[From the Ithaca Times] Elijah B. Torn, otherwise known as the “one and only live-looping sonic vigilante,” will headline electronic music event organizer Deep beatZ’s final concert of the semester. The son of renowned guitarist, composer, and former Ithacan David Torn, Elijah took a bit of a different sonic approach with his music, although he remains equally idiosyncratic in sound and curious in nature. In a live setting, Torn has utilized any combination of the follow items: a bass guitar, walkie talkies, various electronics, cassette tapes, field recordings, computer software like Abelton Live, and computer-triggered lights, all of which contribute to his characteristically playful and invigorating approach to the electronic music tradition.
In addition to his solo work — which includes his latest album, the excellent You Are Lucky I am Not a Vigilante, as well as his debut, Sarge’s Shukar Rough — Torn runs the recording studio MassiveMusic, remixes tracks for other musicians, and works on other compositional projects.
David Ezra Brown — better known as one-half of the local hip-hop and electronics group, D.A.M.A.G.E. — will also perform, as will Deep beatZ founder DJ Laika, and VJ Philosophia.
The Ithaca Times recently spoke with Torn about the future of electronic music, his approach to live performance, and growing up in a thriving musical household.
Popcorn Youth: So, what are your roots to Ithaca?
Elijah B. Torn: I was born in Ithaca in the middle of a blizzard. My father was in the infamous Zobo Fun Band and my Mother was part of the Moosewood Collective. Not long after the blizzard ended we found ourselves in New York City and then on tour throughout Europe. We eventually landed in a town named after animals in Upstate New York.
Popcorn Youth: Growing up, how would you describe your exposure and relationship to music?
Torn: My exposure to music was heavily influenced by all the musicians my father was playing with. We always had a rotating cast of extremely talented characters from around the world visiting and rehearsing and they would bring through totally new and bizarre music. We listened to everything from Miles, Hendrix, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Captain Beefhart, King Crimson, Japan and Sun Ra. My taste was also strongly influenced by mother’s taste — everything from Prince to reggae, Parliament to Motown — all with a serious groove and bottom end. That all lead to hip-hop as well. Stuff that makes the ass move. That music has influenced my bass playing heavily.
I was definitely fortunate to grow up with such an eclectic household but my exposure was limited to that and what the kids were listening to at school. I think nowadays its easier to find weird new things everyday with that whole technologyinterwebnet thing. There is so much out there to hear without leaving the house.
Popcorn Youth: Would you describe your background of growing up around music with Dad as ultimately influential?
Torn: My Dad was huge influence without a doubt… We have yet to work together although I look forward to that. On my newest album I did get my brother to play guitar and he helped write a couple of the songs. That was really awesome.
Popcorn Youth: How would you characterize the local electronic music community in NYC?
Torn: I have been in New York City for over ten years now. I absolutely love and hate living here. It’s filled to the brim with everything and everyone you could possibly think of and it never stops surprising me how much it changes constantly. At the same time it’s totally filled to the brim with everything and everyone and it never stops changing! Having regular events like the Warper Party and an electronic music production school like Dubspot have really helped organize and get people together to form a really cool eclectic electronic music scene. To have all of these great artists really pushes me.
I think location and environment very definitely influences my music. My newest album “You Are Lucky I am Not A Vigilante” was written and recorded both in the city and upstate. Looking back, the songs written in the city were far more aggressive than those writtern upstate .The songs from upstate are a bit more relaxed and are a bit more nature-oriented. I also spent a year in Seattle writing and recording my first album “Sarge’s Shukar Rough” and that album, to me feels like rain, it feels more like giant trees and the Pacific Northwest.
Popcorn Youth: What will your set up will be like at the Ithaca show? Typically what kind of gear/tech set up do you use?
Torn: Hopefully it will be a great time for all! My setup usually consists of my laptop with Ableton Live, bass guitar, walkie talkies to bounce my bass off of SCALAR waves, a dinosaur with midi implimentation, whole lot of delay and my computer controlled lights.
Popcorn Youth: In a club setting, are you attempting to exactly replicate a recorded track’s sound? What do you see as being the different between a recorded document and live performance?
Torn: I find they inform each other a lot but when I play live I try and keep it interesting for both the audience and myself. My albums are pretty relaxed but I tend to bring a more frenetic energy and distortion to my live performances. I mix different drums in, different bass sounds and I chop shit up a lot more. Some of the songs I have been playing live for several years so I try and keep those tunes fresh and work them in in different ways with the newer songs. That being said, on “Vigilante”, most of the songs were written and recorded from a live standpoint. I would write something on the bass or keys and then create a beat (or vice versa) and then control both with a foot controller to change sections, create fills, change bass fx. This way I could hear what I thought sounded good and what didn’t work structurally — rather than just moving “bricks” of midi and audio or pushing numbers around in the computer machine. This was a less visual way of composing than sequencing in the computer but ended up feeling more natural to me in the end.
Popcorn Youth: In terms of your approach to live performance, how much does it allow for spontaneity or improvisation?
