1 - Tell us how your project(s) were started.
Hoor-paar-Kraat
was started partly due to my frustrations of working with other musicians who
were either too pigeonholed to a particular genre or simply lacked the dedication
and artistic integrity which I hold as a standard. Though I’d made various
recordings from home and given them to friends as gifts, I had never intended
on mass producing or, for that matter, performing the music which I’d been
creating. Looking back upon the history of Hoor-paar-Kraat, I suppose it’s
safe to say that it began as a way to test the artistic integrity of the crowd
I was running with at the time as well as it having been an experiment to see
just how much shit patrons were willing to swallow if you call something art.
Someone much wiser than me once said “If a man comes out on stage at Carnegie
Hall and throws up you’ll always be able to find someone who’ll call
it art.” Besides that, I’ve always been attracted to discord, dissonance
and cacophony. Add to that my fascination with the phenomena of chance and love
for the games and literature of the Surrealist circles; it’s only logical
that I’d have done something of this nature. What began as the harsh noise
of a modular synth plugged into a wild host of effects pedals and stomp boxes
has covered the grounds of tape loops, tape degradation, found sounds, field
recordings, ritual music, acoustic drone, location specific recordings, sound
collage, vocal cut-ups, etc…
I’ve got something called Ophis Christos in the works but that’s still
in a drawing-board phase
2 - What does music,
in its entirety, mean to you?
Although it all falls under the category of “art”, music remains sacred due to its intangibility. It exists only as long as the person or device producing said sounds is active. The music that I make is less about how well you play and more about what you happen to be focused upon while you’re playing it. Music, for me, is more of an act of ritual, be it invocation or evocation depends upon the setting in which it is performed and or recorded. Often the power of sound is underestimated. Anyone familiar with the vibrations of barbarous names can tell you the basics of this.
3 - What does art,
in its entirety, mean to you?
Art is far too big an arena to tackle in one swift definition. Some say that art is nature’s way of improving upon what divinity has left unfinished or imperfect; but who are we to say what is completed or perfect? As an artist I can only tell you how it is that I feel about my own work but I’m sure it will give a clue as to my feelings on the creation of art and its general existence. Art is merely a waste product. It is the leftover and digested remnants of that which has been consumed. Some things are easily digested while others take a long time to break down and cause the body strain but either way the end result is almost always the same. Everything becomes shit eventually. I don’t see the need to candy coat things from the beginning. While I’m always pleased when someone purchases a piece of my artwork or tells me that it resonates with them, I feel that what I have been left with is infinitely more beautiful than anything that I could have produced. In today’s world you will notice the rise in art scenes such as Neo-Pop, Lobrow or the dreaded Pop-Surrealism as a result of the world wide squandering of intellect due in part to multitasking and mass media. The progress made by such men as Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Francis Picabia, Guillaume Apollinare, Marcel Duchamp and many others has been all but shit upon because society seems to have collectively found it too difficult to focus upon the Great and the Small. Rather, it seems far easier to focus upon mere aesthetic. Fear not, the day will come that the mass regurgitation of mainstream and aimless rock n’ roll rebellion, remnants of mind numbing pap from the glowing box and reality show quality fame will collapse upon these purveyors of false truths. Art is more about the relationship that the artist has with the qualities of Asar Un Nefer and the ways that this reflects upon the Great All than it is about how people are dissatisfied with their world leaders and the quality of what they put into their mouths. Just as Alchemy was stripped of all the undines, sylphs, salamanders and gnomes so too is art but like anything else, the slate needs to be wiped clean every now and again.
4 - Who is your
favorite author, and why?
Where do I begin? I don’t believe that I have a singular favorite author. Rather, I’d say that some of my favorites are Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, Andre Brenton, William Burroughs, Kenneth Grant, Israel Regardie and the like. I suppose I dig them because they were all unique and unafraid to spread themselves open to be vulnerable to the diseases of mankind. Every last one of these authors bore their souls to the world never leaving out the debaucheries and perversions that made them beautiful.
5 - As your best
friend, describe yourself.
Anthony Mangicapra is a generous man with a big heart but you have to do a bit of work if you want to get a look at it. He appears much more together than he could ever hope to be but you can tell him anything in the strictest of confidence and know that he’ll never leak a word of it. He thinks that nobody knows that he sleep walks and craves sugary treats between the hours of 4 am and 6 am. He’ll cook you a fantastic dinner, serve you his best bottle of Petite Syrah and make sure that you’re thoroughly intoxicated before entering into a lengthy discussion about man’s inhumanity to man or why the toilet in his spare bathroom has leaked for the last 5 years. He’s a run on sentence. Anthony’s a tireless worker and headstrong to boot. Also, he’s got the best manners of anybody that I’ve ever seen especially someone who sees the need to use as much profanity as he does.
6 - As your worst
enemy, describe yourself.
That guy is such a pompous fucking asshole. He thinks his shit doesn’t stink and always makes it a point to verbally abuse any number of people that happen to be in close proximity to him for his own personal enjoyment. He’s an opinionated, arrogant, egomaniacal jerk who’d rather ask a room full of people to watch him beat off, and pay for it, than create something truly beautiful. Also, short people piss me off.
7 - If your persona
were immortalized as a cartoon character, who would it be?
I’d be Trevor Goodchild from the Aeon Flux cartoon. I’m always plotting and scheming and those who’ve worked with me have referred to me as a menstruating Hitler but all it really takes to distract me is a big round ass and a pretty face.
8 - Do you think
there are conspiracies against the "everyday person"?
There may be but I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a world where there was no plotting going on. I don’t trust anybody who doesn’t have a hidden agenda. Besides punching below the belt is not only condoned but it’s rewarded. Anybody who tells you any different is worthy of slavery. Besides, if you’re content with being an ordinary person then you should have people waiting to devour you at every turn.
9 - What do you
do with your spare or free time?
Assuming that I had any spare time would I know what to do with it? I’d have to say that my biggest fear, after John Oats of Hall and Oats, is being bored and having nothing to do. I try to squeeze in a good book whenever I can but as that’s usually of an educational capacity. Though painting, writing and making music have all begun as pastimes I do these things to live and maintain my sanity. T.V. is the Devil. So, I do my best to avoid that. Also, I’m old enough that hangovers are now crippling which makes chemical escapes somewhat pointless. Between creating and just living I can’t say that I’ve got any spare time. On the off chance that I obtain some, I’ll let you know what I do with it.
10 - Please give
us your interpretation of "the meaning of life".
I’m not even sure that I should be answering this. I can hardly ever locate my car keys or remember what day of the week it is and I’m being asked to give my personalized ideal of the proverbial “meaning of life”. After long deliberation, many wasted hours reading various other people’s interpretations of the meaning of life I think that I’ve come to conclusion that there may not be a meaning to life. Rather the meaning is too individualized to sum up as a whole. I think most people would like to believe that there is a meaning to life but nobody ever entertains the thought that there’s a very good chance that there’s no meaning to life at all.
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