{"id":19015,"date":"2020-05-13T00:35:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T04:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?post_type=interviews&p=19015"},"modified":"2020-05-13T11:10:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T15:10:17","slug":"paramirabo-seuls-ensemble","status":"publish","type":"interviews","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/interviews-panm360\/paramirabo-seuls-ensemble\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramirabo: Alone together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo credit: Lou Scamble<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: <\/strong>What was the genesis of the album? What made you decide to do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffrey Stonehouse: <\/strong>The creation of the album was motivated by a deep fascination with James\u2019 music. After collaborating with him on the creation of his work AMONG AM A<\/em> in 2015, I called upon him again for a Carte Blanche concert in our 2018-2019 season. For this concert, Paramirabo’s musicians had the chance to discover his other sextet and create a brand new work, Alone and Unalone<\/em>. Its title has become the title of our album, and resonates in a singular way in these strange times we live in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: <\/strong>Was there a particular concept for the content of the album? Apart from the fact that it\u2019s monographic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James O\u2019Callaghan<\/strong>: There is a curious conceptual thread throughout these works, based on the apparent contradiction of recording them for an album. The pieces were all conceived for the concert hall, and they play specifically with this context. There are therefore many spatial aspects to the music, movement of the musicians on stage, and more fundamentally, a reflection on the function of concert music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The album has then become an opportunity to experiment with spatial illusions and imagery in the mix \u2014 how to \u201csimulate\u201d the musician\u2019s movement, electroacoustic spatialization, the distinction between an acoustic or an amplified sound, etcetera on a stereo recorded medium. For example, we spent a lot of time recording footsteps and chair-squeaking in the space in order to \u201cmanufacture\u201d this artificial human presence. These moments of the session were particularly fun and captivating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Anna van Kooij<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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PAN M 360: <\/strong>How did the recording go? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: <\/strong>The recording process was a little, how shall I say, surreal. As performers, we rarely have the opportunity to immerse ourselves for so long in a composer’s sound universe. The instrumental parts of James’ works require special attention to the rhythmic synchronicity of the ensemble, so that the hits are perfectly coordinated. I consider these moments of tutti attacks to be highlights of James’ writing. As we\u2019re an undirected ensemble, it adds spice to our recording sessions because we all have to perceive the music in the same way at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: <\/strong>How would you describe James\u2019 music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: <\/strong>What I love about his music is that you can\u2019t tell the difference between the acoustic and electronic elements. It’s crazy because sometimes you listen to his music and you can’t tell the instruments from the sounds in the band! You feel as if you’re walking around in an environment where the sounds of nature or the city are mixed with the instrumental writing. I don’t think there’s a composer out there right now who can achieve such a mix of acoustic and electronic elements. It’s a fascinating music. Strange, but fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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