Greg Carr
Greg Carr performs around Minneapolis, using an unusual turntable setup called
The Ancient Mix Master, which appears to date from the middle of the twentieth century. Primarily mixing sounds from 78 RPM records, utilizing the contraption's two turntables and three (count them,
three) tone arms, he then runs everything through an
Echo Plex and an old RCA
Tube Amp - and on special occasions will even break out his personal
Dreamachine (a dream inducing machine developed and designed by
Brion Gysin and Ian Summerville, over fifty years ago). Check out
his website to see pictures and read more about the set up.
Carr was the host and producer of a radio program which ran on
KFAI, from 1985-1989, called
Technological Retreat. The program was a weekly dose of live improvised sound collage, created using found recordings Carr had gathered over the course of the previous week.
Innova Records recently released a collection of recordings from these live sessions. Each limited edition CD release comes with a unique, individually handmade cover. Check out the Signal To Noise review
HERE.
It's an honor to feature Minneapolis
first weekly sound collage radio performer here at the SAR website! Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with Greg Carr of
Technological Retreat...
*Name: Technological Retreat*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: No, this was a live radio program and that was the name of the show. When I do live performances, I refer to them as 'Rimes of the Ancient MixMaster'.*Do you use a pseudonym? Mr. Gosh*Members: Greg Carr*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: I referred to it as Sound Collage and to myself as a soundtracker and a needle-dropper, but now there are more choices. Mostly I was just a DJ.*Why you use this descriptor: I like the term sound collage - I thought of the term but don't know if I was the first to use it - probably not. I liked that term because I was trying to recreate in an audio fashion what I was feeling and/or experiencing the week before each show. A visual artist uses remnants of visual material to create a collage, a new image to represent...whatever they want, from that which is around them. That's what I was trying to do with sound: Create a soundtrack for the past week out of lots of pieces... trying to make what the world sounded like to me.*Location: Minneapolis, MN*Original Location: Glenview, IL; Denver, CO; Bozeman, MT; and then Minneapolis.*What is your creative/artistic background: I'm a fan.*History: I started doing radio in 1982, and was experimenting in simple mixing/collaging by 1984. Technological Retreat was on the air from 1985 - 1989.*Born: 1963, Chicago
*Motivations: I like the way it sounds. I don't enjoy doing this in a studio setting, I'd rather be live in front of an audience or live on radio. I really enjoy the random and unpredictable nature of mixing sounds together. One has a general idea of what the end result will sound like, but it is always a surprise what actually happens.*Philosophy: That's a very good question. So, maybe the philosophy would be to allow oneself to ride the crest of your own creativity and see/hear/feel what happens and then actually do something about it/for it.
*How would you like to be remembered: Fairly
*Web address: mrgosh.comwww.some-assembly-required.net
Episode 176, Some Assembly Required
Phatbastard is Matthieu Talbot, a French DJ who has been involved with the recently transplanted Bootie event, which has nights in California, New York and now France. The monthly mashup party, with its San Francisco roots, has now spread to several corners of the globe. Phatbastard has helped to give it wings.
Greg Carr performs around Minneapolis, using an unusual turntable setup called The Ancient Mix Master, which appears to date from the middle of the twentieth century. Primarily mixing sounds from 78 RPM records, utilizing the contraption's two turntables and three (count them, three) tone arms, he then runs everything through an Echo Plex and an old RCA Tube Amp - and on special occasions will even break out his personal Dreamachine (a dream inducing machine developed and designed by Brion Gysin and Ian Summerville, over fifty years ago). Check out his website to see pictures and read more about the set up.
