In this mini-documentary, mechanical engineer and industrial metal artist Author & Punisher (Tristan Shone) shares his perspective on why he thinks so many electronic music performances are boring, and how he’s trying to change this.
The behind-the-scenes interview was filmed during his recent European Summer tour in Krakow, PL.
“I’m not interested in your costumes and extreme stage presence, running around in the crowd. I’m more interested in you being able to perform the songs you wrote in a live capacity and that being captivating and powerful,” explains Shone. “What is gained and lost by the lack of risk in a live performance? If it is perfect and the same every night with backing tracks and auto tune (or some variant thereof), then it loses something.”
“I love to see folks work within a set of limitations that they can play live,” he adds. “It may take years to perfect, but show us what you practiced and developed over 100 shows, not what you recorded last week and augmented with costumes and makeup. “
Wow. Just wow.
what an inspiring guy!
Must watch.
Excellent !
he’s right, in music physical performance really is everything. PC mouse? not so much.
Great interview.
This is not a genre I’m that familiar with, but it looks like he’d be really amazing to see live.
Superb.
The physicality fits the music, I suppose, yet I disagree that the genre itself determines what is boring and what is not. His “music” is simply not something I could ever listen to, period. There is no value in it for me. That said, I certainly agree when I see a DJ or renowned electronic artist twiddling a few little knobs and behaving as though they are performing feats of grandeur.
Equally, for him to believe that what he is doing is somehow superior is also a matter of perspective. The performance itself may be impressive, but the music is not—certainly not to me or my sensibilities. Ultimately, that judgement, too, belongs to both the creator and the beholder.
Can all agree, though, that this is a lot cooler than watching dudes check their email and wave their hands in the air?
I certainly agree with that! The disconnect or worse yet indifference is ghastly. And I appreciate his take on instrument makers. Using plastic is not the issue, plastic is far more forgiving when dropping an instrument than all metal, however it is the type of plastic and construction integrity.
The way he thinks about performance is just really smart.
There are probably a thousand musicians performing with generic MIDI controllers for every musician that does something original. And it makes a huge difference in how people react.
I remember seeing groups like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk back in the 80s and 90s, and they were boring as heck to watch, because it looked like they were just miming to a tape.
I think modern artists know that they have to do more now.
I confirm that Tangerine Dream, even when Froese was still alive, was very boring to look at in the 80s. And Kraftwerk was so automated that they were leaving the stage with the music still playing on without them doing anything. At least, at Kraftwerek shows, there are visuals, which was not the case with Tangerine Dream.
I needed a little more time to contemplate what Tristan Shone was actually saying here, and I went looking for several more interviews and articles about his broader philosophy of performance.
Having done so, I think I understand his position rather better and I find myself disagreeing even more.
There seems to be a recurring implication that visible physical struggle, technical limitation and the possibility of something going wrong confer a special authenticity upon music. That the audience must somehow witness the performer labouring, and perhaps even making mistakes, in order for the performance to possess substance.
But mistakes and imperfections do not automatically make a performance more authentic, just as precision and perfection do not make it less so. There is considerable merit in being able to perform a piece live to the standards of the recording, particularly when that performance represents years of practice, discipline and mastery.
It is rather like insisting that classical musicians should simultaneously play their instruments and grind wheat into flour in order to demonstrate a more authentic connection to the historical world from which their music emerged. Why merely perform the music when one could visibly suffer through some additional manual labour?
Pounding, pulling and wrestling with an industrial contraption does not inherently make the resulting music more meaningful. It simply means you have chosen an instrument requiring more conspicuous physical exertion.
There is something uncomfortably close to a rather old fashioned, performative notion of masculinity in this philosophy. The idea that artistic legitimacy increases in proportion to how much strain, force and physical struggle the audience can observe. The musician must visibly work, preferably while sweating and wrestling something sufficiently heavy to demonstrate that he is definitely doing something difficult.
Ironically, that is theatre too.
If physically operating these machines keeps Tristan more engaged, connected to his music and connected to his audience, then genuinely, how wonderful for him.
