Inner Islands

Interview with Sawyer G. (December 2023)

Back in September we shared Sawyer Gebauer's first release as Sawyer G., It'll Be Gone For A Little While, which is also his first foray into instrumental music. Here we get to dive deeper into his evolving practice.

1. What are some recent inspirations?

Lately, there's been a lot of experimental, ambient, techno, house, breakbeat, and glitch. The Berlin-based projects Nthng and S.W. stand out for their grasp of techno/house historical roots while weaving their uniqueness into the fabric of the genre. Nosaj Thing's album Continua (2022) has been my companion for the past month.

In literature, I recently completed the knighted historian Keith Thomas's work, Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971). This 800-page tome explores 16th/17th century England, offering a detailed account of the ebb and flow, as well as the reciprocal relationship between Christianity and the occult, much of which happened during the Interregnum period. My next instrumental album will play off of these themes, each song titled inspired by superstitious methods used during these periods to keep evil spirits away.

Visually, Paleochristian and Middle Age art and architecture have been fun to dive into further this year. The implementation of abstract form in exchange for naturalistic representation to pursue the divine is fascinating. Not to mention the symbolism in the storytelling that creates a mysterious aura. I’ve noticed there's been increased references to, and acceptance of, this period of art in contemporary culture. I wonder if it has anything to do with our own self-abstraction in search of a new space, a virtual space. A quest for transcendence to reach a higher plane through technology and our drive to escape the earthly realm for a brighter, more powerful, and convenient world.

2. As someone who has worked so much in the realm of song-based music (lyrics, melodies, etc.), do you feel that instrumental music allows you to express things that you can’t in the song format?

Yes. It was freeing to break from word and structure. I made my most impactful and genuine work because of this freedom. My whole creative life led up to those moments making this album, and I found a piece of myself that was present, yet dormant. Now, I feel the experimental and the song-based format have been merging in really exciting and interesting ways.

3. Do you prefer to refine a composition over a period of time or capture something quickly and move on?

It’s circumstantial. If there's flow between me and the song, and the space is right, I can work on a song for two weeks straight, 40 hours a week. However, if I step away from it too long, I find it difficult to return to the same creative realm that space once provided. At that point, I chalk it up as another step closer to the song that needs to be created later. Not everything I put time into needs to be a released product, or even a finished one. To be discerning and letting things go can make the future work better.

4. How do you like to get perspective on your work?

I have those whom I trust that will give constructive words to make the work better. I’ve been releasing music since I was 18, almost 15 years. Something I’ve realized is that as you get older and more invested in your passion, the need for praise to build confidence is no longer sought after. Instead, you want to know how the work can get better, and how much deeper you can go. Trusted external sources can help get you where you want to be, rather than getting lost in the false direction of expectation. If you're doing it right, you are making it for yourself and the ones around you.

5. When did you first start releasing music? And how has your relationship to the releasing process changed since then?

I was in high school when I released my first album O Lost!, inspired by Thomas Wolfe’s novel Look Homeward, Angel. When I graduated, I moved to Stockholm and signed to a now dissolved label run by an ex-pat from Canada. This was 2010, before Spotify was the gate keeper of music consumption that resulted in listeners becoming further passive in how they discover music, relying on playlist automation. Indie fans still found their music through blogs and Soundcloud. That’s not so much the case anymore. Through the convenience of technology that brings with it affordability, a lot of our art consumption is severed from connection or relationship. Like fast fashion, fast design, fast food, there is fast art. Easy come, easy go. Little is left with a lasting impact or impression. That seems to me like one of the biggest changes releasing music in the past 10 years or so.

6. How much of a role does improvisation play in the tracks that make up It’ll Be Gone For A Little While?

There's a good balance between composition and improvisation in It’ll Be Gone for A Little While. I try not to force things. I rarely have an idea of what I want to do with a song when beginning. Instead, I listen and feel where the song wants to go. This flow has worked well for me. I find that if I have too much of an intention or idea of what I want to do, there is friction, and it comes out feeling stiff and soulless. I've found that those initially intended ideas come out naturally when they need to. 