Torn: I definitely want to bring a live performance. I don’t sit there and check my email. I don’t just hit play and let the song play. I change it up and its unquantized. If I play something out of time — it’s out of time. If I play a wrong note, it’s wrong. But to me that’s exciting and new every time. If I wasn’t there it wouldn’t keep playing without me.
Popcorn Youth: How would you characterize your relationship between live instrumentation and computer-based technologies?
Torn: I keep myself damned busy looping the bass on the fly, playing synths and samplers and have even been making some of the beats on the fly too. I use bass as the main sound source for most of music and a lot of my songs are based on loops of my bass. That coupled with the endless need to tweak sounds in the computer pretty much go hand in hand for me. I don’t think I’d want to chose one or the other. Computer technology is so intertwined with music in almost every form we hear these days. Even if I didn’t use the laptop I’d probably use a sampler of some kind which…is also a computer anyway so…
Popcorn Youth: How important is the performative aspect itself to you?
Torn: I don’t think it’s more or less than other electronic gigs but I try and make it clear that I’m NOT DJng my own music. It’s instrumental music so I try and create an atmosphere to engage the audience. I bring the lights, I wear my jumpsuit and I try and get the audience involved. I try and make it clear that I’m not just turning a knob, excited, that when I do something you can tell something is happening. Sometimes it backfires into a sonic weapon and sometimes it totally works out in my favor, but each time it is different and there is something to be said for that, I reckon.
Popcorn Youth: You have very eclectic tastes and sensibilities as well as eclectic musical background. How does that all inform each other? Does that create a unique dynamic for you when you’re working?
Torn: Are you implying that I’m weird because I grew up listening to weird music? Heh heh. I’m hugely influenced by books, especially sci-fi and science. I find it really pushes me into a different world and gets me thinking about random possible things instead of just thinking about what other musicians are doing.
Popcorn Youth: What do you consider to be the state of electronic music today?
Torn: I don’t necessarily think that electronic music has become more sterile. If anything it’s gotten way more edge and heart to it. I do think that sometimes electronic music performances can fall on the sterile side. The amount of things that people can do just with a laptop is outstanding. There are so many more tools that make everything more intuitive and easier to play and truly make it an instrument. But I do think that we are still figuring out how to incorporate these tools into performance as the main instrument.
So often performances end up being just about the tools. There are a bunch of sterile futuristic THX1138 space performers — and that’s totally cool if thats your thing. I’d much rather see a more gritty and raw Blade Runner esthetic. The original rock and punk ethos — just jump in a van and go play loud shows. If you meld that with technology, that speaks volumes to me. I think that will probably change as laptops reach the price where the laptops become more durable and the average musician can destroy one on stage.
Popcorn Youth: The ubiquity of Internet culture has certainly helped with the globalization of electronic music culture. Have you been felt the effects of this paradigm shift?
Torn: There are definitely benefits for a musician in the digital realm and culture. I have booked tours from my bedroom, my albums are on iTunes and I can work on music with someone around the globe. We’ve all heard the benefits repeatedly so I’m don’t think I need to get into more than that.
It can have its dangers — most of these networking sites are banking off of advertising from user-created content and i think we need to be careful of corporate censorship almost more than the government now. Plus I really think the MeatSpace is important. The here and now physical. Playing shows, meeting and playing with other electronic musicians. I think we will see more and more that a great use of the technology is to help connect different local scenes and to set up more indie acts from city to city and country to country making it possible for smaller acts to tour without being at the level of LiveNation and Ticketmaster.
Popcorn Youth: Do you sense that you’re a product of the current music environment (i.e., a different version of musicianship from when your dad was your age)?
Torn: It’s difficult to say if I see myself existing outside of where my Father was at my age. For one, I have his experience to guide me. Secondly — music is like quicksilver. Distribution and the technology and tools are always changing but its always the same end goal of trying to express oneself. When my Dad was my age he was making music and breaking new ground with the electric guitar and digital delays. Before that it was acoutic guitars and reverb. We are always coming across new technology and business models then the musicians before us. One of the biggest differences I see is how fast the changes are coming now. As we get closer to the proposed Singularity, I think it will be interesting to see how it directly effects music, art and culture as a whole. There may be an even stronger divide between digital artists and those in the physical analog world but I hope to have a foot in both!
Popcorn Youth: Are you involved in anything else, creatively, besides your solo work that you’ll be presenting at Ithaca’s show?
Torn; I am not at liberty to discuss, although there has been some talk about implementing some computer-assisted vibrating massagers in Ithaca.
Popcorn Youth: What else do you have planned for the future?
Torn: I have a new EP coming out shortly as well some videos, one of which will show off this wireless midi device called the MIDI_EXP by SourceAudio. Its crazy. Its like a Midi theremin but can control anything I assign it to. I have also been talking with the Rob Spence from the Eyeborg Project about possibly scoring the film. Rob is a photographer who lost an eye and is working with engineer Kosta Grammatis to replace the eye with a camera. It won’t be “wet-wired” but its really really badass. I look forward to wet-wiring myself in the future too. The idea of being able to create music with my body and directly with my thoughts seems like the logical next step!
Deep Beatz presents Elijah B. Torn, who will perform at the Lost Dog Lounge this Saturday, May 9.