Nefarious Industries announces the details for Zvi’s new full-length album, Deer Pink, now confirmed for release in April.
ZVI is the eclectic solo project of NYC-based multi-instrumentalist Ron Varod, known for his roles in Kayo Dot, Sabbath Assembly, Psalm Zero, So Is The Tongue, and others. While previous Zvimaterial can be…
TSH: Having stated ‘with most art something catches your eye, and then the process starts for real’. Does the musical development centre on a brainwave of sorts to enable the variation of sounds to flow?
Brian: You know it's a mystery. I hear something, I feel something, and I act accordingly. I think that sort of brainwave you speak of is I guess just inherently activated when you’re in the studio, when you’re working, it comes naturally.
TSH: How much of the crafting process is scattershot in terms of composition?
Brian: It's a balance. Often times I’m throwing ideas at the wall, seeing what sticks, looking for something, searching. Other times I’ll have a concrete idea and the process is very direct, even then the methodology of experimentation creeps in a bit. This is the school I believe in and have spent the last 15 years working on, sonic experimentation, always.
TSH: You’ve mentioned it’s a mysterious process experimenting with layers. What kind of formula(s) do you adopt to ensure a diverse and desired outcome?
Brian: The diversity I think just comes from going for new ideas, feeling that thrill of something new, new combinations and by virtue of this constant shifting the work almost always has this dynamic, singular quality.
TSH: How has using a MIDI keyboard influenced the evolution of your sound?
Brian: Very much so in the live context and this has bled into the compositional/studio process as well. There’s this immediacy, this direct connection that is well suited to work that's much more in the 'song' sort-of camp. So it's allowed me to really develop the live set and this has had an influence in the studio. Whereas in the past perhaps the work was a bit more academic, especially in regards to Starving Weirdos and the early EE records. LOTS of labouring over a computer screen, obsessing on the nuance. I’m still doing this but it's changed a bit.
TSH: How do you go about exploiting the freedom of remoteness/isolation, and incorporating this aspect into your work?
Brian: It's just where I live and it really has no direct impact on the work. I mean I’m working in a studio so this could be anywhere. In an indirect way, I have no direct scene, so where I live is so no real influence in that regard. And of course it's nice when I’m not in the studio to just cruise out my backyard and be immediately immersed in sprawling dunes and the epic pacific, drifting forever. Maybe the drama/the poetry of the nature here, seeps in, of course, I’m sure this is true but I don't draw on it directly, I can't work that way.
TSH: ‘Light That Comes, Light That Goes’ is truly a remarkable album consisting of dronescapes with disembodied samples and chilling synth and guitar layers. It’s been labelled ‘cinematic’, ‘delirious’ and ‘weightless’. What does the album’s overall impression and feel signify to you personally?
Brian: Thank you! It’s a narrative arc, travelling from dark to light and I think it symbolises that natural ebb and flow of life, the ups and downs, loss, heartbreak, love, romance, desire, sadness, happiness, and so on. It’s a homage to the very emotional world we live in as humans - sometimes difficult, sometimes ecstatic, and always interesting.
TSH: Do you feel a feature of the album is that it carries a sense of isolation or solitude?
Brian: I think it just reflects the human experience, which of course can sometimes be very isolating, but other times very connected.
TSH: The epic and mesmeric opener ‘If You Need Help’ contains amazing, hypnotic, eerie and alarming structures, how do you go about developing a song that’s so well textured and complex from a compositional sense?
Brian: The evolution is natural and it's a technique I developed with Starving Weirdos. Just adding one element at a time, going for something complex and dynamic, but easily digested; difficult music that's easy to get. So I’m just moving with the composition, thinking about how I can enhance the ideas in the most effective way possible.
TSH: Another top track ‘Glass on the Horizon’ has a transcendent feel that brings to mind stark imagery every time you listen to it. Can you tell us more about the ideas for this song?
Brian: Hard to describe, but really I think you nailed it. I wanted something abstract, but with a concentrated feel, like poetry and hopefully in this regard each listener can develop their own imagery and feelings when they listen.
TSH: ‘Radiate Through Me’ is a more haunted darkwave feature with soft vocal harmonies and drifting guitars. Tell us about the use of the drumbeat in giving the song its noticeable alluring tempo…
Brian: The drumbeat evolved from a sample that I processed and looped to create that feeling. That was the starting point, the thrust of that song; it's the heart, the blood pumping. And I know that's a bit cliché when discussing beats but hey, it's true in regards to this track!
TSH: When vocal harmonies are applied how do you commonly like to use them?
Brian: No common thread with this. I just want the emotion of the voice to carry through. And this varies depending on the vibe of the track, I often feel with vocals that less is more, it's not a book or an opera, I’m not crazy about LONG/lengthy lyrics, I want poetry with music, haiku-style.
TSH: There’s a nice phrase on your SoundCloud which reads ‘melting stars into puddles of light’ – What is meant by this comment?
Brian: Haha, thanks. It’s just a line from a poem of mine. I love this idea - this image, its feeling; something beautiful in this act, 'to melt stars into puddles of light'. I think it's something in regards to the human experience. We are made of stars and we are pure light in this regard - everyone's shining. Beyond that it's got a romantic quality, something I connect with in regards to music and consequently perfect for SoundCloud.
TSH: When performing live do you enjoy breaking it down and making it more improvised?
Brian: I do, I’ve really been going for this on this recent EU tour, stretching elements out, really creating DEEP atmosphere, letting the mystery of sound envelop the space.
TSH: In terms of your thoughts on when you perform live you’ve said ‘With my performance I want the audience transported, I wanna evoke a sense of being in the moment’ how much of a key factor is it for you to embrace the live element to its fullest?
Brian: It’s the most important, I give everything when I perform - I let it all go. It’s a very raw/visceral thing for me and I want the audience to feel this, this intimacy, this connection with me. We are here together and it's sacred!
TSH: Could you talk about some of the challenges you’ve faced as a respected musician in the industry?
Brian: Perhaps the most common I guess is that as I’m shifting so much, I’m hard to nail down. So maybe I would be more well-known had I done 3 or 4 more records in the psychical vein - that style became quite popular a year or so after its release, but I had already moved on and I can't worry about things like that, I need to just keep expressing myself, however I see fit, whatever interests me and moves me. I feel very lucky, I love my scene so much, amazing people, doing amazing things, the raddest, most passionate/inspired people. I guess the other major challenge is just getting the work covered, getting ears on it, all of us deal with this, and it’s the industry we are operating in. You just got to stay focused on doing the strongest work possible and fucking grind, go get it.
TSH: Do you feel there are specific times where you need to strike a balance when you’re forming new music?
Brian: Yes! This is crucial when crafting an album, the balance is everything and it's the most difficult for artists to manage, a multitude of decisions and directions. It’s two fold, balance in a specific piece and then balance when connecting pieces. Balance is indeed everything.
TSH: Apart from the trusted cigarette how does Brian Pyle like to unwind?
Brian: Long walks, anywhere, I love walking!
TSH: Heading forward in life, what’s the general outlook and philosophy that you adopt?
Brian: Be cool, catch that next flight, find a coffee, and appreciate just how fucking fleeting everything is, and know your time is finite. So live it, best you can, all the love you can muster.
AWESOME!
Mixed & engineered by Erik Blood; mastered by Brian Pyle 2011/2012.
Stephanie are Robert Wolfe, William Adams, Ian Judd, Andrew McKibben & Matt Lawson.
