Com Truise - BOWT Interview (28.06.2011)

matias77 · #1 martes 28 junio de 2011, 10:32

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Band of the Week, Com Truise is an interesting man with an interesting tale. He’s made music under a handful of different names, he has a day job (but we learned not for long), and he’s even named his own sound! We asked him a few questions about where he came from and where he’s going.

. PlanetNotion: You’ve used a lot of different names over the years. When do you decide to change names? Why?

Com Truise: Basically, I think of aliases as “brands”. I definitely don’t want to make different genres or musical statements under one pseudonym. It’s not necessarily a “name change” as those other projects still exist! I’m constantly thinking of ideas for my other projects, things that might not work for Com Truise. I think I switch when I feel overloaded with one particular style, it’s exciting to jump into a totally different mindset and write something with a specific vision rather than lumping it all together in one project.

. PN: You sort of took the job away from music critics by naming your own music ‘mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk’; did you do that because you didn’t want to be put under a certain genre?

CT: I feel that’s exactly what it sounds like. Regardless of what I call it, people will formulate their own opinions and place it where they feel it fits best. Although I am quite happy to see that people picked up on that description. At its core, it is just electronic music, but it was nice to beat critics to the punch and describe what it sounds like for them.

. PN: Galactic Melt is meant to be the life and death of robot astronaut Com Truise. Yet, the final song doesn’t really feel like a ‘death song’?

CT: Well like many stories it’s open for interpretation! Does he really die or does he transform? Does he melt into the galaxy? In my mind, the character of Com Truise is still very much alive after the events in Futureworld, however he’s freed from the constraints of his former life. I assure you his story shall continue.

. PN: If you could put the album as a soundtrack for any film, which film would it be?

CT: I would love to make a Galactic Melt film on its own. But if I had to choose a pre-existing film–I’d say if you took Darkstar, THX1138 and Blade Runner and intertwined the plots you might be able to come close to what it could be.

. PN: I read you recorded your album, and then went shopping around for a label, what made you chose Ghostly? Did they come to you or did you go to them?

CT: I only sent my music to one blog, All Everything United, which most people know is the blog behind AMDISCS. They showed interest and we agreed to put out the “Cyanide Sisters” EP. Then the Neon Indian remix, which lead me to meet my lawyer/manager, whom I couldn’t have done any of this without. I wasn’t necessarily “shopping” anything around at that point–Moodgadget approached me, and they work closely with Ghostly. I got a phone call from Jakub Alexander (A&R for Ghostly and owner of Moodgadget) one Friday night, he asked me to come into Manhattan to meet Sam Valenti (owner of Ghostly) and Jeff Owens (label manager). As an American electronic music artist, I consider myself very lucky.

. PN: You’ve said that you like to make a future-past sound, but not include the present. Why not the present?

CT: Well, the sound is reminiscent of the past, I try hard to blend the ideas/feelings of the present with how I would have dealt with them in the past, when times were different, when technology was still fairly alien to a lot of people. I guess I try to understand how I would translate myself under different circumstances.

. PN: I heard that you work in pharmaceutical industry for graphics. What’s that like? Does it influence your music in any way?

CT: Yes I do, but not for much longer. I’m venturing out on a lengthy tour and had to make a once in a lifetime opportunity kind of choice. It’s a busy industry–a lot of outside control, creative freedom can only go so far. The part of this industry that really influences me and my music is branding and being strictly tied to guidelines.

. PN: Would you ever think of including a visual aspect to your live performance?

CT: I’ve been building my live visuals setup the past few months–I’m going for a simple animated look and feel, much like my static graphics. I’ve seen enough 3D, lasers and all that type of stuff to last a lifetime, I wanted to make my visuals uniquely part of me.

. PN: What’s next for Com Truise?

CT: Two North American tours, a Europe tour, then finishing an EP, and then onto the second album. Also, there is a full-length in the works for my Airliner project. I’m very excited to get back to writing some tracks, and really looking forward to injecting the experiences, places and people I meet along the way into the mid-fi, synthwave, slower-motion funk world I’ve created in my head.

. Planet Notion - BOWT Interview: Com Truise