7. Are there any particular pieces of visual art that inspired the tracks on the album?

Love that question. At the time, Lee Ufan, Pat Steir, Barnett Newman, Isamu Noguchi, Joan Miro. You can hear this in the album - Moments of minimalism and maximalism. At times it can be disturbing, peaceful, or contradictory, like tranquil chaos.

8. You’ve mentioned fragmentation being an important aspect of this new work. How does it factor in for you?

To come full circle from the second question. I was in the realm of creating in structured form most of my life. It's important to have a firm grasp on structure and tradition to break it down in interesting, provocative, and productive ways while acknowledging the importance of the past. Studying jazz, which then took me into realms of experimentalism and ambient, was imperative toward intentionally breaking down these forms.

9. Do you feel like working on this instrumental project has influenced your approach to Catch Prichard and your song-oriented music?

Absolutely. I have incorporated elements from both fields. Sampling, granular synthesis, ambient and experimental sonic space. It has come to a degree that, when beginning a piece, I don’t know whether it will be a Catch Prichard track or a Sawyer G. song. The expression to be able to weave in and out, but also fuse together these themes, has been incredibly enlightening. I'm excited to see where it goes.

10. Words of wisdom you like to recall in times of need?

Interview with Golden Brown (December 2023)

Golden Brown is the work of Stefan Beck. This year, on Inner Islands, he released Weird Choices back in February and Wide Ranging Rider in September. Here we get to hear more about his creative practice and other musical endeavors from this year.

1. What are some recent inspirations?

I was lucky enough recently to see Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain, and Rakesh Chaurasia play live. It was an absolutely mind blowing performance that I'll carry with me for a long time. Their album As We Speak has been a favorite of mine this year and it was such a treat to see this music live. Four brilliant musicians playing acoustic instruments, they create this amazing sound that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts, even though they are all absolute masters of their instruments. Zakir Hussain is a mad genius of rhythm and the most melody forward percussionist I have ever seen live.

2. You have been playing live a fair bit this year. How has it been translating your pieces into the live realm? Do you take a different approach from the studio versions?

It's been fun trying different approaches with live versions of songs. They do usually take on a different character than the recorded versions. With some of the Wide Ranging Rider songs, this has involved changing from acoustic to electric guitar and incorporating some effects. A few times I've experimented with weaving a few songs into a flowing suite if they are all in the same key/tuning. I try to do things a little differently each time, improvising and changing arrangements. One of my favorite gigs this year was opening for the River Arkansas at the Fox Theater in Boulder. I was lucky enough to have my friends Macon and Robin from the River Arkansas play bass and drums with me on a few songs. They are super talented, intuitive musicians and brought such a fun and different vibe to the music.

3. How composed vs. improvised are the pieces on Wide Ranging Rider? There are obviously strong melodic motifs in every piece, but are there also sections that are more freeform?

Wide Ranging Rider is the first Golden Brown album to be fully written throughout prior to recording. I usually rely on some of the serendipity of layering improvisations when making music, so this felt really different. Improvisation played into some of the arrangements with the additional textural elements of electric guitar and keyboards on songs like Ambergris and Dusty, but the fingerpicked acoustic guitar for each piece was fully realized prior to recording. 

4. How do you write a piece like Wide Ranging Ride I or II? Is it following a feeling or trying to capture an image? How does it go for you?

I didn't have a specific image or feeling in mind when writing, but there is a certain energy that flows throughout. It's kind of tough for me to put into words, but there definitely is shared DNA between those two pieces as well as Little Rider and Withywindle. Similarly, Cobwebs and Sage and Scurvy have some melodic elements and vibe in common.

Wide Ranging Rider I has been something I have been playing for about 20 years, but didn't feel complete until WRR II came about. I was writing a lot in open G tuning (DGDGBD), and at some point realized that several of the themes I was working on were connected. Originally, WRR I & II were arranged into a single long suite, with WRR II sandwiched in the middle of WRR I. Eventually, I decided I preferred them split into separate pieces to open each side of the LP. But I may try and play the full suite live at some point.

