Benbecula Records
Scotland, est. 1999
Electronica, ambient, electro, folk, post-rock ... blah
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Reverbaphon "Concise, beautifully arranged songs, each successive track a small surprise as Smith incorporates folk, jazz and electronic elements into spacious melodies with varying textures. It's modernist folk, protean but with its own unique character, playfully eclectic but with a consistency of focus that lends it the overall weight it thoroughly deserves" The Wire ("Our Heart Beats with Joy") If we were to stray slightly from path of mega-hype we would find musicians who make music that is not only true to its roots but so unique and apparently underivative that they awkwardly refuse to be placed into a journalistic bracket (somewhat akin to pushing matching poles of magnets together). Step in Reverbaphon whose finely crafted compositions of traditional and not so traditional instrumentation with layers of apparently incongruous rhythms combined into a deceptively Scottish sound that is a million miles ahead of so-called "folktronica". Reverbaphon's music first came to Benbecula's attention in 2001 when a CD compilation from a friend was passed on that featured artists from a collective based in Dundee. The compilation featured 1 or 2 tracks from each artist of which Reverbaphon's was part, and the process of tracking the great man down took place. Once found, plans immediately took place for an EP which would ultimately become his first solo EP "The Medium Thru which Sound Travels is No Longer Present". There are some types of music and composition which are resolute in their abstract nature and whole heartedly refuse to be bracketed, and this is probably the crux of Reverbaphon's charm. To investigate further perhaps requires us to take a step back and study the footsteps which have led the artist to where he is now, and where he may be going ... |
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Reverbaphon's beginnings offer a blueprint for the artist's song-making
mechanics whereby the "instruments" used are of limited function but when
combined are used in an inventive and harmonised way. "It was 1990, Bristol, I had just bought a four track, drum machine (from a drummer), and child's keyboard with the intention of making 'un-music music' The recordings were all low fi I didn't have any effects so I looped old tape recorders to simulate a type of reverb. This led to the birth of 'reverbaphone', a reed mouth piece connected to a long cardboard tube with a spring tensioned along the length. The instrument was then recorded to the variable speed four track, altering the pitch during recording to get a tune. I picked up a toy drum kit (recommended age 3+) and together with the 20 quid (new) guitar which I had got a friend to paint tartan (undercoat only and a portrait of my parents on the back) - perhaps I was home sick - I proceeded to create tracks with the three country and western chords a friend had tought me back in Dundee. Over the space of a year I became the no. 1 customer at the local cassette shop." |
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As his music collection and knowledge expanded, his interest in utilising
his skills led to teaming up with a improv collective on return to his home
town Dundee. "This (improvisation) mainly appealed to me since you never had to practice. We recorded about four or five epic albums, all on tape from four track, mostly unlistenable, a bit like 'sun ra' meets 'the shaggs', however there were moments of intense beauty, on reflection probably not quite enough. We produced a 7' ep and at one point were being interviewed for some art magazine (can't remember the name) however our high point was around 1993 at a gig. We had been playing for only five minutes when the local chapter of a biker gang came on stage, threatened violence if we continued (we later found out it was 'their' club). They literally cut the leads to the P.A. so we couldn't continue. It was the best gig of our lives." The next year saw a move to Singapore, a a bizarre quasi - police state where you could buy chewing gum on the black market (it was outlawed) and whipping (called caning) was a legal form of punishment. Reverbaphon's proximity to this alien culture had an instant effect. "Next door to my flat (Tiong Poh district) a balinese band practiced on saturday mornings, next door to them was a multi storey housing scheme which could have easily been in Glasgow. This was situated next to the buddist temple right beside the american style shopping mall. It was a bit weird. I bought a flute and biwa (oriental banjo), they make excellent ornaments." |
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On returning to Scotland Reverbaphon settled in Glasgow where he quickly
bought some electronic equipment to complement his acoustic collection.
After spending some years practicing and trying to become "serious" about
music he realised that the unseriousness of his initial musical exploits was
where his artistic heart lay. The result was a disregard for standard
composition whilst maintaining a musicality that merges the world's
symphonies and sounds. From those early exploits in the late 90s with
another Dundee collective named "Trans Avant", right
up to today's debut full length album, he has maintained his credibility as
a serious performer playing music in an unserious way. To call it
playful would be to belittle the objective. The strumming, blowing,
twiddling and bashing of anything that makes a noise is fed through modern
technology to produce layers of tonal beauty that are possibly unheard of so
far. |
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Discography "The Medium Thru Which Sound Travels is no Longer Present" (Benbecula Records, 2003) "Our Heart Beats with Joy (The Curved World Outside)" (Benbecula Records, 2004) Compilations Appearances “Radthai” on “Trade & Distribution Almanac Volume 1” (adaadat) “Weepholograph” on “One Giant Bleep for Mankind” (Law and Auder) Notable Live Appearances Benbecula headline act at Showcase with special guest Robin Guthrie, Glasgow 2004 Supporting Fourtet for two dates in Scotland, October 2003 “Triptych 2003” with Benbecula Showcase, Glasgow “13th note club” with Scanner, Glasgow “House of Dubois” with VVM, Edinburgh “superchannel.org” live internet broadcast from Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh |
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