Sound Propositions 013: Gregory Euclide (THESIS Project)

Sound Propositions is an ongoing, semi-regular series of conversations with artists exploring their creative practices and individual aesthetics, conceived of as a counter-narrative to a dominant trend in music journalism which fetishizes equipment and new technologies. For the first time, the subject of this installment is a visual artist, albeit one with close ties to the musical community. In addition to his own career as an artist, Gregory Euclide is known for contributing artwork to various records, as well as for his new subscription label, the THESIS Project. You can find the previous twelve interviews, as well as additional articles and features, here.

it’s about the art & it’s about the format…

as an artist the studio is like a magic place…

and a source of eternal struggle…

-Gregory Euclide

There have been various labels, imprints, and series dedicated to facilitating recorded collaborations between musicians.  Several of these such records are certifiable classics.  In the Fishtank springs to mind: Dutch distributor Konkurrent would give a pair of artists two days of studio time together, resulting in such memorable pairings as Sparklehorse + Fennesz,  Low and Dirty Three, Tortoise & the Ex, and many others. In the eight years since the last In the Fishtank installment the torch has passed to RVNG Intl.’s FRKWYS series: Julianna Barwick & Ikue Mori, Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras Meet The Congos, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani.

The THESIS Project feels familiar in its creation of a space of musical encounter and exchange, but sets itself apart through its commitment to cultivating a particular kind of listening, one made to feel like a reverent, ritualistic practice.  This is in part a factor of THESIS’  identification with its founder, Gregory Euclide, a visual artist who produces the series’  art and meticulous packaging. The label purposefully and forcefully eschews digital editions and streaming (aside from temporary previews). Each edition is comprised of a limited edition 10″ record on white vinyl, featuring the combined efforts of two musical artists. The record sleeves are each handmade and original, the design conceived of in such a way that each version is unique despite sharing a similar feel.  Euclide developed a sort of modular system for working that we discuss below, however the resulting product is really even more exceptional than it sounds. Purchasing these limited edition records is required to experience these recordings, and each record is a physical object that must be handled to be heard, foregrounding the art and packaging in a way that is rare in our era of on-demand music.

To play a record necessitates a level of attention and preparation distinct from divided background listening.  I personally love to pop in my ear buds and walk around the neighborhood, or get lost in a record while doing the dishes or cooking dinner.  I’m not making any normative judgment about ways of listening. That said, there is something unique about the ritual of handling and listening to physical media, and vinyl in particular, and the THESIS Project is a welcome invitation in this regard. The collaborations thus far are each rather singular, but tend towards the ambient and enveloping. They invite the listener to get comfortable and become immersed in their gentle sonorities, to bliss out while taking in Euclide’s gorgeous artwork.

Euclide’s artwork seems to be inspired by the wide open landscapes of his native upper Midwest, and he incorporates organic elements of from the land into his work to explore themes of land use and belonging. You can read much more about his practice in this interview with Figure / Ground. As an artist his work is not confined to the flat picture plane, but often takes on elements of sculpture and installation. In this way his work engages with space and materiality in compelling ways.

His artwork has graced releases from a diverse collection of artists including Bon Iver, Loscil, Jason van Wyk, and Seabuckthorn.  He has also had a fruitful collaboration with one of our favorite labels, Erased Tapes, contributing the cover of their Collection VI compilation, several works from the maestro Lubomyr Melnyk, and more recently the simply stunning edition of From the Mouth of the Sun‘s Hymn Binding, which was available in limited edition hand-constructed CD or gatefold vinyl accompanied by limited edition artist’s prints.

While FRKWYS has tended to pair young artists with musical pioneers, THESIS is mostly pairing artists that are roughly contemporaries, if artists who might not work together otherwise. This has lead to some really unexpected (and beautiful) music.  For a label still in its first year, its list of collaborators is truly astonishing, a veritable who’s-who of our little scene. (See a complete list at the bottom of this article)

Taylor Deupree and S. Carey inaugurated the series, as Taylor spoke with me about not too long ago.  S. Carey, a singer and drummer best known for his work with Bon Iver, tames Deupree’s usually free form instrumentals with a songwright’s sense of structure, while in return Deupree graces the tracks with his trademark attention to sonority and texture. The other three installments of the first subscription include Andy Cartwright (Seabuckthorn) & Scott Morgan (Loscil), Benoît Pioulard & Dustin O’Halloran (well known to our readers for his solo work and as one half of A Winged Victory for the Sullen, and recently discovered by broader audiences for his work on award-winning shows and films such as Transparent and Lion), and Takeshi Nishimoto (I’m Not A Gun) & Roger Döring (of Dictaphone). The latter may very well be my favorite pairing of the four. I was mostly unfamiliar with their work, aside from some encounters with Dictaphone and Döring‘s collaboration with Konrad Korabiewski for Gruenrekorder, neither of which tells us much about the tone of this collaboration. Perhaps this simply has to do with the joy of discovery, though I was not surprised to learn that this was the only record of the four in which the musicians met and recorded together physically. I’m also particularly partial to the bass clarinet, who breathy tones are in captivating dialogue with Nishimoto’s fingerstyle guitar playing.

