I suppose music technology is just like any other niche in that as you disappear de ep er do wn th e ra b bi t ho le , it ge ts ha rd erto find the other rabbits. Tom Jenkinson would probably qualify as an actual mole by this point were you to fully consider his 15-year reign as the premier virtuoso fi gu re in gl it ch y dr um an d ba ss . Bu t hi s al bu ms as Squa repus her have also reached into othe r terri tory – most famously Mus ic is Rotted One Not e , on which he pla yed eve ry ins trumen t him sel f; a one -ma n ban d wit hou t any sequencers hosting a jazz-fusion cafeteria food fight. Starting with 2008’s Numbers Lucent EP and its follow up, Ju st A So uv en ir, he moved into a fri en dlier ver sio n ofdigital music. But 2009’s Solo Electric Bassis exactly what it implies – and the guy’s got some serious chops. Al l this constan t reconfi gu ra tion po in ts to a gene rally restless and advent urous nature , but what’s especially impressive is just how deep his reach extends wh en it ’s fin al ly time to cha ng e cou rs e.Hewrites his own software for MIDI and audio processing for most of his dig ita lly- min ded pro ject s usin g the dee pest net her re gions of audio cre at io n pla tf orm s, lik e Native Ins trum ent s’ Reak tor Core Te chno logy . It’ s quit e astonishing to think that Jenkinson can create music in this fashion at all, let alone come up with something that’s truly beautif ul. Yo u’vebeen maki ngext re me lytec hnical mu sic sin ce 1996. Wh at sp urred youon to record on yo ur own ve rs us a commerci al studio? On e of th e th in gs th atrea ll y comp el le d meto wa ntto wo rk with technology on my own was that when I’d gone to st ud io s, I’ d fo un d th at th ey we re qu it e st al e env ir onme nt s. It di dn’ t seem li ke an pl ac e fo r experim enta l work. If I don’ t feel like I’m maki ng a reac h into new territor y of some kind , whether it’s mus ica l ter rit ory or exp lor ing new tec hno log ica lapplications, then I think I’m wasting my time. I still don ’t hav e a ma ssi ve am oun t of contac t wit h tha t world – I’v e al way s ope ra te d in an iso la ted env ir onm en t. Tha t starte d off bec ause tha t was th e onlywa y I co ul d doit. When I was kid I didn’t have the budget to go to big stu dio s-I had to basi call y use my initia tive with the limited things I could get my hands on. But it set a pattern. I want to set things how I want to set them, an d tha t me ans som e pr ett y un ort ho do x way s ofconne cti ng al l th e ge ar to ge th er . It ’s one of th e adva nta ges of being a self -con tain ed oper ati on. If I need a piano part on a track, I’ll just practice until it’s done. I don’t play the piano, but I will if it requires it. I’ll attain the knowledge rather than wait. In the early days, as I said, I didn’t have the money to pay; and th ese days I hav en’ t go t th e pat ie nce to wai t an d explain the ideas to people. My understanding of your approach has al wa ys been th at kn ow ledge is a pre req uis ite to cre ation. On one ha nd thelea rni ng cur ve mig ht be pr omp ted by som eth ing spe cific, but on the ot he r hand it’s li ke , “L et ’s ge t th is ou t of the way,” in order for the creative poss ibil itie s eme rge. Tho se two seem lik e the y’r e in confli ct. It is awkward. In some situations you’re making it up as you go al ong, so in th at sense yo u’ re at ta in in g kno wle dg e but you’re using gue ssw ork . Y ou’ re speculating on imagining a particular point and you’re spe cul at in g on th e routes to ho w to ge t th er e. It alm ost sounds like a cliché, but for me it’s about always trying to play spontaneity off of a rational, logical, rigorous appr oach . With out any logi cal ana lyti cal appr oach , you’ re high and dry . It’ s diffe rent if you’v e got the musicians, engineers, producers and so on. They can occupy different mental spaces. I’m doing everything, so I ha ve to en co mp ass al l ofit in on e pe rson. Th e mo st stressful times to me are when I’m trying to get takes down: I’m trying to get the sounds right whileplaying, an d th e two me nt ali ti es ar e sli ght ly dif fer ent. I thi nk to play really well you have to let go to an extent – you can’t just sit there thinking about the procedures when you’ re tryi ng to del iver a musical perf ormance. It’ s mul tit aski ng; swit chin g fro m one men tal ity and flipping back. So wha t are your tac tic s for jug gli ng them? I’ve always had an interest in how the technical aspect of recording music affects the affective or emotionalexperience of listening to it. I could save myself a lot of effort by getting an engineer in, but my worry is that I’d be explaining ideas to people. I’d have to con vey a musical idea ver bal ly to som eb od y – tr an sla tin g fr om on e lan gu ag e to an oth er. In my he ad the links are direct. If I’m relying on a verbal form ofcommunication, “I need this kind of sound,” then I’m stuck in this dreadful territory, like music journalists or cri ti cs whe n th ey try to con vey a sou nd usi ng words. I try to avoid doing that at all costs, because I’m not sure exactly what connotations these words mi gh t ha ve . In my he ad I’ ve go t ve ry sp ec if ic conn otat ion s. I have a very spec ifi c tex tur e that correla tes to the experi enc e of green. Ther e’s no point in saying, “I need this to sound green” to an audio engineer . I remembe r readin g about Captain Beefheart, and that’s one of the ways that he would communicate with his musicians – using evocative phrases to get specific kinds of performance out ofthem. Personally I don’t have any faith in my ability to convey music ver bal ly. If I do it mys elf , I’m working 18 hours a day to get what I do done. I’m jus t not conf id en t in the alt ern at ive s, I supp ose. It almost seems like the actual signal chain is bet wee n you r brain and the speaker. Tom Jenkinson is Squarepusher by Vijith Assar 40/Tape Op#89/Mr. Jenkinson/ (continued on page 42)
