit to acheive my creative objectives.Creative autonomy is something that I really appreciate. I do, howeverstill enjoy working in a group (Skyline) and still have faith in thecollaborative process. I just don't like to focus all of my creativeenergy on a collaborative project because I have many individual goals. working alone.