Special silentrecords.net interview with Seofon

How did you meet Kim Cascone and get involved with Silent Records?

Kim had already been interested in Richard Sun’s work for some time, as Richard had been promoting chill rooms and experimental music events in the Bay Area since 1991, but at that time he did not have a dedicated studio or producer.  Our meeting at his Imagination event (9/23/93) led to studio sessions and a good collaborative dialogue, and when an album of original material had come together Kim was ready to go.  (As a side note: we were already somewhat committed to Visible Records, but Silent was willing to put up the resources and so the labels agreed to a co-release with a Silent catalog number.)

Briefly describe the "ambient" scene during the times you were putting out material for Silent.

In retrospect, it was uniquely open-ended.  At the time I was influenced by the Orb, Locust, Aphex Twin, Paul Schütze, etc. – electronic music of the more idiosyncratic and sound-collage varieties – while Richard was most influenced by the psychonauts of the 1970s: Eno, Fripp, and especially Bill Nelson.  And there was influence on Ambient both from the Industrial scene and from the Chill-Out aesthetic, which made for an overtly psychedelic foundation.  There were very few constraints; there was a sense of ‘anything goes’. 

On that note, Richard has said: “I'm very much into experimentation and that's what Ambient Music is - it's not really music, it's more of an experiment in sonic research. It's what we're doing now. It's like having a laboratory where you can alter consciousness. You can alter the way people think because they're hearing sounds that they've never heard in the history of worlds; they're hearing stuff that their ears have never witnessed. It's music that blows your mind to infinity; it comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. It has no beginning and no end. It's like sound that comes through that's non-classifiable. It's an enigma. It just exists and can't be labeled.”

How has it changed?

It has become codified and niched in various ways.  This is not all bad – the music has evolved through that process, in some places, and crossover into the New Age and Electronica markets has certainly increased awareness and availability of Ambient music.  But I also feel that the genre has been leached of much of its vitality and potential.  For one, it has become over-intellectualized and production-oriented, so that there is less tolerance for naked brainstorming.  And for two, it has been reduced to just the music.  When I say this, I situate it next to the fact that, initially, Ambient music was being used as a tool for creating alternative environments.  Richard was always insistent that “the CDs are just the outer circle; that's what we're doing to communicate within ourselves and to humanity the intention of the Temple ... ATOI developed basically as a seed for a future non-religion consciousness experiment; it is a mystery school.”  Now it seems that Ambient has been taken out of the chill-rooms and temples and turned into just more record store shelf fodder.  But I suppose this was inevitable, until the music industry is destroyed or evolves beyond motivations of ownership, entertainment, and consumption.

Is there any unreleased material from the Silent period?

Yes, we have archived quite a few remixes, alternate versions, and live tracks from our Silent albums.  Many of these you can get free from our Mp3.com page: www.mp3.com/atoi/

What is your favorite Silent release?

23 Degrees An Endless Searching For Substance.  I also listen to Heavenly Music Corporation Lunar Phase quite a lot.
 
What are you up to now?

ATOI is still manifesting – In 1999 we reissued selections from our back-catalog as the double-disc anthology Y2Kaos, and last year we shaped a collaborative work with Steve Roach and friends entitled Zero Point, which was released on Hypnos/Foundry.  I have also been involved with two other networks: the Archipelago and Kimosciotic Communications.  The Archipelago includes ATOI’s guitarist, Thermal (who is about to release his first two solo albums on his own Boxman Studies label), and the Foundry label, with which I have done a variety of work lately. With the Kimosciotic Communications crew I have participated in various collaborations (e.g. Not Breathing, Meat Beat Manifesto); and I am a member of the outfit Earwicker.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Well, Richard Sun is currently off on his own journeys, so I am the one conducting interviews and such things; but he is the founder of ATOI, and was personally at the helm through the Silent years.  He is a remarkable and powerful individual, who truly breathed heart and soul into the work.  I direct any interested readers to our collection of interviews:
www.a-toi.com/presskit/xview_ambientrance.html
www.a-toi.com/presskit/xview_seconds.html
www.a-toi.com/presskit/xview_clublife.html
www.a-toi.com/presskit/xview_lotus.html
www.a-toi.com/xvukzsc.html

Please include links to any sites you would like included on the site.

ATOI: www.a-toi.com/
Seofon: www.a-toi.com/seofon/
Zero Point: www.foundrysite.com/seofon/zeropoint/
Thermal: www.boxmanstudies.com/
Archipelago: www.boxmanstudies.com/archipelago/
Kimosciotic Communications: www.kimosciotic.com/