200 Words: BRETT NAUCKE
(In 200 Words, we highlight a new record we like a lot, via a 200-word review by one of us (Marc Masters or Grayson Currin) and 200 words (or so) from the artist about whatever they choose.)
BRETT NAUCKE – Seed LP (Spectrum Spools)
Mystery usually comes with distance, a sense there are things buried out of direct view. Musically this can mean echoing, far-off sounds, layers that blur lines, atmospheres that blend specifics into intimations. Brett Naucke’s Seed has a ton of mystery, but there’s not much distance going on. Every sound is bold and upfront, and most of the music is crystal clear. Even when you play it soft, it feels loud.
There are reverberations and other effects, of course; this being an all-synth record, there’s never a one-to-one original-action-to-final-sound ratio. But everything’s there, right on the surface, ready to be grappled with. So where’s the mystery coming from? It’s not about uniqueness; there are tons of musical elements and combinations on Seed that have been heard before, across wide ranges of ambient synth music. It’s more about the power of arrangement. Put sounds together in certain patterns, cross lines in specific ways, make beats that hit hard but never settle, and you can create songs that encourage microscopic attention even when they don’t beg for it. It’s a kind of alchemy, and with Seed Naucke has struck gold in a place that should’ve been fully mined by now. – Marc Masters
Brett Naucke on Seed:
I began working with what became the 'Seed Patch' a month or two before really starting the record in September or October 2012. It became a mini system that I found made this huge range of sounds from bombastic drums to harmonious melodical structures and everything in between. The more I used it the more I got out of it and learned it's benefits, idiosyncrasies, etc. I had never explored modular patches to that extent before and the idea of making this big complex thing with something little was very alluring. I think working with restrictions only improves your abilities in your art to pull out things that you wouldn't otherwise. When you focus on an instrument with restrictions you learn to bend it to your liking i feel. Modular synthesizers are paradoxical in the fact that they have these infinite sound possibilities, but there are major restrictions both in the components' functions and your creativity in patching.
Eventually, I decided on making the whole record that way after I began understanding what I wanted the record to 'be', how I wanted it to sound, which was a conscious change in the 'mode' I had been playing in addition to a lot of ideas about growth both personally and musically. It seemed essential to make this album this way and felt like an unusual challenge which I now think is essential to my music creation. The ritual variations as they were referred to in the liner notes were both in mental and physical. The idea of making a complex structure with something very tiny. - ie; a Seed. << (thats the most metaphorical direct thing i could say :) )
In January of 2013 I went to Miami for about 10 days, a few months into deep recording. It was the first time I was spending more than a few days away from it and was then that I began to fully understand what I was trying to do with the album. In Miami I had this incredible sense of peace, and thought extensively about where this album would 'live' if you couldn't just put it on. More so if you had to travel to a place to hear it. I've often thought of other records this way. Miami really put the record into perspective. The "Evening Garden" as referenced in two of the tracks reflects where I was staying and had some big realizations on what I was trying to do, hence using field recordings from there to compliment the synthesis recordings. Ultimately every track reflects that place in some way or another and in a lot of ways is one of the most peaceful & beautiful places in my mind.
Once all the recordings were made I began mixing and assembling this great mass of sound which was horrifically difficult and took quite a while. The combination of making an interesting and varied record with such specifics wasn't easy but ultimately showed me what I am and am not capable of. Saying I lost my mind during this the record would be an understatement due to both the recording and the things happening in my life. As hard as it was, it was necessary for the album to come out the way it did. It's an extremely heavy listen for me.
Seed is out now on Spectrum Spools. Buy it here. Naucke performs this Thursday at the Neon Marshmallow festival in Chicago.
