Q&A with: IMPLOSION QUINTET

Q&A with: IMPLOSION QUINTET


Q: Hello who are you guys?


A: Hello! We are none other than Implosion Quintet. Sometimes people assume otherwise because of the way we’re standing, but that’s entirely inaccurate.


Q: The recordings are really new and fresh, incorporating both acoustic folk elements as electronic manipulation. What kind of production process do you follow to achieve this?


A: The first releases were pulled shakily together on a ps2. Definitely not advisable…
The newer releases, such as the stuff on Cookshop’s new soundbites 02 feature some live instrumentation alongside a lot of electronic trickery, particularly sequenced drums. The as yet unheard album work (coming out on Cookshop in April 2009) is mostly actual instrumentation, with live drums and minimal electronic intervention. Everything is assembled in Logic, with the help of a few decent plug ins.
This new stuff is best described as Wonk, and is a lo-fi blend of elements from tango, post-rock, jazz, electronica, opera and even heavy rock. Whether we’ll actually succeed in pulling off this unholy union will be clear once the long player is unleashed. (smiles)


Q; What is your live set up?


A: Ah, the old Live question. It would be lovely to think that some day IQ will be able to knock out a spot of unjazz for an hour or so, but at the moment it’s just a studio project.


Q The gypsy-esque instrumentation is not commonly associated with Norwegian music. At least that’s my perception, am I wrong?


A: That’s a little difficult to answer as I’m British by birth. That said, I have lived in Norway for some years, and there is a small but perfectly formed gypsy jazz scene. As far as I’ve heard, Norwegian folk music tends to be quite a wailing affair and is not really my cup of tea. No disrespect intended to practitioners of said folk, of course.


Q: The sound of the Implosion Quintet is very much like a soundtrack. Some tracks could even be made for a Tom and Jerry episode, so to speak. Ever felt the need to visualize your work?


A: Tom and Jerry?! Are you suggesting the music is in some way malicious, maybe even ultra violent? (smile) We went through a stage of listening to nothing but soundtracks, so some of the tunes are heavily slanted in that direction. One of the tunes on the Cookshop sampler, for example, is a brazen spy theme. Resulting, the cinematic tag gets used a lot, and with good cause, but the new material only touches on those themes. As far as visual representation of our twiddles is concerned, it’s not something we have the ability to do ourselves at this stage. Coincidentally though, we were recently joint winners of a remix competition where the winning entries get a short video made. The original music was by a trio called Octavcat . Definitely looking forward to seeing that.

Q: What time do you tend to get up in the morning?

A: The day job dictates the horrific hour of 6:30, regrettably. Hefty doses of coffee follow suit.

Listen to some splendid net releases and look out for future releases www.implosionquintet.com