Many years ago, we saw Robert Fripp - the small, mobile inteligent unit - play a show of looped electric guitar at the tiny Passim in Cambridge. The place was jammed and fans outside were pressed against the window. It was hypnotic. Which is one reason our interest was raised by word of what the Animal Hospital Ensemble will during a First Night Perfomance at Hynes Convetion Center. In a nutshell: One-Man Looping Machine Band to be Backed by 30-Piece Ensemble. That one man is Mr. Animal Hospital himself, guitarist Kevin Micka. The ensemble consist of 30 local musicians, including members of Hallelujah the Hills, Ne
ptune, and Debo Band.
Over six years and three albums, Micka has become known for his layered guitars, live-sampled drumming and lush, adventurous song structures. Armed only with an arsenal of looping machines, Micka has built a following in both North America and Europe. Pitchfork calls Animal Hospital as “a full, dense soundscape . . . more like sculpture than songcraft.” In 2007, Micka attended a performance of Rhys Chatham’s “Guitar Trio” in a grain silo. Two years later, he performed in Chatham’s 200-guitar orchestra at New York’s Lincoln Center. As Micka completed his most recent recording, he fantasized about what it would sound like to replace loops with live musicians.
I did an email exchange with Micka about this project.
JSInk: Tell me a bit more about your background.
I work part-time as a studio engineer and repair technician, fixing mostly guitar amps and mixing consoles. I have been playing solo for 6 years under the name Animal Hospital, stemming out of the idea of wanting to tour more often and eventually turning into a very sincere and satisfying creative outlet. I joined the band Neptune a year and a half ago. This the first band I have played in and written with on a regular basis in since I started Animal Hospital.
Did you ever listen to Glenn Branca's guitar ensemble? Any influence on you?
Honestly, I never got around to listening to Glenn Branca. He has been on the list for years. I had heard about him and his large guitar performances and thought it was an interesting idea but it never really piqued my interest enough to investigate further. I could probably say the same about 20 or 30 other essentially influential musicians, I am sure. There will be the day with a lot of them where I am either amazed by their work and wonder what took me so long, or I will become much more interested in what they influenced down the road.
What was it about Chatham that appealed to you?
I was introduced to Rhys Chatham by way of the band Neptune when I traveled with them to NY in 2007 to see them open for him in a performance of his "Guitar Trio" piece. This version involved 10 or so guitar players in a previous location of the Issue Project Room which was located in an old grain silo. What I took home from that was how great it was to be partially surrounded by all this sound. Especially when I saw it performed again in Boston a few days later in a rock club from a stage. Monophonic quality faired poorly in comparison. That summer I was recording "Memory" in West Virginia and visualized a live version of it with all my friends in Boston. The main drive at the time, to have the audience surrounded by the sound and to be performing this music with alot of my closest musician friends.
What was it like playing in his 200 guitar group?
In 2009, after "Memory" was released and i had done a few months of touring in support of it. I played in Rhys Chatham's 200 guitar-version of his piece "A Crimson Grail" which was originally written for 400 guitar players and was performed in the Sacre Coeur in Paris. I thought it would be fun to see how it was done and also play a solo show the day after in NY. It turned out to be pretty great in the end. I often still wish I had actually been able to sit in the center of the audience to be able to get that perspective. Most of the time all I could hear was the 10 or 20 guitars near me. There was one moment where we stopped and just listened to 100 or guitar players playing from the other side of 1000 people and it just sounding like nothing I had ever heard before. It was guitars, but not recognizable as guitars at all. A whole new monophonic wall of sound. I met a lot of great people during that process that I have kept in touch with and learned a few things logistically in how to manage and communicate with that many guitar players.
When you play live, usually, it's just you and loops? Have you ever done something like this before?
It originally revolved around the idea of me playing, recording and looping myself playing a drum set, guitar and singing. It is still quite loop heavy but has become less of a simulation of a band and more of an organic experiment. I have never done anything even remotely like this before. Never conducted. I didn't write this music with a band or ensemble of any kind in mind. If anything this has been a great lesson in management and working on having any kind of authoritative side. Fortunately, most of the people in this ensemble know me very well and have an easier time interpreting what I do or say.
Will looping be involved in this performance or does the 22 other guitars obviate that need?
The idea is to have what would normally be looped, played live, continuously by a musician. I might end up looping an egg shaker and a vocal part, but that is about it.
How much rehearsal have you and the others done for this?
Luckily, everyone involved lives in Boston so we have been able to have a few rehearsals. We had two 5 hour long rehearsals a few weeks ago with most of the players. One was in the Pozen Center so we were able to get a sense of how it will work logistically. That weekend helped me a lot in what I needed to work on to better communicate with some many people and so many different styles of learning. Most of the musicians have played in rock bands so they have never been conducted to. Learning how to conduct would not even necessarily help in this situation. We have had a few smaller sectional rehearsals and some one on one lessons via Skype or in person.
I created a website for all the musicians to learn their parts: Anything else you'd like to riff on?
In contrast to Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham and really most orchestras/ensembles, this music was written to be performed by one person. To create an enveloping wall of sound by myself. The idea of creating a band out of this idea has never appealed to me. But the idea of performing my music with people I already have a connection with in a rather unorthodox set up has been floating in the back of my head for a few years now as a cool idea. Something I would like to get around to eventually. Finally committing to it has been great and a learning process for sure and taken on many more meanings to me. Having so many people dedicate time and effort has meant so much to me and made this much more special than I could ever have previously imagined. The process has been as rewarding as what I expect the show to be like. I often feel like the goal has really already been met. Re establishing a sense of community within this group of musicians has really made me happy. To work collaboratively with such a large group has been really inspiring.
? Link to stream music from “Memory” by Animal Hospital:
http://animalhospitalmusic.com/animalhospitalensemble.html
Video links of Kevin playing live:
http://animalhospitalmusic.com/videos.html
Performance starts at 8:30, free with an $18 First Night badge.
