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Interview: Phono Ghosts new album Solar Dream Reel

Phono Ghosts

Clancy Mason catches up with Blackpool musician Neil Scriven, then man behind Meatbingo and Phono Ghosts to talk about the forthcoming release of his second Phono Ghosts album Solar Dream Reel and the creation of his new label Fonolith.

Phono GhostsCM: You are the man behind Meatbingo and Phono Ghosts: can you tell us why you have not just one but two aliases and tell us a little bit about both your alter ego’s, and the real you too?

NS: I’ve been making music in one way or another for a long time (my earliest existing recordings go back to 1990!) and initially worked under my own name. The aliases are essentially just a way of differentiating the various projects I’m working on. Both aliases are sample-based projects, but they are quite different approaches, both technically and aesthetically. Phono Ghosts is exclusively based around samples taken from cassette tapes – either found or those recorded by myself. I’ve been collecting cassettes for over 15 years, initially because they were cheap and plentiful sources of unusual sounds, and because I liked the format (it was what I grew up with in the ‘80s) and the noisy, warbling sonic qualities. Meatbingo, on the other hand, is more chaotic. I see it as musical Olbas Oil for clearing the creative sinuses! The sample material is wide-ranging, and the sound is more of a hyperactive sonic collage – albeit one that’s still informed by a sort of skewed ‘pop’ aesthetic.

CM: Congratulations on Solar Dream Reel, your second Phono Ghosts album due out next month. Why the wait between your new release and your first album? Tell us what we can expect from Solar Dream Reel?

NS: Thanks! There were several reasons for the almost three-year gap between releases. It wasn’t intentional – I was planning to release this album much sooner. But some of the time was spent setting up Fonolith – the new label through which I will be releasing this and future albums. The intention is that releases will be more frequent from now on, so hopefully no more long silences. The other reason is that I’m always working on several different projects at once, so there were periods spent focusing upon music that might not see the light of day for a number of years yet. I tend to have lots of plans and ideas brewing away, and sometimes find these distractions more interesting and fun than the more pressing work that I really need to finish! Solar Dream Reel is essentially a manifesto for what the Phono Ghosts project is all about. Taking scraps of abandoned, unwanted (sometimes even ugly) audio and concocting something new and (hopefully) beautiful from them. There is a kind of alchemical notion about the process, I feel. Much of the imagery and many of the titles on the album come directly from dreams and hypnagogic aural hallucinations, which are an important source of inspiration to me.             

CM: Are you planning on any live events to support your new release?

NS: I tend to look at what I do as being primarily studio-based, but I have performed a number of shows. At the moment, there is nothing concrete planned, but there is another ‘Tourist Trap’ (local events with musician friends VHS Head and White Mask) being prepared.

CM: Tell us about some of your own musical influences?

NS: Growing up in the eighties, the sounds of that era have always resonated with me. And as a child, I was drawn towards things that were visually and sonically resonant of the latter 1970s – which was still very prevalent well into the 1980s. So obviously, things like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and TV music in general were formative influences, as well as stuff like New Order, Jarre, early Human League, Numan, Vangelis, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, etc. Anything that utilised synths and drum machines, or used the techniques of the studio to modify sound in order to create something unreal and mysterious. That’s the sort of thing that initially sparked my interest, and which continues to do so.

Nowadays, I’m most often found searching YouTube for forgotten gems of ‘80s pop, DIY cassette releases or under-appreciated ‘70s fusion/prog. Lately, I’ve been in a bit of a goth/shoegaze phase too. Drab Majesty is particularly good.

Yet what I do isn’t simply nostalgia. I’m not really interested in creating perfect replicas of sounds from the past. What I’m doing is modern music – haunted by the sonic reflections, or ghosts, of recent cultural history – but still essentially forward-looking and new.

CM: What other projects do you have in the pipeline?

NS: After the release of Solar Dream Reel, the next thing I’m working on is the new Meatbingo album. This should be out sometime next year, and there is already enough material there for two albums, so I’m quite excited about that. I’m also going through my archived material with the eventual aim of preparing it for release. Aside from my own music, I hope to start releasing work by other artists via Fonolith in the future.

You can pre-order Solar Dream Real prior to its 9 September release.

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