The second subscription features some real stunners as well. The unique improvising trio of Insa Donja Kai (Kai Angermann / Insa Schirmer / Donja Djember ) have appeared on several Hauschka albums, while veteran musicians in their own right. Here their dual cellos and resonant vibraphone meld seamlessly with composer Angus MacRae‘s plaintive piano. Collaborating virtually between Berlin and London, they have transformed the process of collaborative recording to produce 20 minutes of gorgeous music. Anna Rose Carter (Dead Light, The Moon Ate the Dark) and Dag Rosenqvist (the other half of the aforementioned A Winged Victory for the Sullen) explores various moods, occasionally quite rhythmic and uplifting. And well, you’re not going to want to miss out on Julianna Barwick and Rafael Anton Irisarri‘s contribution, as Barwick’s looped vocalization have found a perfect partner in Irisarri’s production and guitar. And my own personal favorite from this batch is Kinbrae and Tony Dekker (Great Lake Swimmers), as Dekker’s one-man choral singing and melodic folk guitar is complimented beautifully by the twin brothers soft brass, percussion, and other instrumentation.

Attentive readers who have been following THESIS’ progress over the past year may have noted that Thesis 06 and 08 are thus far absent. They had previously been announced to be due from Sophie Hutchings & Kevin Imbrechts, and Colin Stetson &  Gabriel Saloman, each intriguing pairings that are sure to be worth the wait. Keeping up the momentum, Euclide has just recently announced Simon Scott (of Slowdive) & Mike Weis (of Zelienople), and Sophie Hutchings & Julia Kent.

The four-EP subscription series have been punctuated by the THESIS Print Tracks, which comprise a parallel series in which the artists produce a track in response to a unique image prepared by Euclide, furthering the dialogue between visual and aural artforms.

We discuss these projects and more below. Read more about the label and subscribe here. (Joseph Sannicandro)

INTERVIEW

Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background? As an artist, and also as a music fan?

I grew up in Wisconsin in the rural area north of Milwaukee. I was very much a wonderer and loved to be alone in nature, walking the fields between farms and playing in the marshes. I developed a real love for music, like many, in grade school. The Cure, REM, the Smiths … usual suspects. I was into the music that very few were into, Bauhaus and the likes.

I was always into drawing, mostly from nature, but also very influenced by Surrealism. I went to school to be an art teacher, and ended up being the College Union director for programing as well as the editor of the Arts section of the Newspaper. I had no courses in journalism. I mostly wanted the music that would come in the mail and to be able to report on shows. I was calling Caroline records, Too Pure and Sub Pop asking for the latest releases. I found a lot of the bands I loved that way. I was getting promos for these important releases before I was even aware that they were going to be so important. Anyways… I was kind of a nut with like 2000 CDs in my dorm room.

Tell us about your artist practice, where you’re at now, how you approach a project. I’ve really enjoyed the time-lapse process vids on your instagram.  [Readers, I’d really encourage you spend some time viewing these videos] Is your work generally in this vein, or are there other currents?

Since I have never spoken about the THESIS stuff I can answer those with you here.

I could not build 300 paintings for the covers of each album. I knew I wanted to design them from scratch. SO, the sleeves and jackets are cut, etched, folded, glued and printed all in my studio. I wanted each work to be unique, so, I figured I had to work with modular elements. I made stencils from the artists graphics that I made for each artist on the project – took bits of the imagery and expanded on it and used those things to create the images. I really like the grainy look of the airbrush and the monochromatic feel of the image.

As far as how I work on a project… it really depends on the project. I do not subscribe to a one approach fits all kind of model. I’m really all over the place… Pouring resin on the land, making paper sculptures, building plastic landscapes for miniature worlds to be housed… finding garbage in the land and building on top of them… as well as just straight up painting and or drawing.

I’d like to ask about the relationship between your work and music. Do you play music in your studio while you’re working?  Have these artists been a direct source of inspiration for you?

All the artists I have worked with so far have been huge influences for me and my work. My work is about land and land use… how we perceive and experience land. When I am in the land… I feel/hear music. it is music for me… the closest connection to anything for me is music. I am glad I have the distance to experience something like music without really knowing much about how it is made… I just stand in awe of it. So, yeah… Basically, I make art, to get money to purchase music. I love making things that feel like music to me. In my work, there is a line and a fluidity of materials and a repetition that is obviously “music” to me… I like different types of music.

I have a range of emotions as a human being and therefore enjoy a variety of types of expression in music. I get a kick out of people who are like… I ONLY LISTEN TO …  I like folk, drone, jazz, rock, hip hop, whatever… if it is good.. or does something different that makes me wonder… what the hell is that… then, I usually like it. Music is a vehicle and it can take you places and I guess as humans we all like to go to certain places. I like to melt into the earth and become nothing… I think the music I like the most does that to me. So, I tend to really hold dear the kind of repetitive, organic, drone stuff. Right now I am listening to Aaron Martin’s Comet’s Coma and I think it is one of those albums for me. It takes me to a place where I am can slow down.

In short, I took the money that I was granted from the McKnight Fellowship and started a musical project with it, be cause I get more pleasure out of music than almost anything. Which makes me sad, because I know that the road goes mostly one way. There are no musicians out there, knocking down my door to purchase my latest prints. I buy every album I can. There are certain artists… no matter what it is.. I will buy it to support them. Being totally honest, that does make me sad. All I can do is support them and give them something unique through this project.

Except for THESIS 03 they’ve all been made through virtual collaboration. Did you pair the artists up yourself, or did you give them choices? How would you distinguish THESIS from other such collaborative projects?