But physical difficulty is not artistic depth, visible effort is not authenticity, and pounding on a contraption does not make the music it produces inherently more meaningful.
A person standing almost motionless behind an electronic instrument can be utterly compelling. Another can spend an hour violently wrestling custom built machinery and communicate absolutely nothing beyond the fact that the machinery is difficult to wrestle.
Music does not become deeper because its creator has found a more strenuous way to produce it.
Expression comes from musical gestures that people make. Wiggling a mouse or twiddling a cutoff knob is not the same thing.
Too many electronic musicians have trouble understanding the basics of music that are obvious to every other type of musician.
You are conflating physical gesture with musical gesture.
A musical gesture is an intentional, perceptible change in the music: phrasing, articulation, dynamics, rhythm, pitch, timbre, density, tension and release. The physical movement used to produce it is simply the interface.
A violinist does not become more expressive because moving a bow is physically demanding. Nor does an electronic musician become more expressive because their instrument requires greater bodily exertion.
A mouse movement can produce an extraordinarily expressive musical gesture. Conversely, someone can thrash around on an elaborate machine while producing something musically banal. There are electronic musicians every bit as guilty of theatrically twiddling a knob as DJs who press a few buttons and present playback as performance. I am hardly defending either.
In fact, theatrical overperformance can be just as contrived as underperformance. At either extreme, the physical spectacle can become a substitute for musical substance.
The relevant question is what changes in the music and how much expressive control the performer has over those changes.
Physical exertion is a property of the interface. Musical expression is a property of the music. Confusing the two mistakes the mechanics of performance for the substance of expression.
Jazz musicians used to say: No sweat, no music.
Seen him a few times now and it’s always incredible.
Ah sorry. No. Agreeing on “most of EDM shows are boring”. But that? Thats pure American military trash with a lot too much man with a gun garbage playing tank pilot. That doesnt help in no way. Music made be machines is boring to show. Music made by people on instruments or something that acoustically make sounds is not (mostly). Even Harp Players can be fun to watch. Someone who twists invisible Knobs (with multiwhatever)? Nah. Laserharps? Nah. Why not accept this?
As crazy as it sounds… AI could be a solution here. Not to make the music, but to do things like design the circuit boards and write the code to make custom controllers like this. Doesn’t need to be some aggressive industrial thing.
That’s actually not a bad idea.
I already like that there are some options with manufacturers that allow you to design your own controller. Or the way the modular world lets you design your own system or “instrument”.
I can imagine how ai can help in creating some interesting ways of connecting different systems, instrumens, effects, controllers in order to achieve unique results.
Angus Young with his Gibson SG, never boring moment!
I get the idea of making the physical gestures of electronic music “real” instead of a DJ pretending to twist knobs. But for me this turns the gesture itself into the gimmick.
I feel like in American music culture electronic music alone isn’t enough, you need a character, a story, a process, something interesting to watch. And it come at the expense of the music.
I’d take seeing Aphex Twin’s forehead above a laptop any day. His piano pieces can be incredibly human and emotional even though he made them with mouse clicks.
The gesture doesn’t have to look human for the music to be human.
What is expressive musical performance , if not gestures being used musically?
what’s the difference between “live show augmented with costumes and makeup” and “I’m using this silly thing here for the show effect”? ^^
blah blah blah – sorry, there is no difference at all.
How to say “I didn’t understand the video” without saying you didn’t understand the video.
I don’t mind watching a guy with his laptop as long as I like the sound coming out of the speakers …
I don’t think this “industrial metal” music is very original, no wonder they need these show gimmicks. /my 2 cents
I saw many years ago a video about his performances and i still think sometimes back to this because it was, at least for me at that time, very impressive and different from other instruments and music devices…
He really has some pretty impressive heavy self-designed MIDI-Controllers. i love it.
The 3-effect-microphone construction is smart, as well as the drum-controller.
Soundwise i do not see a big difference to somebody using ableton with different Midi-Controllers, the outcome is more or less the same i would say…using samples and other effect-chains, although the setup is more physical than a classic synthesizer or drummachine.
Thanks for reminding me of this artist and his special setup…