Wide Ranging Rider I and II as well as Kirghiz Light are linear compositions. The form is something closer to ABCDEFGA rather than a more typical progression of like ABABCB or ABA.

5. Do you feel like your work with the guys in Prairiewolf has influenced your solo work at all?

I do! It's been really wonderful making music collaboratively in addition to my solo pursuits. And I am lucky to have Tyler and Jeremy as bandmates who I can bounce ideas off of. The most apparent influence is on some music I'm working on for release in 2024 hopefully - it's kind of my version of a Bill Laswell style ambient dub album. I used a drum machine for a few of the songs, a first for me as Golden Brown. I had a lot of fun running the drum machine through my effects and kind of live dubbing the rhythm track as I recorded it. And Jeremy was kind of enough to play some synth and keyboards on one of the songs. It's pretty different in sound from most of what I've done before, though High Tide at Gold Beach (2012) is probably closest. The end result I think will be the most Prairiewolfish I've made music under the name Golden Brown.

6. How did the Prairiewolf group come together? The three of you fit together in such a nice and seamless way.

It was serendipitous for sure. We had all sort of met online and gathered to try it out in early 2022. It wasn't perfect from the get go but there was definitely some synergy there. It's been really fun to watch it develop. Jeremy and Tyler both are really good listeners as well as excellent musicians, and we share a lot of common musical ground. I try not to take it for granted that it works as well as it does. We are working on our second album together and it's pretty exciting. We have a good batch of songs, more than we can fit on one album, and it seems like we are continually coming up with more. We've also leaned into playing live this year and have gotten into some good zones as a result. 

7. Who might a dream collaborator be with someone from an older generation?

Bill Frisell for sure. I can't think of anyone who's had a bigger impact on my music. My dream would be to have a musical voice as emotive, singular, and recognizable as Bill Frisell. My dad first played Good Dog, Happy Man for me over twenty years ago and that music has become integral to me as a musician. I love almost everything Frisell has done but that album, Ghost Town, Nashville, and the Intercontinentals are very special.

8. Do you have any rituals to get you in the zone to work on music?

Not really, often it's just a matter of playing and trying different things until the conscious part of the mind turns off and I am relying more on my instincts. Sometimes that can happen quickly, sometimes it can take a long time. And sometimes in the moment, I have no idea whether what I'm working on is good or not and just need to set it aside for a listen with fresh ears later on. But the one thing that does really help is having my little music room downstairs - to be able to play whenever I feel like it without having to set up/take down makes a big difference in terms of getting in the flow.

9. You had mentioned that The Actual Star was an influence on your Weird Choices album. Were there any literary inspirations on Wide Ranging Rider?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was definitely an influence. Withywindle is named for the river valley in the old forest where the hobbits encounter Tom Bombadil. I felt like the melody/picking pattern kind of reminded me of Tom Bombadil bopping along through the forest. Jeff Vandermeer was also an influence, more on Ambergris than anything else (maybe with the juxtaposition of the natural/organic element of the acoustic guitar with the modified, delayed sounds of electric guitar and keyboard.) But I was also reading his Southern Reach Trilogy when a lot of the music on Wide Ranging Rider was being written and arranged, so there is probably more influence there under the surface as well.

10. Words of wisdom you like to recall in times of need?

Robert Hunter's and John Perry Barlow's lyrics from the Grateful Dead songbook have deeply soaked into the core of my being. I have a list of affirmations from Dead lyrics that is an endless wellspring of solace and inspiration. Apologies in advance, this is extra nerdy.

Every time that wheel turn round, bound to cover just a little more ground

Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile

I love you more than words can tell

Love is real, not fade away

We can discover the wonders of nature

Inspiration, move me brightly

Light the song with sense and color, hold away despair

Without love in a dream it’ll never come true

If you get confused just listen to the music play

Shall we go, you and I while we can?

The future’s here, we are it, we are on our own

Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world 

Wake up to find out that you are the song that the morning brings 

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own 

Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own 

I will find my own way home

I’m a stone jack baller and my heart is true

More than just ashes when your dreams come true

Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right 

One way or another, this darkness got to give 

Let there be songs to fill the air 

A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you through 

I’ll get up and fly away