Two and a Half Questions with The Sight Below

How did you get into producing this type of music?
I enjoy music that is repetitive in nature, but also contains multiple tonalities, and on further listening keeps captivating your attention. Similar in a way to how "film noir" feels - the more you focus, the more elements you uncover. The ancient Greeks argued whether an occurrence is perceived the same exact way twice. Brian Eno theorized a little about this: "repetition is a form of change," he said. I ascribe to that theory. These days music seems to be me very ephemeral (and interchangeable). My intent is to create something that grabs your attention today, but also still feels interesting tomorrow.

Which comes first in your production, the ambient layers or the deep grooves?
I have a very primitive setup in my studio: a few guitars and 12-bit effect units (old Lexicon reverbs and delays). I play either by barely touching the strings with a pick or with a viola bow and run everything thru a few loop pedals to create a few layers. I record everything live with minimal editing - mostly to fix fadeouts or adjust levels.

Which musicians do you draw your inspiration from?
I listen to a lot of old Creation, Factory, 4AD, Chain Reaction records. Kevin Shields is obviously a huge inspiration - to me it is perfect music.

Tell us more about your visual artwork.
I work inversely, trying to visually recreate the series of emotions that were going thru my head while I created the music. I predominantly use found footage, which I manipulate and rearrange to the point in which the images become subverted and de-contextualized.

How do you think, getting signed to Ghostly, will change your career path as a musician?
I love working with Sam, Jeff and the rest of the crew there. Ghostly reminds me aesthetically of Factory (one of my all time favorite labels). I'm really proud to be part of the Ghostly family.

So when will we see the debut album?
November 10, 2008

myspace.com/thesightbelow | ghostly.com/artists/the-sight-below